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| Ferreting Out the Truth By Antonio C. Abaya Written August 30, 2005 For the Standard Today, September 01 issue There was never any doubt that the impeachment process was going to implode before it could gather any momentum. With an initial support from only 42 signatories, it could not gather more than six or seven additional signatures even after days of impassioned debates over the �rule of law� and hair-splitting arguments over technicalities. There was never any realistic hope of getting the required minimum of 79 votes to move the impeachment process to the Senate for trial. The expected bandwagon migration from the usual fence-sitters never took place, stopped as it was before it even began by the sudden release of public works allocations worth P25 million per electoral district. How many congressmen will spurn such a thinly disguised legalized bribe in favor of the �truth?� Obviously not very many. This is money politics at its most brazen. And there is no doubt whatsoever that Virgilio Garcillano has been made to disappear because he knows too much about the �truth.� There is only one thing the public knows for certain, and that is that Garci, or someone who carried a passport by his name, arrived in Singapore on July 14 and left the next day for parts unknown. This from a communication from the Singapore foreign ministry to our Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA), which has pointedly refrained from releasing the full text, only the thinnest excerpts, to wit, that Garci arrived in Singapore on July 14 and left the next day. I am certain that the Singaporeans know on board which aircraft Garci arrived on July 14, and on board which airliner Garci left on July 15, toward which destination. And I am also certain that this information was relayed by Singapore to the DFA, but the DFA is not releasing that information to the public because it, too, wants to hide the �truth.� That information, embedded in the log books, files and computers of the Singapore immigration and civil aviation agencies, would tell us immediately whether or not Garci really flew to Singapore, as alleged in media, in a Learjet owned and operated by Subic Air, a company owned by tycoon and Gloria ally Jose Alvarez. If Garci did not fly in that Learjet, then Subic Air is innocent of the allegations and imputations assigned to it. But if Garci did fly in that aircraft, as confirmed by Singapore official records, then its pilot committed perjury when he swore in the current snail-paced investigation that he had only his co-pilot and mechanic on board his aircraft when he flew it to Singapore on July 14, and is therefore an accomplice in a conspiracy to hide the �truth.� But if the Singapore official records confirm Garci�s arrival in Singapore on board Subic Air�s Learjet, then the plot thickens and more Philippine government agencies and their officials, aside from the DFA and its officials, are involved in the smuggling out of an individual and the cover-up of that act of human smuggling, by itself an international crime aside from being a violation of Philippine laws. The counter-argument that Garci was not a fugitive from justice and was a free man to travel anywhere he wanted to is lame and infirm. If that is so, then why the elaborate and extensive conspiracy by Philippine government officials to hide his departure and current whereabouts. As I wrote in my article �Garci�s Vanishing Act� (August 21), the Air Transportation Office (ATO) and the Bureau of Immigration and Deportation (BID) are always directly involved in the processing of a departing aircraft passenger, and some of their officials seem to be involved in the spiriting out of Garci. Let me repeat what I wrote. It is not unlikely that the aircraft Garci flew out in to Singapore carried two sets of official passenger manifest. One with Garci listed in it as passenger, to satisfy the requirements of the Singapore immigration and civil aviation authorities. The other without Garci in it, to mislead Philippine media. Only the ATO could have provided these two sets of documents. It is also not unlikely that Garci�s Philippine passport was stamped with an Exit stamp, as required by the immigration authorities of his destination (Singapore) in the privacy of an office, such as the BID, so that his departure would not show in the records of the BID. As for Garci�s destination on July 15, the Singapore authorities can also tell us that, and most likely gave the DFA that information, but the DFA is not telling because it wants to hide the �truth.