IN an interview an hour ago with dzBB's Arnold Clavio and Ali Sotto, former Comelec Chairman Christian Monsod admitted he has not heard all of the allegedly wiretapped conversations between Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and several individuals, following the May 2004 elections.
I have not heard all so I am not prepared to comment on the context.
But from what he has heard so far, Monsod told the hosts, he is certain of a few things, all of them equally important:
1. The man whose voice is recorded in almost all of the snippets of conversation is indeed Garcillano.
Clavio: Si Garcillano ho ba talaga yun?
Monsod: Ang palagay ko sya. It sounds like (him). I have verified it from my friends in the Comelec and they tell me na they're sure it's him. Combined with that and my own impression that it's him, it's likely that it's really him.
2. While, officially, Garcillano was the commissioner-in-charge for a specific region (Southern Tagalog), he was still the de facto supervising commissioner for the region of Muslim Mindanao which was the subject of many of the taped conversations.
Sotto: Ang naririnig natin sa tape, mostly sa Mindanao, how can Garcillano be instrumental in that region when he was appointed in another region?
Monsod: The Comelec career officials and insiders know exactly what happened. That while the commissioner-in-charge is formally the Chairman, Abalos, for Muslim Mindanao, it was Commissioner Garcillano that was actually doing the supervision. Madaling malaman yan—telephone calls, trips, all that—I was informed that that's the case. In Muslim Mindanao, in effect, the supervision was delegated by the Chairman to Garcillano.
3. It is improper for a candidate to make calls to a Comelec commissioner to discuss nonprocedural election matters.
Sotto: One of the defenses being floated around is that it's normal for any candidate to check on his or her status: Ano ba ang lagay ko?
Monsod: During my time President Aquino never once called me. Iba yung advice. I remember in 1992 nung nag-withdraw si then Sen. (Joseph) Estrada (from the presidential race) he called me and he said, 'Ano po ba ang procedure, paano ba mag-withdraw, kailan ang deadline?' and so on. That's a proper question to ask. But to ask about the status, yung margins, I don't think that is a question that should be asked by a candidate, particularly a president, of a Comelec commissioner that she appointed.
