Comelec to probe 12-0 TU win in Maguindanao

05/21/2007 | 03:56 PM

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has formed a task force to look into the alleged fraudulent elections in Maguindanao province that reportedly delivered a 12-0 sweep to senatorial candidates of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo under Team Unity.

Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr told reporters on Monday that an investigating team was set up "to ferret out the truth" in the reported voting and canvassing anomalies in Maguindanao.

Abalos said the task force will be headed by Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, who in charge of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Sarmiento is also the head of Task Force Lanao investigating the disappearance of election officers in the province which resulted to the declaration of failure of election in several municipalities.

Abalos said the team will look into the exposé of Lente (Legal Network for Truthful Elections) and PPCRV (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting) that teachers in Maguindanao were asked to fill up the ballots a day before the election.

He, however, said that the allegation, unless supported by substantial evidence, cannot be a ground for stoppage of proclamation of the winning candidates in the area.

He said the accusation will have more teeth if the person who divulged the alleged fraud won't "hide under the cloak of anonymity." "It is easy to come up with a statement," he added.

When asked if Comelec would protect the teacher if she decides to surface, he replied "of course we will."

On Sunday, radio dzBB reported that it was not only in Maguindanao that all TU bets emerged unopposed. The report said that some towns in at least eight other provinces in Visayas and Mindanao also gave all their votes to administration bets.

DzBB quoted a statement from Malacañang saying that TU bets have so far emerged unopposed in 34 towns, including 17 towns in Maguindanao, and 17 others in the Visayan provinces of Cebu, Bohol, Northern Samar and Eastern Samar and in the Mindanao provinces of Lanao del Norte, Misamis Occidental, Sulu and Zambonga Sibugay.

The report said administration officials believed that TU bets won in these areas because of “command votes."

TU deputy spokesman Tonypet Albano had earlier said that the administration is expecting more sweeps that would be enough to push two to four of its candidates into the winning slots.

Meanwhile, Genuine Opposition candidates and the citizen’s election watchdog National Movement for Free Election urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Sunday to start investigating election tally results in Maguindanao by opening ballot boxes.

In a text message to GMANews.TV on Sunday, outgoing House minority leader Rep. Francis Escudero, GO senatorial bet, said he supports Namfrel’s call urging Comelec to send a fact-finding panel to Maguindanao.

“The noise on the reported fraud in Maguindanao is so loud. Comelec should not ignore the noise," Escudero said.

He said Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos should not allow a repeat of “Garci-like" operations under his watch. “Sobra na yan kung magkakaroon ng Garci 2 (It would be too much if there would be a repeat of the Garci scandal)," Escudero said.

Another GO Senate bet Alan Peter Cayetano, in a separate text message, said Comelec should not wait for the Namfrel or any candidate to file a petition on the alleged Maguindanao scandal.

“Kung gusto talaga ng Comelec na maging malinis ang halalan, kusa at hindi na nila dapat hintayin ang suggestion ng Namfrel (If the Comelec really wants a clean election, it will act on its own and will no longer need to be prodded by Namfrel)" Cayetano said. - Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV

Source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/43297/Comelec-to-probe-12-0-TU-win-in-Maguindanao

Namfrel chief assuages Trillanes’ fear of fraudulent counting

05/21/2007 | 03:14 PM

National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) Chairman Edward Go on Monday assuaged the fear of opposition senatorial candidate Antonio Trillanes IV and his supporters that the election watchdog is into fraudulent counting of election results.

“I want to assure him that we will not allow our organization to be used by anybody. If they know someone, tell us, so we can act accordingly," Go told reporters in an interview.

Go said he is willing to visit Trillanes in his detention cell to explain to him how Namfrel operates its quick count. “We don't do any kind of trending. The number of votes we tally depends on the flow of the reports coming from the volunteers in the field and the speed on verification of data."

Earlier, a handful of supporters of Trillanes picketed in front of the La Salle University in Greenhills, San Juan to denounce the alleged "trending" of Namfrel’s operation quick count.

