Chairman Abalos and Comelec deserve credit

Comelec does not deserve to be praised. That is their ultimate duty to protect the sanctity of the ballot at all time. Don't you have conscience, the teacher who exposed electoral fraud in Maguindanao is now dead. Hay! nako po election is peaceful daw?

Why should elections chief Benjamin Abalos and the COMELEC deserves credit?
Chairman Abalos and his Garci clones are responsible for massive and deliberate electoral fraud in Maguindanao and Lanao. They are responsible for failure of elections. The Comelec is exposed as highly partisan and tolerated cheating machinery in Muslim Mindanao provinces in favor of Gloria Arroyo’s candidates. Abalos and his cohorts should be meted death by musketry or hanging for election sabotage. Election watchdogs, monitors, media and patriotic citizens deserve the credit for exposing election irregularities and prevented Comelec’s dirty works in massive and systematic ways. History will be the final arbiter that 2004 presidential and 2007 midterm elections are the dirtiest in Philippine history.

Make the government accountable with this murder. Because they're responsible with this witness, After all they're the one benifiting all the cheating in MAGUINDANAO TOWN. If there is no cheating happen in that town why is it the murder the witness. Gloria Arroyo, Et al. The one should answer with this murder. All eyes! Rolls.....
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Maguindanao teacher who exposed fraud shot dead
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Maguindanao teacher who exposed fraud shot dead

By Charlie Sease, Jocelyn Uy
Inquirer
Last updated 02:43am (Mla time) 06/11/2007

PIKIT, NORTH COTABATO -- He had just had dinner and was standing outside the madrasah (Islamic school) when gunshots rang out. Then the lights went out.

When the commotion ended, people at the madrasah fumbled for their flashlights and found Musa Dimasidsing, Maguindanao schools district supervisor, sprawled dead on the ground with bullet wounds in the chest and face.

Dimasidsing was shot dead here Saturday night in what some officials said was an act of murder intended to forever silence the man who had helped expose alleged election irregularities in Pagalungan town, Maguindanao province.

Chief Supt. Felizardo Serapio Jr., Central Mindanao police director, said his men were trying to establish the motive behind the killing.

“This has something to do with the (May 14) elections in Pagalungan,� said Pagalungan Vice Mayor Norodin Matalam, who had contested his loss to administration candidate Uto Montawal in the mayoral race.

Matalam claimed the victim, along with the other members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI), was being forced to sign a petition stating that there were no poll irregularities and atrocities during the elections.

Dimasidsing refused to sign the petition.

The killing occurred 48 hours before the Commission on Elections in Manila was to begin a hearing on allegations that massive fraud had occurred during the elections, where gunmen in some areas supposedly filled out ballots with the names of the 12 senatorial candidates of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Team Unity slate.

In Manila, Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares said the death of Dimasidsing would have a “chilling effect� on those who had the courage to speak out against electoral fraud in Maguindanao, where the votes in the Senate race had not been tabulated nearly a month after the elections.

Pikit Mayor Sumulong Sultan, quoting witnesses, said the victim had just finished eating dinner and was standing outside the madrasah when he was shot.

A brief commotion ensued after two gunshots were heard and the power went out.

Matalam claimed his rival Montawal had been proclaimed winner by the municipal board of canvassers even if some 7,000 votes from seven villages had yet to be canvassed, out of more than 10,000 total registered voters.

BEI chair Elisa Gasmin had gone missing after proclaiming Montawal, said Matalam, a former Maguindanao governor.

Matalam said the slain school official was the one who had affirmed the testimony of Pagalungan teachers that there was “harassment and intimidation� during the elections.

It was in Pagalungan town where four ballot boxes were snatched by armed men believed to be working for a politician.

“How can the board proclaim Montawal the winner when there are still certificates of election returns that have to be canvassed from the seven villages?� Matalam asked.

He said the killing of Dimasidsing was meant to stop him from further testifying about election anomalies.

Mayor Sultan described the slain school supervisor as a principled man.

“He was straightforward and couldn’t be bought,� Sultan said. Dimasidsing’s remains were brought to Datu Paglas town in Maguindanao.

Mourners, mostly school teachers and relatives, condemned the killing.

“He was laid to rest, but the memory of his Islamic values and good deeds will live forever for those who knew him by heart,� said Udtog Kawit, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao education secretary.

“Blessed are those who fight and die for their principles for the heavenly rewards await them,� Kawit said.

Dimasidsing reportedly refused to be cowed when forced to sign a prepared position paper stating that there were no election irregularities in Pagalungan.

Apart from some teachers who came out to expose alleged cheating, including through “dagdag-bawas� (vote-padding and -shaving), it was Dimasidsing who stood in defense of the whistle-blowing mentors.

