Non-stop bickering

There is no end in sight to the ongoing political crisis mainly because the issues raised are not properly addressed and satisfactorily answered. Sometimes, the reactions of those involved border on the ridiculous, insult the people’s intelligence, tax their credulity or simply incite adverse response for being obviously belligerent, wrong, inconsistent or suspicious.

Garcillano started it all when he disappeared at the height of the controversy surrounding the now notorious "Hello Garci" tape that apparently pinpoints him as the person at the other end of a cell phone conversation that was wiretapped. If the content and the nature of his testimony merely consist of what he is telling the people now, he should not have gone into hiding at all. He could have faced his interrogators then, answered the way he is answering now and he would have been more credible. His disappearance only gave the impression and generated a widespread perception of a cover-up. The guy is even succeeding in diverting the public’s attention to the petty, trivial and irrelevant matter of where he went into hiding.

Following Garcillano’s tack is former Department of Agriculture (DA) Undersecretary Joc Joc Bolante who is the main man in the emerging fertilizer scam exposed by COA. He could have shed light on the issue regarding the release and use of over a billion peso fertilizer fund for purposes other than the purchase of fertilizers that was even overpriced. His presence and testimony become more vital especially after the incumbent DA officials admitted that the documents on the disbursements of said funds are missing. But he chose to become scarce and unavailable for questioning by the Senate Committee on Agriculture. So now a vital witness is again beyond reach although not missing, documents could not be found and millions of public funds could not be accounted for. Under these circumstances, scandal mongers and members of the "opposition" will definitely have a feast spreading all sorts of rumors, innuendos and speculations. Meantime, the public is still left and kept in the dark.

Another appalling and outrageous reaction came from the AFP on the ISAFP wiretapping of the Presidential phone calls exposed by Marietta Santos, the alleged girlfriend of military intelligence agent Sgt. Doble. The positive, straightforward and spontaneous testimony of the woman made under oath was shrugged off by the AFP spokesman with a curt reply that the woman has the burden of proof to establish the truth of said wiretapping. This is quite misleading and erroneous. Burden of proof comes into play only if a person charges another with a wrongdoing. Here the girlfriend has not filed any charges at all. She is merely testifying under oath on what she personally saw and experienced. Those implicated in her testimony definitely has the burden to belie her statement which looks credible enough for its spontaneity. Unless the AFP can come up with concrete evidence showing that she is lying, her testimony remains believable. Mere denial is not enough. Denials are weak evidences compared to positive, clear and spontaneous testimony.

Just to discredit the woman, AFP Chief General Senga may have also made some lapses on intelligence matters. It is really quite shocking to hear from the Chief of Staff that AFP’s intelligence unit has no wiretapping capability. More appalling is his admission that he himself cannot identify how a bugging device looks like as he expressed doubt on the woman’s technical competence to identify the equipment she saw when she freely moved around the ISAPF premises. Indeed were it not for this woman’s testimony in the Senate, the public would not have known that Doble is under investigation for his statement that he received money from Sammy Ong in exchange for the wiretapped tapes. Curiously, for such a simple case, it has already taken the AFP six long months without any report yet.

Our Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez has also added to the turmoil because of his belligerent attitude. With the government’s prosecution arm under his department, he could have easily initiated the investigation and possible prosecution of Garci for so many probable violations of law the latter has committed in the same quick fashion he displayed when he filed charges against Sammy Ong for the alleged kidnapping and illegal detention of Doble. Instead he hurled the challenge to Garci’s critics to file the charges. Why the difference in treatment?

These attitudes and reactions of government officials are definitely not conducive to an atmosphere of unity. They are the primary reasons why the President’s call for the Nation to close ranks, join hands and move forward does not have the full support of the citizens. The call should be addressed to both sides so they can sing the same tune or dance to the same music; otherwise the bickering will not cease.

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