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By Efren L. Danao, Senior Reporter
Retired army Sgt. Vidal Doble again found
himself alone on the Senate’s witness panel, where he elaborated
on an earlier statement that wiretapping is routine work at the
Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp),
of which he was a member.
The Senate continued its public hearings on the
so-called “Hello, Garci,” probe. The case involves an alleged
wiretapped conversation between President Gloria Arroyo and former
elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano about the 2004 elections.
The government officials have repeatedly snubbed the Senate
investigations.
On Monday, Doble told the Senate Committee on
National Defense that wiretapping is part of the ordinary
intelligence work. He maintained that he could not question the
order of his superiors to “monitor” the conversations of
targeted individuals.
Doble was the lone witness present. The rest of
those who were asked to attend disregarded the Senate subpoena and
invoked Executive Order 464 as their reason. Those people are
officials of the intelligence service—Rear Admiral Tirso Danga,
Col. Paul Sumayo, Capt. Frederick Rebong, Capt. Lindsay Rex Sagge.
They also included retired Chief of Staff Gen. Efren Abu, Press
Secretary Ignacio Bunye, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzalez
and Presidential Assistant Remedios Poblador.
There was a motion to cite those absent with
contempt, but Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, the committee chairman, deferred
action because the committee lacked the needed majority of 10
members to adopt it.
Doble said Rebong and Sagge gave them the target
telephone numbers to be monitored, and that the two then coordinated
with their assets at Globe and Smart for the wiretapping.
“We have at least 10 assets at Globe and
Smart. We give them monthly allowance of P20,000 each, permits to
carry firearms and mission orders,” Doble said of their assets at
the service providers.
He added that their assets are technical men and
that the clandestine operation was conducted without the knowledge
and consent of the management of Smart and Globe. Telco executives
have denied complicity in the wiretapping in earlier Senate
testimonies.
Doble said his unit used five listening devices,
each of which could monitor at least 50 “targets.” He added that
the unit was given at least 50 numbers from September 2003 to April
2005.
Sen. Joker Arroyo got Doble to admit that the
illicit romantic liaisons of their targets were also taped. When
Arroyo asked if these tapes could be used for blackmail, Doble said
he did not know what their officers did after getting those tapes.
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