He lied, she lied…Horn, Robredo trade barbs on airlift

Don’t call me a liar.

Saying she had retained the text messages to back her claim, former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s spokesperson Elena Bautista-Horn on Saturday bristled at the accusation of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo that she was lying when she stated that the now Pampanga representative had not been informed about plans to airlift her to the Veterans Memorial Medical Center on Friday.

Horn told reporters outside the North Avenue gate of the VMMC Saturday afternoon that Robredo “is in no position” to judge matters as he didn’t know what happened on Friday as authorities prepared to transfer Arroyo from St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City to the government facility in Quezon City.

Horn provided reporters a copy of the exchange of text messages between the Philippine National Police and the Arroyo camp on Dec. 8-9 to prove that they were not really aware of the plan to transport Arroyo by air until the last minute of Dec. 9.

“I did not and will never lie,” Horn said of Robredo’s claim that their camp knew of the plan to take Arroyo by air instead of by land. “You decide on who’s telling the truth between the two of us.”

Horn said Arroyo was actually prepared to be moved out of St. Luke’s by land as early as 7 a.m of Dec. 9.

She said the exchange of text messages between her and Maj. Annie Bodanio of the Philippine National Police-Southern Police District would show that her boss was to be transferred by land.

She also said Arroyo was to be transferred by a convoy of three police cars although the SPD increased the convoy to 10 vehicles.

The next day, however, Horn said their camp was informed of an “option” to airlift the former leader.

Her text messages to Gen. Miguel Laurel of the PNP-NCRPO, she said, would show that the air transfer was never confirmed due to the bad weather.

“They misled us into the land transfer because they were not ready with the convoy even in the afternoon. There was no convoy commander at St. Luke’s,” Horn said in her text message.

Horn said that by 6 a.m., she had reconveyed to Laurel Arroyo’s wish to be transferred by land.

Interviewed on TV

However, she said, the sheriff announced in a television interview that it was Arroyo’s wish to be transferred by helicopter.

Horn said this was a lie.

“So I was indeed never informed of an air transfer until the day of transfer. We found out that the air transfer was the decision when the sheriff was interviewed on TV. As you can see and with the text messages, they never confirmed the air transfer with us.

There was confusion until midafternoon of that day as there was no high government official calling the shots at St. Luke’s, she added.

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

“They should not look down on me and call me names because it’s not a behavior appropriate to a Cabinet member,” she said, referring to Robredo.

She lashed out at the administration, calling it inept. That the transfer took 10 hours to execute indicated how things were organized, she added.

“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. She was apparently referring to the 2010 hostage drama at Rizal Park where eight Hong Kong nationals were killed by hostage-taker.

Divert attention away

Robredo, for his part, laughed off Horn’s statements.

“That is what you do when you are caught with your pants down: Divert attention from the lies you peddled,” he said on Saturday in text messages to the Inquirer.

Robredo texted: “Horn continues to lie!” and proceeded to itemize what he described as untruths from the spokesperson.

“One, [it is] not true that they were not informed of air conveyance. Two, [it is] not true that there was no senior police official at St. Luke’s on the day Arroyo was to be transferred,” he said.

He said Dr. Hermie Salangad, deputy chief of the PNP Health Services Directorate, was with Arroyo at St. Luke’s from the morning until she was taken to VMMC at past 3 in the afternoon.

“She, in fact, joined the convoy to VMMC and constantly apprised us of the situation from St. Luke’s,” Robredo said, referring to Salangad.