BY GERARD NAVAL

ARCHBISHOP Antonio Ledesma and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay yesterday asked newly named elections chairman Jose Melo to look into the "Hello Garci" controversy that accuses President Arroyo’s camp of cheating in the 2004 presidential elections.

Ledesma, former vice president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, and Binay, president of the United Opposition, said putting a closure to the scandal would help restore the credibility of the Commission on Elections.

"(The challenge to Melo) is to follow up on those unresolved issues that have implicated Comelec in the past like the `Hello Garci’ tape. I think these are all issues that are of part of the responsibility of Comelec and hopefully the leadership will try to look into a closure of all these issues," said Ledesma, archbishop of Cagayan de Oro.

He said it would also be prudent for Melo to address other electoral issues and controversies such as the 2007 elections in Maguindanao, where election documents handled by its provincial election supervisor Lintang Bedol got "lost."

The Comelec last year said it would investigate the "Hello Garci" issue but has not taken any action.

Bedol is at large, evading a sentence of six months imprisonment for indirect contempt of commission orders.

Bishop Francisco Claver of Biñan, Laguna, said regaining public trust is not Melo’s sole responsibility.

"Although he is an integral part, it should be a team effort involving not only those from Comelec but also from the common citizens," he said.

He said it is also important that the citizens spearhead electoral reformation by ridding the country of the practice of vote buying and election violence, especially in the rural areas.

Binay said a full-blown investigation into the "Hello Garci" scandal would be "the first test of the credibility and independence" of the Comelec under Melo.

Binay said that unless the controversy is resolved and those guilty of fraud and cheating are prosecuted, the poll body’s independence and credibility will always be under question.

Melo’s predecessor, Benjamin Abalos, was implicated in alleged bribery in connection with the $329 million national broadband network deal between government and a Chinese firm last year that eventually led to his resignation.

NO TRUTH

Chief presidential legal counsel Sergio Apostol said Malacañang is not afraid of a possible revival of the "Hello Garci" probe because there is no truth to the allegations of cheating by President Arroyo in the 2004 elections.

"Until today, they have not found the original tape. Everybody is saying I have the tape. The tape being presented is a spliced tape," he said.

In June 2005, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye showed media CD copies of the recordings, one of which he said was the original and the other was spliced.

Apostol said Melo is an impartial investigator and will consider all evidence. But he was quick to add: "A spliced tape is not evidence."

CLOSE RELATIONS

United Opposition spokesman Adel Tamano said despite Melo’s track record as a public servant, he is still marred by his "close relation" with Arroyo.

Tamano said the public perception of Melo being aligned with the Arroyo administration was formed mainly because of three reasons. He said both hail from Pampanga province and the President and Melo are also known to "travel within the same social circles."

Third, Tamano said it was not the first time Arroyo appointed Melo to government. The first was as head of the Melo Commission that looked into political killings.

"The Comelec’s credibility has already been damaged and by appointing someone that people will perceive to be close to the President, it would not be much of a help to Comelec. That will undermine the concept of the poll body being a body that is independent," Tamano said.

Melo, who was named to the Comelec last Saturday, vowed to institute reforms in the poll body to ensure honest and credible elections in 2010. – With Ashzel Hachero and Regina Bengco