Palace backs move to end ‘Hello, Garci’ probe

Malacañang supported moves by administration lawmakers to end the investigation into the "Hello, Garci" controversy in the House, saying former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano had not made any major revelations on the issue.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the "Garci tapes" controversy has dragged on, and Garcillano’s reappearance to face the congressional inquiry has failed to clarify the issue.

"Considering that this is already a much-beat up issue, you might say that is a move in the right direction," Ermita said. " I hope that will be carried out."

Ermita issued the statement after Alagad Rep. Rodante Marcoleta filed a motion on Tuesday asking the five House committees to end their probe.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez added that the inquiry was "going nowhere" and was "a waste of taxpayers’ money."

Gonzalez asked the congressmen to file perjury charges against Garcillano to finally determine whether he is telling the truth.

Gonzalez said Garcillano is duty-bound to disprove the official note issued by Singapore, which said he was there on July 14 and Aug. 14.

Meanwhile, other lawmakers in the House expressed confusion over conflicting data regarding Garcillano’s alleged trip to Singapore.

A "Virgilio O. Garcillano" was listed as having entered Singapore on July 14, though the former Comelec commissioner’s passport shows no signs of his having made such a trip.

Is this Garcillano who entered Singapore a namesake of the controversial former election commissioner or did the former election official use a different passport?

This was the question being asked by confused members of the five House committees inquiring into the "Hello, Garci" scandal.

The confusion was triggered by Garcillano’s submission yesterday of his regular green passport to the House investigation panels. The passport submitted by Garcillano was issued to him by the Department of Foreign Affairs extension office in Cagayan de Oro City on Feb. 11, 2002.

Pangasinan Rep. Amado Espino, who chairs the public order committee involved in the inquiry, told a news conference that the passport confirms Garcillano’s statement that he did not go overseas and was here in the country during the five months that he was in hiding.

"As far as this document is concerned, it shows that Mr. Garcillano has not left the country since 2002. This passport is unused," Espino said. "In fact, the old passport, issued in 1996, was also not used."

Espino let journalists scrutinize the former official’s 1996 and 2002 passports. There were no entries on either document to indicate that Garcillano had left the country between 1996 and now.

However, House Minority Leader Francis Escudero said it was possible that the former commissioner was issued a new passport dated Feb. 11, 2002 with the same control number.

It is also possible that Garcillano traveled to Singapore using an official passport, Escudero said, adding that Garcillano’s unused passport contradicts the findings of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and a note from the Singaporean embassy that one Virgilio O. Garcillano, a Comelec commissioner, flew to Singapore on July 14 onboard a Learjet 35 with registry No. RP-C 1426, and that he departed on July 15, taking Singapore Airlines flight SQ 320.

He added that there is no reason for him and his colleagues to doubt the DOJ findings and especially the report of the Singaporean government: "Singapore has no reason to lie to us." — Jess Diaz, Paolo Romero, Lino dela Cruz