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Poll exec in ‘Hello, Nico’ controversy mulls charges vs source of tape


The Commission on Elections (Comelec) official who was tagged in an alleged plot to rig the automated polls said on Monday that he would be filing civil and criminal charges against the source of the supposed taped conversation once he is found. In an interview with reporters, Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer said he wants to file libel charges and a case of election sabotage against the person behind the taped conversation wherein he and Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno were supposedly talking about rigging the polls. Ferrer even gave reporters the website where his supposed conversation with Puno came from. He added that he would be asking the Comelec en banc to issue a resolution ordering the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) to investigate the matter. Ferrer has already denied being involved in any conversation about cheating the elections. "Please don't play around with my integrity," he said, adding that even his family is being affected by the controversy. He added that he has never talked to Puno in his life. Puno himself has denied talking to Ferrer. Ferrer, however, said he still has no idea who would want to drag him into the mess, but he surmised that they picked him as the "target" probably because of the rulings of the Comelec's second division, which he chairs. These controversial rulings include the unseating of Bulacan Gov. Joselito Mendoza, Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca, and Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio. The Supreme Court reinstated Mendoza while the poll body sustained Panlilio's ouster. Ferrer, for his part, defended that he has had a good record while he was with the judiciary. "If you want to hit at anybody, spare me, wala ako kinalaman dito (I have nothing to do with this)," he said. 'Hello, Garci' In 2004, a similar taped conversation about alleged vote-rigging between a woman presumed to be President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and a man presumed to be former Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano took place. When it surfaced in 2005, it became known as the "Hello Garci" controversy. On the other hand, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said in a separate interview that they will not be releasing anymore information about their findings on "Koala Bear," the masked whistleblower who alleged that there was massive rigging of the automated polls. "I think it will be revealed in due time," he said. But he said that if the whistleblower named Robin "comes up with anymore antics," they will not hesitate to "talk again" about him. Last week, Jimenez said that initial reports reaching the Comelec indicate that the person behind Koala Bear is a losing presidential bet. "We have no reason to change our minds about what we said initially," he said. — RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV

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