Poll chief Garcia cast as ‘Garci’ from ‘Hello, Garci’ scandal

A TikTok post has falsely identified Commission on Elections Chairman George Garcia as the “Garci” referenced in the 2005 “Hello, Garci” wiretapping scandal involving then president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. 

Posted on April 20 by TikTok user @victorianoovillar, just a week after an overseas Filipino voter alleged a ballot mismatch, the video showed a photo of Garcia overlaid with the text:

BUKING kana sa Kasinungalingan mo. Mataas na daw sya (Your lies have been discovered. It’s already high). MAY GOD SAVE THE PHILIPPINES FOR ANOTHER HELLO GARCI this 2025 Election. Baka MaKaLusoT (It may slip through)!?

The post also played the infamous wiretapped audio recording, altered to read “Hello, Garcia” in the subtitles, misleading viewers into thinking the voice was Garcia’s.

The nickname “Garci” refers to former Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, whose wiretapped phone conversations with Arroyo suggest they were plotting to rig the 2004 national elections.

Arroyo, who was then running against action star Fernando Poe Jr., later admitted it was her voice on the tape, but denied the conversations pertained to electoral fraud. Garcillano consistently denied wrongdoing until his death last March 29.

By contrast, Garcia is a seasoned election lawyer who was appointed Comelec commissioner in March 2022 before President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed him chairman in August that year.

The post has been reproduced by TikTok user @arkie262, who used the same audio but included a larger photo of Garcia along with the mocking text: "ma'am!! ah' eh! uhm!"

As of writing, @victorianoovillar’s video has garnered 14,200 views with 348 likes and 118 shares on TikTok. The account has 2,290 followers. (MAE)