FILE Photos Comelec Comm George Garcia and retired AFP Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr.
MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner George Garcia on Thursday said that retired general Antonio Parlade Jr. should back up with evidence his allegation of a shakedown against the poll body.
Parlade, who went to the People Power Monument on Tuesday to protest the alleged corruption in Comelec claimed that he had to pay “millions of pesos” for his name to be included in the ballots for the upcoming elections.
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“Sana mayroon siyang mapo-produce na ebidensya para ma-back up yung kanyang sinasabi (I hope he could produce evidence to back up his claim), with all due respect to General Parlade,” Garcia said in a press briefing in Comelec office in Manila.
The name of the former spokesperson of the anti-communist task force was not included in the ballots because he substituted a person who was listed as an independent candidate.
Comelec rules indicated that a person could not be a substitute to a person who filed his certificate of candidacy as an independent candidate.
Garcia, who is a veteran election lawyer, also admitted that Parlade’s group also sought his advice about his disqualification.
“Isa ako sa mga, that time, na-consult ng grupo nila tungkol sa Comelec na payagan siyang maging kandidato. Tumulong ako, kaso syempre, hindi sya napagbigyan,” Garcia said.
(Their group consulted me that time about his disqualification case. I assisted them, but of course, their wish was not granted.)