MANILA, Philippines - Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Eduardo Oban Jr. is supportive of efforts to revisit the findings of the Mayuga board, which probed the involvement of soldiers in alleged cheating in the 2004 polls.
Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV, on the other hand, said he has reason to believe that there was indeed cheating in the 2007 elections, especially after the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) opened the ballot boxes for the Maguindanao votes.
“It would be good to see that (Mayuga board findings). This would allow us to see the results of the investigation. The position of the armed forces remains constant. If we would be called under a legal process by the appropriate authorities then we will support and we will cooperate (in the investigation),” the AFP chief said.
When asked if he would encourage soldiers to reveal what they know about the alleged poll fraud, Oban said: “I think if ever these would come out during the investigation, that would lead to the summoning (of soldiers). There were allegations that some soldiers knew about the alleged cheating. So probably, from there, we can proceed.”
Some AFP generals were accused of cheating after their names were mentioned in recordings that supposedly described how the 2004 polls were rigged in favor of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Mentioned in the taped conversations were then Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, then Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, retired Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko and retired Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani.
The recordings featured the voice of a woman, believed to be Arroyo, asking a poll official, who was said to be former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, if she could win by more than one million votes. Arroyo eventually apologized for talking to a poll official but did not confirm whether it was her voice in the recordings.
In a report entitled “Sins of the Cavaliers,” a group of rebel soldiers claimed that while the canvassing of votes was being held inside military camps in Jolo, poll watchers were bribed by officers to leave the canvassing area.
The report claimed massive cheating also took place in Zamboanga, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi and other areas in Western Mindanao where the Marines have been deployed.
The allegations of poll cheating prompted then AFP chief Efren Abu to form the Mayuga board, which was tasked to probe claims that the military had participated in fraudulent activities.
The board, led by then Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga, cleared the four generals of involvement in the alleged cheating.
However, the full text of the Mayuga report has not been released. Only a two-page summary of the report was made public.
Some of the generals who figured in the controversy were not punished and were even promoted or named to key state posts.
Calls to reinvestigate the 2004 elections surfaced anew after former poll official Lintang Bedol claimed last month that Arroyo benefited from the massive cheating. Bedol was poll supervisor and chairman of the board of election canvassers in Sultan Kudarat during the 2004 presidential polls.
He expressed readiness to testify on the alleged irregularities and believes that the probe on the rigging of the poll results should be reopened. Arroyo’s camp has denied the allegations, saying these are merely used to cover up President Aquino’s supposed lack of accomplishments.
Aquino has vowed to revisit the Mayuga board’s report and has ordered the Presidential Management Staff to look into the unexplored leads it provided.
Crucial week for Koko
Trillanes, who was recently designated as SET member to replace Sen. Edgardo Angara in a term-sharing agreement, added that the poll fraud allegations were further bolstered by revelations of former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) governor Zaldy Ampatuan.
He revealed that when SET opened the ballot boxes for the Maguindanao votes, only votes from two municipalities were actually counted since the rest did not conduct elections. He said he is inclined to believe Ampatuan’s revelation that there was massive cheating in Maguindanao.
“They were the political warlords in the area and they controlled it. So they have the knowledge, given his position and he was directly dealing with the people of GMA that time,” said Trillanes, referring to ex-president Arroyo.
However, he said the SET’s duty is to decide on the electoral protests pending before the tribunal, not on the issue of cheating.
Trillanes is one of six senators in the SET, the others being Francis Pangilinan, Pia Cayetano, Lito Lapid, Bong Revilla and Gregorio Honasan. Three Supreme Court justices led by Justice Antonio Carpio are also in the SET.
He said the issue of poll fraud will be better decided by the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec), which have initiated a joint investigation into the matter.
The SET is meeting this Thursday to discuss the resignation of Zubiri and possibly rule with finality on the poll protest filed by Koko Pimentel, which showed the latter leading by about 256,000 votes over Zubiri.
Cayetano, another SET member, sees a likely win for Pimentel. She said the SET is to come out with a final decision this week.
In an interview with ANC, Pimentel said he will offer himself as a resource person in the Comelec-DOJ joint investigation and provide the panel with evidence he gathered in the course of his protest.
In an earlier interview with The STAR, Pimentel said he will personally file election sabotage complaints against all persons implicated by Ampatuan and Bedol.
Election sabotage is a capital offense that carries maximum penalty of 20 years. No bail is recommended for the accused.
“If the name of former President Arroyo appears then she will be included in the complaint,” he said. “I told myself enough is enough. I have to dedicate the next six years of my life fighting this injustice. That would be my contribution and I will be happy with that.”
Pimentel said Zubiri received 195,000 votes from a voting population of 204,000 in Maguindanao while he got 67,000. He added that the Maguindanao poll results also showed other strange inconsistencies.
Nineteen senatorial candidates got zero votes in the province while one administration bet, Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis Singson, got the second highest number of votes.
Among those who got zero in Maguindanao were Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano and Benigno Aquino III.
Comelec, DOJ need miracle to uncover truth
With all the expected problems to be unearthed in the joint investigation, Comelec Law Department director Ferdinand Rafanan said the panel would likely go through rough sailing when it investigates electoral fraud committed during two of the country’s past major polls.
“I know we cannot easily do this. This is going to be beyond human capability to do. It’s like mission impossible actually,” he noted during a thanksgiving Mass at the Comelec led by running priest Fr. Robert Reyes.
The panel is chaired by Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, while the other members are Pasig City Prosecutor Jacinto Ang and lawyer Michael Villaret of the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal. – With Christina Mendez, Sheila Crisostomo, Perseus Echeminada, Rudy Santos