Matalam said Dimasidsing was a resident of Pagalungan.

The victim and some other threatened residents of Pagalungan had to temporarily seek refuge in nearby Pikit town while post-election tensions were still high.

They were using the madrasah as their temporary shelter in Pikit.

He also asked for additional troops to guard the ballot boxes at the Sangguniang Bayan building where the untabulated election returns from seven villages were stored.

Bayan Muna has presented to Comelec a copy of an official list of all BEI members in Pagalungan attesting to the identity of three poll clerks -- Faizal Kalantungan, Esmael Bukakong and Ibrahim Guiamol -- who signed affidavits detailing fraud in the area.

The copy, signed by Dimasidsing, disputed Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol’s claim last May that no poll clerk named Kalantungan had served in the area.

Bedol has not showed up since then at the Comelec despite repeated summonses for him to appear.

Chairman Abalos and Comelec deserve credit

"CREDIT FOR WHAT? FOR DOING A LOUSY JOB. YEAH RIGHT!!!" Salina.

06/11/07
Posted under Comelec, Readers' Blog Posts
I PRAISE Chairman [Banjamin] Abalos and the rest of the Comelec [Commission on Elections] for doing a good job last May election/ (*YOUR JOKING RIGHT?* Salina)

If massive cheating occured, then why are a majority of the GO candidates marching their way to the Senate? Why did Mike Defensor, the most loyal Cabinet member of this administration, not make it to the Final 12? Why did Lilia Pineda, a known close friend of the President, fail to sit in the Capitol of Pampanga?

"She loss because the people in pangpanga had enough with this bugos President of cebu. She loss because they're protesting against the FAKE PRESIDENT WHO IS SQUATTING IN MALACANYANG PALACE. SHE LOSS BECAUSE THEY HAVE ENOUGH WITH HER BULLSHIT. SHE LOSS BECAUSE THE PEOPLE IN PANGPANGA CANNOT STOMACH WHAT SHE'S BEEN DOING. NO AMOUNT OF THE MONEY CAN MAKE HER WIN. BECAUSE THE PEOPLE HAD ENOUGH."
Salina.

Let us give where credit is due. We are all tired of loudmouths and baseless accusations that never cease to pull the country down. By the way, I like the way Chairman Abalos pronounced “senator� in proclaiming the newly elected lawmakers.
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Fr: Salina

The reason Gloria Arroyo, Candidates the biggest loser! Because they got caught for their cheating operation. Please, Don't play dumb. You look more stupid compare to Gloria Arroyo, For saying this.

As we all know the reason why the comelec stop the media counting because they can't cheat freely with all eyes are watching them. And you knew it too. In fact even though they got caught they still denying it. Imagine if tuta ni Gloria Arrovo wins this election she'll be in power forever.

I thank god for all the people who join hand to protect the filipino people votes. I thank god that most of opposition win's the seat in the senate. Thank you

paduda lang yan ni abalos.kung talagang walang dayaan bakit my nanalong taga administrasyon?

What witness? What whistleblower?
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
See, What I mean. These idiots just keep denying everything when they got caugh. Its time to overhaul the entire corrupt comelec office. Salina
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
On this note, Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. kept his distance from the killing of a Maguindanao school official said to be a witness to poll fraud.

Abalos, in an interview on dzXL radio Monday, also scored media again for trying to link the murder of Musa Dimasidsing in Pagalungan town in Maguindanao last Saturday.

“Paano naging testigo agad? Bakit di dalhin sa Comelec (Why was he labeled a witness? Why wasn’t he brought to the Comelec)?" he said.

Unidentified men shot dead Dimasidsing, school district supervisor of Maguindanao, at an Islamic school in Pagalungan town. Dimasidsing succumbed to gunshot wounds in the chest.

Elections in Maguindanao were mired in controversy after the administration’s Team Unity senatorial candidates scored a 12-0 sweep there.

But reports of poll irregularities prompted the Comelec to declare a failure of elections in Maguindanao.

“May tinatag na task force sa pangunguna ni commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer. Naghahanap ito ng testigo. Wala akong alam na statement na naipadala sa amin (We already set up a task force under Nicodemo Ferrer. It is looking for witnesses. I am not aware of any witness’ statement that has reached my office)," Abalos said.

Dimasidsing, the designated election supervisor in Maguindanao during the elections, reportedly witnessed the alleged rigging of the votes in the province.

He filed a complaint against several members of the Board of Election Inspectors after accusing them of committing irregularities in the canvassing of results in Pagalungan.

The district supervisor was said to be the one who also confirmed the testimonies of Pagalungan Elementary School teachers that they were harassed and intimidated by political operators behind the town’s election irregularities.

