Ex-Palace employee bares payoffs in May 2004 polls(not a spam)

[tempest 2]

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Ex-Palace employee bares payoffs in May 2004 polls

First posted 11:03am (Mla time) Aug 01, 2005
By Edson Castro Tandoc Jr., Veronica Uy
Inquirer News Service, INQ7.net



(2ND UPDATE) ELECTION officials received payoffs from Malacañang to purportedly manipulate the May 2004 polls, an alleged staff member of a former Palace executive disclosed on Monday.
Michael Angelo Zuce, who claimed that he worked under Joey Rufino, former political liaison officer of the Palace, said he saw provincial election supervisors and regional directors receive 30,000 pesos each from Lilia "Baby" Pineda, wife of alleged "jueteng lord" Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda at President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's La Vista home in Quezon City in January 2004.

Zuce said those present when the money was given were Ms Arroyo, Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda, and former Isabela governor Faustino Dy Jr.

Gabriel Claudio, political liaison officer of Malacañang, called Zuce's statements "fantastic and incredible." He also said Rufino couldn't react to Zuce's allegations because he was "seriously ill" with liver cancer.

Zuce, who was presented by lawyer Liwayway Vinzons- Chato in a televised press conference in Ortigas Center on Monday, said Ms Arroyo told the regional directors to "support" her.

Zuce said it was Mrs. Pineda who brought him to Ms Arroyo’s residence.

Zuce, who claims that his uncle is married to the sister of the wife of former Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, also said alleged wiretapped tapes of the President allegedly speaking with Garcillano were authentic because his own conversation with Garcillano was also recorded.

Zuce said he decided to reveal what he knew because he feared for his life after Rufino told him that Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, a former national police chief, was looking for him.

Zuce said he decided to seek out Chato because he saw how she and her group protected former National Bureau of Investigation deputy director Samuel Ong, who had claimed that he held the master tape of Garcillano’s conversations with Ms Arroyo and several other politicians.

Chato said Zuce had informed Garcillano that he was coming out and was purportedly told, "Bahala ka [It's up to you]."

Garcillano has been in hiding since the alleged recordings surfaced.

Chato said she first met Zuce in the 2001 election when she ran for senator and Zuce was a former election "shepherd."

Chato also said that since 2002, Zuce had allegedly begun a project to ensure Arroyo's win in the 2004 election.

[tempest 2]

Oh my God. . . . . Just this morning Sec. Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo's crisis is over. Now here comes another surprise. And the palace is caught flat footed; didnt know what hit them.

I am amused the way the opposition is handling this crisis. They are tormenting GMA gradually. I remember a song. Killing me softly. Come on.

If I were GMA I will resign now. I mean, how many more witnesses will come out and expose her more. FOR her goodness sake, she should resign to avoid the escalation of the situation.

Anyway, I will not be posting for a while as sign of my respect to the moderators. If they dont like for now, I guess magpalamig muna ako.

Peace tayo lahat.

[potterboy]

hmmm... the pay-off thingy isnt new. i think it was presented weeks ago. bared on newpapers and local tv. still nothing happened.

whatever is happening between the politicos and their bank accounts, the masses shud be out of their problems.

vibrate!

[FK]

dapat lagi onta i-approve na sa congress ang impeachment complain para ma-klaro tanan allegations. dili puro propaganda (both opposition and administration).

[dead_soul]

well well well i already my point on this one progma and anti gma one thread... but ill post something anyway...


the opposition has also the money to give..... WHY NOW? bat ngayon lang sya nag appear grabeh naman!!! im sooo sad na maraming bayaran ngayon.... magkano kaya ang binayad nila sa tao nato?

[FK]

the opposition has also the money to give..... WHY NOW? bat ngayon lang sya nag appear grabeh naman!!! im sooo sad na maraming bayaran ngayon.... magkano kaya ang binayad nila sa tao nato?

the question of WHY NOW is always there... the question should be IS IT TRUE? would it matter kong karon lang gisulti kong tinuod d i gihapon... what if nangita lang siya og saktong panahon... Again I will use ERAP's case as an example... did you questions Chavit's allegation towards ERAP? did you question Chavit then... WHY NOW?

[wanderlust]

Palace: Ex-employee 'often late, if not absent'

First posted 04:56pm (Mla time) Aug 01, 2005
By Lira Dalangin-Fernandez
INQ7.net

Get INQ7 breaking news on your Smart mobile phone in the Philippines. Send INQ7 BREAKING to 386.


THE EX-MALACAÑANG employee who disclosed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's alleged payoffs to election officials in the 2004 polls was "often late, if not absent," a Palace official said Monday.
Michael Angelo "Louie" Zuce was "almost of no use" to the presidential liaison office, where he and two others used to work, said Raymundo Roquero, executive director of the political coalition affairs.

"Talagang di mo magagamit sa opisina. Hindi masyadong active sa office, walang masyadong role, he's a minor functionary [You really cannot use him in the office. He is not really active, he doesn't have much of a role in the office, just a minor functionary]," he said.

Roquero said he had asked Zuce to write a job description so that he would know how to best utilize him in the office, but he said that he did not bother to read what Zuce wrote because it was "lackluster (walang katorya torya)."

Roquero said he also once asked Zuce to explain in writing why he was often absent or late. In May 19, Zuce handed his irrevocable letter of resignation.

He said Zuce was absorbed with his work as a "presidential staff officer" for former political adviser Joey Rufino, who headed the presidential liaison office, in November 2004. Zuce had a six-month contract.

