Comelec chief Bautista: Some bank accounts named by wife either closed, non-existent

Embattled Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Andres Bautista on Wednesday said the banks accounts that his estranged wife claimed to be his were either closed or fake.

"Again, I don't know if I have [32] passbooks, you know ang problema dito, these documents were stolen, they have not been given back to me. It's been ten months since this happened," Bautista said in an interview on ANC.

"Makikita mo dito sa mga accounts na ito, maraming iba yung amounts, maraming accounts closed," he added.

Patricia Paz Bautista, the estranged wife of the Comelec chief has alleged that her husband amassed almost P1 billion in ill-gotten wealth.

In an earlier television interview, Patricia showed the passbooks and envelopes containing cash that allegedly belonged to her husband.

Patricia said there were about 32 passbooks from two branches of the Luzon Development Bank amounting to P300 million.

In his defense, Bautista said he kept multiple passbooks because his family has several investments.

"Again, because of the investments that I have together with my siblings and with my parents, we have to demarcate who owns which," he said.

Bautista said that he had already issued letters to the banks involved and they have already confirmed that some accounts were either "closed or they don't exist."

'I did not lie'

In the same television interview, Bautista also insisted that he "did not lie" in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth (SALN).

"As I have said again, the 32 passbooks I'm not sure. It is true that our family and myself have deposits with Luzon Development Bank as to the amount I'm not sure. Because as I have said, these bank books were stolen but my SALN truly reflects the statements of assets and liability and net worth on my part," Bautista said.

"As you can see from her statement and I've been saying this all along, that there are certain money that are in the names of my father, my mother, my sister, my other siblings and... I was tasked to be like the family treasurer long ago. Even in the 1990s and that they've recognized that I have the capacity in order to invest these money. Even the properties. All the properties that belong to me are in my SALN," he added.

Based on his 2016 SALN, Bautista has a total net worth of P176.3 million. The poll chief has also denied that is hiding properties.

"And it's also not true that she is not part of these properties. Because I am married to her. She keeps on saying that I was hiding properties, that's not true," Bautista said.

"Look at my SALN now and I can tell you that all of these properties also belong to her and were factored in when we gave the settlement offer," he added.

'Orchestrated campaign'

The poll chief also claimed that there must be an "orchestrated campaign" against him or the Comelec.

"Nakita ko kahapon yung ginawa niya. I don't think it's being fair to drag private people you know into this whole media... These things should all be presented in court not in the media. To me really, there is an orchestrated campaign against me, perhaps against Comelec, maybe against the elections," Bautista said.

"Ang ano ko sana puno't dulo nito, kung meron siyang ebidensiya laban sa akin, kung gusto niya pumunta kami sa husgado," he added. — Marlly Rome C. Bondoc/MDM/RSJ, GMA News