BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR

MALACAÑANG yesterday said it is unfazed by a possible re-opening of investigations into the "Hello Garci" scandal that links President Arroyo to cheating in the 2004 presidential elections.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said if new Elections Chairman Jose Melo thinks the reopening of the case would help solve the recent killings of election officers or pave the way for reforms in the Commission on Elections, "then so be it."

"Exactly, wala naman talaga (tayong dapat itago) tsaka secondly, ayaw naman nating sabihin, 'Chairman Melo, huwag mong gawin iyan.' If he thinks that will add to the reforms in the Comelec, why not?" he said.

Melo, after taking his oath as Comelec chief Tuesday, said he does not think the Comelec should be the body to reinvestigate the case and expressed preference for an independent commission to handle it.

Melo, a former Supreme Court justice, was named in January to the post vacated by Benjamin Abalos who resigned last year after being implicated in anomalies in the alleged overpriced national broadband network project.

He had said he would not assume the post until he was confirmed by the Commission on Appointments but changed his mind because of the killing of the chief of the Comelec's law department, Wynne Asdala, last Monday. Asdala replaced Alioden Dalaig, who was also shot dead in November last year.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel has questioned Melo's move, and said the CA could not act on his appointment because Melo had not submitted some documents.

Melo belied this.