Former president Corazon Aquino said Thursday she is puzzled as to why any person or group would attach a device to illegally tap her telephone lines.

"Ewan ko, nanahimik na nga ako. Kaya nga itong halalan na ito, dahil kailangan ng kampanya ay nagka-kampanya ako (I have no idea, I’ve been silent. In this elections, there is a need to campaign [for my son] so I am campaigning," she told DZMM.

Aquino, the mother of opposition senatorial candidate Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, said she has not talked to any controversial figure since she has been busy campaigning for her son. "I don’t really know. Ako naman ginagawa ko lang kung ano ang nararapat according to our laws at saka I’m very open about everything. Kapag may nagtanong sa akin ay sinasagot ko (I just do things according to our law.... When I'm asked a question I answer it)," she added.

She said she was even surprised to see that the size of the bugging device that was found attached to her telephone lines was big enough to be seen easily by technicians of Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. "Medyo nagulat kami dahil akala ko iyong mga kagaya nang nakikita sa sine, iyong mga maliliit na gadget na ididikit na lang. Ito malaki. Parang sinasabi, parang gustong makita ng whoever dahil malaki nga (We were a bit surprised because I thought the device is like those seen in the movies, small gadgets that you simply attach anywhere. But this one's big. It's like it was meant to be seen)," the 74-year-old former president said.

A DZMM report said Malacañang has already ordered the Philippine National Police to investigate the incident. Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said it is now up to the PNP to find out who is behind the bugging incident, adding that the results of the investigation should be released to the public.

Bunye, however, declined to comment on speculations that the government was behind the wiretapping.

Tonypet Albano, deputy spokesman of the administration’s Team Unity, meanwhile, denied that the group was involved in the incident. He said it is also possible that the incident was orchestrated by the Genuine Opposition itself to boost its candidates’ ranking in election surveys, particularly Aquino’s son. Albano noted that in the past some GO candidates were implicated in the issue of wiretapping.

Bugging Device Discovered

Police and telecommunication officials confirmed on Thursday that a bugging device has been discovered attached to Aquino’s telephone lines.

In a statement, PLDT said its maintenance crew was conducting a routine inspection of the company’s facilities around 3 p.m. Wednesday whey it discovered "inside the company’s cross-connect cabinet an instrument which appeared to be a tape recorder attached to a black box."

"Upon further investigation, the PLDT crew discovered that the black box to which the said tape recorder was attached was connected to the telephone line installed at the residence of ex-president Corazon Aquino," PLDT said.

"Following standard operating procedure, the PLDT crew removed the black box and at the same time informed the customer, Mrs. Aquino, of their action," it added. PLDT is conducting further investigation regarding this incident, the company said.


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Baka si Kris naman ang gusto i-wiretap, hindi si Cory.