Push Admin

Comelec cooperating in US money laundering case against Andy Bautista

Article (news)

ABS-CBN News

<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2829105" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>MANILA — The Commission on Elections said Wednesday the United States government had sought its help in the money laundering case the latter filed against former poll chief Andy Bautista.</p><p>&quot;The US government had coordinated and sought the assistance of the Commission on Elections,&quot; Comelec chairman George Garcia told ANC’s &quot;Headstart.&quot;</p><p>&quot;In fact, they asked us for some documents and they even asked us to interview certain people from the commission,&quot; he said. </p><p>The Comelec &quot;fully participated&quot; and &quot;gave everything&quot; as it wanted to be &quot;transparent as far as possible&quot;, Garcia said. </p><p>Media reports said the US government sued Bautista for money laundering and conspiracy after his estranged wife Patricia Paz Bautista flagged his alleged ill-gotten wealth worth P1 billion.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/08/17/wife-i-asked-p260-m-from-comelec-chair-settlement-was-held-for-ransom">Wife: I asked P260-M from Comelec chair; settlement was held &#x27;for ransom&#x27;</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/08/08/17/comelec-chiefs-wife-shows-passbooks-cash-in-envelopes-commission-sheet">Comelec chief&#x27;s wife shows passbooks, cash in envelopes, commission sheet</a></li></ul><p>Bautista allegedly received bribe money from an unnamed elections technology firm in exchange for securing nearly $200 million in contracts related to the 2016 polls.</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/cOmsh6VrUHo?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><div><strong>BAUTISTA, SMARTMATIC&#x27;S DEFENSE</strong></div><p>Smartmatic has been the provider of machines since the Philippines shifted to automated elections in 2010. <br/> <br/>Smartmatic said it had &quot;adhered to the Philippine Procurement Law and the strict controls that the Philippine Commission on Elections imposes&quot; in every bidding process and procurement procedure. </p><p>Winning a bid in the Philippines &quot;is never solely one individual&#x27;s preference or decision,&quot; it also pointed out. </p><p>&quot;Dozens of technical, commercial and administrative officials have a say in selecting the provider. Over the years Smartmatic has both won and lost bids In the Philippines,&quot; it added. <br/> <br/>In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Bautista said he &quot;did not ask for nor receive any bribe money from Smartmatic or any other entity.&quot;</p><p>He said he was surprised to learn about the complaint and that he had &quot;never been contacted&quot; by the US federal department for his side.</p><p>Bautista said he was ready to respond to the allegations and stressed the integrity of the 2016 elections. <br/> <br/><strong>COMELEC PROBES ALLEGATIONS</strong></p><p>In the ANC interview, Garcia said the poll body has formed a task force to investigate the bribery accusations.</p><p>He said Comelec would like to find out &quot;what really happened during the 2016 procurement.&quot; </p><p>&quot;Because if there&#x27;s a rigged bidding… one person cannot rig a bidding by himself and therefore there should be other individuals involved,&quot; the poll chief said.</p><p>&quot;So we would like to find out who are these other individuals just in case that allegation is true.&quot;</p><p>Garcia hopes the US government will also share information with them so the commission would not be left &quot;in the dark.&quot;</p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/n9T1e115KME?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/7FHnzGUZRrQ?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The Comelec said the US government had sought its help in the money laundering case the latter filed against former poll chief Andy Bautista.