Who framed Erap ? Conspiracy at the highest level

The corrupt Arroyo regime is tainted with fraud. Gloria Arroyo and her close political allies have mastered the art of deception and fraud. The Department of Justice, the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the National Achieves Office and other agencies under the Executive Department have deliberately manufactured documents and false witnesses to persecute political enemies.

GMA, aides framed Erap on raps— witness

By Charlie V. Manalo and Eric Dorente

Daily Tribune 08/31/2007

It read like a high-profile list of conspirators, led by President Arroyo, former Ombudsman Aniano Desierto and down the line, banding together to obstruct justice in every way they could.

The plunder case against deposed President Joseph Estrada took on a new twist yesterday as a former action officer of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption (VACC) presented himself before the Sandiganbayan to reveal how he was coerced by certain government officials to file a case of perjury against the detained leader.

In a Manifestation of Intervention filed by lawyer Cirilo Avila, Federico Manrique bared damaging testimonies on a second perjury case filed by the government against Estrada, the culpability of which may reach the highest office of the land.

In his affidavit, Manrique narrated how he, sometime in the last week of October 2001, was contacted by a lawyer who represented himself as a member of the prosecution team in the Estrada cases.

Manrique said the lawyer convinced him to file another perjury case against the deposed president since the original case filed

by the Ombudsman was deemed to be weak and insufficient in evidence.

The lawyer added Manrique’s complaint against Estrada had to be antedated to make it appear that even before the Ombudsman had filed his own case, “there already was an interested complainant against Estrada.

In so doing, the lawyer said, Manrique’s complaint would negate the growing public perception that the Ombudsman was persecuting Estrada.

The lawyer, who claimed to be working for then Ombudsman Aniano Desierto, volunteered to collate all documentary evidence pertinent to the filing of the perjury case by Manrique.

According to Avila, Manrique at first acceded to all the conditions of the request of the prosecution team in the Estrada cases but at the last minute, just as he was supposed to “spill the beans” by exposing the irregularity, a battery of government officials including former presidential chief of staff Roberto Tiglao, now Philippine Ambassador to Greece, Presi-dential Commission on Good Government commissioner Nicasio Conti, Gen. Leo Alvez, Secretary Hernani Braganza, Secretary Simeon Datumanong, then Col, Delfin Bangit, Major Boyet Baraquel, Gen. Prospero Noble, Director Ramon Cuyco, Assistant Secretary Cecille Rebong, then Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina, VACC chairman Dante Jimenez and Lauro Vizconde, tried to prevent Manrique from testifying on the irregularity surrounding the prosecution and trial of Estrada.

And succeed they did, he said, when President Arroyo herself gave instructions that Manrique and his entire family be immediately secured and brought to Canada on diplomatic status.

In his manifestation, Avila cited several flaws in the second perjury case filed by the prosecution in behalf of Manrique.

First, the amended information in Sandiganbayan dated April 4, 2001, based on the complaint filed by the VACC was filed by the Ombudsman ahead of the supposed complaint of VACC which is dated Sept. 10, 2001.

Second, the supposed letter request for vital documents of the VACC that was used as basis for the filing of the second perjury case was fabricated on orders of then Ombudsman Desierto, et al.

Third, said letter-request mentioned in item B, was antedated, which the record clerk refused to record it in the incoming logbook.

Fourth, the original draft complaint was alleged to have been manufactured by the Ombudsman and was prepared for signature by the supposed complainant, the VACC.

Fifth, said draft complaint was revised and corrected in her own handwriting by lawyer Persida Acosta, the chief of the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) which is under the Department of Justice.

Sixth, lawyer Acosta represented herself as defense lawyer of Estrada and had many times submitted a motion to be excluded as counsel of the accused. She, however, never mentioned that she was one with the alleged brains in the fabrication and filing of the perjury case.

Lastly, the entire conspiracy was done with the full knowledge of Mrs. Arroyo who was claimed to have personally orchestrated, obstructed and prevented the truth on the conspiracy from surfacing by effecting the transfer of Manrique and his family to Canada on a diplomatic status.

Avila said he came to know only of the irregularity in the perjury case against Estrada when he and Manrique had the opportunity to meet sometime last April, being old acquaintances.

In the said meeting, Manrique allegedly told Avila everything he knew in the Erap case, which he said he had written in his book, The Dark Conspiracy, to which Avila advised the Manrique to consult with the lawyers of Estrada.

While Avila was able to talk with one of the detained counsels Rene Saguisag, who was willing to meet with Manrique, he was already back in Canada by that time.

With the uncertainty of Manrique taking the witness stand, Saguisag, in a memorandum, wrote the Sandiganbayan about a potential witness “who can show obstruction of justice at the highest level.”

