Publicity stunts

Recently, Virgilio Garcillano is hugging the headlines again. There is a scramble for him to become a witness to the anomalies and frauds in the 2004 and 2007 elections. Some people in this administration want him to sing a different tune now. They want him to tell the whole “truth” and nothing but the “truth” which to them is exactly the opposite of what he said during the “Hello Garci” investigation when he denied any anomaly in the 2004 elections, when he denied he was the “Garci” in that wiretapped conversation and when he refused to categorically identify who was at the other end of the line in that phone conversation. To these people in the administration, Garcillano is a liar if he sticks to his original story but a true witness if he changes his story and jibe it with their own version.

Thus they are even taking steps to “convince” Garcillano to change his story in accordance with their own version of the truth. As usual, BIR Commissioner Kim Henares is tagged again to look into his tax liabilities even as he is already placed in the Bureau of Immigration watch list so that he could not leave the country. For all we know he might even be promised immunity if he changes his mind.

Obviously something is amiss with this strategy. The rule on evidence is that, not only must a witness be credible but his testimony itself should also be credible. Applying this rule on Virgilio Garcillano, it is plain and clear that he fails on both counts. If his original story is a tall tale then he has no more credibility. In fact even now, the Malacanang spokesman himself says that Garcillano is lying when he denied sending feelers to the palace. So if he will now say something exactly the opposite of what he said before, then the truth of his new version itself will be subject to doubt. This guy is simply unreliable and easily discreditable as a witness to prove fraud in the 2004 and 2007 elections. I am sure DOJ Secretary De Lima and COMELEC Chairman Brilliantes know this. They know that all the efforts to convince Garcillano to change his mind will be futile. They know that even if Garcillano finally succumbs to the importuning of some administration people his testimony will not bolster their case.

In fact even Garcillano himself realizes that he is a worthless witness. As expected he is digging in and sticking to his original story. He knows that if he changes his stance and tells the “truth” as envisioned by those pressuring him now, he and other persons involved will be charged together with his phone pal at the other end of the line who is widely believed to be former President GMA herself. So the best way to deal with him is to charge him also, not to make him a witness.

This administration should really continue with its investigation of the alleged election frauds in 2004 and 2007. All anomalies of the past must relentlessly be investigated and the proper sanctions imposed on all those liable. But there is something wrong with the present method of doing it. There is too much publicity on the matter under investigation. Indeed, one cannot help but conclude that all this fuss and interest on Garcillano are pure publicity stunts. Apparently his “new” version of the anomaly will be used more in shaping public opinion on the existence of election frauds in 2004 and 2007 and on the culpability of people in the past administration specifically former President and now Congresswoman Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Even the other aspects of the investigation on the switching of the election returns stored in the Batasan Complex are now generating undue media attention. Vital witnesses are being paraded before the press, radio and TV where they freely reveal their one sided-version of what they supposedly know regarding the clandestine operation. Inevitably when people read, see or hear them, they immediately form conclusions and heap condemnations on the persons tagged even if they are just raw information that are still subject to verification in the proper forum.

In other places under a democratic regime where the justice system works well, cases of this nature are quietly investigated without much fanfare and away from the glaring eyes of media. Witnesses are shielded and fully kept incognito so that they cannot be interrogated yet. Media get wind of the case only after it is duly filed in the proper court. And this is done only upon determining the existence of an airtight case that can withstand any barrage of attack from the defense.

Too much media exposure of the investigation not only weakens the government’s case but also strengthens the defense of the accused. Once the defense learns of the potential witnesses, they have enough time to look into how they could be impeached or discredited when they testify in court. Of course other forms of harassment may also be employed to make them change their minds or to become “scarce” when the time to testify comes. Then because of the trial by publicity where public opinion has already adjudged the accused “guilty”, there is a possibility that the accused may even successfully assert that he has been denied “due process of law” since the judge may have only been swayed by said public opinion.

All these things are being pointed out to help, not to criticize or put down this administration in its moves to successfully prosecute cases of corruption, fraud and other anomalies of the past. Filipinos who love their country earnestly wish they succeed in this crusade by making the right moves.

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