It actually did not add much more to the one page press statement that the Arroyo government released in April 2006, at the start of the Lenten week when everybody was either in a holy retreat or holiday mood, that cleared all the generals mentioned in the “Hello Garci” tapes of any complicity in the election cheating that allowed Arroyo to keep the presidential powers she grabbed in 2001 from elected President Joseph Estrada.
Trillanes, a former navy officer and imprisoned for more almost seven years for standing up to Arroyo, said the 15-page report, “ per see, as expected, was sanitized.”
But, he said, “the attachments which contain the testimonies of the resource persons and witnesses are loaded with revelations about some officers’ involvement in the election cheating in 2004.”
The young senator said, “We can just throw away the report and just focus on the testimonial evidence.”
One testimony that Trillanes would like to pursue is that of former AFP Vice Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia, commander of the 2004 Task Force HOPE (Honest, Orderly, Peaceful Elections) who asked the fact-finding board, headed by then Vice Admiral Mateo M. Mayuga, to audit the P197 million given to the Task Force.
From left to right: Garcia, Mayuga,Esperon, Angue
Garcia said that “a big amount of money” had been allotted for the military’s role of maintaining honest, orderly and peaceful elections, but he said, “I don’t think what was spent came close to what was given to us.”
The one who had control of the TF HOPE’s fund was its deputy commander, Maj. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, who was then the AFP deputy chief of staff for operations (J3).
When asked about the taped conversations of Arroyo with Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano where names of a number of ranking military officers were mentioned as participants in the tampering of election results, Garcia was frank with the five-man board.
He said: “I think if you look deep down inside yourself and ask yourself your honest opinion, whether you believe our officers can be capable of cheating or did it happen, the answer is ‘yes’.”
Garcia further said, “There are people among us who allowed themselves to be used. Let us not joke ourselves or try to delude ourselves in the idea na walang nangyari.”
It is a reflection of the quality of the Mayuga report that not a line about Garcia’s testimony was mentioned in the executive summary.
Another testimony worth following up is that of Col. (then Capt.) Feliciano Angue who was then the Naval Task Force Commander in Tawi-Tawi. Strangely, he was relieved of his duties in Tawi-tawi the day after the May 10, 2004 elections by then Flag-Officer in Command Ernesto de Leon and was told to report to the commander of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao in Zamboanga City.
The Mayuga Report merely said that Angue attended a three-day conference.
But Angue told fellow officers that at least six times Esperon called him up to allow Arroyo’s election operators to do their thing in his area. He also mentioned of a “Capt. Ball” who also called him up with the same message. Many guessed that Capt. Ball was either a retired military officer or police officer who held a high position in the Arroyo government.
Angue said he told Esperon and Capt. Ball to spare his area because anyway the votes were not really substantial.
He said that if they insisted, it’s better that he be “grounded”.
He was indeed grounded in Zamboanga for three days after elections, enough time for Arroyo operators to tamper the elections results.
Mayuga later on confided to friends that the problem with Angue was, he did not tell the fact-finding board what he was telling his fellow officers.
Mayuga, after clearing the ‘Hello Garci” officers was promoted to the Philippine Navy’s top post vice De Leon who was sent to Australia as ambassador, where he spent most of his time getting a doctor’s degree on time and resources paid by Filipino taxpayers.
Angue, meanwhile, is facing court martial trial for airing his grievances in public on alleged favoritism in the military now.
Sen. Chiz Escudero, chairman of the committee on national defense and security said reading the transcripts, there were many times that the investigators stopped the questioning when the interview was leading to a vital information. “One got the sense that they didn’t want to know the truth,” he said.
When members of media were asking Mayuga for a copy of his report which was classified “Secret” during the Arroyo administration, he had said that he would bring the board’s findings to his grave.
Arroyo is out of Malacañang and is immobilized by an infected spine.
President Aquino last Tuesday declassified the Mayuga Report and was made available to media.
Moral of the story: Truth cannot be suppressed forever. Like water, it will find its way out to the people.
Truth cannot be suppressed forever. Like water, it will find its way out to the people.
