House ends hearings on wiretapping controversy

THE joint congressional hearings on the wiretapping controversy ended today without resolving the authenticity of the "Hello, Garci?" tapes.

Seven months after the hearings began, Congress has not resolved the most important  issue surrounding the alleged conversations: Did the President ask Virgilio Garcillano to cheat for her in the 2004 elections?

Garcillano went into hiding when the controversy first broke out in June 2005. He managed to elude congressional inquiries despite efforts to locate him. He reappeared November last year to deny that any talk between him and the President about rigging of elections ever took place: "I swear that there was no such thing…."   

Garcillano would neither confirm nor deny that it was his voice in the alleged wiretapped tapes. In Congress today, Garcillano said he could not recognize whether the voice was his because he is not an expert on voice determination. He reiterated that the tapes are not genuine copies of the supposed "conversation between the President and a Comelec (Commission on Elections) official."

Garcillano also maintained he never left the country and pointed to his passports, which he submitted to Congress last year, as evidence. Garcillano’s passports, both the old and the new one, show that he has never left the country since 1996.

Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla, however, still believes Garcillano is lying. He reiterated his request to the committees to ask the Singaporean Foreign Ministry to furnish more information on the note verbale it issued last year. The note verbale stated that a certain Virgilio Garcillano did arrive in Singapore on July 14 and left for London the next day. A Newsbreak report said Garcillano and his wife also stayed in Saudi Arabia, from where he sent letters to friends complaining about their "hard life" and asked for financial support.

Remulla asked the body to have proper authorities verify if the passports have been tampered with. Last year, the foreign affairs department certified that Garcillano’s passports are authentic.

The five committees are now set to draft the final version of the report. The heads of the committees are scheduled to conduct an executive meeting on February 15 to discuss the revisions. Their findings will be presented to the committee members for deliberations and approval.

Early on in the hearing, congressmen also asked Garcillano why his signature appears on an August 2005 Comelec promulgation when he was already "missing" at that time.  This point was raised because the committees wanted to know if Garcillano was indeed in hiding or if he wilfully violated the summons of the House.

Comelec Commissioner Florentino Tuason Jr., also appeared before Congress, clarifying some issues on Garcillano’s behalf.  Tuason said it was he who issued the decision on the said resolution in March last year, which Garcillano signed on May 26. It took the Comelec five months to promulgate the resolution, Tuason said, because they had to seek all of the commissioners’ signatures.

Tuason also said he was not aware of "toll gates" (or fees required in exchange of signatures) in the Comelec, as this was reportedly the reason why promulgating resolutions took a long time.

Tuason also denied reports that Garcillano "influenced" the proclamation of Rodolfo Biazon as the 12th winning senatorial candidate. He said the decision was based on documentary evidence. "I do not remember Garcillano ever recommending anybody." 

When asked if he thinks it is proper for candidates or officials to call a Comelec commissioner during elections, Tuason said: "As a general rule, for reasons on ethical grounds and propriety, I don’t think a candidate should call a commissioner, being part of the constitutional body mandated to conduct clean, honest, and orderly elections."  The only exception to this, he said, was if local election officers ignore the irregularities reported by politicians. He added he himself got a call from Senator Juan Ponce Enrile during the canvassing period. He said Enrile only wanted to know his ranking in the areas where Tuason was assigned.

When also asked if the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) was within Garcillano’s jurisdiction as Commissioner-in-charge, Tuason said that the region was assigned to Chairman Benjamin Abalos and Commissioner Manuel Barcelona. Although Garcillano was also the commissioner assigned for personnel affairs, he said.

Amid all these accusations, Garcillano said he regrets he ever aspired to become a Comelec commissioner.

Garcillano, who was with the Comelec since 1961, was appointed commissioner in February 2004. In a senate hearing last year, Garcillano’s nephew, Michaelangelo Zuce, presented a letter Garcillano allegedly wrote to the President reminding her of his desire for the position. In the confidential letter, he introduced himself as "one of those whom the First Gentleman approached when Your Excellency ran for Senator. I also had the pleasure of serving your party when Your Excellency requested me to monitor and/or protect the votes of the Lakas-NUCD senatorial candidates in Mindanao during the 2001 elections."

But like in previous hearings, Garcillano maintained he never allowed himself to be an instrument for cheating and added the Comelec has always been doing its duty to conduct a clean and honest elections. "I did my best," he said.