Gov’t to identify top destabilizer

The government has identified an opposition leader who was allegedly eavesdropping on the telephone conversations of President Arroyo and other top Palace officials and using information from them to plot destabilization efforts against the administration.

In an interview with reporters Friday night, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales said they detected two months ago that Malacañang officials were under electronic surveillance. He said he would identify the opposition leader in "two to three weeks."

"We know who is bugging us. Everything will be clear to us in two to three weeks and we will name him," Gonzales said, implying that there is an ongoing investigation being conducted by authorities.

"We will name the individuals and groups which have been making destabilization plans and their linkages," he said.

He refused to give further details on the identity of the suspected eavesdropper except to say "it’s not Ping," referring to opposition Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who has long been rumored to have his hands on cellular phone monitoring equipment bought during his stint as chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP) under the administration of former president Joseph Estrada.

Gonzales said the eavesdropping equipment being used against the President, administration officials, journalists and even fellow opposition leaders is "very sophisticated."

He said the eavesdropping equipment was "embedded and cleverly disguised," without revealing what equipment was used or how it was implemented.

He said he was prepared to face a possible backlash on his impending revelation but added that wiretapping was a very serious crime.

Gonzales did not say whether the suspected eavesdropper was responsible for the "Hello, Garci" audiotapes which created a political crisis that still hounds Mrs. Arroyo - but apparently this is a new development because the wiretapping was discovered only late last year.

He said that since assuming his post as National Security Adviser two years ago, he has never asked for a court order to wiretap any individual’s phone line.

Gonzales left for the United States on Saturday to meet with US National Director for Intelligence John Negroponte to discuss the reorganization of the country’s intelligence agencies.

In June last year, Malacañang preempted the opposition’s release of the so-called "Hello, Garci" tapes, in which the President was overheard speaking to an election official during the canvassing of the May 2004 presidential election. The official was later identified as former Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

On June 27, Mrs. Arroyo broke her silence on the issue, admitting that she had spoken to an election official during the vote count and apologizing to the nation for her "lapse in judgment."

The President said she had been concerned over the slow pace of the ballot count.

The apology, however, did not stop the political crisis from erupting several days later, when nearly all of the President’s economic team members resigned and joined the calls made by of former President Corazon Aquino and Senate President Franklin Drilon for her to step down. Even Catholic bishops joined the fray by calling for the formation of a "truth commission" to investigate the charges.

The "Hello, Garci" scandal also triggered the filing of an impeachment complaint against Mrs. Arroyo, but this was junked by the administration-dominated House of Representatives.