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Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Ex-election officer may be dead: legislator
MANILA -- Cavite Representative Gilbert Remulla Monday believes the missing former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Virgilio Garcillano may already be dead.
At a press conference, Remulla, chairman of the House committee on public information, said it could not be discounted that the controversial former Comelec official may have been killed to silence him on the controversies linking President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to alleged massive fraud in last year's elections.
Remulla's committee was one of five committees that investigated the audiotapes containing the conversations between Arroyo and Garcillano where they allegedly talked about election fraud.
"I don't really know if he's still alive. But at this time, Garcillano is more valuable being dead than alive to this administration. Dead man tells no tale," Remulla said.
The committee chairman said only Garcillano could ascertain if the supposed taped conversation between him and the President indeed took place.
The committee is expected to release its report on the investigation on November 8.
Remulla also criticized Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto Romulo for not fulfilling his promise to send communications to governments of Argentina and Brazil where Garcillano was believed to have been hiding a few weeks ago.
The congressman claimed a reliable source told him that Garcillano was in Argentina but had probably left for Brazil. He asked the Department of
Foreign Affairs (DFA) to communicate as soon as possible to the governments of Argentina and Brazil to ascertain the presence of the former election official there.
Remulla said Romulo allegedly failed to act on his request. He also claimed that he has sources in the DFA who said Romulo himself had given orders to his men not to send any communication to the two South American governments asking about Garcillano's presence there.
"For me, that means let's forget about Garci," he said as he admitted to losing hope that Garcillano would still appear before the five committees to confirm or deny the "Hello Garci" tape.
"It is deeply disappointing to have confirmed my deep suspicions that the DFA has purposely failed to act on my formal request to ask the foreign ministers of Argentina and Brazil about the reported entry of Garcillano," Remulla added. (DBP/Sunnex)
(November 1, 2005 issue)
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