“We realize that a critical point has been reached and we cannot stay this case, much less that of plunder, but in a bizarre case where a celebrity has been treated cruelly, by punishing him more than an ordinary Filipino, he should be understood for using any weapon, to gain vindication, and expose those behind his maltreatment, within law, policy and reason,” Saguisag stated in his memorandum.

While Avila acknowledges the fact that proceedings of Estrada’s case have already reached the terminal stage wherein both prosecution and defense have rested their cases, he said it is his opinion that if a judgment is eventually issued without the information they have provided, “then such judgment will be incomplete even if it will be favorable to the party upon whom the information would be beneficial,” in obvious reference to Estrada.

“Our courts of law exist not only to give justice to the parties but more importantly to serve the higher interests of the principles of truth and morality,” said Avila . “These principles are the basis for the existence of men living in present day civilization.”

“They are the reason for the propagation of humanity. They are the ultimate foundations of society.”

The lawyer who acted as intervenor hinted at a mistrial, in light of his mentioning a witness who was allegedly instructed by the Ombudsman, who was then preparing a case against against the former leader.

Avila said Manrique had dinner with him sometime in the second week of April, where Manrique expressed remorse over his involvement at Estrada’s criminal cases.

Manrique is allegedly now willing to present himself to court should the court summon him to shed light on the supposed manufactured documents.

Beginning April, Avila said Enriquez has been working on his expose, but was only delayed by processing of his Canadian passport which has expired.

Avila said that Manrique’s revelations also bears on the more serious plunder charge against Estrada.

Avila said that when Estrada’s defense panel “walked out” one of the government lawyers the Sandiganbayan put in place was Persida Acosta, who helped in drafting the plunder charges against Estrada using documents that Manrique allegedly submitted.

“That was foul. Why will you accept a designation as defense counsel when you are a member of the (prosecution fact finding team)?” Avila said.

Avila said Acosta failed to tell the Sandiganbayan that there was an alleged “conflict of interest” with her designation.

“That would be an indication of mistrial,” Avila said, while stressing that Acosta can be disbarred for what she allegedly did.

Avila said his main aim is for the Sandiganbayan to consider all of this information in the manifestation he filed, before handing down the verdict on Estrada’s cases.

“I will be content if the Sandiganbayan will say ‘noted’ (his manifestation),” Avila said.

He said that if the Sandiganbayan will issue a resolution saying that the manifestation was noted, it should reflect in its decision.

Avila dismissed possible public perceptions of the manifestation as a delaying tactic.

“Better late than never,” he said, adding that the details are best known to the Sandiganbayan before it decides on the case.

The Dark Conspiracy
Potential witness in Estrada case a no-show

ZTE broadband $330 M misdeal: Elections chief Benjamin Abalos in hot water

Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos has no business in DOTC broadband project. He is not an expert in wireless telecommunications. What monkey business he is dealing with China’s ZTE?


Graft raps filed vs DOTC
chief over broadband deal

BY PETER TABINGO
NUEVA Ecija Rep. Carlos Padilla yesterday filed criminal complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman against Transportation Secretary Leandro Mendoza and two subordinates over alleged anomalies in the awarding of the $330 million broadband project to Chinese firm ZTE Corp.
Padilla accused Mendoza and assistant secretaries Lorenzo Formoso and Elmer Soneja of violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, the Telecommunications Policy Act, the Build-Operate-Transfer Act and the Government Procurement Act.
He said executives of ZTE Corp. including its chairman Hou Weigi, vice president Yu Yong, chief Manila representative George Zhu Ying, and executive director Fan Yang should also be indicted for conspiring with DOTC officials in binding the Philippine government to what he said was an onerous deal.
He assailed Mendoza’s decision to burden the public with the $330 million project funded by a loan from the Chinese government, saying two other bidders were willing to build the broadband project at no cost to government. The other bidders were Amsterdam Holdings Inc. and Ameriscom of the United States.
"There was no bidding done for this project, and under the law, all telecommunications projects of the national government have to be bidded out. In this case, all aspects of the contract are suspicious because these have been kept under wraps," the opposition lawmaker said.
Padilla also chided the Department of Justice for allowing itself to be the "laughing stock" for rendering a favorable opinion on the ZTE project, when the department allegedly did not even have a copy of the contract. Malaya 08/29/2007
Related Links
ZTE deal conceived in hotel `escapades???
Rep. Carlos Padilla links Elections chief Benjamin Abalos of being the patron of China's ZTE Corp.
Chinese loan caps sneaky ZTE deal
COMELEC silent on ‘sexcapade’
Abalos admits ZTE paid for China trips
Teves confirms Abalos's involvement in broadband deal
House minority mulls Abalos impeachment

Hello Garci Political Scam: ISAFP's 'Project Lighthouse'

The Hello Garci political scam's shameful-detailed secrets shall be exposed soon by the Philippine Senate. Lame duck and illegitimate President Gloria Arroyo’s political reign is over. The opposition will deliver the fatal blow in the senate investigation.

