VIRGILIO Garcillano, the controversial commissioner of the Commission on Elections and the key figure of the ‘Hello Garci’ scandal during the 2004 elections, died last Saturday, March 29. He was 87 years old.
Comelec-10 Director Renato Magbutay confirmed Garcillano’s passing through a phone interview Sunday night.
He said Garcillano died after collapsing in the comfort room in their farmhouse in Barangay Imbatug, Baungon town after 8 pm last Saturday. He said Garcillano lived with his wife, Grace, on their farm in Barangay Imbatug.
Magbutay said he visited Garcillano’s wake at St. Peter’s funeral parlor in Barangay Lumbia, Cagayan de Oro, on Sunday.
Garcillano was the key figure in the ‘Hello Garci’ scandal that surfaced during the 2004 elections. The scandal featured a recorded conversation between a voice believed to be Garcillano and a woman believed to be former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
The conversation focused on the canvassing of the 2004 elections in which President Arroyo won over her closest rival Fernando Poe Jr, the late movie actor. Arroyo later acknowledged it was her voice on the tape but denied accusations of election rigging.
Garcillano went into hiding and after several weeks surfaced on his farm in Baungon town telling reporters in a press conference that a Malacañang official under the late President Benigno Aquino III tried to convince him to testify that the 2004 Presidential Elections was rigged to favor Arroyo.
Despite the controversy that hounded Garcillano, his former colleagues at the Comelec office remembered his “kindness” and his help during their time of need.
Agusan del Sur Comelec director lawyer Ernie Palanan said Garcillano, as Comelec commissioner, was responsible for giving good treatment to provincial Comelec officials and personnel who came to visit their Central Office in Manila.
“We from the provinces used to sleep on the tables at the Comelec central office during our visits but Garcillano made sure we are provided with the budget for us to sleep in nearby hotels,” Palanan said.
He said because of that, Garcillano was able to win loyal admirers from the Comelec provincial offices.
