AFP won’t make public Mayuga report on ‘Garci’ generals

The military has refused to release to the public the full Mayuga report on the alleged involvement of senior officers in the 2004 presidential elections despite an order from President Arroyo.

Instead of providing a copy of the report as requested by a senator, Armed Forces spokesman Maj. Gen. Jose Angel Honrado dared critics to produce evidence to disprove the report of Navy chief Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga that cleared four senior officers of any link to poll fraud.

At the House of Representatives, the opposition intends to grill Mayuga himself over his report on the so-called "Hello Garci" generals.

"We will have Admiral Mayuga take the hot seat to answer questions about his exoneration of these generals," Minority Leader Francis Escudero told a news conference yesterday.

Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, chairman of the Senate committee on defense and national security, had written to the AFP asking that he be furnished a copy of the report to help him study why the officers were cleared.

Biazon addressed his letter to Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, following Mrs. Arroyo’s assurance that a copy would be made available to the public.

"If they feel something is missing or something is wrong with the report... they should look for evidence and submit it to us so we can reevaluate the report based on the new evidence," Honrado said during an interview with reporters at Camp Aguinaldo.

Mayuga, who headed the investigation into the military officers’ alleged participation in massive poll fraud, cleared Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, his immediate predecessor retired Maj. Gen. Roy Kyamko, and retired Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani of the Marines.

Honrado said the Mayuga report is considered "confidential" and could not be released to the public.

"We will be breaking our confidentiality. We have rules on how to release restricted and confidential documents," Honrado said.

Escudero said the Navy chief has to explain his findings and the basis for his conclusions.

"He also has to tell us whether that report released by headquarters upon orders of the President is the untainted version or the massaged or manipulated version," he said.

He added that the opposition has received information that Armed Forces chief Gen. Generoso Senga had the Mayuga report sent to major service commanders for their comment.

"That was unusual since it was supposed to be a report of an independent fact-finding body chaired by Admiral Mayuga, who was then inspector-general. The report did not have to be passed around among major service commanders for their comment," Escudero stressed.

He questioned whether the service commanders had any veto power on the findings and recommendations of the Mayuga panel, adding that one major service commander was mentioned in the "Hello, Garci" tapes and therefore should not have commented one way or the other on the report.

Escudero was referring to Esperon, who along with Habacon, Kyamko and Gudani, was mentioned by "Garci" in his wiretapped conversations with a female caller who sounded like Mrs. Arroyo.

"Garci" is widely believed to be former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

In his conversations with his female caller, "Garci" complained that Habacon’s men were "neophytes" at vote-rigging, while Gudani was not cooperating with him.

He told the person at the other end of the line that he had Kyamko replace Gudani. Both Habacon and Gudani were assigned to monitor elections in the Lanao provinces.

Gudani and Marine Lt. Col. Alexander Balutan had testified in the Senate investigation of the "Garci" tapes on instances of election fraud that they claimed to have personally witnessed. Gudani has since retired, while Balutan is restricted to quarters.

After the elections, Esperon and Habacon were promoted. Esperon’s promotion is still pending before the Commission on Appointments. He was bypassed due to the fact that "Garci" mentioned him while discussing election fraud with his female caller. Esperon is reportedly angling for the post of chief of staff after Senga’s retirement.

Escudero said if the report Mrs. Arroyo ordered released is the original, untainted version, it should have been made public in December or January when it was sent to Senga.

He said the decision to make the report public after Esperon had been bypassed by the Commission on Appointments was suspect.

"Was the report manipulated to favor Gen. Esperon? Was the President trying to help her Army chief hurdle the confirmation process and pave the way for his eventual appointment as chief of staff?" he asked.

For his part, AFP Public Information Office chief Col. Tristan Kison said in a text message that the release of the full report was Mayuga’s prerogative.

"Admiral Mayuga will determine whether or not the report will be distributed," the text message read.

The summary of the Mayuga report stated that the investigation did not find evidence to link the four officers to poll fraud in 2004. Mayuga claimed to have interviewed 70 witnesses for his report.

Senator Biazon has been asking for a copy so that his committee could use its contents to further investigate the alleged election irregularities involving military men. — With Jess Diaz, Marvin Sy