� At first, it was rumored that Garci flew to London. Then that he had fled to his daughter�s residence in New Jersey. But it has since been revealed that the UK has not issued any visa to a Virgilio Garcillano, and that his US visa had expired in 2003 and has not been renewed or extended. The latest report is that Garci was sighted on August 3 in a hotel in Labuan, Sabah or North Borneo. If that report is accurate, then Garci may not have long to live and may even be already dead. Sabah is a frontier area like the American Wild, Wild West, and even though the Malaysian government runs a tight ship, it cannot guarantee the safety of every uninvited foreign fugitive who chooses to hide in its vast frontier territory. Because he is useless alive � he would, in fact, be a continuing liability - to those who helped him escape, Garci may by now have already gone through the digestive system of several sharks in the waters off Sabah and may have already slipped one or two notches down the food chain in the Sabah ecosystem. Garci�s disappearance leaves a paper trail (up to a point) that could have been verified and confirmed by unimpeachable (pun intended) sources, the Singapore immigration and civil aviation authorities, if one were really serious and relentlessly deductive in ferreting out the truth. But Philippine media, with its fabled lack of logical follow-through and its evident bias in favor of lawyers and politicians, preferred to focus its attention, almost exclusively, on the circus in Congress and the endless debates on the finer points of constitutional law. Quo Vadis Veritas? Since the truth can no longer be ferreted out in an impeachment process, and may have dissolved into the saline solution off Sabah, who or where can the Philippine public, especially the middle class, turn to satisfy its aching hunger for truthful governance? Certainly the truth cannot be found through any so-called revolutionary council that seeks to restore to power, or at least grant �revolutionary amnesty� to, Joseph Estrada, who has his own sets of lies to promote and perpetuate. The same can be said of Panfilo Lacson. Will the truth set us free if peddled by Evangelist Eddie Villanueva or Fortunato Abat or Renato de Villa, the most eager of the eager beavers waiting in the wings to be crowned emperor of this ramshackle, impoverished and dilapidated empire? Hardly. Villanueva seems to have retreated to his Jesus cocoon, perhaps silenced by the P70 million estafa case filed against him by a cousin of Mike Arroyo, for which there is a pending warrant for his arrest. Abat and De Villa do not even register in public opinion surveys. Let me correct that. Abat got zero votes in June and zero votes in July in a Pulse Asia search for potential leaders, despite wide publicity about his �transitional authoritative government� idea. What about the emerging Queen Mother, Susan Roces? She has re-engineered herself, from the Taray Queen of Club Filipino to a more even-tempered, caring, gently articulate Madonna. But, dear God! another woman president? To her credit, Ms. Roces has said many times that the next president of this country should be a man. Presumably and hopefully, she still stands by that. So who will set us free with the truth? Various moderate groups have lately launched movements to try and set the middle class on fire and harness public anger against our habitually untruthful politicians and their subservient toadies in the bureaucracy, but with very limited success. Running Priest Fr. Robert Reyes and Environmentalist Nicky Perlas, with their candles and flowers at the EDSA Monument, hardly caused a ripple. The White Ribbon Movement, with their white ribbons, seem to have failed to generate white heat even among the tens of thousands of students in the middle-class campuses that they control. And now the Black and White Movement, which seems to focus on the Hyatt 10 to emphasize their collective point that the truth is as clear as black and white. Yet something seems to be lacking. And that something is Someone of stature whom the middle class can believe in and rally around and struggle under. Someone like Ninoy. Or like Arsenio Lacson. Or like the elder Ramon Magsaysay. Nandy Pacheco�s Kapatiran antedated all these efforts by more than one year, having launched its search for a servant-leader even before the May 2004 elections. To date, however, it does not seem to have found one, at least one prominent and credible enough to appeal to a broad spectrum in this nation of endlessly quarreling crabs. In the 1970s, a visiting American senator is said to have remarked that the Philippines was a nation of 40 million cowards afraid of one son-of-a-bitch. In 2005, he would probably say that we are a nation of 85 million cowards afraid of one�.er�.bitch? ***** Reactions to [email protected] or fax 824-7642. Other articles in www.tapatt.org. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |
