|
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
House suspends 'Hello Garci' probe
MANILA -- The five House committees looking into the "Hello Garci" scandal suspended the hearing on the case Tuesday without resolving allegations linking a former election official and President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to fraud.
House committee on public information head Representative Emmylou Taliño-Santos declared the hearing suspended Tuesday afternoon and said it would resume next year, on January 25, as Congress adjourns for a one-month Christmas break.
On the second day of his appearance in the hearing, former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano maintained that he talked to Arroyo during the 2004 election period but it was not his voice in the wiretapped tape that is the subject of the House investigation.
He also said he never left the country during his five months in hiding and that and he has no capability to cheat.
Garcillano also said he never allowed himself to be the instrument of cheating.
Some congressmen said they observed a thing or two about Garcillano during his appearances in the hearing: He either evaded questions or appeared to be not telling the truth at all.
Because of these, opposition and some administration congressmen suggested citing Garcillano for contempt or summoning other election officials who could also shed light on some "doubtful" statements made by Garcillano.
If there is no chance at all of ferreting the truth out, then the hearing should be terminated at once, they added.
Ilocos Norte Representative Ma. Imelda "Imee" Marcos proposed that the five committees cite Garcillano for contempt when he tried to evade questions on his whereabouts during his five-month absence.
Garcillano, despite government-to-government communication between Singapore and Philippines showing he indeed left the country for Singapore on July 14 and for London on the following day on board Singapore Airlines Flight SQ320 flight, insisted he never left the country.
He said he cannot comment on Singapore's statement saying he arrived there.
"I am not competent to answer that. I am not bound by the report of the Singapore government because anybody can say Garcillano went to Singapore," Garcillano said.
Marcos also revealed that aside from Singapore and London, Garcillano was believed to have traveled to Malaysia and Brazil.
He again refused to confirm this. "It's already in my affidavit that I did not go to Singapore," he said. His reply provoked the legislator from Ilocos Norte to suggest that the five committees cite Garcillano for contempt.
"How can you say you have no knowledge when you are the only one being referred to? May we recommend that the five chairs consider the possibility of citing this witness for contempt for continuing to evade the questions," she said.
Representative Teodoro Locsin Jr. of Makati, head of the House committee on suffrage and electoral reforms, rephrased the question. "Without referring to your affidavit, did you go to Singapore anytime this year?" he asked, to which Garcillano replied: "I did not go to Singapore, your honor, I did not go to Brazil. I did not go to Malaysia and London."
When asked where he was on July 14 and 15, Garcillano said he was just in the Philippines.
Another opposition congressman, Bukidnon Representative Teofisto Guingona III, for his part, proposed that all Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioners be invited to the next hearing as he revealed that Garcillano was able to sign a Comelec en banc resolution at a time when he was nowhere to be found.
According to Guingona, Garcillano was able to sign an en banc resolution signed and dated August 31, 2005, already two months after the former commissioner's disappearance.
"If you went into hiding in June how come you have signed this document dated August 31, 2005?" Guingona asked. Garcillano said it was not his signature.
Guingona said he could not discount the possibility that "it seems Comelec was the one hiding Garcillano." But Garcillano said it is also possible that such resolution was signed long before but was only promulgated during that time.
With this, Guingona suggested that it is better that the five committees summon all the commissioners, including the chairman, to shed light on the matter. His proposal was granted.
During the earlier part of the hearing, administration Alagad party-list Representative Rodante Marcoleta proposed that the hearing be terminated because it has no use at all.
Opposition and some administration congressmen, however, opposed his motion.
House Minority Leader Francis Escudero believed that the hearing should still be held considering that Garcillano has mentioned some people whom he had spoken to and has impugned their character.
Marcoleta decided to defer his motion to terminate the hearing.
Akbayan party-list Representative Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel (Akbayan) moved that officials of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp), including Maritess Santos--alleged mistress of Isafp agent Technical Sergeant Vidal Noble, be made to appear in the next hearing.
At Malacañang Palace, Press Secretary and presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye appealed to the opposition to finally accept and admit they have been defeated in the 2004 elections.
Bunye, in a media briefing from Kuala Lumpur, said the opposition had also failed miserably in any attempt to substantiate allegations of irregularities in the presidential polls.
"The President was cleared when the impeachment body dismissed the complaint," he said.
Bunye also shrugged off the continued investigations in the House on the wiretapped tapes on Arroyo and Garcillano's conversations.
He said they have already stated their stand on the issue and it remains unchanged. "It's time that we move forward so that the Philippine economy can take off," he added. (DBP/JMR/Sunnex)
(December 14, 2005 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
|
|
|
[return to top]
[home]
|
|
RP wants China, Russia in anti-terror coalition