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Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Group takes up cudgels for ex-poll officer
By Danilo V. Adorador III
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- An open letter purportedly from an alliance of Mindanao poll office employees is appealing for fairness following the release of tapes allegedly of the President's conversations with a commissioner to rig the 2004 presidential polls.
The letter, reportedly from the Alliance of Comelec (Commission on Elections) Employees in Mindanao, asked why the tapes of the wiretapped conversations were released only now.
It also asked why only one particular conversation, assuming it was recorded by bugging the phone of former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano during the election period, has been publicized.
Amid claims that Garcillano had fled the country, his wife Grace said her husband is still in the Philippines and is prepared to face any investigation.
Former senator Francisco Tatad earlier said Garcillano had flown to Kota Kinabulu in Malaysia on board a private plane Saturday night. He said Garcillano was escorted by Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.
Muntinlupa City Representative Rafael Biazon, vice chair of the House committee on national defense, said if ever Garcillano has fled the country, they would seek his extradition. Biazon's committee is one of five tasked to look into the wiretapping controversy.
Biazon said the reported departure of Garcillano would not bar them from pursuing the investigation. "We will summon him (Garcillano) wherever he is," he said.
Ebdane denied escorting Garcillano, adding he had an engagement last Saturday and had "loose bowel movement" and could not have accompanied anyone.
The alliance said they are certain that "there were other politicians, whether administration or opposition candidates, who called him up as is expected to happen during any election period."
"Why are those conversations not being aired today? Was the 'wiretapping' then discriminatory only against calls from the President?" the statement continued.
The group said they don't believe that "no other politician called Commissioner Garcillano."
"And we most certainly will not believe that the other commissioners were not themselves contacted by politicians," the statement added.
The group also called on the airing of all "other conversations that went on during the period of the alleged wiretapping."
Doubts on the veracity of the alleged wiretapped conversation were also raised by the group: "How could the public be truly certain that it was indeed Commissioner Garcillano's phone that had been bugged?"
In the statement, the group denied being instruments of alleged massive electoral fraud during the last elections.
"To be sure, the President never asked Commissioner Garcillano to carry out acts of fraudulence nor did Commissioner Garcillano or any other Comelec Commissioner asked us, in Comelec Mindanao, to execute and/or perform any illegal act in the furtherance of the candidacy of any politician, administration or opposition," the statement said. (With a report from Sunnex)
(June 21, 2005 issue)
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