President Arroyo will recall the appointment of Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano or any presidential appointee if critics can prove irregularities involving the appointees, Malacañang said yesterday.

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel Jr., who is seeking re-election under the opposition Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP), earlier accused Garcillano of electoral fraud that sabotaged his bid for a Senate seat in the 1995 elections.

Garcillano and Manuel Barcelona were recently named to the Comelec to replace Ralph Lantion and Luzviminda Tancangco whose terms expired earlier this month.

The camp of opposition contender Fernando Poe Jr. suspects the Arroyo administration will try to manipulate the outcome of the May elections to undermine Poe’s presidential bid. Malacañang denies the charge.

Poe is seen as Mrs. Arroyo’s main rival in the May contest.

Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Garcillano would be removed if there is sufficient basis.

"They should come up with hard evidence and not just (charges) based on rumors and reports, and the President will not have second thoughts in replacing Mr. Garcillano. But if they have no solid basis, let us just let Mr. Garcillano perform his new job," Bunye told a press briefing.

"The burden of proof is on the one who made these accusations. If they have solid evidence, they can submit them to the Office of the President. But it should not just be general allegations, but backed by evidence."

Garcillano’s detractors "must not resort to innuendoes and rumors and reports because it is easy to come up with such things," Bunye said.

Poe’s coalition has also sought the recall of Garcillano as well as Barcelona after they backed a petition seeking Poe’s disqualification on citizenship grounds.

The Supreme Court will hear arguments concerning that petition, filed by lawyer Victornio Fornier, and two others today in a case that has captured the nation’s attention.

Bunye denied opposition charges that the Arroyo administration was orchestrating the petitions and interfering with the Comelec and the Supreme Court to derail Poe’s bid for the presidency.

"We do not interfere in whatever opinions that the Comelec or its commissioners would make and that is their business," Bunye said.

The Comelec had earlier thrown out Fornier’s petition. Fornier appealed the ruling to the Supreme Court.

He contended that Poe was born to parents who both allegedly had foreign citizenships. The actor-turned-politician should have assumed the American citizenship of his mother because he was born out of wedlock.

Fornier said the prevailing law at the time stipulated that children born out of wedlock assume the citizenship of the mother.

However, the Comelec rejected his argument, ruling that Poe was a natural-born Filipino because his father was a Filipino citizen despite his Spanish heritage.

The Constitution stipulates that the President be a natural-born Filipino citizen.

Barcelona, Garcillano and another Comelec commissioner, Florentino Tuason, however, disagreed with the majority ruling in their separate replies to Fornier’s appeal with the Supreme Court.

Mrs. Arroyo has distanced herself from the position taken by the three Comelec officials, saying that she would not interfere in the citizenship issue hounding Poe.

"The President is concentrated in leading and taking care of matters of governance so we will leave that matter to the Comelec," Bunye told yesterday’s press briefing.

"Although they are appointees of the President, we expect them to perform their constitutional duty independent from anybody after they have taken their oaths of office," he said.

At the Comelec, Chairman Benjamin Abalos has transferred Garcillano’s area of supervision in the May elections to the Southern Tagalog and Bicol regions following allegations of the new commissioner’s involvement in past poll irregularities.

Garcillano was earlier given the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and other parts of Mindanao, areas usually given to greenhorn Comelec commissioners.

‘Utter Lack Of Fitness’

Poe’s camp suspects that Barcelona and Garcillano might tip the balance against Poe. Five of the seven-member Comelec, including chairman Abalos, are Arroyo appointees.

In a letter to Senate President Franklin Drilon and Sen. Edgardo Angara, Pimentel has asked for a Senate inquiry to investigate Barcelona and Garcillano for allegedly having ties with Mrs. Arroyo’s husband.

He earlier said their appointments should be screened by the Commission on Appointments. But Congress went on recess for the May elections before the appointments were made.

Barcelona is allegedly a member of Gloria Bantay Bayan, a pro-Arroyo organization, which may indicate "the probable incapacity of Mr. Barcelona to discharge duties of Comelec commissioner impartially and well," Pimentel said.

Garcillano, meanwhile, allegedly "distributed or cause money to be distributed" to Comelec officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Pimentel did not say when the money, about P1.5 million, was given to Garcillano for distribution.

The turnover allegedly took place in a Cagayan de Oro city hotel.

Garcillano also had a private dinner with the President and purportedly boasted what he could do for her in the Comelec.

"This dinner took place on January 21, 2004, shortly before he was appointed commissioner. This data, in addition to the fact that no person of good repute has recommended Mr. Garcillano, speak volumes of his utter lack of fitness for the position of Comelec commissioner," Pimentel said in his letter. "His presence as a commissioner will destroy what remains of the tattered good name of the Comelec."

Garcillano’s "participation as a commissioner in the 2004 elections will cause so much disbelief in the election results that the President had better rethink his appointment for the good of the nation," Pimentel said.

Mrs. Arroyo — who believes that Poe is a natural-born Filipino citizen — also yesterday distanced herself from Solicitor General Alfredo Benipayo’s legal opinion backing Fornier’s disqualification petition.

KNP spokesman Mike Romero speculated that Benipayo — who earlier was reported to have complained of interference from Malacañang on the Poe issue — gave an adverse opinion in exchange for a seat in the Supreme Court.

"The President has already made known her position on this matter already," Bunye said. Benipayo was not immediately available for comment.

On Alert

Police have been put on alert as the Supreme Court today tackles the Poe citizenship issue.

Members of Poe’s camp had earlier warned of civil unrest if Poe, 64, a hugely popular movie action star, is disqualified from the presidential race.

They also believe that the Supreme Court will railroad the disqualification petitions against Poe, pointing out that eight of the 15-member tribunal are Arroyo appointees.

Poe yesterday dispelled fears of violent protests, saying he would not contest the Supreme Court if it disqualified him from the May 10 election on citizenship grounds.

"I will abide by the law, that’s the law. I don’t want violence, I don’t want unrest," Poe said in a statement released by his campaign office.

Newspapers had earlier quoted him as telling a huge crowd during a campaign sortie in Bataan last week that his critics will not "see the light of day" if they continued to press for his disqualification.

Poe supporters have threatened massive protests if Poe is disqualified.

The Supreme Court said it would not be intimidated and would rule on the citizenship issue the way it sees it.

In their comment on Fornier’s appeal, Poe’s lawyers said Poe’s father was a Filipino citizen and that made the political neophyte a natural-born Filipino.

"That respondent Poe’s parents were married after his birth has no consequence on his Filipino citizenship," their comment states.

"No distinction is made as to whether the children are legitimate or illegitimate. This is consistent with the principle of jus sanguinis. Indeed, nowhere in the Constitution or under the laws in regard the exercise of political or civil rights is there a distinction between legitimate and illegitimate children," it said.

"Note must also be taken that under the 1935 Constitution it is from the father, not the mother, that Philippine citizenship is derived. The child, in fact, of a Filipino mother only acquires Philippine citizenship if upon reaching the age of majority, elects Philippine citizenship."— With Jose Rodel Clapano, Jose Aravilla

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