Dimasidsing also reported to authorities that armed men snatched four ballot boxes supposedly for a politician in Pagalungan during the May 14 elections

GO won despite of the cheating, and may have more votes and winners if the election were clean.

alfred ongyanco

GO won despite of the cheating, and may have more votes and winners if the election were clean.
--------------------------------------------------------------

Pray tell me, please tell me a time in our history where elections were clean?

Since the time of Quezon cheating has been rampant.

Cheating has always been there since time in memorial, especially in MINDANAO.

Wake up man!

give credit where credit is due....

kung wala ang comelec eh mag kakaroon tayo ng constitutional crisis kung walang mananalong local officials, congressman, senador.....

kung wala si erap, hindi nating malalaman na malaki pala ang perang involved sa jueteng.....

kung wala sila jinggoy, bong, lapid sa senado eh baka nanalo sila goma, wood, montano, sotto, etc sa senado....

kung wala si atong ang, hindi natin malalaman na totoo palang may nangurakot sa tobacco excise tax.....

kung wala si gonzalez, wala kayong titirahin sa doj.....

kung wala si gloria, malulungkot ang marami sa inyo, wala kayong sisihin....

MAGSUMIKAP NA LANG TAYO PARA HINDI TAYO SISIHIN NG MGA SUSUNOD NG GENERATION NA WALA TAYONG GINAWA KUNDI MAGTURUAN AT MAGSISIHAN.....

GALAW GALAW PARA SA BAYAN......

isang tanong kay salina:

sino gustong mong ipalit kay gloria bilang presidente?

This dark part of the Philippine History will never be forgotten. I would like to see them KILLERS' faces carved out of Filipino History Books as the people who are responsible for the killing of this teacher in Magindanao. I want to make sure these Penoys's names are carved out in Pilipinos head AND MINDS so that they will never be forgotten as the killers who killed for political reasons.... These are the years Filipinos are finally learning not to be so gullible. Filipino children will recite their names one by one in their classrooms to remind everyone else NEVER TO FOLLOW THIER footsteps and examples and that these Filipinos are to be ostracized for generations and generations of Filipinos to come. And the masterminds of these killers will be put under the heading as, FILIPINO TRAITORS in children's textbooks all over the Philippines. MUSA DIMASIDSING is a HERO AND HER FACE AND NAME WILL BE CARVED OUT OF THE NATIONS' HALL FOR FILIPINO HEROES ALONG WITH JOSE RIZAL, MABINI, DEL PILAR, DAGOHOY, DIEGO SILANG, MACTAN, AND OTHERS.

Taga-ibang mundo ata ang nagsulat ng blog na ito. Matagal na dapat computerized ang eleksyon kundi dahil kay Abalos. Bilyong piso pa ang nawala sa gobyerno. Noong 2004, hindi dapat nakapandaya si Gloria (Hello Garci) kung computerized ang eleksyon.

Ngayong taon naman:

1. pinatakbo ang isang Joselito Pepito Cayetano,
2. pinatakbo ang mga partylist fronts ng administrasyon, kasama diyan ang kapatid ni Abalos,
3. nasunog ang lumang COMELEC building na may lamang ebidensiya ng dayaan noong 2004 elections,
4. huling huli si Chavit sa video na bumibili ng boto pero di dinisqualify ng COMELEC,
5. Wala pa ring computerization. 2005 lumabas ang Hello Garci. 2007 na ngayon. Balak kasi ulit gamitin ang dagdag-bawas.

Kaya nanalo ang mga taga-oposisyon ay dahil sa mahigpit na pagbabantay ng taongbayan sa kanilang boto. Hindi nakalusot sa mata ng election watchdogs at media ang pandaraya ng administrasyon gamit ang COMELEC. Papalusutin sana ng COMELEC ang Maguindanao kung di naglabasan ang mga ebidensiya ng pandaraya.

The issue at hand is: "What credit does Chairman Abalos and his Comelec team deserve, underscoring the majority showing of the GO Senatorial candidates in the last elections?" I must say, none and none at all! In fact, his contituents tried to do the best they can to derail the election results in some districts and provinces. They did their best in cheating, but their best was not enough to overrun the votes of the majority who gave their shots overwhelmingly according to their convictions and to the pulse of time.

For one to say that Abalos and his constituents deserve credit for the majority showing of the GO Senatorial candidates must be "blowing in the wind."
Such one must be deluded into entertaining his own thoughts, if not hallucinating by his own disillusionment and disenchantment, more so to his one-sidedness.

G. Ampong
Jimalalud, Negros Oriental

alfred ongyanco
GO won despite of the cheating, and may have more votes and winners if the election were clean.
****************************
Fr: Salina

Yeah, I agree! eleven opposition could win if they're not the victim of dagdag bawas operation of Gloria Arroyo, Et al.

