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Friday, March 24, 2006
Garci's lawyer hits Central Bank's report
By Lizanilla J. Amarga
THE lawyer of embattled ex-election officer Virgilio Garcillano lashed out Thursday all those who labeled his client's passport as "fake" based on the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) report.
This came as several local group leaders voiced strong convictions that the Central Bank report on Garcillano's passport is a strong evidence that there exists a "bigtime conspiracy" to hide the truth on what happened in the 2004 elections.
Garcillano's legal counsel lawyer Ed Tamondong said the opposition congressmen and senators together with those who believe that his client's passport is fake are "imagining things."
He said the bank report did not indicate that Garcillano's passport is fake but only that his client's passport "did not conform to standards" and this does not translate to having a "fake passport."
"You will not see the word 'fake' in the BSP report, sa imagination ra kana sa mga Garcillano-haters (those are only imaginations of those who hate Garcillano)," he said.
Tamondong is a former opposition bet for Cagayan de Oro City mayor and is a close friend of Garcillano since the latter served as regional director of the Commission on Elections.
Garcillano was wiretapped in a conversation with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on an alleged plot to rig the results of the 2004 elections. The recorded conversation became the controversial "Hello Garci" tapes.
The House committees conducted an investigation on the Hello Garci tapes and asked the BSP to authenticate the passports submitted to them by Garcillano last year.
BSP, whose printing department manufactures passports and banknotes, issued a certification showing the discrepancies on Garcillano's two passports with serial numbers BB 602533 and JJ 243816.
While his first passport booklet (BB602533) conformed to standards, the other had defects in size, inside front cover, stitching and the inside pages where there were cuts and joints along the seam that did not conform to standard.
On page 32 of the second passport, the word "BISA (Visa)" also did not conform to standard because it was printed on the wrong portion of the page, according to the laboratory examination report from BSP.
The report was jointly signed by Gloria M. Solomon, Gloria B. Rodriguez, Loida E. Uy and Rolando F. Garcia, BSP Securities Production Specialist III, Manager I, Bank Officer II and Deputy Director, respectively.
Gloria Resign Movement (GSM) for Northern Mindanao co-convenor lawyer Beverly Musni and spokesperson Jerry Orcullo both believe that indeed Garcillano lied and that his passport is a fake.
Musni said, "Liwat ni Gloria Arroyo, a fake president and Garcillano's patroness." Orcullo for his part said he was no longer surprise by the report.
"There is no doubt if Garci maintains a fake passport considering his personality as a cheat and a liar," he said.
Kilusang Mayo Uno local leader Ryan Guerero said the "fake passport" validates the Hello Garci tapes.
"It goes to show that there is a 100 percent proof of the validity of the Hell Garci tape...clearly GMA is liable to all of this falsification of public documents," he said.
He added that this opened "the door for more intensive struggle for Arroyo's ouster".
City Councilor Alvin Calingin said the signatures should be verified for if proven authentic it would mean that "there is conspiracy to conceal the truth."
Former city councilors Bob Ocio and Butch Bagabuyo said the BSP report may not have explicitly written the word "fake" on its certification but still there is no doubt as to what the government's bank meant.
"Fake passport conspiracy kana fake gani election," Ocio said.
For Bagabuyo said, "I have no doubt about its being fake. They have faked almost everything there is to be faked. In fact, Gloria is now exposed as having manipulated the ouster of President Estrada, perhaps the only president with the biggest mandate."
(March 24, 2006 issue)
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