House eyes cancellation of Garci’s passport

The five House committees inquiring into the "Hello, Garci" tapes are eyeing the eventual cancellation of the passport of missing former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano to force him to return to Manila if he is abroad.

Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla, who chairs the public information committee leading the inquiry, told reporters yesterday that if Garcillano fails to show up for the resumption of the investigation next Wednesday, the committees could cite him in contempt and the House could order him arrested.

Such an arrest order could then be a basis to request that the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) cancel his passport, he said.

Meanwhile, a ranking official of the DFA said Garcillano may have left the country using his regular passport since he was not placed on the Bureau of Immigration’s hold departure list.

The official, who asked not to be named, said it is possible that the former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner could not be prevented from leaving the country because the DFA had not received any request from the court to cancel his passport.

The House committees have subpoenaed Garcillano and former National Bureau of Investigation official Samuel Ong, who had claimed he had the "mother of all tapes" in the "Hello, Garci" wiretapping scandal that allegedly revealed President Arroyo speaking to a former election commissioner named "Garci," widely believed to be Garcillano.

According to ABS-CBN News Channel, the former commissioner had flown from Subic to Singapore, where he was supposed to have stayed overnight before flying to London.

Remulla said he has written the DFA to verify the report.

"Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez should also do his job and check whether or not Garcillano is in Singapore or London, and how he can be extradited," he said.

Gonzalez, however, said in a television interview on Thursday night that it is not the duty of his department or of any government agency to look for the missing former Comelec commissioner.

"That is the duty of the accusers," he said.

This remark prompted Rep. Joel Villanueva of the party-list group Citizens Battle Against Corruption to criticize Gonzalez.

"He is really hopeless," Villanueva said.

Remulla said Garcillano and Ong should respond to the subpoenas the committees have issued and should attend Wednesday’s hearing.

"The ‘Hello, Garci’ inquiry will not be complete without the two, especially Garcillano, telling their stories," he said.

No request was made to the BI to put Garcillano on the hold departure list to prevent him from leaving the country.

"It is possible because if one person has a passport there is no control to prevent him from leaving unless there is a court order to cancel his passport," the DFA official said, adding there was no such order,

"We have to be ordered by the court and under the law the Bureau of Immigration can also issue a hold order. The Department of Justice can only address the hold order to the (BI)," the source added.

According to the DFA official, the only way to prevent Garcillano from leaving the country is for his passport to be canceled, or for a hold order to be issued. — With Pia Lee-Brago and Cecille Suerte Felipe