Garcillano faces Comelec probe

After being passed over by the Commission on Appointments (CA), embattled election official Virgilio Garcillano could also soon face charges of electoral fraud.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) agreed yesterday to conduct a separate investigation into Garcillano’s alleged involvement in attempts to tamper with the results of last year’s presidential election.

Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos said they were currently awaiting the findings of the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC), which analyzed the audio recording of alleged wiretapped telephone conversations between Garcillano and President Arroyo about plans to rig the results of last year’s elections.

"The en banc has taken my position that we would wait for the NTC to identify the parties involved and determine the authenticity of the tape before we could conduct the probe," Abalos said. "The findings of the NTC would be our basis, particularly the portions of the tape that would be proven genuine."

Abalos said he had no idea of Garcillano’s whereabouts. The embattled Comelec commissioner has not been available for interviews during the past several days, and did not attend the meeting of the seven-member commission.

Garcillano is no longer obliged to report to the Comelec because he has not been reappointed by the President after the CA bypassed him.

Garcillano earlier denied his voice was the one heard on the recording and claimed that he never spoke with Mrs. Arroyo or any member of her family before or after the presidential election.

Asked to comment on whether last year’s election results had been tampered with, Abalos said: "As far as the records of the Comelec are concerned, the May 2004 local and national elections were clean and orderly."

Abalos, meanwhile, denied a claim by former Comelec chairman Christian Monsod that he had allowed Garcillano to supervise the elections in Mindanao even though these regions were not assigned to him.

"There is no truth to that," Abalos said, adding it was Monsod who reappointed Garcillano to the commission.

Mrs. Arroyo won by a narrow margin in the presidential race. The late action star Fernando Poe Jr., Mrs. Arroyo’s closest contender, claimed that she robbed him of victory and lodged an electoral protest.

The Supreme Court junked his complaint shortly after Poe died of a stroke in December.

Senate President Franklin Drilon advised Mrs. Arroyo yesterday against reappointing Garcillano.

Drilon predicted a not-so-distant possibility of Garcillano’s appointment being rejected by the Commission on Appointments, which Drilon chairs in concurrent capacity.

"A reappointment of Garcillano is something the President would need like a hole on her head. She must avoid any further controversy," Drilon told reporters in an interview.

He and his partymates in the Liberal Party said that setting aside Garcillano’s reappointment would be a "good step for the President to take in the process of rebuilding (public) confidence."

Garcillano has become "too controversial," they said, following allegations from the opposition that he was the person heard on the alleged wiretapped phone conversations that surfaced last week.

"With this controversy surrounding the wiretapped phone conversations raging and unsettling our political landscape, the prospect of Garcillano being rejected by the Commission on Appointments is too real at this moment," he said.

Drilon issued the statement a day after Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said Mrs. Arroyo was undecided about whether or not to reappoint Garcillano.

The Senate president noted that Congress adjourned without acting on Garcillano’s appointment, which would have given him a fixed term in office.

The President’s bypassed nominees are assumed reappointed unless there is a big issue or controversy blocking their appointment.

Garcillano and Manuel Barcelona were appointed by the President to the Comelec on Feb. 10, 2004 as replacements for retired Commissioners Luzviminda Tancangco and Ralph Lantion, both appointees of former President Joseph Estrada.

Before the May 14 elections, Drilon asked Garcillano to step down from the Comelec because of reports from former Comelec commissioners that he was allegedly involved in "dagdag-bawas" (vote-padding and -shaving) activities in the 1995 elections.

At that time, Drilon said Garcillano’s resignation would help the Comelec regain its credibility, especially during the crucial election period.

Meanwhile, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. also reiterated the call not to reappoint Garcillano.

Pimentel, who decried being a victim of election fraud in the past, described Garcillano as a Comelec "operator," not a commissioner. He did not elaborate. Blast from the past

Garcillano’s appointment last year was questioned by Poe’s camp, which suspected that the Arroyo administration would try to manipulate the outcome of the polls.

Pimentel, who was then seeking reelection under the opposition Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino, had accused Garcillano of electoral fraud that sabotaged his bid for a Senate seat in the 1995 elections.

Malacañang replied that Garcillano’s appointment would be recalled if irregularities were found.

"The burden of proof is on the one who made these accusations. If they have solid evidence, they can submit (it) to the Office of the President. But it should not just be general allegations, but backed by evidence."

Garcillano’s detractors "must not resort to innuendoes and rumors and reports because it is easy to come up with such things," Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said in February.

Poe’s camp suspected that Barcelona and Garcillano might tip the balance against the movie icon. Five of the seven-member Comelec, including Abalos, are Arroyo appointees.

In a letter to Drilon and Sen. Edgardo Angara shortly after Garcillano was appointed, Pimentel asked for a Senate inquiry to investigate Barcelona and Garcillano for allegedly having ties with Mrs. Arroyo’s husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo.

He said their appointments should be screened by the CA. But Congress went on recess for the May elections before the appointments were made.

Pimentel alleged that Garcillano "distributed or caused money to be distributed" to Comelec officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Pimentel did not say when the money — allegedly P1.5 million — was given to Garcillano for distribution and where it came from. The turnover allegedly took place in a Cagayan de Oro City hotel.

Garcillano also had a private dinner with the President during which he boasted what he could do for her at the Comelec, Pimentel charged.

"This dinner took place on January 21, 2004, shortly before he was appointed commissioner. This data, in addition to the fact that no person of good repute has recommended Mr. Garcillano, speaks volumes of his utter lack of fitness for the position of Comelec commissioner," Pimentel said in his letter. "His presence as a commissioner will destroy what remains of the tattered good name of the Comelec."

Garcillano’s "participation as a commissioner in the 2004 elections will cause so much disbelief in the election results that the President had better rethink his appointment for the good of the nation," Pimentel had said. — With John Unson, Christina Mendez