Garcillano spotted in Manila

In an apparent game of cat and mouse, former poll commissioner Virgilio Garcillano is not in Cagayan de Oro City, where the Senate tried to send a summons to him to attend the "Hello, Garci" investigation on Friday. Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he and his staff have received tips on Garcillano's whereabouts, including information that he is in Metro Manila, but stressed this does not mean Garcillano can be off the hook. "Pwede namang redirect ang subpoena kung saan siya or at least may proof of service. Kung may maipakita ang SAA ng proof of service, he should attend. Maski hindi siya attend sa susunod na hearing, di attend? When a warrant is issued against him he will be a fugitive (We can redirect the subpoena to wherever he is. The important thing is that the Senate sergeant-at-arms returns with proof that the notice for him has been served. Besides, even if he does not attend the first hearing on Friday there will be other hearings)," Lacson said. He also said that depending on the decision of the joint committees conducting the probe, the Senate can declare Garcillano in contempt and order his arrest. But for now, he said he does not consider Garcillano important in the first hearing, which is scheduled on Friday morning. Lacson said Friday's hearing will likely revolve on the incident in San Carlos Seminary in Makati City where former military spy Vidal Doble Jr. was picked up and brought to the quarters of then Armed Forces chief of staff Efren Abu. Still, he said Garcillano's lawyer's claim he is not in the area specified in the Senate notice is no excuse for him to elude the Senate. "Hindi excuse yan. Basta may proof of service dapat attend siya, kung hindi depende sa member ng committee kung ano dapat gawin sa kanya. Sa akin sa ngayon di sya masyadong importante sa hearing sa Friday (It's not an excuse. So long as the Senate has proof of service, the committees concerned will decide what to do with him)," he said. Also Wendesday, the Armed Forces is seeking a clearance from President Arroyo whether she would allow Navy Vice Admiral Tirso Danga to appear before the Senate for the re-opening of the controversial Hello Garci scandal. AFP public information chief Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro said the military's Office of the Legislative Affairs is drafting a letter request for the signature of Armed Forces Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. Danga was the chief of the Intelligence Service of the AFP when the Hello Garci tape was supposedly recorded by Isafp agents. The tape supposedly proves the rigging of the results of the 2004 presidential elections. Danga has relinquished his last post as commander of the military's Western Command based in Puerto Princesa City to Commodore Ruperto Rico Borromeo last June, ahead of his mandatory retirement on Sept. 24 this year. When asked if impending request to Malacañang means that the Danga's appearance before the Senate is already okay to the AFP, Bacarro said: "No, we will seek clearance from the Chief Executive for the attendance of any officer in such hearing." Bacarro said the military establishment is seeking the clearance from the President in compliance to the provisions of Memorandum Circular 108 which was issued by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita on July 27 last year. The memorandum circular states: "All heads of departments of the Executive branch of government shall secure the consent of the President prior to appearing at a question hour before either House of Congress." Bacarro said the letter request is also "in accordance" to Executive Order 464, which had been partially declared by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional. The SC came out made with the decision after various groups questioned the EO. EO 464 was issued by President Arroyo on Sept. 28, 2005, hours after Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani and Lt. Col. Alexander Balutan went to the Senate and testified about how allies of the President rigged the elections in Lanao del Sur. The executive order barred top government officials, military and police officers from appearing before any congressional hearing without the explicit approval from the President, the military's commander-in-chief. "This letter will be addressed to the President, through channels, seeking clearance for the appearance of the requested officer to appear at the said hearing and this is in accordance to the provisions of EO 464 and at the same time to Memorandum Circular 108," said Bacarro. "Specifically, it is specified in the Memorandum Circular 108 that there should be clearance from the Chief Executive (before officials can appear before hearings)," said Bacarro, adding however that the military wants a closure of the Hello Garci issue. Four military generals, including Esperon, were mentioned in the tape which implied that Esperon and two other generals – Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko and Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon – helped in the rigging of the elections in favor of the President. The fourth general, Gudani, supposedly supported an opponent of the President. Gudani, along with Balutan, were investigated by the military for defying an earlier verbal and written order from then AFP chief Gen. Generoso Senga not to appear before the Senate without the President's consent. "Everybody would like to have a closure but we have existing policies. We have to follow policies on that (appearance before the Senate). We will abide by those policies. We are still subject to observing those policies, such as getting clearance from the Chief Executive," said Bacarro. Asked what would happen if the hearing pushes through after Danga's retirement, Bacarro said: "Then that will be a totally different thing already because he is out of the military service at that time. The AFP will have no jurisdiction over Admiral Danga by that time." On the possible statements that Danga may issue before the Senate probe if he is allowed to attend, Bacarro: "I don't want to speculate. I don't even know what he is going to say. I will not be in a position to answer that." At the same time, Bacarro warned military personnel against appearing before the Senate for the investigation without the consent of the President, saying they may suffer the same fate of Gudani and Balutan. "All of our soldiers are aware of the policies, particularly on appearing before hearings. Everybody is covered by the provisions, we should seek clearance before appearing in such proceedings, otherwise they will be violating policies, directives," he said. The Senate re-opened the investigation following a privilege speech of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, who presented a video of former intelligence agent T/Sgt. Vidal Doble confirming that the Hello Garci tape indeed came from Isafp. Doble has said that he was forced to initially deny that the tapes did not come from Isafp because his family was under the custody of the military, specifically at the official residence of the AFP chief. On the Bishop Socrates Villegas' fetching of Doble from the San Carlos seminary in Makati City to the military, Bacarro said: "We are not in a position to convey what we saw. Let’s just wait for the investigation." Pressed if the AFP is not looking into the incident, he said: "I will not be in a position to answer that. Let’s just wait what will be outcome of the investigation. I don't want to preempt the outcome of the investigation." - GMANews.TV