Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairperson George Garcia said that bank transfers made to two offshore bank accounts linked to him were conducted by a public relations firm based in the United States.

In a Viber message to reporters, Garcia said a real account was recently opened in a New York bank under someone else’s name.

“So ang ginawa po nila, tunay na acct sa New York bank na kakabukas lang sa pangalan ng iba tao, tapos nagpadala via wire transfer yang Jaleo Consulting/PR firm ng 100 USD sa same acct number tapos pinalitan ang tunay na name ng pangalan ko (What they did was, a legitimate account in a New York bank was recently opened, then Jaleo Consulting, a PR firm, sent 100 USD in the same account number and replaced the name of the owner with mine),” Garcia argued.

During a press briefing on Thursday, Sagip Partylist Rep. Rodante Marcoleta alleged that volunteers in New York made bank transfers worth $100 to two offshore bank accounts supposedly owned by Garcia.

Marcoleta also claimed that receipts from Chase for Business indicated that the offshore bank accounts were under the name “George Erwin Mojica Garcia.”

Garcia immediately disclaimed any connection to the offshore accounts.

He even said that they tried using a made-up name, in this case “Batman,” to refute Marcoleta’s allegations.

“Tingnan nyo po ito, naghulog kami sa isang tunay na account number pero ang name na nilagay ay Batman, successful pa din ang transfer (We also sent money under the same account number but we put the name Batman, it was still successful),” he added.

“Pinalabas nila na permanent resident ako ng US na may social security number para mapadalhan sa isang tunay na account sa New York bank na pag aari ng iba tao (They pretended that I’m a US citizen with a social security number so they could send money under same account which is owned by someone else),” he furthered.

Garcia also mentioned that they used a “Makati City, Kentucky” address.

The Comelec head earlier maintained that he is willing to answer Marcoleta’s claims “face-to-face.”