The House committee on public information has launched its own global search for controversial former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.
Committee chairman Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla said the House has coordinated with the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) to determine if Garcillano and his family really went to Singapore before proceeding to London, as is widely believed.
Remulla’s committee is spearheading the investigation into the alleged wiretapped conversations between Garcillano and President Arroyo.
Garcillano reportedly fled the country, either through the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) at Clark Field in Pampanga or via the southern backdoor.
"I am convinced that Garcillano is no longer here, so we must expand our search to Singapore and the (United Kingdom)," Remulla said.
However, diplomatic protocols "are delaying our effort to get the necessary information from the two countries," he added.
According to Remulla, the testimony of Garcillano is vital to completing the panel’s report on the "Hello, Garci" recordings because the testimony will be used as the basis of the committee’s findings.
Remulla said they are not winding up their investigation until they obtain Garcillano’s testimony along with the testimony of former National Bureau of Investigation deputy director Samuel Ong.
He said the P500,000 reward money put up by the opposition for leads on the whereabouts of Garcillano "will be of great help, because bounty hunters will now be joining the manhunt."
He even joked that with the reward money he is now inclined to join in the effort to track down Garcillano: "If I can find Garcillano myself, I will collect the reward money."
At a press conference, Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo said Garcillano’s case does not fall under any of the provisions of the Passport Law covering the cancellation of travel documents.
"We are approaching this in accordance with the Passport Law but, at the same time, coordinating this with the other legal agencies of the government...," Romulo said.
While the House has ordered Garcillano’s arrest, Romulo said the DFA cannot cancel the former election commissioner’s passport unless there is an existing court order for the DFA to cancel his travel documents.
Responding to queries regarding reports that Garcillano had already fled the country and was sighted in London, Romulo said he has instructed the Philippine embassy in London to immediately communicate with the DFA to verify the reports.
"We have advised our foreign posts like London to tell us if... he is there. We are in coordination with the (foreign) posts," he said.
He added that the DFA is also waiting for the British embassy in Manila to confirm whether or not it issued a visa to Garcillano, "to determine if (Garcillano) is there (in London)."
"We will follow the rule of law in that case and other cases," Romulo said, referring to the canceled passports of suspects in the May 1995 Kuratong Baleleng rubout case.
The policemen charged along with then Presidential Anti-Crime Commission head Panfilo Lacson in that case managed to flee the country before charges were filed against them and a court ordered the cancellation of their passports. Lacson is now a senator.
"I would not want to preempt the legal opinion," Romulo said, adding that Garcillano’s involvement in the wiretapped conversation and alleged massive cheating in the 2004 elections "does not seem to fall under any of the grounds to cancel a passport. Although I’m a lawyer, I would like to wait for proper legal advice."
Foreign Affairs spokesman Gilberto Asuque said DFA records showed that Garcillano’s passport was issued in September 2002 and will expire in 2007.
The DFA maintains that it cannot cancel Garcillano’s passport without a court order or conviction by the court for a criminal offense.
Asuque said the DFA has not received any request to cancel Garcillano’s passport after the House ordered his arrest for snubbing a congressional investigation: "We have not received any request (for the cancellation of Garcillano’s passport). But I can’t say a few hours after if there will be a request. A passport is the recognition of your right to travel under the Constitution."
Under Republic Act No. 8239, or the Philippine Passport Act of 1996, Section 8-b provides that a passport may be canceled when the holder "is a fugitive from justice; when the holder has been convicted of a criminal offense, provided that the passport may be restored after service of sentence; or when a passport was acquired fraudulently or tampered with."
Section 2 of the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) for RA 8239 also provides that a passport may be canceled upon the holder’s conviction for a criminal offense.
Once his passport is canceled by the DFA, Garcillano could be deported by the country in which he is staying.
But a DFA official speaking on condition of anonymity said the DFA can only cancel Garcillano’s passport if Malacañang and the DOJ do not object to the cancellation.
If his passport is canceled, Garcillano will automatically be declared an undocumented national without a passport and can be deported to the Philippines, the official said. "Once his passport is declared void, the DFA will inform the country where he is and that makes him an undocumented national and his travel documents are non-existent and not valid," the DFA official said.
Garcillano may also face charges of electoral fraud because of his alleged involvement in attempts to tamper with the results of last year’s presidential election.
Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos, for his part, said he does not know Garcillano’s whereabouts.
Garcillano denied allegations that it his voice was heard on the controversial audiotapes and claimed he never spoke to Mrs. Arroyo or any member of her family before or after the elections.
Garcillano is no longer obliged to report to the Comelec because he was not reappointed by the President after the bicameral Commission on Appointments (CA) bypassed his nomination.
The President made a televised public apology last month for what she called a "lapse in judgment" in speaking with an election official during the ballot count, but said she was only trying to protect her votes in Mindanao because the canvassing of votes was taking too long.
"It’s in the interest of Mrs. Arroyo that Garcillano never be found," Beltran said. "The moment Garcillano steps into the congressional room to testify, he cannot help but spill the beans on his boss and electoral fraud accomplice Mrs. Arroyo."
Beltran said Malacañang and its network are "working 24-7" to ensure that Garcillano is never found. "Otherwise, they would have allowed Garcillano to come out into the open and issue statements directly to the public, whether in his own defense or in defense of Mrs. Arroyo," he said.
"In this case, flight is a sure sign of guilt, and Garcillano is hiding with the full blessing from and assistance of Malacañang," Beltran said. "When (Garcillano) opens his mouth, the risk that he might either perjure himself or completely expose Mrs. Arroyo is very great." — Perseus Echeminada, Pia Lee-Brago, Rainier Allan Ronda