AFP supports plan to reopen 'Hello Garci' probe

MANILA, Philippines - The military expressed support yesterday for the plan of Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. to reopen the investigation on the “Hello, Garci” poll fraud scandal that raised doubts on the legitimacy of the election of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004. 

Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesman Brig. Gen. Jose Mabanta Jr. said the probe would give active military personnel and rebel soldiers the opportunity to disclose what they know about the controversy. 

“A lot of members of the Magdalo (rebel soldiers) and their comrades who availed of amnesty have stated they want to share what they know about this. Probably, now is the time for them to do what they are saying,” Mabanta said. 

“Likewise (for active soldiers), with this probe, they can shed light so the truth would come out. This will let them say their piece,” he added. 

Mabanta said they are hopeful that a reinvestigation of the case would settle the election controversy, which dragged the names of generals perceived to be close to former president and now Pampanga Rep. Arroyo into the controversy. 

“Hopefully, at the end of the probe, the armed forces can move on. The best way to move on is to put closure to this very regrettable incident,” the AFP spokesman said. 

The “Hello, Garci” scandal involved wiretapped conversations between a woman believed to be Arroyo and a poll official believed to be then Comelec commissioner Virgilio “Garci” Garcillano. The conversations supposedly discussed how the 2004 poll results in Mindanao were rigged in favor of Arroyo. 

Arroyo eventually apologized for talking to a Comelec official but did not confirm whether hers was the voice in the recordings.

She also did not confirm if she was talking with Garcillano.

Brillantes, who assumed as Comelec chair last Jan. 17, said last week that he wants a reinvestigation on the supposed anomalies during the 2004 elections. 

He was the election lawyer of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. who was defeated by Arroyo in the 2004 presidential polls.

“I intend to go back to it (‘Hello, Garci’ controversy) and see the documents in the Comelec,” Brillantes said in an interview with the ABS-CBN News Channel. 

Brillantes’ plan drew support from Malacañang officials who believe that a probe would put closure to the issue. 

“He (President Aquino) has long been asking what really happened to the ‘Hello, Garci’ scandal and he was not referring to this case alone. So maybe it’s better to put closure on issues like this to find out what really happened,” said deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte. 

“It is not right that something as big as a scandal like that can go on without any closure,” she added.

In 2005, some military generals were accused of poll fraud after their names were mentioned in the “Hello, Garci” recordings. 

In a report entitled “Sins of the Cavaliers” a group of rebel soldiers claimed that while the canvassing of votes was being held inside military camps in Jolo, poll watchers were bribed by officers for them to leave the canvassing area.

The report claimed massive cheating also took place in Zamboanga, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and other areas in Western Mindanao. 

In 2006, a fact-finding group led by then Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga cleared the generals of involvement in the alleged cheating.

Cleared were then Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, then Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, retired Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko and retired Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani.

The generals who figured in the controversy were not punished and were even promoted and assigned to key military posts.