Do you guys still remember Samuel Ong? He’s the former NBI Executive who exposed the Hello Garci scandal. Yep, he was the one with the infamous line “Mother of all tapes”. To those who haven’t been keeping tabs on the news, Samuel Ong passed away 6PM today due to complications with Lung Cancer. Former President Estrada was one of the first politicians to visit Ong. I kinda feel sad though that Samuel Ong died without seeing the resolution of the cause he championed when he came out to the public with the Hello Garci tapes. To all the family and friends of Samuel Ong, I offer my sincere condolences. Details of what happened after the break.
From Inquirer.net:
MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) For former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) official Samuel Ong, one of the whistleblowers in the 2005 wiretapping and electoral fraud scandal that almost unseated President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, there would be no closure on the controversy.
Ong, one of the principal players in the saga that stemmed from leaked recordings of the alleged conversations between Arroyo and poll commissioner Virgilio Garcillano over a supposed plan to tamper votes in her favor, died around 6 p.m. Friday in his room at the intensive care unit of the Chinese General Hospital.
Since last year, Ong had been battling an advanced stage of lung cancer, the cause of his death, his son Samuel Ong Jr. confirmed. He was 64.
The former NBI deputy director expired just after supporters, including former president Joseph Estrada and actor Rez Cortez, who was with Ong and ex-Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines T/Sgt. Vidal Doble when they revealed the master copies of the recordings in June 2004 at the San Carlos Seminary, visited him at his bedside Friday.
Cortes said Ong was given the last sacraments by Bishop Teodoro Bacani last Wednesday as Ong’s family was told that would die “any day now.”
On June 10, 2005, Bacani provided shelter for Ong and his others in the seminary, where they sought refuge after Ong revealed the existence of the master copies that he said were entrusted to him by a source.
Ong’s death was made poignant by the fact that the fourth-year anniversary of the ‘Hello, Garci’ tape revelations is just two weeks away on June 6, Cortes said. “It’s really sad that he would die around this time,” Cortes said.
Ong’s older brother, Henry, said it was difficult for the family to accept that his brother, whom he described as a “principled man” would never witness any closure on the ‘Hello, Garci’ scandal that he helped reveal. “It is very painful for us, very painful,” a teary-eyed Henry said.
Ong’s revelations of the controversy were a source of family pride, friends and family members said. “They were saddened, but I know that they were proud of what he did,” Bacani said.
“He really fought for the truth,” Cortes said.
Estrada, before he went to Ong’s room, said the former lawyer should be hailed as a “hero.” “For me, he is a hero of truth. I admire him for making public the Garci tapes,” he said.
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Tags: Hello Garci, Sammy Ong NBI, Samuel Ong