That I know because most of filipino people want Gloria Arroyo, To be impeach this is one of the reason why Capt. Trillanes, Won this election. Its a protest votes against the FAKE PRESIDENT OF CEBU.

rommel buelvo
paduda lang yan ni abalos.kung talagang walang dayaan bakit my nanalong taga administrasyon?
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Fr: Salina

Kong hindi sila nahuli ng daya lagot and opposition. 2004 election all over again. Except this time is worse then May 10, 2004. Presidential election kasi haraharapan ang dayaan. Even the comelec are doing the cheating for Gloria Arroyo! Its time to get rid all of them. They're not the type of people we need to set in the office. Its time to get rid of the crooks if we want to move forward.

Diego K. Guerrero
Why should elections chief Benjamin Abalos and the COMELEC deserves credit?
Chairman Abalos and his Garci clones are responsible for massive and deliberate electoral fraud in Maguindanao and Lanao. They are responsible for failure of elections. The Comelec is exposed as highly partisan and tolerated cheating machinery in Muslim Mindanao provinces in favor of Gloria Arroyo’s candidates. Abalos and his cohorts should be meted death by musketry or hanging for election sabotage. Election watchdogs, monitors, media and patriotic citizens deserve the credit for exposing election irregularities and prevented Comelec’s dirty works in massive and systematic ways. History will be the final arbiter that 2004 presidential and 2007 midterm elections are the dirtiest in Philippine history.
*******************************
Fr: Salina

Ang dapat sa kanila sa jail house where they belong. Its time to get rid of these crooks!

The COMELEC's inability to have clean elections in Mindanao especially in Maguindanao led to the death of a Board of Election Inspector school district supervisor Musa Dimasidsing who helped in exposing election irregularities was shot dead with bullet wounds to the head and face.

This was not the first time this happened to people who wished to expose election anomalies in the area.

Ang kakapal ninyong mga gustong palabasin na mga "baseless accusations sa COMELEC" at maganda kuno ang performance nila. HOY GISING !

clipmaster said: "sino gustong mong ipalit kay gloria bilang presidente?"

You are insulting the intelligence of the Filipino people. There are hundred of thousand patriotic citizens who are more qualified and capable to run the country than usurper Gloria Arroyo. Some senators can replace fake Philippine President Gloria Arroyo in case of force resignation, people’s revolt or snap election. Forget about Kabayan Noli De Castro. He is a weakling and has also fake mandate. Take your pick!

Manuel Roxas II
Aquilino Pimentel Jr.
Richard Gordon
Juan Ponce Enrile
Edgardo Angara
Rodolfo Biazon
Panfilo Lacson
Loren Legarda
Manny Villar
Alan Peter Cayetano
Francis Escudero
Antonio Trillanes IV

The above mentioned senators of the republic have national mandate. Sen. Mar Roxas garnered more than 19 million votes in 2004 election while Gloria and her chief elections manipulator Benjamin Abalos cheated all the way got only 11+ millions votes. Cemetery voters, turtles, bees, ants, butterflies, dogs and cats voted for Gloria.

clipmaster
give credit where credit is due….

kung wala ang comelec eh mag kakaroon tayo ng constitutional crisis kung walang mananalong local officials, congressman, senador…..

kung wala si erap, hindi nating malalaman na malaki pala ang perang involved sa jueteng…..

kung wala sila jinggoy, bong, lapid sa senado eh baka nanalo sila goma, wood, montano, sotto, etc sa senado….

kung wala si atong ang, hindi natin malalaman na totoo palang may nangurakot sa tobacco excise tax…..

kung wala si gonzalez, wala kayong titirahin sa doj…..

kung wala si gloria, malulungkot ang marami sa inyo, wala kayong sisihin….

MAGSUMIKAP NA LANG TAYO PARA HINDI TAYO SISIHIN NG MGA SUSUNOD NG GENERATION NA WALA TAYONG GINAWA KUNDI MAGTURUAN AT MAGSISIHAN…..

GALAW GALAW PARA SA BAYAN……
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Fr: Salina

Baka ang gosto niya, Yon visa card ko.

The Senators-elect from the GO do not owe their victory to Abalos and the COMELEC. As Alfred Ongyanco said, they won despite Abalos and the COMELEC!

It seems the COMELEC Chairman has lost every tiny bit of his integrity. How else could you explain the following:

1. the COMELEC's final decision on Joselito Cayetano's being a nuisance candidate that was handed down way to late to matter; in fact, it must have added to the aggravation of Senator-elect ALAN PETER CAYETANO;

2. Abalos' acting as an apologist to those who were caught doing dagdag-bawas on the votes of TU-GO candidates, respectively;

3. his non-action on the patent violation of the election code by the DOJ secretary himself for vote-buying;

and many more instances when he kowtowed to the whims and caprices of the powers-that-be-without-any-mandate.

