EDITORIAL - Time to come out

Everyone presumes that the "Garci" in recordings of wiretapped phone conversations that could bring down yet another Philippine president is former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. A recent report said he was preparing to emerge with his story. He better show up fast, because the longer he stays out of sight, the more reinforced the perception that he is hiding something.

Flight, as everyone likes to point out, is usually a sign of guilt. There are indications that Garcillano has not fled for good but is merely in hiding. The longer he remains missing, the greater the suspicion that he is busy covering his tracks – and those of some of the individuals he is talking with in the taped conversations.

While waiting for him to show up, let’s hope congressmen are also busy drafting legislation to discourage illegal wiretapping, and authorities are preparing criminal indictments against those guilty of illegal electronic surveillance, even as other quarters go after poll cheaters. This scandal should lead to reforms and not just rotten carcasses littering the political landscape.

Garcillano’s wife – and he himself, if that wasn’t Willie Nepomuceno who was interviewed recently – promised that he would tell his story before the proper forum. Well, the House of Representatives is proper enough. The other day exasperated congressmen ordered the police, military and the National Bureau of Investigation to find Garcillano and bring him before the panels investigating allegations of vote-rigging. The probe is expected to aid the impeachment complaint that is being pursued against President Arroyo. The President is insisting that her worst political crisis should be settled through constitutional processes. That is what congressmen, among them several responsible opposition members, now seem willing to do. The President – and the machinery of her government – should make sure that the process is not impeded.

If Garcillano finally faces the House, he should think twice about keeping silent and invoking his right against self-incrimination, like intelligence agent T/Sgt. Vidal Doble. Garcillano has already been condemned before the bar of public opinion, and his silence is widely seen as an admission of guilt in rigging the elections. It’s time for "Garci" to come out and tell his story.