Truth commission on wiretap eyed

Civil society groups which played a key role in the ouster of former President Joseph Estrada in 2001 called yesterday for the creation of an independent fact-finding board to look into accusations that President Arroyo cheated in last year’s elections.

The Citizens Assembly for Truth (CAT), an alliance of civil and business groups that include the Makati Business Club (MBC), also called for a sweeping revamp of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) beginning with the resignation of Chairman Benjamin Abalos and the appointment of new commissioners.

Following a meeting at the Ateneo de Manila University in Quezon City, the alliance came out with a collective call for the formation of an independent probe body that could determine whether the accusations of election fraud against Mrs. Arroyo had any merit and if legal action was necessary.

The CAT also called for investigation of other people who might have been involved in the controversy.

In a statement read by Karen Tañada, the assembly gave the President until July 25 to allow the formation of a fact-finding body.

"Let the chips fall where they may. No one — and least of all the President — is above the law," Tañada said.

"In all these, we stand for the rule of law and for constitutional processes to be followed," she said.

Breaking her three-week silence over the controversy, Mrs. Arroyo admitted on national television last Monday that she was the voice heard in the wiretapped audio recordings talking to a senior election official.

The wiretapped recordings revealed a woman who sounded like Mrs. Arroyo in a phone conversation with a certain "Garci" about rigging the results of the May 2004 presidential election.

The President denied trying to fix the election results and said she would not resign.

The wiretapped conversations sparked the opposition to call for Mrs. Arroyo’s immediate resignation.

Although they commended Mrs. Arroyo for her public apology over what she called a "lapse in judgment," the CAT said her admission left many questions unanswered and had cast doubts on her moral authority to govern.

The alliance, composed of some 100 non-government organizations and sectoral groups from all over the country, also issued a statement questioning the competence of Comelec officials in light of the controversy.

They said Mrs. Arroyo’s admission had only raised more frustration and uncertainty among the people.

"We believe that such questions can be only be addressed by an independent fact-finding body tasked with ferreting out the truth," CAT said.

"This could only succeed if (the body) were made up of persons of known probity and capability," their statement said.

Dan Songco, representing one of the NGOs in the meeting, said they are reserving judgment on Mrs. Arroyo until the independent commission could be formed and makes its findings.

"As of now we are suspending our judgment against the President," Songco said.

The Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC), on the other hand, called on the government to prosecute the people behind the wiretapping.

"While we continue to focus on the President, we allow the perpetrator of the controversial recording (to) go unscathed. We call on the authorities to go after the illegal wiretapper and send him to jail," said Dante Jimenez, the founding VACC chairman.

Jimenez warned that if the culprit remains unpunished for his deeds, this would certainly set a precedent for more political scandals.

"Wiretapping is a very serious criminal act committed with very serious repercussions," Jimenez said.

"If the highest executive of the land can be wiretapped, then every private citizen is vulnerable," he said, adding that national security was at stake.

He said copies of wiretapped conversations could be used to sow political scandals of every imaginable scale.

The VACC commended Mrs. Arroyo for finally breaking her silence on the controversy and admitting that she was the voice heard on the tape.

The group said the President’s apology had addressed the issue of her silence and diffused the tension that was set to divide the nation further.

"The President’s courage in owning up to her error in judgment and deciding to face the consequences is unprecedented considering two ousted presidents have never admitted guilt to any wrongdoing," Jimenez added.

Jimenez noted the issue of wiretapping must be pursued with as much dispatch as the questions about the President’s admission. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe