Saturday, November 26, 2005

NR1124:Garcillano should be placed under the custody of religious groups, the Church

Mula sa Tanggapan ni Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran
News Release November 24, 2005
House of Representatives, South Wing Rm 602
931-6615 Ina Alleco R. Silverio, Chief of Staff
Email: paggawa@edsamail.com.ph, anakpawis2003@yahoo.com
Cellphone number 09213907362
Visit geocities.com/ap_news


Garcillano should be placed under the custody of religious groups, the Church; investigations into tapes must continue

Anakpawis Representative Crispin Beltran today said that controversial ex-Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano should not be allowed to be taken into the custody of Malacanang lest his life be placed in greater danger and his burgeoning resolve to give his say on the content of his taped conversations pointing towards massive electoral fraud in May 2004 be shaken or compromised.

“Garcillano has a greater chance of surviving if he seeks sanctuary with church or religious groups. His safety must be secured and all measures to guarantee this must be initiated. After all this time, he must have realized that the longer he remains silent and in hiding, the worse the repercussions on him and his family will be. He will never be able to live a normal life unless this issue is settled once and for all,” he said. “If Garcillano has any hope of clearing his name and his reputation, it will rely on his willingness to be finally upfront and honest regarding the May 2004 elections and whatever dirty tasks and tricks he was assigned and ordered to implement.”

Beltran said that if Malacanang was behind Garcillano’s surfacing and if the Palace was plotting to make Garcillano give false testimonies that will deflect the main blame from Macapagal-Arroyo, “This will be immediately be exposed, and Macapagal-Arroyo will be in an even greater fix. The electoral fraud perpetrated by the highest official of the land is the main issue here – much more than Garcillano’s dealings with other politicians. What all this proves is that elections in this country are so easy to manipulate by the corrupt rich and powerful,” he said.

“Garcillano better watch his step. If he does implement any scheme of Malacanang, he will only be digging a deeper hole for himself.”

The veteran labor leader turned legislator said that the House Committees tasked with investigating the Hello, Garci tape scandal should reconvene and reopen the investigations given that Garcillano has already surfaced. “The key witness has already surfaced and has expressed his willingness to give his explanations regarding his taped conversations. If he lies and perjures himself, there will be hell to pay. All other witnesses must also be invited once more to prepare for the continuation of the hearings. This is the most logical and expected step.”

He expressed outrage over the replacement of Rep. Gilbert Remulla as chair of the committee on public information, saying that Remulla was an able and efficient chairman and the investigations under his facilitation were credible despite a few setbacks.

“Rep. Remulla was an able committee chairman, and it’s a great loss to the committee not to mention the investigations on the Garci tapes that he should be replaced. We can only hope that his replacement, Rep. Talino-Santos would be as fair and efficient as he was. Rep. Talino-Santos would do well to immediately call for the reopening of the investigations,” he said.#

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