Horn to Robredo: Don’t call me a liar

Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo/ Elena Bautista-Horn

MANILA, Philippines – Saying government officials should not belittle or insult ordinary citizens like her, Elena Bautista-Horn lashed back at Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo Saturday for accusing her of being a liar.

“Huwag dapat payagan ang isang Cabinet official na manlait ng mga tao [A Cabinet official should not be allowed to villify people…. That is not the behavior of a Cabinet member],” the spokesperson of former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo said.

She was reacting to a charge by Robredo that Horn was lying when she claimed that Arroyo was not aware of plans to airlift her to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City on Friday.

Horn spoke to reporters outside the North Avenue gate of the VMMC on Saturday afternoon.

According to Horn, Robredo was “in no position” to judge matters as he didn’t know what happened on Friday as the authorities prepared to transfer Arroyo to the government hospital from the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig.

Horn said coordinating meetings with Chief Superintendent Miguel Laurel of the National Capital Region Police Office had always been about a convoy to escort the former President.

“It’s not true that Laurel went to St. Luke’s to tell us about the air transfer. He only showed up when the Pasay sheriff arrived to fix things,” she told reporters in Filipino.

Horn added that while she may be no longer be in government and was just an ordinary “Len Bautista-Horn,” this did not give license to anyone to call her names.

“They should not belittle me and call me names because it’s not behavior appropriate of a Cabinet member,” she said.

She even cited text messages between her and Laurel, as well as a certain liaison officer, a certain Annie Montano, which all discussed a transfer by land for Arroyo.

“You decide on who’s telling the truth between the two of us,” added.

Budget Secretary Florencio Abad suggested that Horn see a psychiatrist after the spokesperson revealed a plot to kill Arroyo dubbed “Put the little girl to sleep.”

“They really want to ruin us. You be the judge. I don’t call anyone names, I give due respect to people…. I’m just an ordinary Len Bautista-Horn, I hope they can respect my person,” she said.

She added that the Aquino administration should not belittle their option of riding a taxicab just to get Arroyo to the VMMC.

“Is it bad to ride a cab? They are the ones who can’t make up their minds on what to use. There’s a court order, had the transfer been delayed, we would be accused of not following the court,” Horn pointed out.

According to Horn, Laurel texted her at 6:40 a.m. Friday about the other option, which is to airlift Arroyo to the VMMC.

The former President’s camp did not agree to this because of the foul weather and continuous rains.

Horn said she would have asked details on what kind of aircraft would be used and the identity of the pilot had she really known that air transfer was the option all along.

“If a chopper would be used, I would have checked the instrument rating of the chopper. Kasi siguro napahiya sila na wala kaming alam sa ganung arrangements,” she said, adding: “Maybe they’re saying that because their credibility was tarnished.”

Horn even referred to the deadly 2010 hostage situation at the Rizal Park in which eight `Chinese nationals were killed by a disillusioned policeman.

“I now understand how the Chinese government feels. There’s no one in charge, no one’s calling the shots, there’s no coordination,” Horn said.

That the transfer took 10 hours to execute was indicative of how things were organized, she added.