Garcillano’s appointment as Comelec Commissioner is bypassed by the Commission on Appointments and the President decides not to reappoint him. Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos promises to investigate Garcillano’s alleged involvement in attempts to tamper the 2004 presidential election results.
June 15: The NBI charges Ong with inciting to sedition. Justice Secretary Gonzales says that this is just the first of several cases to be filed against him.
June 16: News reports show that the allegedly wiretapped conversation on CD was being sold for P5 ($0.09) each. At the same time, a ring tone saved on MP3 is also made available for downloading. A “Hello, Garci (i.e., Garcillano’s nickname)” car horn is later developed and used by militant transport groups. Various text jokes related to the issue also spread and these were even quoted by the media.
Still remaining mum on the issue of the allegedly wiretapped conversation, President Arroyo says that her political opponents are going too far. She says, “No one shall block the path of the presidency, not even my irresponsible detractors who wish to set back our gains and reverse our engine of growth and development.” At the same time, the military and police order the lowering of the red alert level raised on June 9. According to the Philippine National Police (PNP), the peace and order situation in the country is back to normal. For its part, the NBI warns that those who own bootleg CDs of the allegedly wiretapped conversation could be imprisoned for violating the Anti-Wiretapping Act. The same day ousted President Joseph Estrada offers himself as head of a civilian junta which is proposed to replace the current government.
June 17: Laarni Enriquez is dragged into the allegedly wiretapped conversation with the PNP, quoting Doble’s affidavit, saying that she provided the P2 million ($35,855.14) paid to Doble by Ong two months before the latter announced possession of the mother of all tapes. Enriquez denies the accusation, claiming that she is a victim of politicking.
June 19: National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales says that the administration has already identified the people behind the destabilization plot and that charges are being readied against them. Justice Secretary Gonzales, for his part, tags some opposition personalities from the left, right and the moderate as the ones funding moves for the ouster of President Arroyo. He adds that these people have been spending millions of pesos to finance all efforts to discredit the President.
June 20: President Arroyo flies to Hong Kong for a one-day working visit. While there, she says that she will give her comment on the allegedly wiretapped conversation at the proper time, amid mounting calls from various sectors for her to either confirm or deny if the female voice on the tapes is indeed hers. She insists that she won the 2004 elections without fraud. At this point, Garcillano makes himself scarce and there are claims from Tatad that he, accompanied by wife Grace and escorted by Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, left Cagayan de Oro in the afternoon of June 18 on a private plane bound for Kota Kinabalu, where he was expected to take a connecting flight to the United States. Ebdane denied Tatad’s allegation. Grace Garcillano also said that her husband is in the country. Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez also says that there is no official record that Garcillano has left the country, not even through the southern backdoor. However, an anonymous airport security officer at Lumbia airport in Cagayan de Oro City is quoted by the media on June 22 as saying that he saw Garcillano leave aboard a private Learjet at around 4 p.m. on June 18.
Also on June 20, NBI agents raid Always Graphic and Printing Service, a printing press in Quezon City, that was allegedly producing posters depicting the President as a fictional villain resembling the Greek mythological creature Medusa.
June 21: Five committees of the House of Representatives begin their inquiry into the allegedly wiretapped conversation with Bunye and Wycoco as resource persons. Under oath, Bunye repeats his earlier statement that he is not sure if the female voice really belongs to the President. The House sends letters of invitation to the President, the First Gentleman, Garcillano, Ruado and former senator Robert Barbers.
June 22: Hadji Abdullah Dalidig, head of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) chapter in Lanao del Sur sreveals that he discovered dagdag-bawas (vote-shaving and vote-padding) operations in at least five towns in the province which gave the President around 20,000 votes in the May 2004 election. He adds that the allegedly wiretapped conversation proved that there was indeed cheating. On the same day, two lawyers – Romeo Igot (president, Integrated Bar of the Philippines-Manila chapter) and Ariel Joseph Arias (president, University of the East Law Alumni Association) – charges retired Maj. Gen. Fortunato Abat, former Budget Secretary Salvador Enriquez and several others of inciting to sedition for their alleged call to overthrow the Macapagal-Arroyo administration. The two lawyers stress that Malacañang had nothing to do with their action.
June 23: President Macapagal-Arroyo brands those who want her ousted as “economic saboteurs.” She repeats her claim of having the people’s mandate.
June 24: A national day of protest is held. Organized by various opposition groups, media reports show that more than 30,000 people participated in this mass action in Metro Manila alone. Bulatlat
