Comelec may have charged 'ghost soldier' with electoral sabotage

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) may have erred in filing electoral sabotage charges against a certain Capt. Peter Reyes, said to be formerly connected with the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP).

Reyes, along with former Comelec chief Benjamin Abalos, former South Cotabato provincial election supervisor Lilian Suan-Radam and former North Cotabato provincial election supervisor Yogie Martirizar, is accused of conspiring to rig the results of the 2007 senatorial election.

After verification and validation, it was found that the name of Reyes does not exist in the ISAFP roster.

“Insofar as the ISAFP’s list of past and present personnel is concerned, it does not contain the name of Capt. Peter Reyes,” AFP spokesman Col. Arnulfo Burgos told The STAR recently.

Just the same, Burgos said they are conducting a record check on the three major services if they have a Capt. Peter Reyes in their ranks.

ISAFP chief Brig. Gen. Cesar Ronnie Ordoyo said only the name of Col. Reuben Basiao, among others, appeared in their records of past ISAFP personnel who are now assigned outside the unit.

Basiao was named among the military officers who took part in the supposed 2007 electoral fraud in Mindanao.

Meanwhile, Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes believes it is unlikely for Abalos to run away from the electoral sabotage cases filed against him.

“I know chairman Abalos. I don’t think he is going to run away compared to GMA (former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo). I would rather trust that chairman Abalos will not leave the country,” he told reporters yesterday.

“We are trying to verify this but I think he has a pending case before the Sandiganbayan and he is out on bail. If he attempts to leave, he will be picked up at the airport,” he said.

Last week, the Comelec lodged cases of electoral sabotage against Abalos before the Pasay City regional trial court in relation to the cheating in North and South Cotabato during the 2007 mid-term polls.

Abalos immediately presented himself to the court to show that he intends to face the charges and to insist on his innocence. – With Perseus Echeminada, Sheila Crisostomo

Brillantes said the Comelec is leaving Abalos’ fate to “judicial determination” since cases have already been filed against him.

Political persecution

Meanwhile, Abalos on Friday said that what is being done to him is political persecution.

“What the Department of Justice (DOJ) has done to me is political persecution. Radam, after hiding for two years, is now being coerced to testify against me,” he said.

He insisted that he even initiated the filing of cases against the election supervisors for poll irregularities but he is now being implicated in the case.