THE leader of the independent minority bloc in the House warned Wednesday against the perception of a whitewash after a House panel tried to suppress the production of the CCTV footage that could prove that money extorted from suspected Chinese crime lord Wang Bo was used to bribe lawmakers into swiftly passing the Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL).
Leyte Rep. Ferdinand Martin Romualdez issued his warning after Pampanga Rep. Oscar Rodriguez, chairman of the House committee on good government and public accountability, said the video footage could not be produced during Tuesday’s hearing because the director of the Legislative Security Bureau, Isabelito Flores, was on vacation.
Rodriguez, a Liberal Party stalwart, seemed eager to end the probe, announcing at every session that it would be the last hearing, even though the CCTV footage had not been produced.
In a heated exchange with Romualdez, Rodriguez denied suppressing the evidence.
Rodriguez also insinuated that some vested interest groups may have had a“hidden agenda” behind leaking the payola story, purportedly to cast doubts on the BBL and derail the Palace-imposed deadline to pass it on June 11.
“I personally believe there is a hidden agenda here so the BBL will not pass. The target is to shape the public opinion to cast doubts on BBL and make the congressmen fear to vote for BBL,” Rodriguez said.
Rodriguez said the panel had no intention to suppress evidence by not showing the CCTV footage.
Romualdez demanded that the supposed videos that were “overwritten” be produced so that they would know “once and for all” if money had been delivered at the rear entrance of the House, all the way to the Office of the Speaker.
“I don’t understand why the panel could not ask the House security personnel, who are just here in the hearing…to produce that footage,” Romualdez said.
Rodriguez said the security personnel manning the CCTV were “just ordinary personnel, who needed clearance from their boss, Flores, who is now on leave.”
“The bribery issue has already cast doubts on the BBL,” Rodriguez.
Romualdez said it was precisely why the panel should view the CCTV footage.
“We want to see the truth,” Romualdez said.
He pointed to inconsistencies in the explanation for the absence of the CCTV footage, with Speaker Feliciano Belmone Jr. saying the cameras were defective, while House security personnel said the tapes had been overwritten.
“There is no intentional delay. We are also very anxious to see those. The footage will be shown if available,” Rodriguez said as he ordered that the video footage for May 25, 26 and 27 be produced in the hearing, which will be held in two weeks. Rodriguez did not give the exact date for the next hearing.
Rodriguez has announced in each hearing that it would be the panel’s last, but lawmakers prevailed upon him to continue, since the panel had vailed to send out invitations to the resource persons concerned.
Abakada Rep. Jonathan dela Cruz, a member of the independent minority bloc, cited the case of journalist Benny Antiporda, who was not issued an invitation for Tuesday’s hearing despite assurances from the panel in the previous hearing that he would be invited.
Antiporda was described by Bureau of Immigration Commissioner Siegfred Mison as the “friend of the Chinese Embassy” who informed him that Deputy Commissioner Gilberto Repizo had met with a representative of Wang and that shortly after the meeting, Repizo changed his tune and pushed for the complete reversal of the summary deportation order in favor of the May 21release order for Wang.
“They did not send me the invitation. I did not receive the invitation,” Antiporda told The Standard.
But during the hearing, Rodriguez said Antiporda asked to be excused because the latter had “prior appointments.”
Dela Cruz demanded that the panel invite Antiporda to the next hearing.
Romualdez also lauded his colleagues, Dasmarinas City Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. and 1BAP Rep. Silvestre Bello III for withdrawing their motions for contempt against The Standard reporter, Christine Herrera, saying the contempt citation would have sent the wrong signal to the public and had a chilling effect on the media.