Poll chief Bautista files criminal complaints vs. wife

Commission on Elections chairman Andres Bautista confirmed Wednesday that he has filed criminal complaints against his estranged wife, Patricia.

Bautista said charges of qualified theft, extortion, robbery, and grave coercion and one other charge have been leveled against Patricia at the Taguig Prosecutor's Office.

Bautista said he filed 5 cases vs his wife with Taguig prosecutor's office pic.twitter.com/vqwJDqnNSu

— Rie Takumi (@rie_takumi) August 9, 2017

The Comelec chief did not divulge further details while exiting the National Printing Office in Quezon City after presenting the printing of ballots for the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections this October.

In an earlier ANC interview, Bautista said the complaints were filed on Tuesday.

"We already filed a case. We did file a case. We filed a case for grave coercion, for qualified theft and robbery and also for extortion which is in the form of grave threats and light threats," Bautista said.

Patricia's lawyer, meanwhile, said they are also planning to file charges against Bautista's alleged "cohorts."

"We cannot charge Chairman Andy until he is removed from office. But all those who conspired with him to hide the unexplained wealth not in his SALN [Statement of Assets Liabilities and Net Worth] will be reported," Patricia's lawyer, Martin Loon, told GMA News Online.

The Comelec chief is immune from lawsuit and can only be removed from office by impeachment.

Bautista, meanwhile, said his mother-in-law, Baby Cruz Vazquez, consulted him before releasing a statement on the bitter legal battle on Facebook.

"Yes, she did. That's her personal decision, whether or not she wants to," Bautista said.

He had denied leaving any item out of his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth.

"Hindi po totoo yun," Bautista said.

Patricia is claiming that her husband has undeclared wealth amounting to nearly P1 billion.

She met with President Rodrigo Duterte, five days before she submitted an affidavit on Bautista's alleged ill-gotten wealth to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) on August 1.

She told the President about the bank passbooks and other documents she had discovered detailing bank accounts and real estate properties in the name of her husband and his relatives.

Justice Vitaliano Aguirre II had ordered the NBI to look into the claims of the poll chief's wife.

Son bullied at school

Bautista added that one of his four sons has stopped attending school because he is being bullied for their legal woes.

"Yung pangalawa, dalawang araw nang hindi pumapasok, yung pangatlo medyo matamlay. Ito po yung mga hamon na hinaharap ng aming pamilya ngayon," he said in an interview on GMA News TV's News To Go.

He asked the media to refrain from giving too much attention to his personal strife with his wife for their children.

In the same interview, Bautista said they have identified political forces behind his wife's decision to bring these charges to light but would not expand on the issue.

"Mas maganda at this point hindi na po ako muna magsalita tungkol dito, although kami naman sinusunod namin kung ano po ang proseso na nakasaad sa ating batas, kung ano po ang dapat naming gawin," he said.

Bautista, meanwhile, reiterated that he would be willing to resign if his marital woes would affect his duties as chairman of the Comelec.

"Ako ay hindi kapit-tuko sa aking posisyon. Siyempre tinitimbang ko ang aking mga responsibilidad sa aking pamilya, sa aking trabaho, at titingnan ko po kung ano ang magandang gawin para nga po masilbihan ang interes ng aking pamilya at ng taumbayan," Bautista said. —RSJ/ALG, GMA News