The story so far: Poll chief Andres Bautista and wife

MANILA, Philippines — The troubled marriage of Commission on Elections Chairperson Andres Bautista on Monday was put in the spotlight after his wife, Patricia Cruz-Bautista, made public some documents she found in their house that may reveal her husband's dubious activities.

Patricia alleged that his estranged husband has amassed about P1 billion in unexplained wealth, which is not declared in his Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth, a public declaration required of government officials.

Bautista is known to be the wealthiest among heads of five constitutional bodies of government, based on his disclosed P176.3 million as of Dec. 31, 2016. But his wife said Bautista's transaction records, cash and accounts could point to a much larger wealth.

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The elections chief, meanwhile, denied all of Patricia’s allegations and dismissed them as "fabricated lies." He also claimed his estranged wife stole cash, checks and other financial documents belonging to him and his family. He said she attempted to extort from and blackmail him using her lawyers and media contacts.

Once proven true, a false declaration on his SALN could lead to his impeachment.

Here are few things we found about the couple in the middle of the controversy:

Juan Andres 'Andy' Bautista

Andres, whose middle name is "Donato," served government and various private companies in various capacities. He graduated with a legal management degree from Ateneo de Manila University in 1986. He went on to take up law at the same university, graduating valedictorian in 1990.

Bautista also obtained a master of laws degree from Harvard University in 1993, and was granted a license to practice law in New York City.

Some highlights of his career as a lawyer:

• Special correspondent and researcher at the Philippine Congress from March 1988 to February 1989
• Supreme Court of the Philippines as law clerk and executive assistant to the chief justice from February 1989 to 1991,
• Spokesman and legal counsel to then vice presidential candidate Marcelo Fernan from November 1991 to 1992,
• Law practice at the White & Case in Hong Kong and New York (January 2001 to August 2006); Troutman Sanders in Atlanta (June 1993 to September 1993) and Castillo Laman Tan & Pantaleon in Manila.
• Specialized in project finance under Castillo Laman Tan & Pantaleon from May 1992 to September 1992
• Served as the chair of the United Coconut Planters Life Assurance Corporation.
• Law dean of the Far Eastern University Institute of law from 1997 to 1998 and 2012 to 2013.
• Country Head of Anglo Oriental Consulting Ltd. (Manila) from January 2001 to August 2006.

Business and other activities:

• Member of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, non-profit organization that serves as a watchdog in Philippine elections from 2006 to 2015,
• Member of the Consultative Commission on Charter Change under then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2005.
• Columnist at The Philippine Star from 2009 to 2015 under column titled "My Four Centavos."
• Executive vice president at Shang Properties Inc. from Sept. 1, 2006 to Dec.6, 2006,
• Promoted president of Shang Properties Inc on Dec. 6, 2006.
• Executive vice president of Kuok Philippine Properties Inc., a multinational company that owns holdings in various industries, from. Sept. 9, 2006 to Dec. 12, 2006,
• He was promoted Kuok’s president in December 2006.

Government service:

• Bautista was appointed by former President Benigno Aquino III as chair of the Presidential Commission on Good Government in 2010. He was the youngest to have been appointed chair to the agency since it was established in 1986 to go after the ill-gotten wealth of dictator Ferdinand Marcos and family.
• Bautista was the appointed by Aquino to the Commission on Elections in 2015, replacing former chairperson Sixto Brillantes, a year before the national elections. His term will expire on Feb. 2, 2022.

Patricia 'Tisha' Cruz-Bautista

Patricia, whose middle name when she was still single was “Gaboro,” is known as “Tisha” in the publishing industry. A report mentioned that her mother, Pacita "Baby" Cruz, and her lawyer, Lorna Kapunan, claimed that Patricia has a third eye.

Here are some of the things we learned about her:

• Like her husband, Patricia wrote the column "Dragonfly" for the Philippine STAR in 2013.
• Managing director of non-profit Isdanco Foundation, which instituted the Center for Aesthetic Studies — a TESDA-registered vocational school focusing on Cosmetology, as well as the Center for Livelihood Studies.
• Author of two books under Summit Media Philippines: "Good Housekeeping The Maid Manual” was published in 2008 and "The Smart Parenting The Yaya Manual"  was published in 2010.
• Patricia’s book and blog also indicated that "she has conducted numerous seminars on household skills for various private families, institutions, foundations and government agencies."
• Consultant for several livelihood programs
• Founded an anonymous group under Isdanco Foundation called "Angel Brigade." The group was formed on Sept. 29, 2009 to answer the call of calamity victims.

He said, she said

After the Department of Justice ordered an investigation into Patricia's claims about her husband, Bautista said he was the victim in the matter, having his money and documents taken by his wife while he was locked out of their house in November 2016. Part of the sum, he said, were not his but of his family.

Patricia, meanwhile, said that her exposé about her husband was meant to protect her and her four sons with him from consequences of his actions in the future.

He decried extortion and also accused his wife of transferring thousands of dollars and pesos to her account.

On Tuesday, Patricia told ANC that said she has been asking him for P260 million—not P620 million as he earlier claimed—to sustain her and to fund her children's future while she is seeking legal means for separation. The amount is more than Bautista's declared net worth in his SALN.

Bautista said on television on Monday that his wife has had a "third party" that factored in their estrangement in 2013. The Philippine Star cited reports that Patricia has been seeing former commercial model Alfonso "Alvin" Lim. Patricia denied this in an interview on Tuesday morning on ANC's "Hot Copy."

"We're friends. We're very good friends. We worked together, so if you see pictures of us together, it's normal, we've worked together," she said, denying her alleged affair. "We're very close. We're both energy healers. People can interpret that the way they want."

Patricia claimed the rumor was started four or five years ago by Lim's former girlfriend, Margarita Fores, now hailed one of Asia's top chefs. "[The rumor] is still there. And I never said anything, because for me, what people think of me is not my business. It's up to them, I'm not going to convince anybody."

She said she can defend herself from his allegations of infidelity. "I don't know if he can do the same, and in many ways there are a lot of people that will be affected," Patricia added.

Such personal accusations from both sides, she said, would distract from the main issue at hand: Bautista's questionable documents and transactions.

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[Editor's note: An earlier version of this story referred to Patricia's middle name when she was single as "Vasquez" instead of "Gaboro." The story has been edited to correct this.]