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hopeless_race : Sana itreat naman po ng media ang hacienda luisita at mendiola massacre na parang MAGUINADANAO MASSACRE. Ipublicized ang mga katotohanan at ipakita sa tao ang karumaldumal na pinaggagawa sa mga farmers dun. Untouchable po ba sila cory at danding at hindi magawang batikusin ng media about these two massacres?
hopeless_race : Kapag napaguusapan ang mendiola at hacienda luisita massacre ay parang walang nangyari at parang hindi big deal. Anu po ba ang pinagkaiba ng dalawang nabanggit na massacre sa maguindanao massacre?
hopeless_race : Its sad that we pinoys are blind to the fact of what had happened in mendiola and hacienda luisita. Ang tanong..bakit ang media ay hindi manlang matackle ang ganitong usapin? Takot ba sila kay cory at danding?
hopeless_race : Wilkins" brand, for P1.4 billion.-1999 Sugarland Multi-Food Corp. for P2.9 billion 2001- Purefoods Corp P7 billion P60 billion Coca-Cola ... See More 2002- Cosmos Bottling Corp. from RFM Corp. for P14.1 billion October 2008- GSIS' shares in Meralco worth PHP30 Billion. December 2008- country's biggest oil refiner, Petron Corporation. international company shopping spree: Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000. $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd $35.5 mi
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The Maguindanao vote: Working ‘miracles’ again in ARMM?

Posted by: Alecks P. Pabico | May 17, 2007 at 11:46 pm
Filed under: 2004 Electoral Fraud, 2007 Elections, Comelec Watch, Gloriagate

MALACAÑANG strategists are trumpeting the news of a 12-0 sweep by Team Unity senatorial candidates of the Maguindanao elections as the vaunted power of the administration’s political machinery at work through bloc voting.

photo courtesy of Anfrel With TU bets trailing in early tallies by both the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec), Malacañang has claimed that “command votes” from its bailiwicks would eventually put them in the senatorial winning circle.

As of the morning of May 16, with 73 percent of the votes in the province’s 27 towns counted, Mindanews reported that the administration ticket was lording it over the opposition in the Maguindanao tally, with Ilocos Sur Governor Luis “Chavit” Singson emerging as the surprise top vote-getter with 136,044 votes out of a total of 336,774 registered voters. Singson was followed by Bukidnon Representative Juan Miguel Zubiri (133,321 votes), and former Senator Tito Sotto (132,103 votes).

But a bewildered Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, the poll commissioner-in-charge assigned to ARMM during the May 14 elections, remarked that this is the first time he has heard of such a result, and said that the Commission on Elections will have to look into the matter.

They should, especially with how the elections turned out last Monday in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Foreign observers were witness to how the polls in the region’s six provinces were marred by widespread violence, blatant vote-buying and election irregularities.

Moreover, the Maguindanao tally brings to mind the suspicious results of the 2004 elections that came from the region, whose votes helped ensure Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s victory by a 1.1 million-vote lead over Fernando Poe Jr.

In 2004, Muslim Mindanao votes were indeed crucial to Arroyo’s winning margin as the region accounted for close to 300,000 of the lead. In fact, 17 percent of Arroyo’s total votes obtained in Mindanao came from ARMM. In seven towns ruled by the pro-Arroyo Ampatuan clan, Arroyo won over Poe by an incredible vote ratio of 82,411 to 142 (or 99.83 percent to 0.17 percent). In two towns, Arroyo garnered all the votes, with Poe getting zero.

More significantly, Maguindanao, along with Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi and Lanao del Sur, figured prominently in the “Hello, Garci” recordings — phone conversations between Arroyo and former Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano caught on tape allegedly detailing efforts to manipulate the outcome of the 2004 polls in Arroyo’s favor.

One of the calls made by Arroyo on June 6, 2004 sought Garcillano’s assurance about the consistency of election forms in Maguindanao. Garcillano’s reply: “Hindi naman ho masyadong problema sa Maguindanao (Maguindanao isn’t much of a problem).”