Even Mayor-elect Ben-Hur Abalos must be losing face at his father's lack of integrity!

Yes, give credit to where credit is due and unfortunately, the credit does not go to Abalos! It goes to the majority of the Filipino people who exercised their right to vote despite the fact that COMELEC has lost its credibility. The credit goes to the teachers who were vigilant enough to ensure that there is no cheating in the election. Now, counting the COCs would be another story.

Reymond, thanks for listing the things that Abalos did and did not do during this election. They were substantial proofs that the credit is not due to him. Doc_mhaq, you want us to believe that he did an incredible job, huh? Sorry man (woman?), we know where we speak of.

TO;CHAIRMAN ABALOS GUSTO LANG PO NAMIN NA MAY PROCLAMASYON SA LALONG MADALING PANAHON DITO SA ILIGAN AT 1ST DESTRICT NG LANAO DEL NORTE,ANG TOTOO LANG PO SANA ANG LALABAS,HUWAG YONG TAMPERED COC'S....MARAMING SALAMAT PO....

Sino nagsulat nito??? Bulag at bingi ka ba??? Manhid ka na ba sa mga kalokohang ginagawa ng administrasyon na ito???!!!! Siguro dapat ang sinulat mo ganito: ' The Filipino People deserve credit for foiling the Administration's, Chairman Abalos' and the COMELEC's plan of rigging the results of the mid-term elections in favor of Team Gloria Arroyo. The will of the people overpowers Team Gloria Arroyo's "machinery". '
Dahil sa aming lahat (sori kami lang kasama) na tunay na nagmamahal sa ating bansa at nagpapahalaga sa katotohanan at hustisya, nahirapan ang "machinery" ng Team Gloria Arroyo na maka-"deliver" (AKA mag-dagdag-bawas, mandaya, etc.). Ang dami kasi nagmamasid at tumututok sa eleksyon e. Sa Maguindanao lang sila naka-porma ng maayos kasi binawal ang pagpapanood sa kanilang pandaraya doon. Yun nga lang masyado obvious kaya kunwari nawala na lang yung kanilang pinagpagurang doktorin, nahiya na rin siguro.

May Dayaan din,, Hindi yan mawawala,,
Kaya lang ang PINOY, mabili man ang BOTO nila, sa ORAS ng Botohan para sa Administrasyon. Di nila iyon susundin...
pagkahawak ng PERA oo sila para sa ADMINISTRASYON.. PERO!!!!!!

Ang Isusulat pa rin nila ay yung TAONG MAKAMASA....

IBA ang utak ng PINOY... sa lahat ng bagay ay MAUTAK..

Upon retirement in February2008,I respectfully nominate Chairman abalos as the Philippine ambassador to North Korea or Albania or cuba or any other "Guided democracy" country.He can teach the North Koreans a thing or two about "How To Manage elections in guided democracies".He can bring with him Mr.Tony Pet albano to teach the North Koreans about "The Principles of Command Votes".

Great blunder and the most stupid idea!

Abalos should be discredited instead. Piecewise proclamation is something new. Comelec did not eved made their own target dates.

Newly proclaimed Senators, don’t wash your hands

COMELEC might not have done a remarkable work in this recent election but they have done their job. And obviously they were so careful. There are cheatings but I doubt that has the influence of the COMELEC leadership having the eyes of the nation focused on them. Everyone must remember that COMELEC is not Abalos. They are composed of seven (7) commissioners and it would be unfair if Abalos would be singled out for its failure to handle properly the recent elections. Needless to say that the 13th Senate and House were too busy with the impeachment, pros and antis, and they seem to have forgotten the law needed for COMELEC computerization. The 11th Congress reenacted the 2003 budget, the 12th Congress busy with the impeachment process (you’ve heard the voices of Cayetano and Escudero), reenacted again the 2004 and hence the 2003 budget (sounds ridiculous), and the 13th Congress, the lowest output senate and house in the Philippine history, reenacted the 2005 budget although for a few months only, thanks for the elections. Many of you bloggers here are really angry with the 2004 election cheating imitating your idols but your winning candidates in the senate cannot just wash their hands for the delay in the computerization of COMELEC to minimize cheating. (Aha, there’s the answer.) In a common sense, why would a congressman, portraying himself to be against election cheating, rather waste people’s time and money for the impeachment knowing that he didn’t have the numbers, not only once but twice (Huh, sounds familiar), instead of pushing hard for the budget of COMELEC to give Bedoy and co. the hard time to maneuver the results in Maguindanao?
To everyone, just read the PCIJ’s special report on the advantages of computerization of the elections even with cheaters around.

