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Monday, December 05, 2005
Ex-poll exec comes out, will face Congress
MANILA -- Former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Virgilio Garcillano arrived in Manila Sunday afternoon to face Congressional hearings on allegations linking him to fraud in last year's elections.
From his safe house, Garcillano went to the coastal village in Barangay Padak, Sinsuat, Maguindanao on board a speedboat with several bodyguards. They subsequently moved to the Cotabato Domestic Airport for their flight to Manila.
The House of Representatives sergeant-at-arms, Bayani Fabic, served the House invitation to Garcillano for a hearing on Wednesday on the "Hello Garci" controversy in Sinsuat, Maguindanao.
The Senate also invited the former Comelec official for its own hearing on Thursday.
Garcillano arrived at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 2 in Manila at 2 p.m. He will stay at the Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City for security reason.
Prior to his arrival in Manila, Garcillano confirmed to House Speaker Jose de Venecia that he would appear in a hearing on the wiretapping scandal being conducted by five House committees.
De Venecia said the former Comelec commissioner informed him through a telephone call that he would attend the hearing just like what his lawyer told congressmen last week.
The House lifted the arrest warrant issued against Garcillano after his lawyer Eddie Tamondong assured congressmen that the former elections official would appear in Wednesday's hearing. "What the nation and the Filipino people want is for Garcillano to tell the truth," de Venecia said.
He told Garcillano there would be a full transparency and fairness in the joint House inquiry and that he will be treated with respect.
Administration congressmen, meanwhile, warned former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director Samuel Ong he would be arrested if he would still ignore the third subpoena issued to him.
Makati City Representative Teodoro Locsin Jr. said the House will be forced to issue a warrant of arrest against Ong should he refuse to surface.
Locsin said Ong's testimonies would be as crucial as Garcillano's as Congress would not be able to conclude its investigation on the scandal unless the former NBI official surfaces and testifies.
The third subpoena has already been coursed through Ong's lawyer, Homobono Adaza, who said his client will only face the House panel if his safety would be assured.
Adaza said Ong had vowed to appear in the investigation if he would not be arrested for the sedition charges filed against him. He said his client is wary of attending the House investigation because there are certain groups out to silence him.
Garcillano had been in hiding for more than five months since audiotapes of wiretapped conversations allegedly between him and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on rigging last year's presidential elections came out in the open.
The former elections official denied he conspired with Arroyo to manipulate the result of the 2004 polls, saying the President just inquired about her votes when she called him up during the elections.
Ong, on the other hand, said he has the so-called "mother of all tapes" of the wiretapped conversations. (JFF/DBP/Sunnex)
(December 5, 2005 issue)
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