STATEMENT OF CONG. ROILO GOLEZ

Joint Hearing of the House Committees on Public Information, Public Order & Security, National Defense, ICT and Electoral Reforms & Suffrage, 29 June 2005

Mr. Chairman, Co-Chairmen, my dear colleagues:

Last Monday evening, June 27, the President addressed the nation and admitted that she talked to a COMELEC official in the period immediately following the May 2004 elections, as indicated by the celebrated Garci tapes.

That same evening, after spending over an hour digesting the impact of the President’s address to the nation, I released the following statement:

”The President did not answer the accusation of electoral fraud in conspiracy with a COMELEC commissioner. The deception that followed the discovery of the audiotapes, particularly the attempt to make us believe that the President was talking not to a COMELEC official but a political leader, has aggravated the “lapse in judgment.” The President is now in an untenable position. She cannot anymore lead and govern… She has lost her moral authority, a crucial component in national leadership. Resignation, for the sake of the country, is the only honorable option for the President.”

Yesterday morning, before sunrise, when the Majority Leader inquired on the veracity of my statement as reported by media, I responded to him: “I am accepting full responsibility and am aware of the consequences of my action. I am aware of my upcoming fate.”

I must stress that it was painful for me to reach this decision. I served the President for three years as her National Security Adviser, shared severe crisis moments with her, such as during the May 1, 2001 assault on Malacanang, the Abu Sayyaf crisis, international terrorism threats, the Iraq war and the Magdalo Mutiny. I have lots of stories to tell about her courage and coolness under fire. I admired her vision.

I fully supported her legislative program. There were only 52 members of the House who voted yes to all the President’s five pet revenue measures and I am one of those 52. Some members of the majority coalition voted No to one or two of those measures.

In my mind, the attempt to deceive started with the June 6 press conference of the Press Secretary when he presented two tapes, one supposedly the original where the President was allegedly talking to an ordinary political leader and not a COMELEC officer. Subsequently this was amended to make it appear that perhaps it was not the President in the taped conversations.

The Press Secretary maintained this line when he testified under oath before these five committees. And that is why I believe we should revisit the Press Secretary’s testimony to see if he attempted to deceive Congress and perjured himself.

I would like to announce that I have submitted my irrevocable letter of resignation from the KAMPI. I am one of the three original members of KAMPI. And I would like to thank all the KAMPI members in the House for the gift of friendship and camaraderie. I enjoyed working with them and I am saddened by this parting of ways.

I ask to be recorded as an Independent member of the House, to vote on issues according to conscience and our old-fashioned concepts of what is right and what is wrong, and not according to party dictates.

The revered President Manuel Luis Quezon said it so eloquently: My loyalty to my party ends where my loyalty to my country begins. And there’s the towering Quezon Memorial that we pass by on our way to the Batasan to remind us of MLQ’s timeless political legacy: country before party.

My departure from KAMPI and my sentiments on the issue at hand make it untenable for me to remain as Chairman of the House Committee on National Defense. I am also hereby resigning from that chairmanship. It’s a price that I must pay.

But since that matter will need the consent of the whole House, that shall take effect only on the resumption of our session in late July. Meantime, with the consent and approval of the members of the five committees in this joint hearing -- following the time-honored principle that no one with a strong position for or against an issue should preside over a committee deliberation on that issue – I am relinquishing my post as presiding officer of the Committee on National Defense for the duration of these hearings in favor of the Senior Vice Chairman of the Committee who is Congresswoman Belma Cabilao of Zamboanga Sibugay.

As a final manifestation, I believe the PGMA administration has the capability and the means to produce soonest Commissioner Garcillano. They must produce Gacillano now. He has a sordid tale to tell ranging from such matters as co-opting teachers, election officers, generals, local officials, asking and receiving millions, etc., during the canvassing period as indicated by the transcripts provided by the Press Secretary himself. No quest for truth will be complete without the story that only Commissioner Garcillano can tell. That is why it is also very crucial to continue and not terminate these hearings, and listen to the tapes. I am of the position that the constitutional right to information is paramount over the restrictive provisions of the Anti-Wiretapping Law.

With the approval of the members of the five committees, I now beg your leave and will now recede as an ordinary committee member, to continue the quest for the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and what is right according to our oath of office.

GOD BLESS US ALL.

Thank you.