In an interview with GMANews.TV Monday, Sonny Rivera, Trillanes' spokesman, said "Oplan Mercury Rising" is using the Namfrel’s quick count to precondition the mind of the public that two to four Team Unity senatorial candidates would have a chance to enter the Magic 12.

Mercury Rising is a plot allegedly for dagdag-bawas operation in certain areas in Mindanao, particularly in the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) and Visayas regions to pad at least 2 million votes for Miguel Zubiri, Prospero Pichay, Ralph Recto and Mike Defensor.

"Our informants have told us that Recto and Defensor seem to be giving up hope that they could still enter the magic 12, so the Mercury Rising is still operating for Zubiri and Pichay," Rivera said. - Fidel Jimenez, GMANews.TV

source: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/43286/Namfrel-chief-assuages-Trillanes-fear-of-fraudulent-counting

Maguindanao quick-count removed by Namfrel

By Thea Alberto
INQUIRER.netLast updated 03:43pm (Mla time) 05/21/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- After the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) has formally removed Maguindanao from its list of provinces included in the quick count, poll watchdogs have called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to send representatives there to investigate whether cheating had really taken place.

"We are studying the filing of a complaint at the Comelec, we have a witness [to prove cheating took place] but is not yet ready to surface. We hope Comelec will not make it [complaint] a prerequisite before it acts," Carlos Medina, Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) co-convenor, told a press conference Monday.

Lente is the legal arm of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), which is allied with Namfrel.

On Sunday, Namfrel announced that Maguindanao had been deleted from its national quick count after election officials there allegedly refused to release copies of election returns and disallowed volunteers from observing tabulation centers.

"We hope Comelec will conduct its own investigation even before we have filed a complaint. It is the constitutional body tasked with the enforcement of election laws and at stake here is the credibility of electoral process," said Medina, adding that their request for an immediate investigation is "a cry for help."

Medina said it would be hard for them to file a formal complaint since one should be backed by testimonies of witnesses, who could not yet to come out in the open for safety reasons.

Lawyer Howard Calleja of the PPCRV said he found it "irregular and abnormal" for Comelec to wait for a complaint before acting. "Comelec has control in these areas, especially even if the voting has already finished," Calleja said.

Namfrel Chairman Edward Go said the Comelec was also mandated to check if the local election officials had properly performed their roles.

NAMFREL COUNT: As of May 20, 2007 11:29pm

As of May 20 2007 11:29pm

Legarda, Loren (GO)	5,819,588
Escudero, Francis Joseph (GO)	5,713,892
Lacson, Panfilo (GO)	5,047,379
Villar, Manuel Jr (GO)	4,762,173
Pangilinan, Francis (IND)	4,642,353
Aquino, Benigno Simeon III (GO)	4,577,372
Angara, Edgardo (TU)	4,116,443
Honasan, Gregorio (IND)	3,798,589
Arroyo, Joker (TU)	3,797,095
Cayetano, Alan Peter (GO)	3,669,134
Trillanes, Antonio IV (GO)	3,581,703
Pimentel, Aquilino III (GO)	3,499,919

Legarda widens gap in latest Namfrel tally

By Alexander Villafania
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 07:26am (Mla time) 05/21/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- Genuine Opposition senatorial candidate Loren Legarda continues to widen the gap between her votes and that of GO colleague Francis Escudero, the latest tally of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) showed.

As of 11:29 p.m. May 20, Legarda had 5,819,588 votes against Escudero’s 5,713,892 votes, or a difference of over 100,000 votes.

GO candidate Panfilo Lacson remained at third place with 5,047,379 votes, followed by Manuel Villar with 4,762,173 votes, then independent candidate Francisco Pangilinan who had 4,642,353 votes.

At sixth place is Benigno Aquino III with 4,577,372 votes. In seventh place is Team Unity candidate Edgardo Angara with 4,116,443 votes. At number eight is independent candidate Gregorio Honasan with 3,798,589 votes.

