More congressmen to join falsification complaint vs Garcillano

More lawmakers are set to file charges of perjury and falsification of public documents against former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla said yesterday.

Remulla, now a member of the opposition, spearheaded the "Hello, Garci" probe in June last year.

Meanwhile, Sen. Panfilo Lacson was charged with libel before the Mandaluyong prosecutor’s office yesterday by Senior Superintendent Asher Dolina, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group National Capital Region director, who is asking for P2 million in damages from the retired Philippine National Police (PNP) chief.

Dolina said Lacson accused him of having a hand in the alleged manufacture of a fake passport for Garcillano, whom some lawmakers had accused of presenting a forged passport before the House of Representatives.

"The amount is immaterial," he said. "I have to protect my name. I am a lawyer and I know better than that."

Dolina said Lacson’s false accusation had even affected his children.

"Nasaan na ang tatay mo na namemeke ng passport (Where’s your father who fakes passports)?" he said, quoting the insulting remarks made to his children.

Dolina said he also wants to protect the PNP’s integrity as an institution.

"He was a former policeman and he is supposed to know what he should do," he said of Lacson. "If he has evidence, then file a case in court instead of talking and talking without presenting proof."

Remulla told reporters he and several other lawmakers want to amend and "supplement" the charges filed by Representatives Alan Peter Cayetano, Teofisto Guingona III and Joel Villanueva against Garcillano before the Quezon City prosecutor’s office last week.

"As far as we are concerned, Garcillano is liable for 20 counts of perjury, several violations of the Passport Act of 1996 and falsification of public documents," he said.

The former chairman of the House committee on public information said they are also "injured parties" after Garcillano lied under oath before five joint panels of the chamber.

"We feel that we also have the right to file charges," he said.

Among the documents they wanted to attach to Lacson’s complaint are the affidavit Garcillano submitted to the House reiterating his claim that he did not leave the country, the transcript of the proceedings and the communications regarding his foreign travels.

Remulla also took to task Garcillano’s counsel Eddie Tamondong, who insinuated that the purported forged passport of Garcillano could have been switched while in the custody of the joint panels investigating the alleged cheating in the 2004 presidential elections.

"That’s contemptible," he said. "He has to apologize to the House."

Over the weekend, allies of President Arroyo argued that the findings of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, which manufactures Philippine passports, that one of Garcillano’s passports did not conform to standards was proof that the administration was not protecting the former election commissioner.

"It would have been much easier to give Garcillano a brand-new passport and submit it to the joint committee without anyone in Congress knowing it," Rep. Exequiel Javier said. "Probers would not have spotted any difference in his travel document."

Lanao del Sur Rep. Benasing Macarambon said if Malacañang indeed helped Garcillano, then they would not have tampered with his passport.

"What will they gain in manufacturing his passport knowing Garcillano has been in the hot seat?" he asked.

Macarambon is vice chairman of the House committee on national defense and security. — With Cecille Suerte Felipe