NBI awaits copy, tale of ‘X-tapes’

National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Reynaldo Wycoco said yesterday that apart from asking for a copy of the "X CD" tape, they may also ask Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson to tell them how he came to possess the controversial recording.

In the recording, a voice said to belong former President Joseph Estrada was conversing with another unidentified person about having President Arroyo assassinated.

The compact disc, also known as the "Erapgate" recording, was reportedly brought to Singson by an unidentified person.

"With regards to the (X CD), we have communicated with Gov. Singson (seeking) a copy to be subjected to initial analysis to find out what is the nature of the tape and to locate the original tape," Wycoco said. "We will also get a statement from Singson as to where he got the tape, so it would lead us to a better direction in our investigation."

In the recording, Estrada allegedly agreed to a plan to topple "the midget," possibly referring to Mrs. Arroyo, and to "sacrifice the old man," an unnamed Arroyo supporter believed to be former President Fidel Ramos.

In this recording, an unidentified man was heard saying: "If we overthrow the midget and there is a transition government the old man will create trouble... So we will carry out the plan and sacrifice the old man. Anyway, he has served his purpose." A man said to be Estrada is then heard answering: "Okay, sure."

Wycoco said they would apply the same procedure they used on the two Gloriagate CDs, which were turned over by Executive Secretary Ignacio Bunye to the NBI last month.

The NBI took the initiative of asking for a copy of the Estradagate recording even before they received a directive from the Department of Justice (DOJ) to obtain it.

However, unlike the previous instance where Bunye gave them two versions — one 16 minutes long and the other 18 minutes — of the Gloriagate CDs, which they used to compare the voices, in this case, the Estrada camp already publicly admitted to some portions of the recording but denied other segments of the same CD, Wycoco said.

"We will treat it like the Bunye CDs," he said. "We would still have to listen to the tape to make an initial analysis." Once the NBI has a copy of the X CD, they will submit it to their Electronics and Communications Division (ECD) headed by Roy Cartagena.