DOJ places Garcillano on Immigration watch list

(Updated 10:35 p.m.) The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday ordered the Bureau of Immigration to place former Elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano on its watch list to prevent him from leaving the country and avoiding a poll fraud investigation. The DOJ and the Comelec are set to conduct a joint inquiry into the alleged widespread cheating in the 2004 presidential elections, in which Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo had won. Speaking to reporters, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima said, “We want to be on the side of caution that he might be a flight risk. We just want to be very sure." She added that the former poll official has a history of going into hiding when confronted with investigation into his past election activities. In Watchlist Order No. 2011-394, the DOJ gave the following instructions to the Bureau of Immigration: “Whereas, Virgiliio O. Garcillano is the subject of an investigation by this Department in connection with allegations of massive fraud in the 2004 elections... Accordingly, the Commissioner of Immigration, Manila, is hereby ordered to include in the Bureau of Immigration's watch list the name of Virgilio O. Garcillano," De Lima’s order said. An individual placed on the Immigration watch list must first ask the DOJ to lift the order before he or she can travel abroad. It is less restrictive than a hold departure order, which automatically bars an individual from leaving the country. The watch list order against Garcillano is valid for 60 days. Explaining the move further, De Lima said: “I think the absence of closure of this kind, with respect to the issue of the 2004 poll fraud, is a matter of national interest and therefore, the issuance of a watch list order. The motu proprio (on its own initiative) powers of the Secretary of Justice may be exercised."
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV 'Hello Garci' Garcillano is considered a central figure in the 2005 “Hello Garci" involving taped conversations between a man said to be Garcillano, and several personalities, including one that was supposed to be Mrs. Arroyo, talking about alleged cheating. Garcillano’s services were supposedly tapped by Mrs. Arroyo to shave votes from her closest opponent, actor Fernando Poe Jr., who died a few months after the elections. Mrs. Arroyo, who was proclaimed winner with a margin of 1.1 million votes over Poe, has denied involvement in the purported rigging of the 2004 polls. At the height of the scandal in 2005, Mrs. Arroyo made a public apology on television and said that she only requested an Elections commissioner to protect her votes. She did not disclose the identity of the poll official. Garci comes out Last Saturday, Garcillano held a press conference in Bukidnon province and maintained he never had any conversation with Arroyo to pad votes on her favor. “The results of the election speak for that. If there was no cheating they are alleging to be committed by me or any other person, then GMA [Gloria Macapagal Arroyo] won the election... The conversation I had with the former president was 10 days after the elections. So paano kami magtse-cheat kung after the elections na?" he said. Reacting to this, De Lima expressed disappointment that Garcillano is still evasive when it comes to determining if Mrs. Arroyo had won the 2004 presidential polls through cheating. She likewise said that Garcillano is considered a flight risk because of surrounding circumstances before he held the press conference in Bukidnon. “I think it was in Subic [in Zambales] when it was reported that he was visited by certain personalities. We don’t know the purpose but I guess they were not just there to say ‘Hi.’ It has something to do with, I think, with his reported surfacing to cooperate in the investigation," said De Lima. “We don’t want to be hoodwinked by former Commissioner Garcillano," she added. Also Monday, GMA News TV's evening news program "State of the Nation" aired an interview with Garcillano, who discussed the issues that recently cropped up surrounding the 2004 presidential elections.
For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV Palace nonplussed by Garci flip-flop “I think we were not so surprised that Mr. Garcillano will go out there and say what he said," Ricky Carandang, head of the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office said at a press briefing also on Monday. “It’s very clear right now based on what he said over the weekend that he is not saying anything new or significant or important as far as building up of cases is concerned," he added. Nevertheless, he said that Malacañang is not dismayed that Garcillano refused to testify, saying it is still up to the DOJ and Comelec to determine whether the former Comelec official’s testimony would be valuable. He further said that Malacañang had no reason to doubt presidential political adviser Ronald Llamas's statement that Garcillano had sent him feelers. “There seems to have been some correspondence. It depends on how you look at it. Will you believe Garcillano, will you believe Llamas?" he said. “Llamas is a colleague and if he tells us that there were feelers, I see no reason why he would lie to his colleagues. And I think, at this point, we would tend to believe to Secretary Llamas. If he said there were feelers, then there were feelers," Carandang said. He mentioned the names of a certain Jason Aquino and Jasper Zuniga. “These are people who are talking to Secretary Llamas. Mga contact po ito ni Secretary Llamas and, as I understand it, ‘yung feelers ni Mr. Garcillano were sent through Mr. Aquino," he said. He further said that the two were not part of the official plantilla of Malacañang. — RSJ/VVP/MRT/VS