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Saturday, November 26, 2005
Ex-poll officer seeks stop to 'Hello Garci' probe
MANILA -- The lawyer of former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano on Friday slapped yet another petition before the Supreme Court (SC), this time seeking to block the House of Representatives from continuing with its inquiry on the wiretapping controversy.
Lawyer Eddie Tamondong said the report of the five House committees investigating the alleged conspiracy between Garcillano and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to rig the results of the May 2004 presidential elections "should be trashed as it makes use of a wiretapped material as basis for their inquiries."
In a verified petition for injunction, Garcillano, who signed his petition in Cagayan de Oro City, said the taped conversation is not admissible as evidence because it was illegally obtained.
He also asked the high court to order the House committees to strike off the record of the proceedings and any and all references to the wiretapped recordings and to desist from further using it in any of the hearings.
"Respondent committee(s) exceeded their jurisdiction and gravely abused their discretion when they allowed the recording to be played in their inquiry hearings. They likewise gravely abused their discretion when they allowed the same to be used as reference material in the resolution of the proceedings," he said.
Tamondong said the recording was illegally made in violation of the provisions of Republic Act 4200 also known as the Anti-Wiretapping Law because it was based on privilege or private communication between two individuals.
"Assuming that the sound recordings were genuine and authentic, he said that there was still no doubt that it was obtained in gross and wanton violation of RA 4200. Any committee report released by respondent committees and prepared based on such illegally acquired sound recording would likewise be in violation of the law," he added.
Tamondong earlier asked the high court to lift the warrant of arrest issued by the House of Representatives against Garcillano after he failed to appear in the joint hearings that began in June, shortly after the wiretapping scandal broke out.
He also asked the court to order the respondents to withdraw the P1 million reward put up by minority congressmen for Garcillano's arrest. (ECV/Sunnex)
(November 26, 2005 issue)
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