Patricia Bautista: Friends, kin 'discreetly' gave info on poll chief's 'illegal acts'

Friends and relatives of Patricia Paz Bautista supposedly provided information that led to the discovery of the alleged ill-gotten wealth of her estranged husband, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista.

In her affidavit submitted to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on August 1, Patricia said friends and relatives "discreetly" gave information starting early 2016 about Bautista's "alleged misdealings and questionable actions" as then chairperson of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) and now Comelec chairman.

"Although I had no complete grasp of what these information meant, since I do not meddle nor inquire with Andy as to what he actually does in his public positions, but from all indications of the information relayed to me, it would appear that Andy has been doing something illegal, or at the very least, being dishonest in his public position(s)," she said.

Patricia admitted that she never suspected Bautista of being corrupt or dishonest in his work knowing that her husband was earning a "hefty income" from his previous stint as a lawyer, "which was more than enough to provide for our family and needs."

However, the stream of information she had been receiving about her husband seemed to have convinced Patricia to dig deeper.

"One day, when Andy was at work, I accidentally found documents [I mentioned below] laying around in our house, including cash, gift-wrapped sitting in a bag in our living room. I glanced at some of these documents I saw and I began noticing that these are items and properties Andy owns, but which I was not made aware of," the affidavit stated.

"This led me to become more attentive and conscious of the other documents and papers that were laying around our house, and it was then that I began to discover more and more properties and money that I only became aware [of] for the first time."

Patricia said Bautista left out bank accounts from the Luzon Development Bank (LDB), Rizal Commercial Banking Corp. (RCBC), and Hong Kong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited in his 2016 Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).

His condominium units in One Bonifacio High Street at Bonifacio Global City (BGC) in Taguig City and The District in San Francisco, California were reportedly also not declared as were investments in companies based in The British Virgin Islands, Brunei Darussalam, and Anguilla.

The Comelec chief declared in his 2016 SALN that he had only P176.3 million.

Patricia also said "substantial deposits and withdrawals" on each of the questioned bank accounts were made within the last two years when Bautista was already Comelec chairman and the 2016 national elections were conducted.

"Most of the deposits were made below the P500,000 threshold, probably to avoid any AMLA [Anti-Money Laundering Council] detection. The deposits were made almost every day as if in a distinct order," Patricia said.

Accounts moved, closed

She added that Bautista may have found out that she became aware of the accounts, which may have prompted him to move these accounts to somewhere else or close them completely.

"Overall, I find these highly questionable given his stature as a high ranking government official and the sensitive nature of his work in overseeing the country's elections,” she said.

Bautista had slammed allegations of ill-gotten wealth, describing these as "all lies."

He said his estranged wife was "motivated by greed" and that she allowed herself to be used by "certain people and groups to promote a political agenda designed to cast aspersions on me and the Comelec's work in the 2016 elections."

"It is apparent that she and her long-time lover concocted this extortion plan with guidance from ill-intentioned lawyers who thought they could threaten me into simply turning over hard earned and legitimately acquired assets belonging to me and my family. They were wrong," Bautista said in a statement on Monday.

He said his wife obtained these documents around November 2016 after she withdrew $117,000 from their joint bank account and employed armed men to have him barred from entering their home.

"It has been 10 months since she stole cash, GCs (gift certificates), ATM cards, and other financial documents belonging to myself and my family, many of which her lawyers embellished, doctored or fabricated," Bautista said.

Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II had already ordered the NBI to probe Patricia's allegations while some lawmakers asked for a congressional inquiry.

Bautista said he is ready to face any investigation on his alleged unexplained wealth. —ALG/KVD, GMA News