By MARIO B. CASAYURAN
The Senate National Defense and Security Committee rejected yesterday a request of Department of Justice (DoJ) Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez that all tapes related to the controversial "Hello Garci" conversation be turned over to him, which would subsequently be submitted to and checked by an independent and non-political experts, preferably abroad, whether or not they are genuine or not.
Biazon said Gonzalez’s Jan. 25 one-page letter to him asking for the turn over of the tapes is "presumptuous" because the DoJ Secretary should have long investigated Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye who, during a press conference in June, showed two "Hello Garci" tapes, one genuine and the other tampered, before making the request.
He, nevertheless, stressed that he might consider giving in to the Gonzalez request based on certain conditions.
One condition, Biazon said, is that government officials should be allowed to attend the Senate committee hearings as resource persons as they have been banned, based on Executive Order (EO)464, from appearing before congressional hearings without the written permission of President Arroyo.
The executive order, issued during the first Senate committee hearing, has become a major roadblock to the closure of the investigation and other Senate committee hearings, Biazon said.
As a former Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief of staff, Biazon said he was alarmed over the possibility of the conversations of the President being wiretapped by the military based on the "Garci" tapes as a serious breach of national security.
Biazon said he initiated the public hearing on the Garci tapes when the Executive Department told him that it was not investigating the alleged wiretapping of the President’s telephone conversations.
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