Based on official results, Arroyo won handily in Maguindanao, obtaining 199,431 (69 percent) of the votes compared to Poe’s 63,313 (22 percent). This was, however, disputed by Guimid Matalam, a losing gubernatorial bet, citing alleged cheating in 25 of 27 towns. Matalam charged that election returns were prepared even before the voting started on May 10, 2004, and that ballot boxes were never brought to the precincts.

One town in Maguindanao, Talitay, was mentioned in a call also made on June 6, 2004 by Comelec lawyer Wynne Asdala to Garcillano discussing efforts to garner more votes for K-4 senatorial candidate Robert Barbers. “Itong Talitay tsaka Columbio (a town in Sultan Kudarat), gusto nilang mag-submit ng bagong COC at saka SOV para mahabol yung si Barbers (They want to submit new COCs and SOVs in Talitay and Columbio so Barbers can catch up),” Asdala told Garcillano.

When asked for his side by the PCIJ in 2005, Asdala admitted talking with the former poll commissioner about the votes in Talitay, Maguindanao but denied the conversation was about attempts to pad Barbers’s votes.

What should also be a cause of concern is that Maguindanao’s provincial election supervisor is lawyer Lintang Bedol. In 2004, Bedol was reassigned to Sultan Kudarat shortly before the May elections. Sitting also as chairman of the Cotabato City board of canvassers, he presided over “highly problematic” counts in the two areas.

Bedol’s name was heard several times in the “Hello, Garci” tapes. Apparently, he was entrusted with “interesting” tasks during the 2004 elections, aside from reporting the results to Garcillano, as can be gleaned from these excerpts from our June 16, 2005 post, “Vidol who?“:

In the conversation that supposedly took place between Garcillano and the President at 9:47 a.m. on May 29, 2004, Arroyo wanted to know the extent of her defeat in Cotabato City. The elections commissioner replied, “Hindi ho siguro sosobra ng (It probably wouldn’t exceed) forty, Ma’am. Nag-usap na kami ni Atty. Bedol….Kami ni Atty. Bedol, nag-usap ho ngayon (Atty. Bedol and I talked just now). But I’ll give you the exact figure ma’am in a little while, para ma-ano ninyo.” The final outcome: Arroyo: 8,510; Poe, 29,417.

Meanwhile, a certain Danny, apparently worried about the Cotabato count, asked Garcillano in a phone conversation on May 25, 2004: “Sir, ano kaya, nagawan kaya ng paraan ni Bedol (Did Bedol manage to do something about this)?”

Former senator Robert Barbers, who purportedly called up Garcillano on May 29 to inquire about the Comelec en banc’s resolution transferring the canvassing venue from Cotabato City to Manila, was told, “…Bine-verify ko, pero si Atty. Bedol, yung ating tao dun, hindi makontak (I’m verifying it, but I can’t contact Atty. Bedol, our man there).

Bedol, who sources from the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) describe as very close to Garcillano (the commissioner spent most of his 43 years in Mindanao), obviously wielded some power. The sources identified the voice of a woman complaining about Bedol to Garcillano as that of Comelec Region 12 Clarita Callar. She is heard saying, “Ba’t inaaway ako ni Bedol (Why is Bedol picking a fight)…”

In the tapes, Bedol was also caught talking to Garcillano at least twice. (see “Conversations with and about Bedol“)

Maguindanao’s “very high” voter turnout, with no town registering lower than 90 percent, according to Bedol, likewise lends to the improbability of the election results. It will be recalled that in the 2004 elections, the total votes cast for the party-list candidates in the province was 283,012 out of a total of 334,331 registered voters, corresponding to an unusually high 84.65 turnout.

This entry was posted on Thursday, May 17th, 2007 and is filed under 2004 Electoral Fraud, 2007 Elections, Comelec Watch, Gloriagate. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

10 people have left comments

[...] Read PCIJ’s report HERE. Other PCIJ reports are HERE [...]

Uniffors- Life in Gloria’s Enchanted Kingdom » What did Bunye mean? wrote on May 18, 2007 - 12:08 am | Visit Link

[...] PCIJ reports on the anomalies in Maguindanao and remembers the 2004 vote, The Maguindanao tally brings to mind the suspicious results of the 2004 elections that came from the region, whose votes helped ensure Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s victory by a 1.1 million-vote lead over Fernando Poe Jr. [...]

