ONE by one, they’re coming out of the woodwork.
On July 12, former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan claimed that former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo (GMA) and her husband, former first gentleman Mike Arroyo “ordered the rigging of the 2007 senatorial election.”
The former ARMM governor, through a two-page declaration, said that he was willing to testify that the Arroyo couple directed his father, former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan, Sr., to make sure that three senators from the opposition will garner “zero votes” in the province.
On July 15, fugitive former Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Hasim Bedol alleged that “massive fraud was committed in the 2004 general elections and that GMA was the principal beneficiary.”
In 2004, Bedol was the election supervisor and chairman of the board of election canvassers in Sultan Kudarat province. He alleged that “dagdag-bawas’ was conducted in the 2004 presidential race, while GMA was in power. He also said that ballot boxes were switched and original ballots were replaced with fakes.
However, Ampatuan and Bedol’s shadiness leaves a lot of room for doubt — both are detained for their respective crimes.
A new development on the Bedol testimony has also emerged.
Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo reported that three witnesses have backed Bedol’s story on the manipulation of poll results for the 2007 senatorial election — Saliao Amba and Magsaysay Mohamad, election officers of Shariff of Shariff Saydona Mustapha and Barongis, respectively; and Salonga Edzela, a computer technician.
Sen. Chiz Escudero, chairman of the senate committee on justice and human rights, is looking into providing subpoena powers to the proposed fact-finding commission — one that will investigate on the poll fraud in the 2004 and 2007 elections.
On July 21, Sen. Escudero presented a video documentary to the media. The 50-minute presentation provided documentary evidence on how the 2004 election was “rigged in favor of GMA.” The video was produced by Marichu Maceda, a supporter of the late Fernando Poe, Jr., who was GMA’s top contender in the 2004 presidential elections.
Meanwhile, Malacañang said that former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano — the man behind the “Hello Garci” scandal — has been sending feelers and “expressing his willingness” to finally “tell-all against GMA.”
“There are other witnesses coming out including Garcillano. We are waiting for them. We are planning to create a body of whistle-blowers, a legitimate group to testify against Arroyo,” Llamas said.
However, as of press time, Garcillano has clarified that he has “nothing more to say about poll fraud,” because he has already given his account during the congressional investigation on the controversy in 2006.
On July 22, GMA made an appearance at the Department of Justice (DOJ) to deny the accusations of plunder against her, which were filed by former solicitor general Frank Chavez.
She has urged the DOJ to dismiss the case by submitting a counter-affidavit to Senior Assistant State Prosecutor Theodore Villanueva.
GMA’s allies insist that Malacañang has forged a deal with Bedol and Ampatuan but according to Presidential adviser on political affairs Ronald Llamas, Pres Aquino has declined “to wangle a deal with them.”
Llamas said that Ampatuan “has a false notion that he will get a quid pro quo under this administration, like what he used to get under [the presidency of Gloria Macapagal-] Arroyo,” and that “the prospect of Ampatuan becoming a state witness or being pardoned by the president will never happen.”
After years of dodging allegations for acts of graft and corruption and poll cheating, will former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo finally face the music?
And despite the involvement of seemingly dubious characters in this slow unraveling, will the elusive whole truth (and nothing short of it) finally be revealed?
(www.asianjournal.com)
(LA Weekend July 23-26, 2011 Sec A pg. 12)
