Ermita denies being source, asks witness to come out

MANILA, Philippines - Former executive secretary Eduardo Ermita yesterday denied the claim of Makati City Rep. Teodoro Locsin that he was the source of the “Koala Boy” video.

According to Ermita, he was only given a copy of the video, which he in turn showed to Catholic bishops.

Ermita did not say who gave him the copy of the video of the supposed poll fraud whistle-blower.

The masked man, whose video was shown during the hearing of the congressional panel led by Locsin that is looking into glitches in poll automation, claimed vast knowledge of a supposed computer hacking operation designed to discredit the May 10 elections.

Ermita said some Catholic bishops had viewed the video and later told him that they were not convinced by the allegations of the witness in the absence of any proof.

Following the allegations from Locsin, Ermita said he immediately gave his side in various radio interviews on Saturday.

During the interviews, Ermita also urged the witness behind the mask to come out.

Locsin accused Koala Boy of being an agent of Malacañang as part of an alleged grand scheme to discredit the elections altogether, whoever wins.

He later claimed Ermita was the source of the video following the challenge posed by Malacañang to prove his allegations.

Locsin also told a radio interview that Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales and defeated mayoral candidate and former environment secretary Lito Atienza knew about the Koala Boy tale.

But Ermita said he has not seen nor communicated with the Makati lawmaker.

“I have not spoken with Congressman Locsin for some time so how could (I) have sent it to him?” Ermita said.

“Maybe I will ask my daughter (Batangas Rep. Eileen Ermita-Buhain) to talk to (Locsin) and clarify the matter with him,” he added.

Atienza and Gonzales could not be reached for comment yesterday Gonzales’ head executive assistant Agapito Lugay though replied that they have to verify the exact statement from Locsin but stressed the defense chief did not participate in any effort to rig the elections.

“He (Gonzales) was even the one who warned about the possible cheating in the elections,” Lugay said.

Malacañang also came to Ermita’s defense saying such a move was out of character.

Palace officials said the allegations of big-time cheating by Koala Boy were no longer amusing and blamed the media for repeatedly playing it up, notwithstanding the absence of any proof.

Ermita, who admitted being stunned by his unexpected defeat in the congressional race in the first district of Batangas, filed a petition to nullify the proclamation of his opponent.

Ermita said the surveys consistently showed him leading as much as 70 percent but could not believe that he still lost.

Ermita said the recall of the compact flash (CF) cards that were used in the precinct count optical scan machines in his district was unwarranted as there was no testing nor reports of failure of the storage chips.

But he admitted no one had witnessed the so-called “reprogramming” of the CF cards that was the basis of the allegations of widespread cheating in the May 10 elections. – Alexis Romero