Garcillano appointment hangs

The reappointment of Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano to the Commission on Elections hangs in the balance as Malacañang kept mum yesterday after the Comelec official was bypassed by the Commission on Appointments (CA).

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said he could not say yet whether Garcillano would be reappointed, but added the decision would be the sole prerogative of President Arroyo.

"I have no guidance yet on the matter. Once there is a decision on this, I will just make the announcement," Bunye said.

Garcillano became controversial after he was tagged as the elections official that Mrs. Arroyo allegedly spoke with on the phone several times to discuss ways to rig the May 2004 presidential elections and ensure her victory.

The conversations were supposedly wiretapped by the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) and leaked to former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director Samuel Ong.

Ong said the tapes would prove that the President cheated her way to victory last year.

Congress adjourned its first regular session last week without the CA confirming the appointment of Garcillano.

Sixto Brillantes, lawyer for the late movie actor Fernando Poe Jr. who was Mrs. Arroyo’s chief rival in the last elections, said Garcillano’s reappointment was something to watch.

After denying he was the man whose voice is heard in the taped conversations, Garcillano remained silent on the matter.

Bunye doubted if Garcillano had gone into hiding and said it was not his job to monitor the movements of Garcillano.

He noted the elections official might be lying low because of the controversy.

"I cannot speak (on his behalf). The only person who can talk about this is the one involved," Bunye said.

Garcillano was one of the late appointees of the President before the elections last year along with Commissioner Manuel Barcelona.

The timing of the appointments was questioned by opponents of the President who criticized the credentials of the two, particularly the alleged involvement of Garcillano in a dagdag bawas or vote-padding and vote-shaving case filed by alleged victim, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., during the 1995 elections