nanliit sumulat ng blog na to kasi napahiya sya. kaya nga konti bomoto kasi walang tiwala sa comelec mga botante.

clipmaster i agree with you ...sana kagaya mo rin mag isip ang karamihan sa mga nag ko comment dito!

wala na silang alam sisihin kundi ang gobyerno... kasalanan ni GMA, nandaya si GMA, walang kwenta ang Comelec and so on and so forth!

sana mag isip naman kayo! kaya naghihirap ang ating bansa dahil sa mga taong katulad nyo na walang alam kundi sisihin ang mga taong nasa gobyerno, pero wala namang nagagawang mabuti...sobrang ang gagaling magsalita pero wala namang ginagawa, akala mo alam ang lahat ng nangyayari...

ang kailangan na ating bansa ay kooperasyon ng bawat isa mapa administrasyon o opposisyon!

walang patutunguhan kung patuloy lang ang pagsisiraan!!!

Home > Nation > Top Stories 28 days after E-Day: Bedol becomes star, Trillanes undergoes another poll
06/12/2007 | 01:23 AM

Email this | Email the Editor | Print | Digg this | Add to del.icio.us While the word war between couple Ruffa Gutierrez and Yilmaz Bektas continued on Monday and Paris Hilton still dominated the lifestyle section of this Web site, Lintang Bedol, Maguindanao’s election supervisor, emerged as a celebrity in the ongoing electoral politics, 28 days after the May 14 polls.
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Fr: Salina

These comelec operator's are lying to their teeth. Its time to overhaul the corrupt comelec office because they're only toeying the line from the squatter of malacanyang palace.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

The elusive Bedol finally showed up at the Comission on Elections’ main office in Intramuros, Manila. However, his presence did not exactly shed light on the questionable conduct of elections in Maguindanao as his statements yielded more questions than answers.

Bedol said the province’s certificates of canvass were lost after unidentified persons took these from his office at the Maguindanao provincial capitol on the afternoon of May 29. He claimed to he was in Cotabato when the incident took place.

"The documents (COCs) got lost. I don't know kung paano (how)," Bedol said.

There was no forcible entry, Bedol said, as his office door is supposedly always open. There were no security officers as well.

He added in Filipino: "These were counted but before we could submit these [to the poll body in Manila] they got lost. I don't know who took them. They were possibly taken by people who staged a protest at the provincial capitol."

The Maguindanao elections supervisor denied allegations that the provincial COCs were fabricated, saying: "I don't think so, that (provincial COCs) were properly executed and those were premised on the reading of the municipal COCs."

While admitting that he is a longtime friend of former Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, Bedol said he is not necessarily Garci’s follower.

“Even before he became commissioner he’s already a friend," he said. "When he was appointed as director I was still a supervisor then. We used to go out."

“I have not talked to any national figure yet. Siguro di pang second Garci baka pang fifth pa," he added, without elaborating.

Meanwhile, senatorial rivals Aquilino “Koko" Pimentel III of the Genuine Opposition (GO) and Juan Miguel “Migz" Zubiri of the Team Unity continue looking forward to getting proclaimed.

Comelec’s latest count showed that Pimentel was still on top of Zubiri.

Pimentel’s votes as of 1 p.m., Monday, was 111,407 more than that of Zubiri’s. Comelec tally showed Pimentel got a total of 10,809,232 votes, while Zubiri earned 10,697,825 votes.

Pimentel's reign over Zubiri was not remarkably affected by the partial election returns from Basilan province that was added in Monday's tally by the Comelec's National Board of Canvassers.

Based on partial tally of votes from Basilan, Zubiri cornered the eighth spot with 37,336 votes, while Pimentel was down to the 20th spot with 25,536 votes.

Votes from Basilan only reduced Pimentel's lead by 11,800 votes in the Comelec's latest national tally.

The same Comelec tally also showed that GO’s detained bet Antonio Trillanes IV remained on the 13th spot. While he may be proclaimed within the week, according to Comelec spokesman James Jimenez, the ex-military man is virtually subjected to another poll by the Armed Forces the Philippines.

It was reported that the AFP is surveying its ranks to determine how soldiers feel about the looming electoral win of Trillanes.

The survey, initially covering military men in Metro Manila, is being conducted by the AFP Civil Relations Service.

Lieutenant Col. Bartolome Bacarro, military public information chief, said the survey is "to remove rumblings within the organization. It's possible that these dissenting opinions of some soldiers would create rumblings within the organization."

He added that the survey was meant for the AFP leadership to know the "sentiments" of the soldiers and their possible reservations about Trillanes' rise in politics.

