Thursday, February 16, 2006
House findings silent on Garcillano liability
MANILA -- The five committees of the House of Representatives investigating the alleged wiretapped conversation between President Arroyo and former Commission on Elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano did not recommend the filing of any charges against the former poll official.
In an 18-page draft committee report, the House panels only sought the need to make the chiefs of the Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Justice, Bureau of Immigration, Air Transportation Office, Aviation Security Group and other units responsible for the reported escape of Garcillano out of the country at the height of the scandal.
The report was silent on whether Garcillano should be charged with allegedly rigging the 2004 presidential elections.
During the testimony of Garcillano, lawmakers failed to extract from the former election official answers to their questions, the reports said.
The committees also recommended charging confessed wiretapper Technical Sergeant Vidal Doble for violations of the National Security Code and the Code of Conduct of Military Personnel.
House committee on public information chairperson Emmylou Taliño-Santos of North Cotabato, who led the five committees that jointly heard the controversial "Hello Garci" tape controversy, said Garcillano might escape criminal liability because he was no longer a government official.
Garcillano was virtually cleared from any criminal liability in connection with allegations that he was involved in massive electoral fraud during the 2004 presidential elections.
But Taliño-Santos was quick to add that although the committees did not recommend the filing of any charges against Garcillano, the report was not final yet and still subject to amendments.
She said the committees have in fact asked members to submit their respective amendments to the report, which will be subject to discussions as well.
The five committees met in an executive session Wednesday to finalize the report.
But since a number of congressmen refused to concur with the prepared report, the committee chairpersons decided to conduct another executive meeting on March 7.
Members of the opposition, who expressed disappointment over the report, said they are likely to come up with a minority report.
House Minority Leader Francis Escudero said they are set to meet in the next few days to discuss the draft and its contents and most likely come up with their own report.
Ilocos Norte Rep. Ma. Imelda "Imee" Marcos said the minority should come up with a minority report, which would leave no room for whitewash.
Another opposition congressman, on the other hand, said although the findings "seemed to be half-truths, what was surprising about the report was the admission of the members of the committee of the failure to secure the truth behind the controversy that rocked the Arroyo administration."
The draft report was clear in its findings that it failed to get to the truth.
"Throughout the hearings, no witness from the administration made a single contribution to arriving at the truth. No sincere cooperation was ever extended by the administration to the congressional inquiry," it said.
"In sum, on the one hand, a conspiracy clearly existed to topple the President by embarrassing her with the so-called 'Hello Garci' tapes, on the other hand, the administration could not and would not confront the tapes and contributed nothing towards arriving at the truth about them," it added. (PNA/Sunnex)
(February 16, 2006 issue)
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