Comelec chair decries: There is an orchestrated campaign against me

FILE PHOTO/ Andres Bautista

An emotional Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista said on Wednesday that there was a ‘demolition job’ against him amid allegations by his wife about his alleged billion ill-gotten wealth.

“There is an orchestrated campaign against me, perhaps the Comelec, the elections,” Bautista said in an interview on ANC’s ‘Headstart’.

Bautista’s estranged wife, Patricia, indicted the Comelec chairman of having illegally-gotten wealth which are not reflected in his annual Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN).

He also expressed concern with his four young children who have stopped going to school because of the spat with his wife.

“My kids don’t go to school anymore. They’re being bullied,” Bautista said.

Holding back his tears, the poll chief also said he worries about the children to which his wife answered that ‘the universe will take care of them’.

“Sabi ko, ‘Paano mangyayari sa mga bata kapag ito ay nabulatlat sa buong mundo?’ (I told her, what will happen to the kids if the world will know about this). Sabi niya (she answered) , ‘No, no, the universe will take care of them,” Bautista recalled.

“The documents in her possession were stolen from our home in November last year. She stole these after she locked me out of our condominium unit,” Bautista added.

He said the financial records were not his alone but also included those of his family. He added the Bautista family would answer the unexplained wealth allegations in a news conference soon.

Bautista’s wife has records of bank deposits, checks, ATM records, among other documents to support her claim that Bautista did not declare his 2016 SALN.

Bautista bare that he has filed on Tuesday formal complaints against his wife for grave coercion, qualified theft and robbery, and extortion.