"If there is a group who have a dissenting opinion in the eventual assumption or proclamation as a senator, then we can target them and tell them that he has been given a mandate so he is a senator," said Bacarro.

On top of court martial proceedings, Trillanes faces coup d'etat charges for sparking the short-lived takeover of the Oakwood Premier Suites at the Makati business district on July 27, 2003.
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Fr: Salina

The filipino people speak! Get rid of the corrupt government employees! Thats included the corrupt AFP/PNP/JUSTICE'S. AND THE ENTIRE GOVERNMENT OFFICE'S. ITS TIME TO UNITE AND KICK THEIR ASS OUT, THEY'RE NOT THE PEOPLE WE WANT IN ANY GOVERNMENT OFFICE'S. WE THE PEOPLE HAVE THE POWER TO DO THAT AFTER ALL WE ARE THE ONE PAYING THEIR SALARY!
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A copy of the survey form obtained by GMANews.TV contains the following items that can be answered either by SA (strongly agree), A (agree), U (unsure), D (disagree) or SD (strongly disagree).

1. In the May 2007 elections, is it possible that many personnel, active or retired, have also supported the candidacy of ex-Lt. Trillanes?

2. Voters have cast their votes for Trillanes to openly express their disappointment with the present national leadership.

3. The votes cast in favor of ex-Lt. Trillanes reflect the people’s trust in his
competence for good governance.

4. Within the military organization, a Trillanes’ vote indicates a compelling
desire for change in the military/defense establishment.

5. Within the AFP, a Trillanes’ vote implies defiance on the present AFP
top brass.

6. I perceive ex-Lt Trillanes, who is a military man, to have a limited
knowledge in governance.

7. Trillanes is successful in his senatorial bid because of the public’s dissatisfaction with the military/defense leadership.

8. Ex-Lt. Trillanes definitely provides a strong leadership.

9. Many have supported Trillanes’ candidacy because he represents reform
in the Armed Forces.

10. The concerns of the soldiers will be better represented when Trillanes
becomes senator.

11. Ex Lt Trillanes should be released on bail by the time he sits as senator

12. Ex Lt Trillanes should have waited for the conclusion of the charges against him before running for public office.

13. Coming from the military organization, ex-LT Trillanes can bring forth
significant changes for the AFP, should he get elected.

14. Ex-Lt Trillanes wants to be in power so he cannot be made accountable for his fault in the Oakwood event.

15. I believe that ex-Lt Trillanes is supported by politicians who want a divided AFP.

16. The votes that ex-LT Trillanes got are expressions of the public’s diminished confidence in the military organization.

17. The support that Trillanes got in the last election represents a silent approval that agrees with extra-constitutional resort to achieve organizational change.

18. If this country requires radical alternatives such as launching coup d’etat to achieve reforms, then so be it.

19. Voluntarily, ex-LT Trillanes could have forged an alliance with the left for his senatorial candidacy.

20. Left-leaning groups have supported Trillanes because they saw in him a rallying point to promote their cause. - GMANews.TV

Pamilya ng poll fraud witness lumikas



Dalawang araw matapos itumba ang lu-mantad na testigo sa Maguindanao election fraud, nagsimulang mag-alsa-balutan ang mga kaanak ni Musa Dimasidsing sa takot na may mangyari ring masama sa kanila.

Sa isang radio report, tumangging magbigay ng

anumang pahayag ang mga kaanak ni Dimasidsing at sa halip ay agarang nagsialis ang mga ito sa kani-kanilang tinubuang bayan sa takot na madamay sa karahasan.

Si Dimasidsing ay binaril ng hindi nakikilalang armadong kalalakihan habang nakatayo sa labas ng madrasah (Islamic school) makapang-hapunan noong Sabado ng gabi.

Isa si Dimasidsing sa mga nagbunyag ng umano’y iregularidad sa eleksyon sa Maguindanao noong Mayo 14 kung saan siya tumayong isa sa board of election inspectors (BEIs) sa bayan ng Pagalungan, Maguindanao. Siya rin ang district supervisor ng Maguindanao schools.

Minsan na ring napaulat na tumanggi umano itong lumagda sa isang manifesto na nagsasabing walang naganap na iregularidad o dayaan sa Maguindanao elections. Ang naturang dokumento ay puwersahan umanong pinapirmahan sa mga BEIs na kasama ni Dimasidsing.

Nauna nang inilutang ni Pagalungan Vice Mayor Norodin Matalam ang posibilidad na may kinalaman sa pagtestigo ni Dimasidsing sa nangyaring dayaan sa Maguindanao elections ang pagpaslang dito. Malinaw umanong pagpapatahimik sa whistleblower ang motibo ng mga salarin.

