Witness on Maguindanao fraud comes out ; 190 genuine ERs disregarded
The Party-List-Genuine Opposition Task Force Poll Watch has uncovered damning evidence proving that the Commission on Elections did not canvass genuine election returns (ERs) in Maguindanao.
A Maguindanao Board of Election Inspector, Faizal Kalantungan, has executed an affidavit attesting to the fact that 190 ERs and 38 ballot boxes remain uncanvassed in Pagalungan, Maguindanao.
Kalantungan’s affidavit is the first legally binding evidence that proves that no canvassing was conducted in several towns in Maguindanao.
“Up to now, the authorized Comelec officer has yet to collect the election returns and the 38 ballot boxes,” says Kalantungan in an affidavit signed yesterday, May 24, 2007 .
“There are still 190 ERs in the custody of BEIs, including mine, and a total of 38 ballot boxes inside the Pagalungan municipal hall that remain uncanvassed,” his affidavit stated.
According to Zaynab Ampatuan, head of GO-PL fact-finding team that investigated the fraud in Maguindanao, the 190 uncanvassed ERs contained all the votes in eight (8) of twelve (12) barangays in the said municipality.
“It is highly irregular that the Provincial Board of Canvassers already finished canvassing ‘votes’ in Maguindanao while the ERs remain in the custody of poll officers at the municipal level,” says Bayan Muna Representative Satur Ocampo.
“The Maguindanao Certificate of Canvass was already submitted for canvassing to the National Board of Canvassers in PICC. But the genuine ERs reflecting the votes of the electorate were still uncanvassed. This is a clear case of election sabotage, a criminal and election offense” Ocampo stressed.
Anakpawis party-list Rep. Rafael Mariano charged that the ERs and COCs canvassed in Sharif Aguak are “fabricated and therefore not reflective of the Maguindanao electorate’s will.”
Representatives Ocampo and Mariano called on the Comelec to declare immediately a failure of elections in Maguindanao. GO lawyer Sixto Brillantes and Bayan Muna general counsel Neri Colmenares are set to raise the said issue to the National Board of Canvassers.
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Re: “Representatives Ocampo and Mariano called on the Comelec to declare immediately a failure of elections in Maguindanao. GO lawyer Sixto Brillantes and Bayan Muna general counsel Neri Colmenares are set to raise the said issue to the National Board of Canvassers.”
What happens after that? Will the election results be nullified and another election held? Otherwise, all these protestations will be uselles useless if the COMELEC ignores them and proceeds with by declaraing “winners” even if the guys are pseudo winners.
What a falure of law and order!
It’s up to COMELEC once the issue has been raised. If they continue to do nothing about these discrepancies, then another set of protests from citizen watchgroups, including media, will occur.
Currently, the official that was assigned to head the Maguindanao investigations, Sarmiento, stepped down of because of health reasons, thus a new official will take over starting Wednesday.
If COMELEC still does not do anything about the Maguindanao votes, then we can be 100% sure that cases will be filed against these COMELEC officials, including Abalos himself.
The citizen groups have grown and the manpower to raise a mass protest is bigger than before.
This coming Wednesday, the National Board of Canvassers will hear the complaints filed by the opposition as well as other watchgroups…
I expect that the Maguindanao vote will be nullified. If the Maguindanao votes push ahead despite the discrepancies, then I believe this will result in an overwhelming mass protest. And if the investigation of the Maguindanao Elections headed by “Task Force Maguindanao” is not transparent, that this will also fuel the fire against the current COMELEC board.
Nick,
I am simply flabergasted that reading about the elections gives me goose pimples.
Our elections are a disgrace. The Philippine situation is just gobsmackingly pathetic in the extreme - I just can’t believe how low the Philippines has become! Even war-torn Afghanistan had a lot more credible and infinitely more lawful election in their 2005 National Assembly and Provincial Council Elections.
The Afghans exercised more civility during the voting and followed due process in counting the votes during that election period when millions of voters across the country exercised their democratic rights to elect legitimate representatives to institutions that would govern the country at national and provincial level for the coming years. There were no gun toting goons nor rampant vote buying, padding, shaving, hocus pocusing…
How extremely nauseating the Philippine politics and Philippine institutions have become under the command of this horrible midget - from top to bottom, how these so-called educated people, God fearing people, purporting to be civilized have all hit rock bottom!
Hey Brux, Feeling ko, na unfair naman yan ang sinasabi mo. And also, it’s as if, that Gloria is the only one cheating. Nag chacheat nman ang oposisyon. Even the TU attorneys are filing 130 cases against the opposition. I don’t think you can compare Afghanistan with philippines because even if we have bad elections here, they still have a lot of violence over there right now. Taliban is fighting back too. I think Gloria is doing a great job with the economy, we cant blame everything on her, especially when local officials are doing all the cheating
[…] will also note that another election fraud that allegedly occurred was with the 190 missing election returns that were disregarded and never canvassed. This occurred in Pagalungan as […]
[…] Election Returns Canvassed, it is only now that the COMELEC has them in their possession. We even wrote about these Election Returns back on May 29th. If these Election Returns have not been switched, then these are probably the only remnants of […]