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BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – The impeachment complaint against Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Andres Bautista was based on mere “hearsay,” according to House Majority Leader Rodolfo Fariñas.
The complainants – former Negros Oriental representative Jacinto Paras and lawyer Ferdinand Topacio – had no personal knowledge of their accusations against Bautista, Fariñas said on Thursday.
“Mahirap naman iyon, hearsay na nga iyon,” he said. “Iyong complainants wala namang personal knowledge dun sa allegations nila and all of the information came from Patricia (Bautista’s estranged wife).”
Patricia, on the other hand, will not be allowed to testify against Bautista during impeachment proceedings because she did not file the complaint, Fariñas said.
“This is a very novel issue,” said the representative. “We have marital or spousal privilege that one spouse cannot testify against the other except if the cause is one between the other.”
The impeachment complaint filed at the House of Representatives alleged that Bautista had hidden wealth beyond his income as public official.
The complaint also noted that Bautista violated Article XI of the 1987 Constitution and Republic Act 3019, or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, when he failed to disclose all his assets in his statement of assets, liabilities and net worth (SALN).
Earlier, Patricia claimed to have discovered around P1 billion worth of bank and real property documents, and several passbooks under Bautista’s name that were not included in his 2016 SALN.
She also accused Bautista of receiving “kickbacks” from automated election service provider Smartmatic and having several “ghost” employees when he was still with the Presidential Commission on Good Government.
Bautista had denied all the allegations./PN
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