Dr. Martin Bautista, a US-based brother of Commission on Elections Chairman, Atty. Andres Bautista, on Friday hosted a virtual tour for News5 around a house in Oklahoma that he underscored was the proceeds of investment made by them both and the Bautista clan.
This, he said, would prove that Atty. Bautista holds property that is legitimate, not ill-gotten or unexplained, as Bautista’s estranged wife, Patricia Santos, would like to make it appear.
Mrs. Bautista recently came out with bombastic accusations of unexplained wealth and allegations of wrongdoing by the Comelec Chair, who previously was head of the Presidential Commission on Good Government.
Dr. Bautista showed video clips of parts of the posh house in Oklahoma City: “Even if I am not that much into cooking, I have a pantry here …”
He points out that the house has a library, a swimming pool, and an elevator.
“When you step out, you see a fine view of Oklahoma City,” he annotates the videocall tour.
In the 2010 election, Dr. Bautista was one of the Liberal Party’s candidates for senator.
Atty. Bautista points out that he is the owner of one of the bank accounts that Mrs. Patricia Bautista said was unexplained. In fact, he said, Patricia knew as early as 1993 that the Bautista family and her husband already have various investments: “These are not big amounts. We can account for every peso. She never gave us a chance to explain.”
Dr. Bautista said he tried to speak to Patricia about the matter of the alleged unexplained wealth, but she just never gave him a chance. This dismayed him greatly, because she smirched the reputation not just of his brother but that of her own family as well. “Unforgivable that she would destroy even the name of her children.”
The scandal, he said, has affected their parents, as well: “Our mother is 84; she has suffered a stroke. I have a feeling she could die prematurely because of this. Our father is 87. I know that this will shorten his life.”
Dr. Bautista acknowledged that they have offshore investment accounts and that it’s his brother, Atty. Bautista, who is handling them, but he denied that they are into money laundering.
As for the 35 bank passbooks at Luzon Development Bank alleged by Patricia, Dr. Martin said, “I think 18 of those are expired. We don’t know just what they are talking about. We were never allowed to see what bankbooks they are talking about. Their evidence is so tainted. As to why we put that much money in such a small bank, it’s because we and the family are good friends; we’ve been classmates with them since elementary at Ateneo. But it’s a good bank. It’s a solid bank. We know the owners well. Why would we want to deal with another bank?”
He vouched for his brother as a good lawyer. He had this to say: “If I knew, Andy, that you were a thief, I would have advised you: Go kill yourself.”
Dr. Martin is set to come home this week to help his brother face the controversy.
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