Pimentel: No legal basis to restrain Senate from pursuing probe on Garci tapes

Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. on Wednesday said the current investigation on the so-called Garci tapes cannot be legally prohibited or stopped.

Pimentel added that the statutory prohibition against the disclosure or wiretapped materials is not absolute.

Pimentel said the inquiry, which began September 7 does not violate the letter or the spirit of the Anti-Wiretapping Law (Republic Act 4200) which prohibits the wiretapping of telephone conversations, as well as the possession and use of wiretapped materials.

This was the response of Pimentel, on behalf of the Senate, to the petition of former Court of Appeals Justices Oswaldo Agcaoili and Santiago Javier Ranada to restrain the Upper Chamber from playing the Garci tapes and from reinvestigating the wiretapping scandal which was heard by the Supreme Court during the presentation of oral arguments Tuesday.

Pimentel said the Senate cannot be stopped from playing the tapes and from pursuing the inquiry on the basis of section 4 of RA 4200.

Pimentel pointed out that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had already admitted, albeit belatedly, that it was her voice at one end of the line following the expos on her wiretapped conversations during the 2004 election period with then Commission on Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.