House perimeter security chief: I was blindsided during ‘break-ins’

The head of the police force tasked to secure the perimeter of the Batasan Complex in Quezon City during the alleged break-ins in 2005 admitted that he might have been “blindsided" by his colleagues during the incident. Police Superintendent Fernando Ortega, then battalion commander of the Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF), said he was not aware of the security breach because he was inside his office talking to Senior Superintendent Rafael Santiago during the three nights of the alleged break-ins. Santiago was the former National Capital Region police intelligence chief who came out three months ago with a detailed account of the alleged switching of election returns to cover the alleged rigging of the 2004 presidential elections won by Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. “We only discussed about our experiences in the police service during our meeting," Ortega said Wednesday during the House ad hoc committee hearing on the incident. He added that Santiago stayed in his office for two hours in three separate occasions to wait for “an operation within Quezon City." Ortega said Santiago’s repeated visits to his office in January and February 2005 for “casual" talks did not make him suspicious. He said he never attempted to ask details of Santiago’s supposed “operation." “It will be a violation of operational security so I did not ask anymore… Personally, I was blindsided," he said. The police officer also said that Santiago left before midnight after their conversation, saying that the operation he is supposed to lead has been “aborted.’ ‘Used’ Ilocos Norte Rep. Rodolfo Fariñas, meanwhile, said Santiago’s visits might have been meant to distract Ortega while the switching of the election paraphernalia was taking place. “Nakikita mo na ginamit ka lang niya. Wala silang operations, dahil dito sa Batasan ang operation nila," the lawmaker told Ortega during the inquiry. Ortega, for his part, insisted that no House security breach could have happened under his watch, since he properly deployed his subordinates around the Batasan compound. “Hindi pwede mangyari na hindi ko malalaman ‘yun. I have my duty sentinel manning the Batasan Complex," he said. Fariñas, however, said Ortega could not say for certain that the break-ins did not happen, since the police officer did not personally check the log books and the closed circuit television (CCTV) camera recordings following the incidents. Ortega said he was “bothered and hurt" for being implicated in the incident and that his reputation as a policeman “has been tarnished by unfounded accusation." - KBK, GMA News