GMA poll fraud witness ‘lost tampered returns’

MANILA, Philippines - A prosecution witness in the electoral sabotage trial of former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo admitted in open court yesterday she lost all the allegedly tampered results for the 2007 midterm polls in a Maguindanao town.

Susan Cabanban, former chair of the municipal board of canvassers in GK Pendatun town, said the documents she described to have been tampered were missing.

“I lost track of them,” she said during cross-examination by defense lawyer Benjamin Santos.

Cabanban earlier testified that she was just following orders to canvass election result forms that had been filled in to favor certain senatorial candidates. She said a provincial official directed the canvassing.

However, under cross-examination, she claimed she could no longer recall the official’s name and where he placed the tampered documents.

During yesterday’s hearing, Santos showed Cabanban election returns to determine if they were the same documents she submitted to the provincial board of canvassers. However, Cabanban said she could not read the figures.

Judge Jesus Mupas, who checked the documents, said the numbers were not “readable” and – granting a motion of the defense panel – directed prosecutors to produce the original, readable copy.

Santos said the defense will not proceed with the cross-examination until the missing documents are presented in court.

Commission on Elections Prosecutor Charlie Yap assured the judge that the returns will be produced. He asked that the Comelec’s records division be sent a subpoena.

Arroyo, former Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan and lawyer Lintang Bedol were accused of allegedly rigging the results of the Maguindanao election to favor the Team Unity candidates of the administration.

A lone witness, Norie Unas, a former provincial administrator, directly accused Arroyo of ordering the alleged rigging of results in Maguindanao province.

Mupas has set the next hearing in February next year.

The prosecution has lined up 50 witnesses lined up against the former President and her co-accused. Fifteen witnesses were presented during the bail hearings and prosecutors will adopt their testimonies for the trial.

Meanwhile, 71 senior lawmakers, including Deputy Speakers Giorgidi Aggabao and Sergio Apostol, supported House Resolution 537, which asked the Sandiganbayan to grant Arroyo a furlough this Christmas.

1-BAP party-list Rep. Silvestre Bello III, who authored the resolution, said the latest medical report stated that Arroyo’s condition was worsening due to her detention at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center on plunder charges. – With Paolo Romero