Former AFP chief of staff General Efren Abu has lot of explaining to do why the family of T/Sgt. Vidal Doble was kidnapped in Kidapawan by ISAFP men and illegally detained in his Camp Aguinaldo’s official residence basement. Even Balanga Bishop Socrates Villegas maybe part of cover-up operations. He was picked-up by a military chopper in Balanga, Bataan to ‘negotiate’ the Makati City San Carlos seminary stand-off. By coincidence, former Comelec commissionaire Virgilio Garcillano had been hiding somewhere in Bataan before he boarded a private jet in Subic to Singapore. The Bureau of Immigration and Air Transportation Office may have conspired in his great escape.

It had been established by the Biazon’s defense committee that ISAFP is responsible for wiretapping Gloria Arroyo, Virgilio Garcillano and some opposition personalities. One centavo question: Who ordered the illegal wiretapping?

Doble to name telecom firm in 'Hello Garci'

Doble ready to testify on GMA-Garcillano vote pad gabs

Ex-Isafp agent turns Senate witness, bares all in Garci wiretap
By Angie M. Rosales
08/22/2007
The dead also rises.
Or so it seems, with a former military intelligence agent, Air Force T/Sgt. Vidal Doble, ready to spill the beans on the 2004 presidential cheating operations under the baton of President Arroyo, as recorded in the now infamous “Hello Garci” wiretaps, which Malacañang keeps on insisting is a “dead issue” and a “closed book.”
In a surprise move yesterday, Doble, caught on videotape, gave his testimony, identifying the voices of the President and a poll commissioner, confessing that it was indeed the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp), which included himself, that did the wiretapping of the conversations between Mrs. Arroyo and then Commission on Elections Commissioner Virgilio “Garci” Garcillano, stressing that it was really Mrs. Arroyo and Garci’s voices caught on tape. Both had denied it was their voices that were heard on the tape, with Mrs. Arroyo apologizing for having spoken with a commissioner, but without adverting to the taped conversations.
Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson, in presenting the taped interview showing Doble’s confession, delivered a privilege speech on the Garci tapes, sparking a new round of proceedings and the reopening of the congressional inquiry, this time, to be handled by the Senate.
Doble is ready to spill the cheating beans, saying he could not do so before owing to the fact that when the scandal broke out in June 2005, his family was kidnapped in Kidapawan City and brought to Manila and was detained in the basement of the official residence of then AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Efren Abu.
Doble also said he could no longer take the continuing cheating in the elections committed by the administration as shown in this year’s elections.
Vidal recounted how “Project Lighthouse,” which ran from September 2003 to April 2005, targeted several personalities and detailed how the operation was done.
Targeted for wiretapping, among others, were opposition standard bearer, Fernando Poe Jr, former Agrarian Reform Secretary Horacio “Boy” Morales Jr, Poe supporter Rez Cortez, the Magdalo Group including Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, and now-Sen. Gregorio Honasan.
Doble also said there were some administration personalities who were ordered wiretapped, among whom are Michael Defensor, then presidential chief of staff and Garcillano.
The former Isafp agent, along with Lacson, linked a number of ranking military officers and some known personalities, including retired General Abu and Bishop Socrates Villegas, in deliberately frustrating efforts by the opposition to expose the truth before the public when the so-called master or “mother of all tapes” was revealed by former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director Samuel Ong.
Lacson yesterday presented before the Senate a taped interview of Doble, last seen in 2005 before he was placed under Isafp custody since June of that year until he was discharged from military service last February, containing his confession, which was also reduced into a sworn affidavit.
Lacson’s latest expose presented in a privilege speech, sparked the reopening of the congressional inquiry on the Garci scandal, this time to be handled by the upper chamber convening as a “Committee of the Whole.”
This was agreed upon by senators after a round of debates over which committee should conduct the probe as a number of them called for the inclusion of not only the defense and security panel chaired by Sen. Rodolfo Biazon as proposed by Lacson, but several other committees, in order not to provide the Executive Department any excuse in preventing the Senate from summoning concerned officials.
It will likely be a redux of the Garci probe in the Senate as investigation on this matter was also carried out by them, simultaneous with their counterparts from the House of Representatives, prior to the first impeachment proceedings of Mrs. Arroyo in 2005, with the upper chamber concentrating on the alleged involvement of four military generals in the tampering of results of the 2001 presidential elections, in favor of the Chief Executive.
Doble and Lacson also detailed how the Isafp carried out what the former Isafp agent branded as spying operations.
When his interviewer, identified as lawyer Alex Abesado inquired further on who were the other personalities the Isafp wiretapping operations, Doble disclosed that the monitors chanced upon Mrs. Arroyo calling up Garcillano.
