Garci and Doble

Garcillano might be contemplating again on another escape. So, immigration officers particularly in Mindanao, be on alert! The Senate might one of these days issue a subpoena for him to appear before the hearing.

But Garci is as hardheaded and arrogant as Bedol. Will he appear? It depends. If his higher ups tell him not to, in accordance with Executive Order No. 464, he will never. Although he is not per se under the Executive Branch, he is. He is under that person whom he catapulted to power and who is beholden to him.

Others would readily dismiss this reinvestigation of the Hello Garci tape scandal as another opposition gimmickry. If it’s another of Lacson’s hype for the coming presidential election as Enrile had surmised, is another matter. We cannot again condone past mistakes by forgetting it because Filipinos are known to have short memories. This shameful electoral practice involving the presidency should not only be uncovered; culprits should be punished.

Those who oppose this move are blinded by their own selfish interests. The reason why they are in office, we are not talking only of cabinet members but all members of the government bureaucracy, is because of the continued rule of a cheat. In other words, their authority rests on the illegitimacy of the current occupant of Malacañang.

Being sorry for what she did is forgivable but it must be accompanied by remorse and repentance. Arroyo could have allowed the truth to surface in the first instance but she did not. Heads could have rolled and one of them should be Garci’s. Then, this fiasco was followed by the Bedol-Maguindanao controversy. Where’s contrition here? By trying to stifle again this Senate inquiry through administration senators, there is really something that the public must know, which should not be encumbered by mere legal technicalities as Joker Arroyo et al are trying to do.

Joker’s position is not surprising. For someone who had benefited from the administration’s machinery during the last election, he is indebted to GMA. One wonders what happened to that Joker who uttered indignantly: “…we cannot have a country run by a thief.” So, does he now permit a country run by a cheat?

The probe should not be limited to the cheating. It must also include a detailed exploration on the alleged wiretapping activities of the ISAFP. Vidal Doble should be closely grilled as to the extent of this. Why did this happen? Who were behind this incident?

There must be a link somewhere between the Garci tape scandal and the Aragoncillo espionage. It’s in the Senate’s hands to find out. [Email me at dissentpdn@gmail.com]

[First published in People's Digest Newsweekly (Dagupan City) (September 4-10, 2007)]