Whistle-blower: House guards asleep during 2005 break-in

(Updated 9:39 p.m.) Security personnel tasked to guard the Batasang Pambansa compound were asleep when policemen broke into the area in 2005 as part of the alleged operations to rig the results of the 2004 elections, the police officer who headed the operation told lawmakers Wednesday. Senior Superintendent Rafael Santiago said there were no members of the legislative security bureau at the South Wing lobby of the House of Representatives building when he and his men switched election returns stored inside the building. “There are security personnel who were sleeping inside a room at the edge of the lobby. Our worry then was for them to come out and I was praying that they should not come out and just sleep," he said during a House investigation on the incident. The inquiry on the alleged security breach was conducted after Santiago came out two months ago with a detailed account of the switching of election returns to allegedly ensure the victory of then-presidential candidate Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Santiago said his fellow police officers even planned to engage the House guards in a drinking session before they broke into the Batasan compound. “This was just part of the contingency, but there was no need. During that day, there was no one coming out of the room," he said. He added that the lack of internal security allowed other police officers involved in the operation to “do their thing." He said other policemen broke into the ballot box storage and switched the ERs with the help of a lock expert. The alleged break-ins were carried out on Jan. 23 and 29, and Feb. 5 and 27, 2005. Impossible Antonio Collera, chief of the House of Representatives internal security group during the time of the break-in, said it was “impossible" for Santiago’s men to have entered the Batasan compound. He said the two personnel from the non-office-hour roving patrol manning the Batasan compound at that time reported that visitors were still present at the South Wing lobby when the police officers supposedly conducted their operation. “During that time, may mga bisita pa sa South Lobby. Imposible na mangyari kasi may mga tao pa sa South Wing Lobby," he said after the inquiry. Collera said the members of the roving patrol did not report any untoward incident during the night of the supposed break-in. “Impossible na kung may ipapasok na mga truck, hindi malalaman… Wala silang na-observe," he said, referring to the vehicle Santiago said was used to carry fake ERs during the operation. Lawyer Artemio Adasa, deputy secretary for House operations in 2005, for his part said that his office has intentionally dubbed over videos taken by the closed circuit television camera (CCTV) on the night of the supposed break-in since the recording did not show anything irregular. “The CCTV did not pick up any untoward incident during that time. We still have VHS copy because we were still not using digital recording that time. Once we found out that it was blank, it means that we recycled it. It's negative," he said during the same inquiry. Adasa earlier said that there were no signs of a break-in when they checked the place where the ballot boxes used in the polls were stored. Deputy Speaker Lorenzo Tañada III, head of the ad hoc committee doing the investigation, said the panel will conduct an ocular inspection of the area being described by Santiago to get a clear picture of the testimonies. — KBK, GMA News