Doble honed tapping expertise in PAOCTF

The soldier believed to have eavesdropped on President Arroyo’s phone conversations was once in the wiretapping department of a defunct police task force then headed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

Technical Sgt. Vidal Doble is with Military Intelligence Group-21, a unit of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) headed by Lt. Col. Paul Sumayo.

A check with military and police sources by the STAR revealed that Doble was with the ISAFP when he was reassigned to the Presidential Anti-Organized Crime Task Force (PAOCTF), which was headed by Lacson when he was with the Philippine National Police.

The task force was formed by Joseph Estrada shortly after he assumed the presidency.

ISAFP chief Brig. Gen. Marlu Quevedo declined to give the media details about Doble’s background, saying that he had yet to review the soldier’s service record.

His ISAFP colleagues described the father of two as a kind-hearted and good soldier who obeys orders without asking questions. Doble is known for his technical expertise in intelligence operations.

"He’s nice. He’s not going to do anything without orders. If given orders, he immediately obeys. It’s unlikely that he’ll do anything without an order," said one colleague, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The PAOCTF was modeled after the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission, which Estrada headed when he was vice president during the administration of Fidel Ramos.

Lacson headed one of the PACC’s task forces, Habagat.

Several of Doble’s former PAOCTF colleagues said he knew his job well. His intelligence expertise contributed to the successes of the task force.

It also landed Doble in a wiretapping case against him and several other PAOCTF agents before a Quezon City court.

Doble returned to the ISAFP when the police task force was disbanded. His MIG-21 unit is in charge of monitoring security threats in Metro Manila.