Poll body chair denies new bribery accusations

Amid new bribery allegations thrown his way, Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson George Erwin Garcia stressed that he has no foreign accounts under his name.

“That’s why I issued a waiver, I don’t care if it’s foreign accounts. No matter what documents, I will sign, regardless if they are bank accounts or properties, I will sign them because I don’t even have a foreign account,” Garcia said.

“Do you think I’m very rich to own 49 accounts? Who among us has 49 accounts, even foreign ones? I’ll mention it again and again, I can’t even get to those countries because I only have two visas,” he added.

The poll body chair has also expressed gratitude to Comelec officials and employees who are backing him amid the controversies he is facing.

“To those who are trying to taint our image, your time is up. It’s our time now. We’ll just prepare for the elections. It’s better for us to just focus on the election,” Garcia said.

About 5,000 Comelec employees on Tuesday released a statement to back Garcia.

To recall, Sagip Partylist Representative Rodante Marcoleta earlier alleged that at least P1 billion worth of funds were transferred from South Korean-based banks to 49 offshore accounts supposedly linked to Garcia.

Garcia said the allegations further claimed that he holds numerous bank accounts across various banks in Singapore, North America, China and the Caribbean.

On 8 July, Garcia asked the National Bureau of Investigation to investigate the allegations and also asked the Anti-Money Laundering Council to probe the allegations that he was accepting bribes from a South Korean firm through offshore banks.

The LandBank of the Philippines, Metro Bank, and Union Bank earlier confirmed that none of Garcia’s personal savings accounts allegedly opened and maintained in the said banks existed.

Meantime, South Korean firm Miru Systems on Wednesday condemned bribery allegations against the Comelec, saying that the accusations were “baseless, careless” and “should not have been made public without any evidence.”