——————————
So true.
Pati Mayuga report, “putot”. Just to show that an “investigation” on the AFP’s participation in the 2004 election cheating was done, Mayuga came up with this half baked ” Mayuga Report”. If this report came out immediately, more investigations would have been done. Ngayon huli na ang lahat. Malaman man natin ang totoo, hindi na mahahabol ang mga opisyales na ginamit ni pandak. I-lifestyle check na lang ang mga yan. Kasuhan ng mga ibang kaso itong mga opisyales na ginamit ni pandak so we still can seek justice.
Ellen,
Biglang naalala ko tuloy na si Esperon ay umiyak when GMA delivered her infamous I will not run speech. PSG o bodyguard pa lang yata si esperon nung nangyari yun. Mayaman na siguro si esperon ngayon.
Next on the agenda. Ask the Palace to release the SALN of ranking military officers.
Read the testimony? No need. Ask the COA for the audit report, since it has been some years now.
Summon the current comptroller of the AFP to give copies of the AFP books for those years.
The Mayuga report is like a roof without anything to support it. Without the supposed crucial testimonies of the 70 witnesses, this report is a plain piece of crap, written by no less than the same garbage team of Mayuga ang his cohorts. Perhaps we could brand this watered-down report as, “this report is not fit for human consumption”.
jawo,
Nung mga panahong yun uso yung mga “investigate me” at “impeach me” mga hilaw/ampaw na investigation pare ma clear ang ini imbestigahan, mayron ngang nag file ng impeachment ilang pages lang. 🙂
It looks like the Mayuga report was made not to implicate anyone but there’s still mention of wrongdoing. It almost feels like the ones who made it still wanted the truth to come out but not from them. Its as if they were protecting the institution from serious damage. Well, we shall judge for ourselves who among these reformists are more progressive than others, who will put more value in tradition and samahan or the truth.
Sax, pwede ba ba ang kasong plunder kay asspweron kung hindi niya na-liquidate yung almost 200M na pondo niya? O pati yun eh may statute din?
“… not a line about Garcia’s testimony was mentioned in the executive summary.”- Ellen
“Pati Mayuga report, “putot”.” -psb 🙂
Kaya nga e…nalabhan na sa chlorox ang Mayuga report!
Buhay pa ba si Mayuga? Ibigay sa kanya ang wish na dalhin sa libingan ang classified report nya. Ilagay sya, si Gloria at Mike, at Asspweron sa four boxes of transcript at itabon ang report mismo ni Mayuga.
more revelations here:
http://www.newsbreak.ph/2011/08/18/%E2%80%98hello-garci-is-true-and-we-all-know-it%E2%80%99-%E2%80%93-afp-general/
mayuga’s resource persons:
http://www.pcij.org/blog/2006/04/17/mayugas-resource-persons
AFP AND PNP OFFICERS IMPLICATED IN THE FRAUDULENT 2004 ELECTIONS:
http://www.arkibongbayan.org/2007-05May12-GabInWhite/doc/officers implicated in the 2004 elections.doc
oops, sana this works…
AFP and PNP officers implicated in the fraudulent 2004 elections
Critics told: Read Mayuga Report before shooting off
By Victor Reyes, MALAYA
A member of the military board that looked into the alleged involvement of officers in cheating in the 2004 presidential elections yesterday said sectors claiming cover-up in their probe should first read the voluminous report instead of making “knee jerk” reactions.
“If they are saying there was cover-up, they have to point it out one by one,” said retired Vice Adm. Emilio Marayag, now president of the AFP Retirement and Separation Benefits System. “They just have to read the entire report, including the annexes…how can they react (immediately) to a report that is so thick?”
The report has a 16-page summary and a 65-page annex containing testimonies given by the so-called Garci generals and other resource persons, including civilians.
The defense department furnished a copy of the recently declassified report to Bayan Muna Reps. Neri Javier Colmenares and Teodoro Casiño last Wednesday. The two lawmakers then said there was cover-up.
