Bunye: Who buried hatchet in GMA’s back?

What "hatchet job"?

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye stepped up yesterday his attacks against Senate President Franklin Drilon whom he twitted for resorting to name-calling instead of addressing the issue at hand.

Bunye, who had claimed Drilon helped persuade Mrs. Arroyo to make a controversial public apology last June 27 about calling an election official during last year’s vote count, dismissed the Senate president’s countercharge that the Palace was engaged in a "hatchet job" against him for joining calls for the President to resign.

"The guy really has the nerve," the concurrent press secretary said of Drilon, adding, "Let me ask: who buried the hatchet in the President’s back?"

The Palace spokesman said it was now up to Drilon to prove that he had no ulterior motive in persuading the President to issue the public apology.

Bunye expressed his disappointment to The STAR yesterday over Drilon’s rebuttal.

Claiming Drilon had "set up" the President, Bunye reiterated that the Senate president had helped draft the statement of Mrs. Arroyo in which she apologized for what she termed a "lapse in judgment" in calling up an unidentified election official, thought to be heard along with her on the infamous "Hello Garci" recordings.

While Drilon confirmed he gave his "input" to the President’s public apology, he accused Bunye of engaging in a "hatchet job" against him.

"Instead of calling me names, the Senate president should answer this question. Did he or did he not tell Justice Vitug that based on the PCIJ (Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism) transcript, the President did not commit anything illegal nor unconstitutional?" Bunye pointed out.

"If he (Drilon) says yes or no, I will be happy if he will just confirm this statement," Bunye said, referring to the senator’s opinion expressed at a meeting held in the Greenhills residence of Drilon last June 25, or two days before the President made the "I am sorry" statement.

Aside from Drilon and retired justice Jose Vitug who is Mrs. Arroyo’s legal counsel, Bunye recalled that also present in their meeting were Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Merceditas Gutierrez, and former trade secretary Juan Santos. Santos subsequently joined the so-called "Hyatt 10" Cabinet officials who tendered their irrevocable resignation and joined the groups calling for the resignation of the President.

In that meeting, Bunye vividly remembered the Senate president rendered his expert legal opinion that Mrs. Arroyo has not committed any illegal nor unconstitutional act that convinced Vitug to finally agree to the suggestion of Drilon for the President to break her silence on the "Hello Garci" tapes.

"The issue is his (Drilon) statement because that was the tipping point on what convinced justice Vitug, as the counsel of the President," to advise her on what course of action to take, Bunye told The STAR.

"He (Drilon) said he was absolutely sure PGMA has not done anything illegal nor unconstitutional. If he said in all sincerity, how come he made a turnaround a few days later and say the President should resign," Bunye pointed out.

He referred to Drilon’s holding a meeting of his Liberal Party (LP) members at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan last July 8, a few hours after the "Hyatt 10" called a press conference, to similarly call for the resignation from office of Mrs. Arroyo.

"That was the crucial point and we believe he (Drilon) was helping us but it turned out he was the first one to ask the President to resign," Bunye deplored.

In that presidential statement, Mrs. Arroyo apologized to the Filipino nation for the infamous "Hello Garci" wiretapping scandal named after former Commission on Elections (Comelec) official Virgilio Garcillano.

The wiretapping tapes supposedly included a telephone conversation of the President calling up an unnamed election official even while the canvassing of the May 10 presidential elections was still taking place. — With Aurea Calica