Philippine Election 2007: The Miraculous Maguindanao Vote - The Voice of The Filipino - Tingog.com wrote on May 18, 2007 - 4:19 am | Visit Link

CHEATING is against the LAW Christian and Muslim alike. Every election (2004 & 2007) ARMM is famous place in terms of CHEATING. Is this the reputation that the GOVERMENT OFFICIALS and COMELEC want to show or plant in the mind of Filipinos? I guess only very few benefits on this kind of business. The losing end will be the PEOPLE living in ARMM. Maybe GOVERMENT OFFICIALS IN ARMM is proud of being the place of cheater. I haven’t heard from ARMM officials about bringing to an end to this accusation. Now a day’s reputation is nothing against MONEY.

scorpio15 wrote on May 18, 2007 - 4:54 pm | Visit Link

COMELEC must conduct a thorough investigation on this matter. As per provincial administrator of Maguindanao,the 12-0 sweep is due to extensive consultations conducted by the leadership of the province. Ano ba pinag-usapan nila during the consultation?..kung sino ba ang highest bidder eh sya ang ba number 1?..magkano ba per mayor, per bei, at kung nagkaroon ba talaga ng election in the area. Why media and even namfrel volunteers, were not allowed to witness the “canvassing” and why they were not given a copy of the ER?. Hindi na rin ako magtataka if election results coming from the new province of Shariff Kabunsuan will be same of that in Maguindanao. Let’s wait for another “miracle” coming from the said province

kulin tang wrote on May 19, 2007 - 4:02 pm | Visit Link

Masyado namang halata ang ginawang ito ng administrasyon na 12-0 na hindi nila alam e ito rin yung dahilan ng kanilang pagkatalo… Karma kung baga… weder weder lang yan… Salamat natalo rin si Arman Sanchez.. tapos na ang maliligayang araw ng huweteng sa Batangas.

Leo wrote on May 22, 2007 - 11:50 am | Visit Link

[...] Drilon however said that allegations of cheating in the recently held elections “could still hurt” the administration. “Unsolved charges of poll fraud would only exacerbate the long-lingering legitimacy crisis facing this government,” he said in a report. 2007 elections, gloria macapagal arroyo, kampi, lakas cmd, ldp, lp, npc, pdspPosted in In the News, Congress Watch, 2007 Elections | [...]

INSIDE PCIJ » Another impeachment unlikely — opposition wrote on May 23, 2007 - 1:05 pm | Visit Link

i-site’s 2007 Election Files » Impeachment unlikely — opposition wrote on May 23, 2007 - 1:57 pm | Visit Link

[...] Dizon adds that Abalos should be considered an “accomplice” in the ongoing poll controversy in Maguindanao, which by all indications, shames other reports of cheating in its audacity, scale and organization. It outlines how teachers and grade school pupils were made to fill up and sign ballots on the eve of the polls in favor of administration bets, prompting Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento to promise a probe immediately when the results from Maguindanao began trickling in. Weeks later, Musa Dimasidsing, a school supervisor who was among those who revealed details of the poll rigging, was shot dead. [...]

INSIDE PCIJ » Kontra daya: Abalos to blame for Bedol wrote on June 13, 2007 - 5:56 pm | Visit Link

i-site’s 2007 Election Files » Kontra Daya: Abalos to blame for Bedol wrote on June 29, 2007 - 9:52 am | Visit Link

[...] “Members of the opposition earlier protested the inclusion of the results in Maguindanao in the overall count following fraud allegations. Zubiri meanwhile wanted the votes in the province included, saying that not doing so would disenfranchise its voters. (See related posts here and here.) 2007 elections, electoral fraud, lintang bedol, maguindanaoPosted in 2004 Electoral Fraud, 2007 Elections | [...]

INSIDE PCIJ » Why you should doubt the Maguindanao election results wrote on July 3, 2007 - 12:10 am | Visit Link