Note: This is a reposting. Originally published on Jan. 24, 2009.
President Macapagal-Arroyo issued a denial yesterday that she was the one who passed gas inside an elevator with her bodyguards and a small group of journalists at the Manila Hotel, where she attended a luncheon Wednesday.
“That was not me. I categorically deny the allegation,” Ms Arroyo told reporters in an ambush interview but did not elaborate.
In a press conference later in the afternoon, her deputy spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said she could not understand why the media were so interested in the matter.
“It’s obviously not an issue. She has denied it, and that’s that,” she said.
On Wednesday, Ms Arroyo took the elevator of the hotel on the way to the 23rd floor where she was to be honored by a women’s group, Gising Pinay, as their “Filipina of the Year.”
By normal procedure, only the Presidential Security Group members are allowed to accompany her on elevators and other confined spaces but Ms Arroyo, breaking protocol, permitted three journalists, two from TV and one from print, to join her.
On the way up, the unmistakable sound of someone breaking wind suddenly erupted, followed by the instantly recognizable smell.
Per the journalists’ accounts, all eyes were immediately glued to Ms Arroyo, who kept a poker face through it all, making no comment.
The three journalists, Julius Babao from ABS-CBN, Kara David from GMA-7, and Tirso Baraquel from the Inquirer, in separate personal accounts, each said they were not the ones “who did it.”
All three said they were prepared to take a lie detector test to prove their claim.
The PSG, on the other hand, refused to confirm or deny if any one of the six bodyguards who were with Ms Arroyo was at fault.
Black & White Movement leader Leah Navarro quickly called for an investigation. “I think the PSG should make an official statement about this. It’s obvious someone’s trying to hide something.”
“If President Arroyo could lie about something as petty as this, then it just shows she could lie about anything,” Navarro said.
On TV Patrol, Babao said: “In that situation, we really couldn’t say anything. No one among us could speak after that. I think it’s safe to say that everyone suspected her (Ms Arroyo) but no one dared to ask.”
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