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Monday, November 28, 2005
Ex-poll official denies rigging 2004 polls
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- A fugitive former poll official emerged briefly from hiding to deny charges he helped President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cheat to win last year's presidential elections.
Ex-Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Virgilio Garcillano admitted speaking to the President in last year's poll, but he strongly denied charges that he rigged it to make Arroyo win.
Garcillano has been in hiding for almost six months after the opposition released audio tapes in June of alleged conversations between him and a woman who sounds like Arroyo on rigging the elections.
"I swear there was no such thing as rigging in the last elections," said Garcillano in an interview at an unknown location conducted by ABS-CBN television Sunday.
Opposition politicians were quick to link President Arroyo to the alleged fraud shortly after the release of the tapes. Arroyo denied any wrongdoing, but did admit talking to an election official during the counting of votes for the May 2004 national elections.
Garcillano said he is willing to face a Senate inquiry to deny the charges against him.
The ABS-CBN report did not say where the interview took place, but footage showed Garcillano wearing a traditional Muslim scarf over his head, seated next to an unidentified man while talking to ABS-CBN's Henry Omaga Diaz.
Former senator Francisco Tatad claimed Garcillano was spotted November 23 in Zamboanga Sibugay province with Mike Arroyo, the President's husband, and several politicians and poll officials.
Tatad said the ex-poll commissioner returned on November 18 to the country through the southern backdoor from Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia after months of hiding.
Persistent reports said Garcillano was in Cotabato City but military officials denied reports that the former election official was hiding there.
"That's not true. We would have nabbed Garcillano if he was really in Cotabato or in a place nearby; but he's never been here," said Lt. Col. Franklin del Prado, a spokesman for the military in central Mindanao.
Police had also denied that Garcillano was in Zamboanga Sibugay province, where he allegedly met with President Gloria Arroyo's husband and several politicians.
Supt. Roseller Arieta, provincial police chief, said there were no indications that Garcillano was in Zamboanga Sibugay.
"We have no reports about Garcillano's presence in the province. And all these reports are hearsay as far as we are concerned. We have no proof to say that Garcillano was here. It's only all in the news," Arieta said.
Garcillano's wife, Grace, said earlier that her husband is in an undisclosed place in Mindanao and would soon surface to deny all allegations against him.
Also immediately after Garcillano's interview, members of the "Black and White" coalition urged him to come out into the open and reveal the truth about the alleged cheating done by the administration in last year's elections.
Lawyer Manual Ravanera, who represents the environment network Task Force Macajalar (TFM) in the Black and White group, said there is little doubt among themselves that Garcillano would only deliver a "scripted announcement" in relation to the "Hello Garci" CD controversy.
The "Black and White" coalition spearheaded among others by former social welfare secretary Dinky Soliman held a forum concerning what they said was the "crisis in governance" in the Arroyo administration last Saturday.
The forum was held at a local hotel in Cagayan de Oro City and was attended by the local opposition and sectoral groups. Ravanera explained the Black and White movement is advocating constitutional change.
Garcillano said he went into hiding after the "Hello Garci" CDs came out because he had been receiving threats and intimidating messages through text and phone.
He also said his recorded conversation in May 24, 2004 with the President was done after the votes were counted. Garcillano claimed that President Arroyo was asking why her lead to the late presidential aspirant Fernando Poe Jr. was reduced to less than one million.
Garcillano said he heard of reports from the political opposition that there were plans to have him killed.
Arroyo had apologized for a "lapse in judgment" for speaking to an unnamed election official before the votes were tallied but denied having cheated to win the May 2004 polls.
Her qualified apology sparked resignations of key cabinet members in July and a number of key allies including ex-president Corazon Aquino and some business leaders urged her to step down.
Opposition legislators summoned Garcillano to testify against Arroyo in an impeachment case which she survived in September, but the former election official disappeared, possibly abroad, as soon as the tapes surfaced.
His whereabouts is still unknown.
In a telephone interview, Ravanera said it is more advantageous for Garcillano to show up and tell the truth rather than "toeing the administration line."
"If he shows up and tells what the Arroyo administration orders him to reveal there's a good chance he would turn up dead in a few days but if he tells the truth then government can't touch him because they will be suspected of muzzling him," he said.
He also said Garcillano could always deny about the time when the recorded conversation occurred. "Whether it's before, during or after the counting was done doesn't matter since the elections can still be rigged," he said.
Ravanera said Garcillano's claims that the political opposition also called him up doesn't absolve President Arroyo of allegations of cheating. (Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro/Sun.Star Zamboanga/Sunnex)
(November 28, 2005 issue)
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