Ninth place is occupied by Team Unity candidate Joker Arroyo with 3,797,095 votes, followed by Allan Cayetano with 3,669,134 votes.

At 11th and 12th places are Antonio Trillanes IV with 3,581,703 votes and Aquilino Pimentel III with 3,499,919 votes.

Namfrel's latest tally covers 86,464 precincts, or 38.47 percent of a total 224,748 precincts.

Teacher details poll cheating in province

By Cathy C. Yamsuan
Inquirer
Last updated 02:05am (Mla time) 05/21/2007

MANILA, Philippines -- It happened in the dead of night, hours before the polling precincts opened.

With armed guards supposedly watching over them, they were forced to fill blank ballots with the names of Team Unity senatorial candidates, starting with Luis “Chavit” Singson and Prospero Pichay.

Students and other children loitering in the school premises were purportedly even asked to mark the ballots with their thumbprints and sign their names on the voters’ list.

This was how the “election” took place at least in some areas of Maguindanao -- at least based on the account of a female public school teacher in the province.

The anonymous teacher talked to Lente, the legal arm of the watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), Lente convenor Carlos Medina said at a press conference Sunday.

Hand in hand with the teacher’s allegation, the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) accused Commission on Elections (Comelec) officers in Maguindanao of withholding copies of provincial election returns from Namfrel volunteers.

Namfrel secretary general Eric Alvia said the delay in the turnover of the ERs rendered suspect the authenticity of whatever documents would be given Namfrel in the future.

Namfrel chair Edward Go said Maguindanao’s 336,000 votes were enough to influence the outcome of the 11th and 12th places in the senatorial race.

Go said that instead of votes being tallied in precincts, all ballot boxes were hauled to the provincial capitol where the votes were counted. But no Namfrel volunteer was allowed to witness this.

Namfrel’s Maguindanao chair Fr. Eduardo Tanudtanud, OMI, said: “Our volunteers were told that municipal election officers issued a verbal order to withhold the release of all copies of the ERs, including Namfrel’s sixth copy.”

“In view of what we perceive as the systematic withholding of the ERs to Namfrel that casts doubt on the integrity of the sixth copy of the election returns, we will…not include the Maguindanao results in our quick count,” Tanudtanud said.

Following the teacher’s allegations, Lente urged the Comelec to send a Manila-based team to Maguindanao to investigate her charges.

Medina said the teacher had suggested that the Comelec open all the ballot boxes in Maguindanao to see the fraud for itself.

The teacher’s allegation followed reports that candidates of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo were posting 12-0 scores in the senatorial race in Maguindanao, which is part of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Maguindanao was one of the ARMM provinces mentioned in the “Hello Garci” tapes where cheating allegedly occurred in 2004 to help Ms Arroyo win the presidential election.

The 12-0 vote TU has been getting in Maguindanao flies in the face of voting results in many other areas of the country where the Genuine Opposition candidates were registering winning tallies of 8-2-2 or 7-3-2.

While Lente remains in touch with the teacher, Medina refused to identify her.

“I cannot reveal her identity. Her safety relies on the fact that she is not known and so are her whereabouts,” Medina told reporters.

“She fears that if she is known, her entire family will be put in danger, even her relatives will be affected.”

“But what was evident in our conversation was her sense of frustration over the whole thing,” the lawyer said.

It also happened in 2004

Medina said the teacher complained this was not the first time she and her colleagues were forced to fill ballots at gunpoint.

The teacher also alleged she and the others were ordered to fill up blank ballots in the 2004 elections.

According to Medina, the teacher said she only followed orders from a superior.

“She is scared to name the governor (Natatakot niyang sabihin ang pangalan ng gobernador),” Medina said.

But the teacher was more open in discussing the specific instructions given to them.

“They had a list, first on it was Singson, second was Pichay, and so on,” Medina said in Filipino. “The instructions to them were to write these names down on the ballots.”

