Poe wants lifestyle check after ‘shocking revelations’ at Comelec

Apart from a deeper probe, Senator Grace Poe also wants a lifestyle check among officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) following “shocking revelations” that no less than its chairman, Andres Bautista, allegedly amassed nearly P1 billion worth of unexplained wealth.

The allegation was made by Bautista’s wife, Patricia, in an affidavit submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation last August 1.

“This goes beyond a domestic dispute. It is an allegation of corruption of epic proportions that definitely concerns public interest given the sensitive position in our democratic set up Chairman Bautista occupies,” Poe, chair of the Senate committee on public information and mass media, said in a statement on Monday.

“It can no longer be framed merely as a “wife vs. husband” quarrel. The information made public points to the possibility of a “husband vs. the people” case.

Poe said the proper and duly mandated offices should be allowed “to look deeper into the criminal aspect of the case.”

And without pre-empting the filing of any possible complaint against the Comelec chair at the House of Representatives, she said the Senate can also look into the veracity of the other aspects of the allegations that she said appeared to be supported by documentary evidence.

The Senate probe on the issue, she said, would be for purposes of coming up with appropriate remedial legislation.

“Also, such shocking revelations make a lifestyle check among high Comelec officials urgent and needed,” Poe added. CBB

RELATED VIDEO