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Suarez sees zero budget for Comelec if Bautista will not resign


House Minority Leader Danilo Suarez on Wednesday said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) may receive zero budget for 2018 if Chairman Andres Bautista, who is accused of amassing ill-gotten wealth, will not resign from his office.

"Palagay ko naman kung hindi siya magre-resign, zero budget siya If he will not resign, zero budget ang Comelec," Suarez told reporters in a press conference at the House of Representatives.

The House Committee on Appropriations was scheduled to hold a briefing for the Comelec's proposed P16-billion budget for 2018 on Wednesday, but it was deferred to Thursday after Bautista failed to attend it.

During the same press conference, Suarez also floated the idea that the sudden increase in Bautista's wealth in 2015 could have influenced the May 2016 elections.

Bautista's estranged wife, Patricia, claimed that he had received commissions from DivinaLaw for "assisting the law firm clients with the Comelec."

DivinaLaw is said to be the legal counsel of Smartmatic, a Venezuelan poll technology provider that bagged contracts for the implementation of the 2010, 2013 and 2016 automated elections.

"Pagka lumabas sa hearing na nag-balloon talaga yung SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth) niya ng 2015, kasi ang implications nun ay hundreds of millions ang pumasok na hinawakan niyang pera, then the 2016 elections, I will assure and I will suspect na merong nanalo na dapat ay natalo at may natalo na dapat nanalo," Suarez said.

"Meaning there is an order from the top, giving order to the Comelec na eto hindi dapat manalo, eto hindi dapat matalo," he added.

Asked if he thinks Bautista is inefficient as Comelec chief and therefore should resign, Suarez said: "I'm not calling it as mere inefficiency, I'm calling it that he's not honest. Kasi kung talagang nagkabayaran nung 2015 for the 2016 elections, he's a crook."

An impeachment complaint was expected to be lodged against Bautista, who has denied all allegations against him, before the House of Representatives later in the day. —KBK, GMA News

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