| Reactions to �Ferreting Out the Truth� Tony, Just wanted to point out that when I broke the story confirming Garci's flight to Singapore, I did confirm that he left Subic aboard the a chartered Subic Air flight RPC-1426. He arrived at Selatar airport in Singapore on 14 July, stayed overnight and left the next day through a commerical flight in Changi airport headed for London. The Department of Foreign Affairs may not have released the details but my sources in the Singapore government have verified the above information to me and confirm that they relayed the same information to the DFA. My Singapore sources confirm that they relayed the information a full week before it was relayed to Rep. Gilbert Remulla. The DFA would have withheld the information indefinitely had Remulla not threatened to publicly complain about their lack of cooperation. Furthermore my sources in the British government have told me that Garci was never stamped by Heathrow immigration, implying that he only transited in London before heading to another country. I'm currently following up some solid leads as to where he may have gone and where he may be now. So please allow me to respectfully differ on the point that there has been a lack of logical follow through. I would just like to make sure my facts are airtight before I go public. Ricky Carandang, [email protected] ABS-CBN, September 02, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww You wrote: "In 2005, he would probably say that we are a nation of 85 million cowards afraid of one�.er�.bitch?� Naah, we are a nation of 85 million who COULDN�T care less about her and this political crap. Jose Genato, [email protected] September 02, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww The political drama taking place in Congress right now may likely produce another collapse in Malacanang. This is very sad and most of all, will result to damaging to our already battered image. Listening to those senators and congressmen speeches, my whole body quivers and my feelings numb. They all speak of truth and righteousness to make you believe that they really exist. Is the actress positioning herself to rule? Too bright a president is dangerous and you know what happened when we have an embecil. Hello? Ganny Cornelio, [email protected] September 02, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww I don�t think most of us are afraid. Sadly, I think most of us just don't care. The whole thing has already lost its momentum and a lot of people just want the whole thing to go away and move onto something else. It�s a sad state of affairs but true. Rigged elections are so common that another one just doesn�t matter. Carlos Celdran, [email protected] September 02, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww It is the perception that there is a plethora of concurrence with the concluding sentences in Tony Abaya's August 30 Standard Today column: In the 1970s, a visiting American senator is said to have remarked that the Philippines was a nation of 40 million cowards afraid of one son-of-a-bitch. In 2005, he would probably say that we are a nation of 85 million cowards afraid of one�.er�.bitch? ***** Fil Juntereal, [email protected] September 02, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Like I suggested before, to initially avoid a violent reaction from the citizenry, let us initiate a Vote Of Confidence (as a last resort)) to once and for all find out if the majority of the citizenry still want Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to continue as President. If government refuses to conduct a nation-wide plebiscite, then let us ask the Pool Takers to conduct a nation-wide Survey by Regions with the simple questionnaire: "Do you still want Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to continue serving as President of the Philippines?" and the simple answer shall be either: "YES" or "NO". Both sides of the YES or NO groups must then abide by the results, after which the citizenry must forgive and forget and start all over again as ONE PEOPLE, ONE NATION. Merardo C. Abaya, [email protected] September 02, 2005 MY REPLY. You have already made this suggestion several times. Why don�t YOU conduct the survey yourself and see how many Filipinos will agree with you? wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, Congratulations for dishing out some finely crafted articles about our national affairs in disarray. With these articles coming out from the Standard, I take it that your Chairman is no longer worried about his ties with GMA and family (gang) going sour. Afterall, he already has an extended 25-year contract on this cash cow at the Manila International Container Terminal neatly tucked under his belt. But, wait until some politico finds a way of questioning the deal that might cause the contract to be negated, then there might be again some changes in your "Editorial policy". Such is the way the political game is being played by our "booty capitalists" - to borrow a term from Budget Secretary Neri. I do not care from which medium I read your articles, just continue doing them and more power to you. Tet Gambito, [email protected] Cebu City, September 02, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr. Abaya, This is a well written article. Our country degenerated economically from one that is second in prosperity only to Japan in the sixties to one that is miserably