OPPOSITION congressmen were still scratching their heads a day after they heard President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s voice on speaker phone in her brief nationally televised call to congratulate Manny Pacquiao on his victory on Sunday against Erik Morales.
The way Ms Arroyo said “Hello Manny” sounded suspiciously similar to the female voice that famously called out “Hello Garci,” the lawmakers said.
“There seemed a similarity in the voice and in the tone,” said House Minority Leader Francis Escudero.
Ms Arroyo has apologized for talking with an election official but has yet to acknowledge that hers was the voice caught on wiretapped conversations with Virgilio Garcillano that nearly unseated her last year.
Opposition politicians say the wiretap was evidence she cheated in the May 2004 presidential election — a charge Ms Arroyo has denied.
Uncannily familiar voice
“It sounded uncannily like that of the ‘Hello Garci’ tapes. It could help in the authentication of the voices,” Remulla said in a text message to the Inquirer.
Remulla said it might be a good idea to compare “Hello Manny” with “Hello Garci.”
The House inquiry into the alleged wiretaps resumes tomorrow.
Asked about the opposition suspicions, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez said:
“It is very pathetic to inject politics every time things like this happen when everybody should be rejoicing because a Filipino has achieved something very spectacular, which should make everyone of us proud.”
Cynicism
“That is the problem with our people,” he said, “the cynicism and at the same time the prejudices.”
“The President merely called to congratulate him and she was hit for that,” said Gonzalez, smarting from the criticism that the President and her husband were riding on the Pacquiao victory.
The appearance of First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo at ringside and the President’s subsequent call to Pacquiao after he floored Morales elicited jeers from people watching the fight on television and movie theaters in Metro Manila.
Gonzalez said the Mexicans were different. They were solidly behind the beaten Erik Morales.
“Why should we not do it? Why should we not celebrate? I’m sure that had the President said nothing about it, she would have been criticized also,” he said.
Director General Arturo Lomibao, chief of the Philippine National Police, said Pacquiao’s win deserved a “ceasefire” on the political front.
“Let’s first celebrate,” he said.
But Senator Rodolfo Biazon cautioned the boxer against allowing himself to be used by politicians to mouth propaganda.
“He should not issue statements and should not allow himself to be used by politicians,” he said.
The House opposition also turned down Pacquiao’s appeal for unity.
No to President
Escudero said that while it was every Filipino’s wish for unity and reconciliation to reign in the country, the opposition was not inclined to rally behind a government faced with serious questions of legitimacy.
“It is the wish of every Filipino for the country to be united. But it would not be right to be united behind something that is wrong,” Escudero said. With reports from Norman Bordadora and Luige A. del Puerto
