3 witnesses confirm Maguindanao poll fraud

Wednesday, July 20, 2011
COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes said Wednesday that the affidavits of three other witnesses in alleged 2007 poll fraud in Maguindanao have managed to corroborate the statements issued by dismissed provincial election supervisor Lintang Bedol.
In a press briefing, the Comelec chief said the accounts of acting Shariff Saydona Mustapha Election Officer Saliao Amba, former acting Sultan sa Barongis Election Officer Magsaysay Mohamad, and Maguindanao Computerized Voters’ List Technician Salonga Edzela have manifested consistency with that of Bedol’s affidavits.
“Initially, mukhang may basis kasi sinasabi nila sila ang nakakita e (looks like there are basis). These are officers in 2007. They are people directly under the PES. So, yung mga sinasabi nila (what they are saying) can have some credibility provided it is supported also by documents,” said Brillantes.
“Yeah, it supports Bedol’s allegations in his affidavit insofar as the claims that there were fake entries made in the election returns (ERs),” he added.
Brillantes noted that one of the more prominent points in the affidavits of the four witnesses is the mention of then Maguindanao governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., a certain Engineer Norie Unas, who is also the former provincial administrator.
Based on Mohamad’s and Amba’s testimonies, it was Unas’s aide, a certain “Butch”, who was holding the ERs of the different precincts instead of giving them to the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs).
They said the two also saw that the ERs were already pre-filled, pre-signed and pre-thumb marked when they were placed in the ballot boxes set for canvassing.
“The men took the signed, thumbed marked but blank ERs to the provincial Capitol in Shariff Aguak, while the BEIs proceeded to their precincts. I observed everything but I just kept quiet,” said Mohamad in his two-page affidavit.
“…I inspected the ERs and saw that the ERs were already filled and has the signature and thumb marks of the members of the BEIs. I, however, noticed that there were no thumb marks of the poll watchers. I just kept silent because I know that it would be dangerous for me to say my observations,” said Amba in his own two-page affidavit.
For his part, Edzela corroborated the claims of Bedol that it was then Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, accompanied by then Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos in General Santos City, who examined and manifested the ERs’ authenticity and genuineness.
“The election officers (of Maguindanao) were called one by one to submit the ERs in their possession, which were examined by Commissioner Ferrer and he manifested that each and every one of it are authentic and genuine,” said Edzela.
Brillantes, however, stressed that they would still want to see in person these three witnesses as they “cannot just rely on the signatures.”
To recall, Bedol, in a television interview last week, claimed that the election documents used in Maguindanao were all fake but were still authenticated.
Bedol also said that he received instructions from Ampatuan to ensure that three candidates for senator from the opposition, namely Alan Peter Cayetano, Panfilo Lacson and Benigno Aquino III, receive zero votes as desired by then president Gloria Arroyo.
But according to Brillantes, these very same claims were also the ones mentioned in the five-page affidavit of Bedol and that nothing came in as a surprise anymore.
He said this is the reason they have already dispatched some of their lawyers to look into the possibility of getting more information from the detained Bedol as part of his supplementary affidavit.
This is while the Comelec is also busy gathering all the documents they still have in connection with the 2007 elections in Maguindanao.
Also, the Comelec chair said it would be best if they are able to secure the signed affidavit of former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm) governor Zaldy Ampatuan, believing it would be the final piece in linking Arroyo.
“That is a very important affidavit because it will be the connecting link between Bedol and the supposed former president,” said Brillantes.
All this, the poll chief explained, would be considered in the deliberation of the commission en banc on whether to push through with the conduct of formal preliminary investigation for possible election offenses and electoral sabotage committed in 2007.
Brillantes stressed that their investigation, if ever there would be one, would focus mainly on the possible criminal charges and not on who actually won in the 2007 elections. (AMN/Sunnex)

Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/07/20/3-witnesses-confirm-maguindanao-poll-fraud-168018

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