Comelec chairman Andres Bautista delivers a statement at a news briefing at the Comelec headquarters in Intramuros, Manila on Monday, August 7, 2017. INQUIRER / Grig C. Montegrande
Commission on Elections Chair Andres Bautista on Monday said he was ready to face any inquiry, including an impeachment complaint, into his wife’s allegation that he amassed around P1 billion in unexplained wealth.
“We are ready to face anything and everything,” Bautista told reporters in a press conference.
He is open to stepping down if he thinks the Comelec is being dragged into the controversies he is facing, he said.
“I told him (referring to President Rodrigo Duterte) ‘Hindi po ako kapit tuko sa kahit anong posisyon or panunungkulan. If I sense that I’m weighing down an institution, there’s no problem. I will resign,’” he said.
Bautista and his wife, Patricia, met with Mr. Duterte in Malacañang five days after Patricia met with the President to inform him about the alleged unexplained wealth of the Comelec chief.
But quoting the President, Bautista said “I am not asking you to resign. That is really your call.”
Mr. Duterte refused to discuss the issue during a press briefing in Malacañang on Monday.
“There will always be a case filed so I do not want to preempt what will happen either by the Ombudsman or by Congress because I do not have jurisdiction over the case,” he said. “[I] might as well just shut up.”
Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II said the claim of Bautista’s estranged wife that her husband accumulated unexplained wealth could be a basis for his impeachment.
Aguirre directed the National Bureau of Investigation to look into Patricia’s allegation that the Comelec chief owned several bank accounts and properties that he did not declare in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
“You could use the (NBI’s) investigation to support the impeachment charges,” Aguirre said in a text message.
In the Senate, Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III asked the blue ribbon committee to look into the SALN of Bautista.
In the House of Representatives, Kabayan Rep. Harry Roque Jr. sought an investigation into the allegations against Bautista, saying these cast doubt on the integrity of the 2016 elections.
‘Counsel of Smartmatic’
Roque zeroed in on the Comelec chief’s alleged receipt of commissions from DivinaLaw, which he claimed was the legal counsel of Venezuelan election technology supplier Smartmatic.
In House Resolution No. 1171, Roque said the controversy “raises serious questions about the integrity of the May 2016 national elections, wracked as it has been [by] allegations that the same elections have been rigged to favor certain candidates for national posts.”
Patricia submitted an affidavit to the NBI last week after she sought an audience with the President to tell him that she had discovered bank and real property documents, and several passbooks in her husband’s name that were not included in his 2016 SALN.
Bautista declared a net worth of P176.3 million in his SALN.
He denied his wife’s allegations and accused her of attempting to extort money from him and of having an affair.
“I am extremely disappointed over the recent actuations of my estranged wife, particularly making false accusations against me and allowing herself to be used to serve the political agenda of some opportunistic people,” he said in a statement.
“Her allegations are all lies, and I categorically deny all of them,” he added, stressing that the issue was marred by politics.
Bautista said Mr. Duterte tried to help him reconcile with his wife during a meeting in Malacañang on Aug. 1. He added that the President also met with Patricia and her camp on the same day.
“It is my hope that we could still fix our marital problems, or at least address them in a civil and decent manner. President Duterte himself has graciously mediated our problem for which I am extremely grateful. But her recent statements and actions manifest that she has no desire to save the marriage,” he said.
He said his wife was “motivated by greed” and that she allowed herself to be used by “certain people and groups to promote a political agenda designed to cast aspersions on me and the Comelec’s work in the 2016 elections.”
“It is apparent that she and her longtime lover concocted this extortion plan with guidance from ill-intentioned lawyers,” Bautista said.
He said that between him and his wife, he was the true victim.
He said his wife “ransacked” his home 10 months ago to get his documents, passbooks and money among other things.
He claimed that the documents were altered and used as basis of the allegations about his unexplained wealth.
His wealth, he said, did not come from the 2016 polls as his critics alleged.
He added he was able to acquire his wealth from his previous jobs, such as being an international lawyer and as president of Shangri-La Philippines. —With reports from Philip C. Tubeza, Marlon Ramos, Vince F. Nonato, and Christine Avendaño