way below compare to its neighbors in spite of abundant natural resources, talented manpower, and economically strategically located country in this part of the world. Our political leaders are full of worms of self-conceit that feed itself on the faults of others. By discovering faults elsewhere, subconsciously one's own merit is asserted, and one's own inadequacy camouflaged. They want to be politicians, not for the good of the country but because of greed for power, money and fame, so we economically degenerated. Can we find one politician that will sincerely serve the interest of our country above all else? High morals and ethics are what we need from our political leaders and education for our youth. This is the solution to our problem. Jesse Alto, [email protected] September 02, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww The TRUTH is right in front of the estimated 85 Million Filipinos: GMA and her cohorts STOPPED the Impeachment Process. Is there any need to ask WHY? Isn't it TIME for CIVIL WAR in the Philippines? Aren't the battle lines between Pro-GMA Filipinos and Anti-GMA Filipinos clearly drawn? JMC Nepomuceno, [email protected] September 02, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony- Assuming you are - and I imagine you must be - the Tony Abaya I knew who ran the truly lamented Erehwon Bookstore, I am delighted to have found you again. I doubt you will particularly remember me, but I was one of those early (1962-63) Peace Corps volunteers who frequented your bookstore and then again when I was in Manila between periods of dissertation research (1966-68) in Estancia, Iloilo. I have lost track of when the bookstore disappeared, but if it was still there, 1970-72, when I was with the Ford Foundation there, I would have been one of your "regulars" (if not a suki) then as well. What I do remember clearly is my disappointment the time I came into the Makati arcade looking for the Erehwon and discovered that you and the bookstore were gone. And no one I knew where. Since then I have been back in the Philippines numerous times, if briefly, for continuing research on Estancia's continuing evolution. And I have often wondered what became of you Then a few days ago a friend passed on to me your article on Pepe Abueva's "can of worms." Personally, I am very fond of Pepe. He is a wonderful man, and his courage and skill in getting UP to take Filipino seriously was terribly important. I also count Pepe as a good and close friend. However, on the federalism issue I must admit I agree with you completely. In fact, I have pressed him a couple of times now on how exactly a federal s ystem would change (for the better) the feudal, patrimonial, patron-client systems which still dominate so much of Philippine politics. Indeed, from my experience (Iloilo in general and more concretely, the relatively prosperous fishing and marketing town of Estancia), the mounting numbers of deeply vulnerable rural and small town poor - if they cannot find a means of going abroad - desperately want to become clients of a reliable and accessible patron. The great majority are searching for patrons for the multiple forms of security that patrons can and sometimes do provide. No matter that patrons also often cruelly exploit their clients as well. And sadly, if a local patron is not readily available, then as we have seen, a symbolic patron off the silver screen may have to serve. Alternatively, they seek (mutual) support in a religious community offering salvation at least in the next life. There is of course a small but growing middle class with rather different concerns. But as in most places in the world, it is essentially oriented towards its own social and physical mobility. The last thing middle class families want to do is slip back into demanding patronage roles. Which then leaves the terrain open for the happily patronal trapos who need the votes (and will even magnanimously pay for them) to get themselves elected - for all the still great opportunities political office creates. This, it seems to me, remains the core dynamic of Philippine politics, and is the real "Philippine Political Crisis." Its not the unitary vs federal system, nor the congressional vs the parliamentary system, nor the stumbling impeachment effort, nor the Garci tapes. Instead, it is the continuing clientalistic dependence of the massive and growing numbers of poor on self interested patronal trapos that is dragging the country down. Not only down, but increasingly far behind the other countries of the region. A very sad story... I know its more complicated, but do I have the basics wrong?? And having now gone on at such length, I really do hope you are indeed the Tony Abaya I once knew! On that presumption, warm regards and all best, David Szanton, [email protected] Durban, South Africa, September 03, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Thank you for this article, Mr. Abaya..... Yes, we need someone who can run our country