THE House of Representatives should not let retired Army Technical Sgt. Vidal Doble testify in any “Hello Garci” investigation because it will put question on the credibility of future legislative investigations and results, a proadministration lawmaker said Sunday.

Lakas Rep. Edwin Uy of Isabela urged that the House leadership should study legal action against Doble for contradicting his earlier testimony in the House when testifying under oath in the Senate on the “Hello Garci” tape controversy.       

Uy said that Doble’s different story regarding the wiretap issue was an admission that he lied when he testified in the House during a joint probe by five committees in 2005.

This developed as senators said there was no need to continue with the investigation into the “Hello Garci” controversy because the main witness, Doble, is a “perjured witness” and a “polluted source” who should even be sent to jail for committing perjury and admitting to have engaged in the illegal act of wiretapping during the 2004 election campaign period.

Sen. Joker Arroyo noted that if Doble were testifying before a criminal court, his testimony would be rendered unacceptable because he had already committed perjury as shown by the glaring inconsistencies between his previous and present statements on his alleged involvement in the wiretapping scandal.

“As far as I’m concerned, there is no need for another hearing,” Arroyo said after the hearing. “Doble is a perjured witness. Before, he said he was not a wiretapper, now he is claiming that he is. He’s a polluted source.”

Uy warned that if the House would tolerate Doble’s action, this could embolden anyone to peddle false testimony and present lying witnesses in its probes.   

“The House cannot let this pass. Otherwise, anyone can peddle tales and parade liars as witnesses in our investigations. That will put question on the credibility of our future investigations and their results,” said Uy.

Sen. Richard Gordon, for his part, said Doble should be jailed because it was evident from his testimony before the joint inquiry of the Senate National Defense and Security, Constitutional Amendments and Revision of Codes and Laws, and the Blue-Ribbon committees that he had committed perjury.

Arroyo and Gordon made these separate observations after finding glaring inconsistencies in Doble’s testimony during his maiden appearance before senators investigating the resurrected “Hello Garci” controversy.

Gordon also said he finds it hard to rely on the credibility of Doble, who, upon questioning by senators, admitted that he had received P2 million in 2005 in connection with his involvement in the wiretapping controversy.

Lakas Rep. Antonio Cuenco of Cebu City, meanwhile, said that there was nothing new or surprising with the testimony in the Senate of Doble, who seemed well-rehearsed in this year’s edition of the opposition battering ram against the administration.

“It’s very obvious that Doble has been well-rehearsed, but he still cannot hide the fact that he received funds to launch the previous and this latest attack on President Arroyo,” said Cuenco.

Moreover, the lawmakers said, a letter sent by Bishop Socrates Villegas of Balanga (Bataan) to the committees belied Doble’s claim that he was “kidnapped” from the San Carlos Seminary in Makati City and taken to Camp Aguinaldo at the height of the wiretapping scandal in 2005.

In his letter, Villegas said his primary concern in going to the seminary was to ensure the welfare of the seminarians inside the compound. Villegas said that was the time he saw Doble inside the compound and offered to help him. Villegas said in his letter that he asked Doble where he wanted to go, to which  the latter replied “To my family.” Thus, he proceeded to accompany Doble to his family in Camp Aguinaldo.

Gordon also pointed to how Sen. Panfilo Lacson had “virtually testified” for Doble when he failed to establish the identity of a woman who supposedly was present when he was accompanied by Villegas to the quarters of then then-Armed Forces chief of staff Gen. Efren Abu inside Camp Aguinaldo. (With B. Fernandez)

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THE House of Representatives should not let retired Army Technical Sgt. Vidal Doble testify in any “Hello Garci” investigation because it will put question on the credibility of future legislative investigations and results, a proadministration lawmaker said Sunday.

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