Abalos pleads not guilty to poll sabotage raps

MANILA, Philippines - Former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos declined to enter a plea on the 11 counts of electoral sabotage he is charged with in connection with the alleged cheating in the 2007 midterm elections.

Abalos appeared before yesterday’s arraignment at the sala of Judge Eugenio de la Cruz of Pasay City Regional Trial Court Branch 117 but he did not respond when the charges were read.

De la Cruz, however, automatically entered a not guilty plea on behalf of Abalos.

His co-accused Lilian Radam, former chairman of South Cotabato Board of Canvassers, pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The electoral sabotage case was initially filed against Radam who went into hiding after the Pasay RTC Branch 114 issued an arrest warrant against her in February last year.

Radam surfaced in October last year at the Department of Justice (DOJ) and implicated Abalos in the case.

The Comelec withdrew the original complaint against Radam. The court later refiled the case against Radam with Abalos as co-accused. The case was raffled and landed in RTC Branch 117.

The Comelec has filed 11 counts of electoral sabotage against Abalos and Radam for alleged tampering of election returns during the canvassing of votes at the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) in Pasay City.

The RTC had issued an arrest warrant for Radam while a commitment order was issued to Abalos, who is currently detained at the Southern Police District.

Radam is now under the protective custody of the DOJ after she surrendered last year.

The case is separate from a two-count electoral sabotage charge filed against Abalos at the sala of Judge Jesus Mupas of Pasay RTC branch 112.

Judge de la Cruz ordered the arraignment after he denied a motion to quash filed by Abalos questioning the jurisdiction of the court over the case.

“This court has jurisdiction over the case, not the Sandiganbayan,” said De la Cruz.

After the arraignment the judge proceeded to hear the motion to fix bail filed by Abalos on the ground that there is no strong evidence that will link him to alleged anomalies in the 2007 elections.

On motion of lawyer Brigido Dulay, the judge allowed Abalos to argue his petition for bail.

Abalos told the court that the electoral sabotage case was initiated during his term as Comelec chairman and it was Comelec that ordered the investigation on the alleged tampering of votes in South Cotabato which resulted in the increase in the number of votes for the then Arroyo administration’s senatorial candidates belonging to Team Unity.

He said the Comelec under his term also initiated administrative charges against Radam because of the irregular increase of votes of administration senatorial candidates submitted to the National Canvassing Board at the PICC.

Abalos also accepted all the documents presented as the same documents that the Comelec gathered during his term in the investigation of the complaint against Radam.

During yesterday’s hearing, De la Cruz directed the prosecution to cut down the number of their witnesses that would testify.

The Comelec wanted to present 22 witnesses, but Abalos opposed the presentation of the witnesses as they had not directly implicated him in the affidavits submitted by the prosecution.

De la Cruz reminded both parties that the hearing on the petition to fix bail would not delve into the merits of the case, which can later be deliberated on during the trial of the case.

Abalos also argued that there is no need to present all the witnesses because only two - Radam and Yuri Martirizar – have implicated him.

The judge has set the continuation of the hearing for bail on March 28.

Comelec prosecutors also did not oppose the motion of Abalos asking the court to allow him to be confined in hospital as soon as possible because of his deteriorating health.

Dulay told the judge that Abalos, 77, should be confined in a hospital because of a recurring ailment triggered by lack of oxygen supply in his body.

The court is set to issue a ruling on the motion anytime.

After the hearing, Abalos stood at the balcony of the Pasay City Hall to address hundreds of supporters who converged in the compound.

Using a portable loudspeaker, Abalos, flanked by his son Mandaluyong City Mayor Benhur Abalos, his wife and family, said that he was happy with the recent developments in his case.

Abalos said he expects De la Cruz will allow him to post bail for his temporary liberty.

He also expects that Judge Mupas of RTC Branch 112 would also allow him to post bail in connection with a separate electoral sabotage case filed against him and three others.

“By the end of this month I may rejoin you, I will be a free man,” Abalos said.