“They have to look at every testimony and they have to look at all the angles before saying things like that. It took us a long time (to investigate)…if we spent about four months (in conducting the) investigation, they should spend a lot of time also, looking at, reading at the report…They have to check before coming up with a conclusion,” Marayag said.
The Mayuga board, chaired by Vice Adm. Mateo Mayuga, cleared the Garci generals in alleged cheating operations conducted by the Arroyo administration. Its report said “there is no statement from the resource persons directly linking them or signifying their involvement to any election fraud or anomaly.”
Marayag said the critics should take more to read the report. “An author said that it’s easy to jump to a conclusion (but) it is difficult to justify the conclusion. It’s easy to come out with a conclusion but to justify is another thing,” said Marayag.
Marayag also stood pat on their findings, stressing there is no “shred of evidence” against “those people we would like to pin down,” referring to the Garci generals. He said they did not gather evidence that the generals issued “direct instructions” to cheat.
Marayag said critics should to read the minutes of inquiries conducted by Congress.
Marayag, then a commodore, said he never received any instruction from higher authorities to cover up the case.
He said it is unfair for the military to be blamed for the supposed cover-up. He said the members of the Mayuga board “just tried our best.”
AFP spokesman Commodore Miguel Jose Rodriguez said the military believes in the fairness of the investigation.
“We don’t see any cover-up…We don’t see any intent for cover-up… We believe in the presumption of regularity of the report,” he said.
Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin has created a special investigating committee to review the Mayuga board report, on the instruction of President Aquino who has reservations on the credibility of the report.
DND spokesman Col. Hernando Iriberri said the committee, chaired by Undersecretary Honorio Azcueta, submitted its initial findings to the President, through Gazmin last Monday.
He did not give details.
Iriberri also said the committee is considering summoning active military officers who have been invited as resource persons in the Mayuga board investigation “to shed more light on the discrepancies, for example in the findings, in the recommendations, in the conclusions submitted by the Mayuga fact-finding board.”
The officers invited as resource persons in the Mayuga board investigation who are still in the service include now Army chief Lt. Gen. Arturo Ortiz, 6th Infantry Division chief Maj. Gen. Rey Ardo, and Rear Adm. Feliciano Angue.
Si Marayag at Rodriquez dapat ay magbasa muna ng transcript ng Hello Garci bago magpahayag ng kunikuni na “there is no “shred of evidence” against the Garci generals.
Marayag said “they did not gather evidence that the generals issued “direct instructions” to cheat.”
Sasabunutan ko itong si Marayag, wala nga sa executive summary ang testimonya ni AFP Vice Chief-of-Staff Lt. Gen. Rodolfo Garcia at Col. Feliciano Angue, at iba pa.
Kung sanitized na ang Mayuga Report e di may cover up nga!
MANILA, Philippines — Former brigadier general Francisco Gudani called the Gudani report lame, or in his words, “bakla.”
“Bakla ang report ni Mayuga,” he said, referring to the non-report of former Navy chief Rear Admiral Mateo Mayuga.
Gudani was one of the generals who spoke out on the involvement of military men in poll fraud. He said cases should have been filed.
There is a concept that these cavaliers know very much about its FOR COMPLIANCE. Shame, shame, shame, hindi na kayo nahiya.
Sanitized na nga eh. Tinanggal na nga ang mga dapat tanggalin sa investigations ni Mayuga. Yun lang gusto nilang palabasin ang isinulat o di kaya, yun lang gusto nilang marinig ang pinakinggan. Pwuwes, ngayon, makinig naman tayo sa mga binusalan nila asspweron at pandak sa pamamagitan ng EO 464 nila. Para naman patas ang laban.
This Ortiz stands out kasi sobrang higpit niyan sa mga Tanay boys noon.
Sen. Chiz Escudero, chairman of the committee on national defense and security
hindi ba si Sen Lacson ang chairman?
