FILE PHOTO: Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia. | PHOTO: Official Facebook page of COMELEC
MANILA, Philippines — Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Erwin Garcia said there is an alleged plot to impeach him and discredit other members of the poll body.
According to Garcia, the impeachment complaint would be about allegations that he accepted bribes from foreign banks, including banks based in South Korea. He said he had already “decoded” what would happen to him and his fellow commissioners.
The Comelec chief earlier sought the help of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to look into claims spreading online that he has offshore bank accounts.
READ: Garcia to NBI: Probe bribery raps, ‘it’s a demolition job vs Comelec’
“Para sa kaalaman ng mga ‘yan, ito po ay isang planado na operasyon, sunod-sunod po ito, series, madami po ito. Ang susunod po nito, sabihin ko na, ‘yung individual members ng commission, ang mga commissioners ko naman ang may white paper,” Garcia said during an interview over Radyo 630 on Thursday.
(To inform the public, this is a planned operation, it’s one after the other, a series, it will be many. I’ll say what comes next, individual commission members, my commissioners will be the subject of a white paper.)
“Ang kahulihan, fi-file-an kami lahat ng impeachment. Sasabihin ko na po pagka’t nadecode ko na lahat nung pong nabanggit na po sakin lahat ng plano ng grupo sa likod nito,” she added.
(The last is an impeachment complaint against us. I will say it because I already decoded everything as I had been informed of all the group’s plans behind it.)
READ: P1-B moved from foreign banks to poll exec’s offshore accounts – Marcoleta
In a letter dated July 8 and addressed to NBI Director Jaime Santiago, the Comelec chief said allegations thrown at him are “entirely false and baseless.”
Garcia said he is willing to cooperate throughout the investigation.
“If it would aid in your inquiry, I am prepared to issue whatever waivers to override any anti-money laundering regulations and bank deposit secrecy law pertaining to the alleged accounts in question,” he said in the letter.
On Tuesday, July 9, Sagip Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta revealed that at least P1 billion worth of funds were transferred from South Korean-based banks to 49 offshore accounts supposedly linked to an unnamed Comelec official.
Garcia said it saddens him that the accusations were made public without first seeking his side or point of view.
“Wala man lang patawag sakin. ‘Yung nagaakusa ay napakalapit na kaibigan at naging kliyente ko pa, nakakalungkot lang sana nasabihan tayo at the same time para makuha man lang ang side natin,” he lamented without mentioning any name.
(No one even called me. The one making the accusations is a very close friend and a former client. I’m sad he did not inform me or get my side first.)