MANILA - Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andres Bautista on Friday filed cybercrime charges against his estranged wife Patricia, her lawyer Lorna Kapunan and other John Does for allegedly accessing his emails.

Bautista sued his wife and lawyer for violating the Cybercrime Prevention Act after allegedly going through messages on his iPad, among items that Patricia had retrieved after purportedly ransacking his personal belongings in their house in 2016.

The chairman's wife has used emails on the device as evidence in her allegation that Bautista had P1 billion in undeclared wealth.

Patricia claimed Sunday that she discovered bank and real property documents, and several passbooks under her husband's name that were not included in his 2016 statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

• READ: Comelec chief's wife shows passbooks, cash in envelopes, commission sheet

Bautista denied the allegation, saying his family will hold a press conference "in due time" to shed light on her accusations.

The Comelec chief said items Patricia had made public were taken from a locked cabinet in their house, which she allegedly forced open. He found this out upon returning from an official trip to the United States in November 2016.

He said his wife, with whom he has had marital troubles since 2013, barred him from entering their house at the time.

• READ: Comelec chief denies corruption claims, accuses wife of extortion

Bautista on Wednesday filed cases of grave coercion, qualified theft and robbery, and extortion against Patricia.

The Comelec chief accused his estranged wife of extorting a P620-million settlement, but Patricia said she only sought P260 million.
-- Report from Zen Hernandez, ABS-CBN News

• READ: Wife: I asked P260-M from Comelec chair; settlement was held 'for ransom'