“At the start, we already knew that “Gary” was Garcillano from the many long conversations. One time, someone called his cell. We were all stunned that it was President Arroyo who was calling Garcillano. What she asked him was about the 1 million vote padding. At that time, it was our team that was on duty,” Doble said, referring to the controversial charges against the Chief Executive on her alleged order to Garcillano to pad her votes by at least one million in some areas in Mindanao, while the congressional canvassing was still ongoing.
In attesting the validity of his charges, Doble named names such as his immediate superiors then namely Master Sgt. Alex Villedo and T/Sgt. Ariel Petate from the Philippine Air Force (PAF).
Doble said he served in the second of the four teams created to operate Project Lighthouse which he claimed was manned by Captains Paul Sumayo, Frederick Rebong and Lindasay Rex Sagge who acted as group commanders.
He detailed how they were given Nokia 3600 units by Captain Rebong, which have the capability of monitoring phone calls that were recorded and given to Rebong. The master tapes were left with the team and four of these tapes were given to Lito Santiago, who is a man of Sammy Ong.
Doble corroborated the earlier testimony of Ong when he made public the so-called mother of all tapes, after having sought refuge at the San Carlos Seminary in Makati City. Doble, with his family kidnapped by his superiors, was coerced into contradicting Ong and even claimed that he was abducted by the priests in the seminary.
The former Isafp agent mentioned Bishop Villegas who is identified closely with the late Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin, as the person who fetched him from the seminary and turned him over to Abu in AFP headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo , Quezon City, hinting broadly that Abu and Villegas were part of the effort to have Doble silenced and the truth kept hidden.
Doble said that was the time he saw his children and his wife who were detained in Abu’s basement, that he also saw Bishop Villegas there in the basement and that this was reason he could not tell the truth, adding that now he can, since he is out of the AFP and has not re-enlisted.
Doble claimed his decision to resurface and spill the beans was prompted by reports alleging anew that cheating was committed in this year’s senatorial and local polls, similar to what he attested actually took place in May 2004.
In backing up his charges, Doble said he can prove that the so-called Garci tapes were the handiwork of the military and can prove this before the public, adding that it was his voice as annotator that can be heard in the conversations.
Lacson said Doble deserved another day in court since his appearance before the investigating committees of the House of Representatives in 2005 was done against his will.
“When he was haled before the House of Representatives as a resource person, Vidal Doble was obviously not a free man,” the senator said.
“For two years and running, the nation has been kept in the dark about the truth behind ‘Hello Garci’ because the man who knew how conversations were illegally tapped for political and other purposes, could not speak out…thus his silence on the issue was guaranteed by the terror of fear for his family,” he added.
Lacson said this probe is aimed at providing closure to the controversy that hounded the country for two years now and may prove too costly for the administration as it will bring about anew the issue on the question on legitimacy of the mandate of the present leadership, the revelations are extremely alarming.
He asked them to take advantage of Doble’s testimony, having “finally found the courage of his convictions, and will tell the people, through us in this august chamber, freely, the whole unvarnished truth – the what’s, when’s, where’s, who’s and how’s of the “Hello Garci” tapes.”
“Not only had the Isafp been ordered to do its dastardly deed; no less than the leadership of the AFP became party to covering-up for the crimes it committed by threatening vital witnesses who sought to tell the truth,” he said, adding that the wiretapping could not have been done without the participation of a service provider, whom the senator did not name.
Lacson, after playing the tape on Doble, also presented to his colleagues how the so-called bugging operations were carried out by the military in this case.
“Notice how their technique is as simple as it is fraught with the most fearful of implications. What is frightening is the reality that we have all remained vulnerable while using any type of telecommunications equipment. It only takes a service provider willing to cooperate and conspire with whoever has knowledge in basic electronic surveillance.
Step 1: A cell phone conversation is coursed through the cell site of the service provider.
Step 2: The service provider splits the signal and relays it to a cell phone unit that can record voice calls (in this case, a Nokia 3600 programmed for the purpose by the service provider).
Step 3: The conversation is recorded as a digital file to the duplicate cell phone’s memory card, and is transferred to a computer.
Step 4: The file is then transferred to a cassette, CD or other media; in this case, a cassette tape… and, there we go… we have the infamous and notorious “Hello Garci” tapes.
“Now that we all know how simple a cell phone wiretap operation is being undertaken, we are indebted to Mr. Vidal Doble Jr. for finally surfacing to give us the truth, about how “Project Lighthouse” brought the nation into the dark, applying clandestine acts to achieve sinister ends...He has brought out the truth so that the Senate investigations into the farce that was the elections of 2004 can be put to its closure. Daily Tribune

