Ni Alyssa Damole

PHOTO: One News/Ellen Tordesillas/Bombo Radyo

Sa pinakaunang pagkakataon, idinetalye ni dating Pangulong Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ang kanyang saloobin sa kinasangkutang political scandal na 'Hello Garci' matapos mailathala nitong Pebrero 2, 2022 ang kanyang memoir na pinamagatang "Deus Ex Machina".

Pinabulaanan niya rito ang mga paratang na may naganap na pandaraya sa eleksyon noong 2004 kung saan siya ay nagwagi sa pagtakbo bilang pangulo.

“That should be clear to any unbiased person looking at two straightforward facts: First by the time of the phone call, all the votes had already been counted and the count accepted by the Comelec. Second, the certificates of canvass showing that I had won by a million votes were already used to proclaim the winning senators," aniya sa pahina 144 ng kanyang libro.

Upang mabigyang-diin ang nasabing isyu, nasa 20 pahina ang inilaan ni Arroyo sa paglilinaw sa naturang isyu kung saan kanyang inaming naganap nga ang kontrobersyal na tawag kay dating Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

"I heard that privately Commissioner Garcilliano told people, I didn’t call her, she called me. He is correct to pass the blame to me," pahayag niya sa ika-145 pahina ng nasabing libro.

Kanya ring isinaad sa pahina 147 na "mas mabuting panindigan ang self-inflicted error" matapos ang ilang taong pananahimik.

"Where do I stand on the question of I am sorry now some 15 years later? In the long run, it is better to own up to one’s self inflicted error. It was a lapse in judgment. Which is a gentle way of acknowledging the phone call was a mistake," aniya.

Kaugnay nito, kanya ring ipinaliwanag na bago pa ang eleksyon, talagang nangunguna na siya sa mga sarbey nang dahil sa kanyang mabusising pangangampanya at hindi siya nanalo dahil sa pandaraya.

"In March 2004, 2 months before the elections, SWS found 55 percent satisfied with my performance. Because the voting public knew that I was not just a strong but also a competent and hard working president... I was confident that if I worked the hardest among all the candidates, on the campaign trail, then I could beat any candidate who did not match those qualifications. And I did," ani GMA na matatagpuan sa pahina 154 ng nasabing libro.

Dagdag niya pa na nakaapekto rin sa kanyang pagkapanalo ang pagpili niya kay Noli de Castro bilang kanyang running mate na naging dahilan sa pagkakahati ng boto ng masa para kay Fernando Poe Jr.

Salik din umano sa kanyang pagwawagi ang pag-endorso sa kanya ng religious groups, patuloy na pagdami ng mga sumusuporta sa kanya, at iba pa.


Iniwasto ni Monica Condrillon