with honesty and dignity. Our people deserves a better life....Our country is a beautiful country and we should all stand up and preserve it by way of decent lifestyle and dignified mentality. We have gone so low, it is shameful even to be identified as a Filipino. Claire Flores, [email protected] September 03, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Amen! I have a lot of personal thoughts about our political scenario. One thing is for certain there should come a point when we say enough is enough! It�s difficult to be in the military and have a progressive mind that is willing to go beyond conventions and make statements for his principles. The basis of human principles is morality, if you cannot discern what is right from what is wrong then you have no business being a leader. The Constitution is only a book, bounded on the idea that everybody is equal. It is there to serve the people and not for it to be served by the people. The primacy of human being/ the primacy of every Filipino is paramount. No book can hide the truth! May God Bless Us all! Vonne Villanueva, [email protected] September 04, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww HOW CAN THEY BE AFTER THE TRUTH WHEN THEY HAVE ALREADY ADJUDGED HER GUILTY? �You stole the presidency not once but twice!� yelled Susan Roces. �The president has lost the moral integrity to govern,� chorused Cory, Drilon, the Hyatt 10 and the MBC. They seemed so certain of GMA�s guilt on the accusations hurled against her. They want her to pay for her sins by stepping down from office. That was barely a month ago. With the impeachment now ongoing after the embarrassing numbers they produced on the streets, what are we hearing from them? �We want to know the truth. It is unfair for GMA not to have her day in court where she can prove her innocence. Let the impeachment proceed unimpeded to a just conclusion.� They now feign reserving their judgment like Madonna impersonators and St. Peter incarnates. Even the palengkera former movie queen had an image make-over and shifted back to her former reserved (false?) self. WHAT A BUNCH OF HYPOCRITES! AND LIARS! These are the same people who want to picture themselves as paragons of morality and integrity. The ones who so love to quote the scriptures and think they have the monopoly to righteousness. They who accused the president of lying, cheating and stealing and have initiated plots to unseat her are now asking for a fair trial for GMA. Guilty before proven innocent? Is this their kind of justice? These people who think they know what�s best for this country the way they talk? They are not being honest themselves. They are actually an army of pots calling the kettle black. The people have seen so many of these masqueraders to be convinced. JOJO LABAYEN, [email protected] Marikina City, September 05, 2005 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww As I read your article sent to me as unsolicited email, I have noticed your bias and negativism towards the situation we are in right now. What is sad is that by sending your views to others you are spreading the pessimism that runs in your blood. I beg to disagree with your opinions on the following: That "Garcillano was made to disappear" is I think a claim that only he can answer. For all we know he "disappeared" to save us from the humiliation of Philippine politics, it was not only the president who could have called him. It was the president's taped conversations that was exposed for obvious political reasons. Who knows what other conversations he has with other politicians as well. In trying to put blame on the president on (y)our woes, you have charged other people and government agencies on unproven wrongdoings and written a great part of your article on this. I find this conflicting with your quest for the truth. If only journalists, or other "concerned citizens" like you are just responsible enough to write and print the truth, not the half-truths or rumors or hearsays that is being peddled around, then ordinary people like us could have a better way to understand why Metro Manila people are going through all the trouble proving to everyone that the Manila government is rotten. As far as people in the provinces who voted for the president are concerned, the controversies right now are purely political, hatched by people who lost in the last elections in order to heal their egos and justify their loss. There is no such thing as the "Filipino People" who has spoken as claimed by everyone else. The way I see it, the issues concerning us now has divided us right down the middle. GMA is still sitting as president because she still enjoys a small lead over her opponents. For our country's sake let us stop negativism to rule over our land so we can move on. Nicolas Pongos, [email protected] September 07, 2005 MY REPLY. Please see the email above of Ricky Carandang of ABS-CBN on the �disappearance� of Garci. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |