Biazon, Barbers camps trade cheating accusations

They’re at it again.

Senators Robert Barbers and Rodolfo Biazon traded barbs yesterday as both continued to fight tooth and nail to survive the numbers game for the last seat in the Senate.

In the hearing held by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Barbers’ electoral protest, Biazon’s lawyer Wilfred de Asis accused his client’s rival of altering the results in the municipalities of Columbio in Sultan Kudarat, and Talitay and South Upi in Maguindanao.

These municipalities are among the 10 areas under dispute in Barbers’ complaint.

Biazon, who was earlier proclaimed by the Comelec as the 12th and last winning senator in the May elections, vowed to file appropriate charges against municipal and provincial election officers who supposedly tampered with the certificate of canvass (COC) in favor of Barbers.

On the other hand, Barbers’ son Rep. Robert Ace Barbers said it was Biazon’s camp that cheated to win in the senatorial elections last month.

The younger Barbers said the municipal COCs submitted by Biazon "were improvised" and do not have security marks on them.

"We are confident that the truth will come out because we submitted the same provincial certificate of canvass used by Congress in the canvassing of the presidential and vice presidential elections," he said.

Amid allegations of fake or tampered COCs, Comelec Commissioner Resurreccion Borra said the poll body would have to resort to "security marks" on election documents to determine who the real winner is between the two candidates - who both ran under President Arroyo’s party.

And because Biazon and Barbers both claim victory, Borra explained the Comelec first division, which is hearing the case, needs to check the authenticity of the documents since both parties submitted differing results.