_http://www.senate.gov.ph/committee/list.asp
The website might not be updated, Perl. I know it’s Escudero.
yan ang top secret… report na walang sustansya…
thanks ellen… sino kayang tamad ang naga-update ng website? naisingit na si Koko Pimentel… hindi pa ina-update yung ibang entry… ay sus! panay ata facebook eh…
20 Aug 2011
Where in the world is Mayuga now!?!?!? is he dead??, dapat gayahin ang ginagawa sa Egypt, kahit halos hindi na makagalaw si Mubarak, pinaharap pa rin sa korte, isama na rin ang kanyang band of brotherhoodlums.
prans
Kung gustong linisin ang mga PMA’er ang kanilang pangalan … dapat lang na usigin na nila ang mga kakusa nilang lantarang nagkasala sa lipunan. Umpisa noong panahon pa ni Ramos hanggang sa kasalukuyan. Malaking impluensiya si Ramos sa lahat ng kabuhungan ng mga nababanggit na mga gagong General.
Iilan lang yang mga gago na yan …. naniniwala ako na mas maraming pa ring matitinong mga PMA’er. Gayahin si Trillanes na walang takot sa mga gagong General na yan dahil alam niyang mali ang ginawa nila.
Ang sabi ni Mayuga noon “ISASAMA KO SA HUKAY ANG REPORT NA IYAN.”
Inilabas na yung Mayuga report, kasi tinanggal niya na yung isasama niya sa hukay niya.
Nandun sa mga tinggal yung sustansya ng ulat na iyan. Wala dun sa inilabas. Siguro naghuhukay na si Mayuga para kapag oras niya na, isasama niya na yung totoong ulat o report.
Ready daw si asspweron to face the probe, BULL! I-lifestyle check and isang ito at hilahin lahat ng ninakaw niya at ipataw sa kanya ang mga ginawa nya sa mga ikinulong niyang mga sundalo para pagtakpan ang pandaraya ng master niyang si pandak!
O bakit si asspweron hindi ko nakitang bumisita sa St Luke’s kay pandak para umiyak siya ulit!
All these suspect generals will one by one start marching to their bosses’ favorite haven, St. Luke’s, as soon as things get too tight for them. Wanna bet?
The Mayuga Report was precisely hidden from public scrutiny because of the security implications it entailed during Goyang’s time. Bakit kanyo? Wala naman palang findings talaga eh. What the witnesses testified to were all in the annexes. Di inilagay sa Executive Summary. At ngayon nagtataka pa tayo kung bakit nga itinago? Dahil tiyak nagkagulo noon kung inilabas ang report at wala ngang napatunayang nagkasala. Tanungin nyo si Mayuga. Baka may iba pa syang Executive Summary na hawak. Alam mo na. Pula-puti ang labanan diyan. Pag nagipit, ilalabas bigla yung damning Executive Summary na hawak nya at sasabihing, ” I withheld this true Summary in case the Arroyos try to threaten me. ” I know how these people work. Served under them before.
Si Mayuga ang dapat unang ipatawag at ipagisa kay Sen. Trillanes!
may tama ka diyan, henry. magpakaanoano man, dapat lamang niya itong ngayon ilabas upang matuldukan na ang lahat. paano kung bigla siyang matigok? di ba’t balitang merong karamdaman itong si mayuga?
tama din ‘yung comment nu’ng isang blogger sa PSN tungkol sa expose ni maosqueda na parepareho lang ‘yang mga ‘yan na nakinabang at pinagpasarapan muna ‘yung pakinabang bago kunyari ay lalabas na nakukunsensiya kaya ibinubunyag ang mga kinasangkutang anomalya.
mapapasailalim sila sa WPP na ang pondo ay mula sa buwis ng taong bayang kanila ding niloko sa pagkakasangkot sa anomalyang lalong nagpahirap sa mga dukha.
“…..Another testimony worth following up is that of Col. (then Capt.) Feliciano Angue who was then the Naval Task Force Commander in Tawi-Tawi….”
the rank colonel in the army, air force and marines is equivalent to the captain in the navy. just for a simple correction lang po. kaya hindi na dapat ‘yung then captain as referring to anque’s former rank.
maraming nagkakamali kasi, eh. katulad ng PO na police officer sa PNP at petty officer sa navy.
salamat po.
Ang ibig ko sabihin ay Capt siya ng 2004. Colonel siya ngayon.