US Safety Board: Made In China Toys Recalled

After toothpaste, sea foods, candies, tires, toys, what's next?
Toy factory boss kills himself after global recall

Mindanao Conflict: Tipo-Tipo Fiasco

Marine officers probed: Wrong frequencies prevented aerial bombing, strafing


Tell that to the Marines

It appears that the intervention of OIC Defense Chief Norberto Gonzales in the Tipo-Tipo fiasco may have prevented military ground commanders from pursuing Moro rebels after the firefight. Politicians should not intervene in military operations. Radio snafu is a flimsy excuse.

Excerpts from Daily Tribune: “They (officers) said if not because of him (Gonzales), our men could have already pursued the enemies right from that incident in Tipo-Tipo. But he intervened. He paraded himself in Basilan, talked to the local government units there, governors, other civilians including the MILF or members of the CCCH (Ceasefire Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities). He should get out from the DND (Department of National Defense). He may be good in another Cabinet post but not in the DND,” the Yes Arms spokesman said.

“He (Gonzales) is creating too much furor already within the AFP, (causing) more dissension on the part of our soldiers. They (Malacañang) are making our soldiers look stupid when these people are more intelligent than their leaders who show no leadership,” Aparri said.
He added the soldiers who survived the Al-Barka clash “feel that they are being sacrificed by this government for an objective that they don’t know.”


Related Links:

Trillanes: Govt execs led Marines to death trap
Ancestral Domain in Comparative Perspective
Ancestral domain still top issue when talks with MILF resume
SELF-DETERMINATION AND PEACE IN MINDANAO
The Akbar connection
The Story of the Moros

U.S. solons to Arroyo: Stop Extra-judicial Killings

Oberstar Raises Human Rights Concerns
Wednesday, August 01, 2007

Washington, DC - Forty-nine members of the U.S. Congress are speaking out about human rights abuses in the Philippines. Today, Congressman James L. Oberstar (MN) and Congressman Joe Pitts (PA) sent a bipartisan letter to Philippine President Gloria Macapagel Arroyo to express concern with current human rights violations taking place in that country.

Human rights groups have documented more than 800 cases of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines since 2001. The victims include religious workers, labor leaders, farmers, journalists and students. Just this year, it is estimated that pre-election violence claimed at least 110 victims before the country’s May 14th mid-term congressional elections.

The letter encourages the Arroyo government to take strong action to deter political violence and to investigate and prosecute those responsible for human rights crimes, which include extrajudicial killings and politically-motivated abductions and torture.

"Earlier this year, constituents brought to my attention their concerns with the inhumane killings in the Philippines." said Oberstar. "I hope this letter is an encouragement to President Arroyo to move forward to improve human rights in the Philippines and to bring to justice those who are responsible for these killings."

"I commend the Philippines Supreme Court for holding a summit to address the issue of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines," Pitts said. "This is an important development and I look forward to the implementation of plans discussed during the summit. However, the government must urgently address and resolve existing cases of disappearances and extrajudicial killings."

Asia's brown clouds 'warm planet

BBC News Wednesday, 1 August 2007, 18:34 GMT 19:34 UK
Clouds of pollution over the Indian Ocean appear to cause as much warming as greenhouse gases released by human activity, a study has suggested.
US researchers used unmanned aircraft to measure the effects of the "brown clouds" on the surrounding area.
Writing in Nature, they said the tiny particles increased the solar heating of the lower atmosphere by about 50%.
The warming could be enough to explain the retreat of glaciers in the Himalayas, the scientists proposed.
The clouds contain a mixture of light absorbing aerosols and light scattering aerosols, which cause the atmosphere to warm and the surface of the Earth to cool.
The main sources of the pollutants came from wood burning and fossil fuels, the team added.
Aerosols, also known as particulates, cool the land or sea below because they filter out light from the Sun.
While this process, known as "global dimming", is fairly well understood, the effect aerosols have on the surrounding atmosphere is still unclear.
The scientists, from the University of California San Diego and the Nasa Langley Research Center, said there remained a degree of uncertainty because, until now, estimates had largely been derived from computer models. The rest of the story.