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‘MAY KAYA PO KAMI’

Bautista’s brother denies ill-gotten wealth raps vs. Comelec chairman


The brother of Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Andres Bautista on Wednesday defended his sibling amid hidden wealth issues, saying that their family had a sizeable amount of co-mingled investments.

In a 24 Oras report by Ivan Mayrina, Dr. Martin Bautista, who is now based in Oklahoma, United States, said his sister-in-law, Patricia Bautista, even knew about the $1.7 million joint investment he had with brother Andres.

"Marami po kaming kinita sa investments namin... from various investments at alam naman po ni Tisha Cruz Bautista ito. It has been very clear from the beginning of time that she knew it. That I was investing that as far as they were married in 2000. Alam niya that I had at least $1.7 million with my brother Andy," Martin said.

"Hindi naman po sa nagmamalaki pero may kaya po kami. This is the conglomeration of my family's combined investments with my brother whom I trust with my life. Alam mo di naman sa minamaliit ko 'yung amount but we will account for every single peso," Martin added.

The Comelec chief's brother also said he had joint account with Andres in Luzon Development Bank (LDB), however, he did not disclose further information on it.

He added that he knew the bank's owner, TG Limcaoco.

"Matagal na po kaming magkakilala ni TG, 2006. My brother went into government service August of 2010. Ito pong perang ito makikita niyo matagal na po ito," he said.

Patricia, in her affidavit, earlier mentioned that the Comelec chief and some of his family members supposedly have 35 LDB passbooks with a total balance of P329,220,962.

Of this amount, Bautista allegedly maintains five accounts with LDB Makati City amounting to P101,519,909.

Amid the ongoing rift between the Bautista couple, Martin questioned the motive of Patricia's allegations against her husband.

"I've been trying to find out all this time bakit mo to gagawin sa anak mo, sa pamilya mo, sa nanay mo, sa asawa mo without even asking my brother Andy kung san ba galing 'to," Martin said.

"Sabihin na natin you want peace, you want honesty, you want truth, you want justice, you want money... Pero hindi ko sisirain ang pamilya ko for this amount, for whatever amount," he added.

Andres already filed complaints against his wife including charges of qualified theft, extortion, robbery, and grave coercion and one other charge at the Taguig Prosecutor's Office. He has denied all accusations against him.

Patricia's legal counsel, Martin Loon, said his client also plans to file complaints against her husband and his "cohorts" for their supposed illegal activities. —Anna Felicia Bajo/NB, GMA News

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