QUEZON CITY, Philippines – Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares still welcomed the long overdue decision of the Office of the Ombudsman against Virgilio Garcillano indicting him for perjury and falsification of public documents.
“Even if the Ombudsman has now just resolved an important case, we are glad that it finally resolved our complaint against Garcillano on the issue of electoral fraud in the 2004 elections. Since it was difficult to pin him down on electoral fraud due to the cover up in the previous administration, we tried to prosecute him, Al Capone style, through perjury and falsification of his passport,” said the senior deputy minority leader.
“Garcillano has long evaded justice and the questions of who were involved in that fraudulent election that led to the victory of former Pres. Gloria Arroyo over Fernando Poe Jr. We call on Garcillano to tell all now that he risks years of imprisonment and expose those who manipulated the election results. We are also calling for the reopening of the election fraud case to finally know the truth on the matter,” said Rep. Colmenares.
“Impunity cannot reign forever and although the pendulum of justice may swing the other way at times, it will surely and inevitably swing back to the side of the victims of injustice,” ended Rep. Colmenares.
The cases stem from the Congress hearings in 2005 conducted by the Committee on Public Information of the House of Representatives, together with the Committees on Public Order and Safety, on National Defense and Security, on Information Communications Technology, and on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms. On the said hearings Garci, lied about not going to Singapore and presented a fake passport to Congress.
