Ex-security officer says House break-in ‘not possible’

A former security officer of the House of Representatives on Wednesday said it was “not really possible" for police officers to break into the Batasang Pambansa compound in Quezon City in 2005 supposedly as part of the operations to rig the results of the 2004 elections. Lawyer Artemio Adasa, deputy secretary for House operations during the time of the reported security breach, told lawmakers that there were no signs of a break-in when they checked the place where the ballot boxes used in the polls were stored seven months after the alleged incident. “Personally, based on my observations at that time which we documented, the said break-in seems to be not really possible. We could hardly believe that it ever occurred," he said during a House investigation on the supposed security breach. Adasa said the “makeshift" storage place for ballot boxes, which he said was made of plywood and surrounded by chicken wire, was locked when his team checked the area. “We did not find any sign of breakage of the padlock," he said. He, however, admitted that his office, at that time, neither conducted a “formal" investigation on the alleged break-in nor submitted a report of their observations to the House leadership since "no one wanted to talk about it." The inquiry on the alleged security breach was conducted after Senior Superintendent Rafael Santiago came out two months ago with a detailed account of the switching of election paraphernalia to allegedly ensure the victory of then-presidential candidate Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Santiago was still giving his testimony before the ad hoc committee tasked to investigate the incident as of posting time. — KBK, GMA News