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By Angelo S. Samonte Reporter
Malacañang said it will back
reopening of the “Hello, Garci” controversy if such
support will help reform the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and
put an end to the killings of officials of the poll agency.
“Comelec is a separate
constitutional body, and we respect the desire of the newly
appointed chairman to do whatever he wants in order to reform the
[commission],” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said Wednesday.
Jose Melo was sworn in as the
agency’s new chairman on Tuesday. He replaced Benjamin Abalos Sr.,
who apparently resigned last year over allegations that he had
“brokered” for bribes from an allegedly corruption-tainted
national broadband deal between the Philippines and China.
Earlier, Melo said he wants the
“Hello, Garci” scandal reopened because of its possible
connection with the murders of Comelec officials.
“I suppose [Melo] intends to
put a stop to all these killings of Comelec [executives]. These
killings happen one after another and maybe there’s a need to
thoroughly investigate these murders,” Ermita said.
Last year, a senior official of
the commission was gunned down. This week, another one was shot and
killed. Both murders remain unsolved.
President Gloria Arroyo is
comfortable with Melo and will support the reinvestigation, Ermita
said. “After all, he was chosen by the President because of his
competence and experience.” Melo was a former Supreme Court
justice.
When asked whether the reopening
of the “Hello, Garci” case could lead to the opening of
Pandora’s box in connection with the alleged fraud in the 2004
presidential elections, Ermita said, “I don’t know Pandora’s
box. I’m just saying that if Chairman Melo wants to investigate
the Palace, we will let him do it without [him] being hampered [by
the executive].”
The controversy arose from
allegations that President Arroyo cheated to win the 2004 polls with
the help of former Comelec Commissioner Virgilio “Garci”
Garcillano.
Allegedly, the President
instructed Garcillano during phone conversations between them to
make her win by at least one million votes over opposition
standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. The conversations were tapped and
later surfaced as the “Hello, Garci” tapes.
Nothing came out of the
Senate’s inquiry into the scandal. Attempts by the political
opposition to have Mrs. Arroyo impeached over the alleged poll fraud
also failed.
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