He also quoted the teacher as saying: “Ganito na lang ba tuwing eleksyon? Kailan ito matatapos? (Is this how it will always be during elections? When will it ever end?)”

The teacher initially sought the help of radio station dzRH, which in turn referred her to Lente -- the Legal Network for Truthful Elections.

Medina said the teacher refused to execute an affidavit, give interviews or sign any document that would establish her identity.

“Time is of the essence here,” Medina said, referring to the need for the Comelec to act urgently. “If those boxes are not opened, the contents might be changed even as we speak.”

Pichay’s lawyer, Mildred Duero-Romero, dismissed the teacher’s story.

“The teacher’s accusations are unfair. Only once these are verified will we answer her. What she said was not under oath and any Tom, Dick and Harry can issue a statement like that,” Duero-Romero said in a telephone interview.

Pichay’s bailiwick

“Butch Pichay is expected to rank high in Mindanao as he comes from said region and it is his bailiwick,” she later said in a text message.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net, also sought comments from Singson and TU spokesperson Ben Evardone, but text messages to them drew no replies.

Maguindanao officials have defended the 12-0 scores for TU candidates, saying they were not part of any vote manipulation but were in line with the local culture of reaching a consensus on matters of public concern.

Medina said the teacher “and the other teachers stayed up all night, staying inside a classroom in a still unknown public school somewhere in Maguindanao until 3 p.m. of Monday, May 14.”

“She did not sleep nor was she paid. She stayed up all night along with the board of election inspectors (BEI) filling up ballots.”

No use for indelible ink

The teacher’s claims seemed consistent with those of some local officials who said no elections took place in the province.

“The teacher said that on May 14 at 3 p.m., all precincts closed and no actual voting took place, although the teachers were all inside the precincts. The indelible ink supplied by Comelec Manila was not used at all,” Medina said.

He said other teachers had indicated interest in supporting the statement of the female witness as long as they remained unidentified and their safety was assured.

Should the Comelec continue to demand documentary evidence, the fraud committed would again go unpunished, Medina said.

“We request the Comelec to send an investigation team and talk to the common folk, look for indelible ink on their fingers because the teacher said the ink was not used,” he said.

Challenge to Abalos

To Comelec Chair Benjamin Abalos’ challenge that proof must be shown that fraud was committed, Medina said: “Forego the required affidavits and witnesses. On its own, the (commission) should inspect and find out and interview people.”

One of the GO candidates fighting to stay in the Magic 12, Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, and his lawyers will file an election protest with the Comelec no Monday to denounce delays in the canvassing in some polling centers in Mindanao, specifically in Maguindanao.

This was disclosed Sunday by Pimentel’s father, Sen. Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel Jr., who estimated that the election protest could affect some half million votes in Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat and Shariff Kabunsuan.

Such a block of votes could hold up the proclamation of senators fighting for the last four to five slots, he said.

Pimentel said the reason for the delay of the canvassing was obvious -- operators of “dagdag-bawas” (vote-padding and -shaving) were waiting until all the votes in other areas had been counted so they would know how many votes to produce, using rigged tallies. With reports Gil C. Cabacungan Jr., Maan Festejo and Kathleen Olarte

NAMFREL COUNT: As of May 19, 2007 5:34pm

As of May 19 2007 5:34 pm

Legarda, Loren (GO)	4,181,309
Escudero, Francis Joseph (GO)	4,028,586
Lacson, Panfilo (GO)	3,644,891
Villar, Manuel Jr (GO)	3,432,402
Pangilinan, Francis (IND)	3,422,350
Aquino, Benigno Simeon III (GO)	3,286,331
Angara, Edgardo (TU)	3,062,154
Arroyo, Joker (TU)	2,717,216
Honasan, Gregorio (IND)	2,662,027
Cayetano, Alan Peter (GO)	2,590,440
Trillanes, Antonio IV (GO)	2,554,849
Zubiri, Juan Miguel (TU)	2,548,567