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Senate finds massive cheating in 04 election(Philippine Daily Inquirer Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)INITIAL FINDINGS OF THE SENate defense committees inquiry into the Hello Garci controversy indicate massive cheating occurred during the 2004 election and that this benefited President Macapagal-Arroyo, Sen. Rodolfo Biazon said yesterday. Biazon also said his committees initial findings showed that the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp) had wiretapped Garcillanos cell phone. It remained unclear, however, why and who ordered the wiretap. Biazon declined to answer these questions. In an exclusive interview with the Inquirer, Biazon said oral and written evidence submitted to the committee during its five hearings last year showed that at least 662,000 votes were added in favor of Ms Arroyo. Was there massive cheating? Biazon, committee chair, asked rhetorically. Why, yes! he exclaimed, pointing to the alleged padded votes. There was cheating and definitely the beneficiary was the cheater. Biazon shared with the Inquirer the gist of what the interim report would have contained had he issued it before the Senate adjourned on June 8. He said the testimonies of witnesses and an examination of election documents showed that the cheating was concentrated in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. Some officials of the Commission on Elections and the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections also testified in the committee hearings. In a privilege speech on Dec. 8, 2005, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said Ms Arroyo made as many as 15 calls to Garcillano between May 26 and June 10, 2004. As a result of those calls, he said, Ms Arroyo gained a fabricated margin of 1,063,777 votes against Poe. The committee began its hearings on Sept. 28, 2005. It was unable to complete its inquiry after Ms Arroyo issued Executive Order No. 464 forbidding government and military officials from testifying at congressional hearings. The Supreme Court has declared the gag order unconstitutional, but state lawyers have filed a motion for reconsideration. In the meantime, Malacanang has held its ground, maintaining that the hearings were meant to subvert the Arroyo administration. Once the Supreme Court issues a final decision on the motion, he would reconvene the committee to complete the hearings, Biazon said. The former Armed Forces chief of staff said he had wanted to issue an interim report but he said it would be unfair to do so until all witnesses and persons implicated in controversy had testified. But Biazon stated: My initial evaluation of the testimonies and evidence points to massive cheating. Asked if the extent of the alleged cheating would be enough to change the poll results, he said: We are not trying to prove here who won the elections definitely the cheating benefited GMA. Disclosure of the Hello Garci wiretaps in June 2005 provoked the worst political crisis of the 5-year-old Arroyo presidency. The wiretaps The audio recordings purportedly between Ms Arroyo and former Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano allegedly showed she had manipulated the 2004 balloting. Ms Arroyo won by 1 million votes over her nearest rival, the late movie star Fernando Poe Jr. The 59-year-old President has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. Last year, allies in the House of Representatives killed an opposition attempt to impeach Ms Arroyo on a technicality. The House minority has announced it will renew its attempt to unseat Ms Arroyo when Congress resumes its session next month. In his appearance before a similar inquiry conducted by the lower house last year, Garcillano skated around questions on whether it was his voice that had been caught in the wiretap, but he acknowledged talking to Ms Arroyo on the phone in May 2004 just after the balloting. The House committees that conducted joint hearings have issued an inconclusive final report. Without closure to the wiretapping controversy, Ms Arroyo continues to grapple with a crisis of legitimacy and restiveness in the military. Hearings not closed I have not closed the Garci hearings. I want to wait for the final resolution of EO 464 because I do not want to push this into an institutional confrontation, Biazon said. He said those still to be invited included Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye, National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales, officials of the National Bureau of Investigation, the AFP top brass, T/Sgt. Vidal Doble and the entire MIG-21 (Military Intelligence Group-21) of the Isafp. Marietta Santos, Dobles former girlfriend, had testified before the Biazon committee that Doble had told her he and 13 other Isafp personnel had conducted the wiretapping. The 25-year-old Santos also said she had access to Isafp, one of the nations most restricted areas, when she had an affair with the soldier. Bunye opened a Pandoras box in June 2005 when he presented two CDs of the supposed Hello Garci wiretaps to Malacanang reporters, claiming they were part of an opposition attempt to oust Ms Arroyo. Biazon said Gonzales was to be summoned because he admitted in another Senate committee hearing that Ms Arroyo had indeed been wiretapped. AFP inquiry clears own An internal AFP investigation cleared Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, retired Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko and retired Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani in connection with the election fraud charges. Their names cropped up in the alleged wiretaps of President Arroyo and Garcillano. However, the AFP reportthe Mayuga reporton these generals has been withheld. The AFPs refusal to release the report to the Senate has resulted in the failure of Esperon to secure his promotion to the next rank during the last session of the Commission on Appointments before Congress adjourned on June 8. Esperon is said to be next in line to become AFP chief of staff. Gudani, together with Lt. Col. Alexander Balutan, defied EO 464 and testified in the Senate hearing, delivering one of its most sensational testimonies. On Sept. 28, 2005, Gudani said Ms Arroyos husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, flew twice to Mindanao in a private helicopter before the May 10, 2004, elections to deliver boxes containing P500 million. He said the money was given to people who would deliver the votes for Ms Arroyo. |