Since the President's first term, Zuce worked in Rufino's office, Roquero said.

Presidential political adviser Gabriel Claudio said the President's lawyers were going over the materials presented by Zuce during his press conference earlier on Monday for possible legal action.

Claudio said the former Palace employee's story was "very implausible and incredible."

"It raises more serious questions about Mr. Zuce than it invites serious conclusions against the President," he said.

If such a meeting with the election officials were true, he said it should have been Rufino who would attend it and not entrust it to a "minor functionary."

He also questioned why Zuce was raising the allegation more than a year after the incident took place.

And if such a meeting took place, Claudio said it would be impossible for the media not to know about it.

Defending the President, Claudio said Ms Arroyo was not in the habit of inviting Comelec officials to her home.

Asked whether he had asked the President whether the meeting took place, Claudio said, "I do not have the cheek to ask the President."

[wanderlust]

the opposition has also the money to give..... WHY NOW? bat ngayon lang sya nag appear grabeh naman!!! im sooo sad na maraming bayaran ngayon.... magkano kaya ang binayad nila sa tao nato?

the question of WHY NOW is always there... the question should be IS IT TRUE?Â* would it matter kong karon lang gisulti kong tinuod d i gihapon... what if nangita lang siya og saktong panahon... Again I will use ERAP's case as an example... did you questions Chavit's allegation towards ERAP?Â* did you question Chavit then... WHY NOW?

Hay naku tol, stop using Erap's case as an example.Â* Regardless of Chavit's personal character, he was a CREDIBLE witness because his testimony was supported by documents and other credible witnesses, besides his being an admitted member of Erap's midnight cabinet.Â* Zuce on the other hand, besides being a minor functionary, was not even of much use to the presidential liaison office when he was working there, being habitually late or absent.

Let's look at his testimony--he did present memos, but they weren't even conclusive.Â* They were supposedly issued in 2002! The supposed report by Garcillano was full of typographical errors, and there being a bill for a meeting at the Grand Blvd Hotel doesn't really prove anything, does it?

Let's not be fooled by these false witnesses.

[FK]

he was a CREDIBLE witness because his testimony was supported by documents and other credible witnesses

credible? ni ingon nga gi-attempt kono siya og pagpatay homan d i to gidakop ra d i og traffic violation.

The supposed report by Garcillano was full of typographical errors

it doesn't disprove anything right?

Zuce on the other hand, besides being a minor functionary, was not even of much use to the presidential liaison office when he was working there, being habitually late or absent.

does it disprove anything?


i'm not yet accepting his testimony as 100% true... but yet I won't dismiss it either.

[my_pet_monster]

Rufino -- Zuce deep in debt
source:
http://www.manilatimes.net/national/...50803top2.html

MONEY may have led former Palace staff member Michael Angelo Zuce to make preposterous accusations against President Arroyo, Zuce’s former boss said Tuesday.

In a statement Joey Rufino, former presidential liaison officer for political affairs, said Zuce had in several instances asked him for money for his upkeep and to salvage his business.

“I am saddened that I had not been able to help Mr. Zuce financially as he had asked me to. In the past several months, he asked for money, which he said he needed for his upkeep and to salvage his failed business in Mindanao,� Rufino said.
Zuce worked as a technical assistant at Rufino’s office. After Rufino’s office was closed down, Zuce was transferred to the Office of the Coalition Affairs, but was sacked due to habitual absences April 16 to June 16, 2005.

“Much as I wanted to help Mr. Zuce, the magnitude of his financial requests was beyond my own capabilities,� Rufino added.

Rufino said it is preposterous for a minor staff member like Zuce to be given the responsibilities he had described and to have talked to personalities he claimed to have met.
*****
Let's not be hasty on putting our trust to witnesses surfacing just recently. It's too vague why they are being presented in public thru media conference first before formal submission of testimonies. And with their dubious credibility, we should be more cautious for now. Anyway, there's a way to find out the evidences' veracity thru a proper forum. Allegations anyway does not prove anything. It should be submitted with substantial proofs. That has been the practice and we should understand and respect the rule of law, for without law there won't be order in any country. The reputation of the person being accused is at stake. All of us are entitled to fair trial and whatever allegations against us are subject to legal assessment to prevent victimizing the innocent. The culprit could be the witness himself framing up the innocent one.

==============================


The missing link?
source: http://www.manilatimes.net/national/...50803opi3.html

It is not too hard to imagine what the opposition plans to make of Zuce’s allegations. Throughout this latest political crisis spawned by the jueteng scandal and Mrs. Arroyo’s wiretapped conversations with “an election official� (widely believed to be former Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano), the two issues have been tackled separately. Senators investigated the charges of numbers racket payoffs, while congressmen probed the “Hello, Garci� recordings.

With Zuce’s testimony, the twin issues can now be joined. His allegations provide the missing link between the President’s alleged closeness to jueteng operators like Bong Pineda and her purported bid to influence the results of the May 2004 presidential race.

That Zuce is reportedly a “nephew by affinity� of Garcillano’s is a bonus for the opposition. What better informant could come forward to pin the President to, besides jueteng, the “Hello, Garci� wiretaps. Citing Zuce’s allegations, the President’s critics can now claim that it was dirty money from numbers racket payoffs that allowed her to engage in election fraud.

Neat, huh? Not so fast.

The amounts Zuce mentioned in his statement seem far too small to impress the Comelec officials whom the President had allegedly suborned.

*****
Let's not also forget that there's political color amidst the insinuations.