Sinang-ayunan naman ito kahapon ni reelected Sen. Panfilo Lacson na humiling ng malalimang imbestigasyon sa pamamaslang at pagtukoy at pagsasampa ng kaso sa mga taong nasa likod nito.

Kaugnay nito, agad namang naghugas-kamay ang Malacañang sa madugong wakas ni Dimasidsing.

Sa isang radio interview, ikinalungkot ni Executive Sec. Eduardo Ermita ang tila umano awtomatikong pagsasangkot sa pamahalaan sa mga karahasan lalo’t kung ang biktima ay nakapanig sa oposisyon.

"Ganoon na nga. Automatic na papaimbestigahan natin dahil baka ang gobyerno na naman ang ituro dito. Hindi natin alam ‘yan kaya dapat ay malaman ang motibo para malinaw," ani Ermita.
******************************
Fr: Salina

Huwag isama ang mga boto sa town ng MAGUINDANAO talagang maydayaan naganap. Kasi ang witness inapatay nala para hindi maka pagsalita. If the comelec insist on it. Throw their ass in jail because they're the one reposible on what is happening this election.

My skin crawled when I read this post. I never imagined such shamelessness and ignorance can exist in one person.

Why reward Abalos? Apparently this 2007 election continues to be tainted with numerous documented anomalies. The earlier error in the comelec's tally count for Ralph Recto and Zubiri. Then the continued delay in the critical last 3 positions (for the 12 senators). Then the "lost/stolen" CoC's of Maguindanao. What next?? We Filipinos are too resilient, I just hope that there will be no uprising due to these rampant and aggressive highly questionable incidents.

The problem here is that Malaca-ñang still cannot accept the truth.’

Sue Abalos and company

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ihave known Senator-elect Alan Peter Cayetano since 1984, when I first began work as legislative assistant and speechwriter for his father, then-Assemblyman Renato Cayetano. Alan was a lanky, curly-haired and bright-eyed teenager whose interest in politics was already growing, thanks of course to the career path of his father.

Not to mention the fact that he ended up having UP political science majors like me as friends.

Senator-elect Alan knows that throughout his stint in public office – beginning as a councilor in Taguig, then as representative of Taguig-Pateros for three terms – that I have never bugged him about anything or lobbied in favor of or in opposition to any cause. I can say the same about his sister, the senior Senator Cayetano. And the same about their father, even as he moved from being Assemblyman in the Marcos-era Batasang Pambansa to becoming chief presidential legal counsel and finally to senator and Senate president-in-waiting until fate intervened.

This time, however, I am going to bug Senator-elect Alan about something I am passionate about. And I am going to bug him in a way that he will regret we are friends.

I think one of the first things that Senator-elect Alan Cayetano should do is to file charges against Benjamin Abalos and the whole Commission on Elections for their participation in electoral fraud, at the very least under the principle of "command responsibility".

And if Alan is concerned that people might say he is vindictive, he should realize he will be doing this not because of what he went through – although that is far more than enough basis – but on behalf of everyone else who has been victimized by the Comelec and in the name of everyone else who will be victimized in the future if we don’t act now.

I was actually revolted at the sight of the Comelec chair and his fellows, smiling and cracking jokes at the proclamation of the first ten of twelve winners in the Senatorial elections that we began on May 14 and have yet to conclude. The Comelec bigwigs even had various ad-libs as they introduced the winners and read the certificates of proclamation. The one who introduced and proclaimed Senator-elect Alan even described him as the "most colorful"!

Well, Senator-elect Alan should pay them back in kind, and turn the Comelec black and blue. Or at least that is what I would do if I were he, just to wipe the smiles off their faces. Then he should make them turn pale at the thought that rather than a comfortable retirement they will be looking at court cases left and right and a potential extended stint behind bars.

We must make an example of these last elections and of this Comelec and demonstrate that we now take seriously our desire for clean, honest, and peaceful elections and that we will begin here and now.

How does that sound to you, Chairman Abalos?

***

As it studies the debacle of its senatorial effort, Team Unity and the Arroyo administration have come up with a simple explanation: the failure of the "command vote" at the local level to deliver the promised 12-0 victory.

Even senator-in-waiting Migz Zubiri was quoted the other day as saying the President Arroyo was irritated that the local governments failed to deliver the needed votes to guarantee a victory of most, if not all, of her senatorial slate. Oo nga naman, not after trooping to Malacañang to ask for funds and promising a total Opposition shutout in exchange. Someone did not live up to his side of the bargain.

Then again, maybe the "command vote" idea was illusory, except in areas where the term "command vote" is simply a politically correct way of saying "dagdag-bawas"? If you think about it – not even Cebu, Iloilo or Negros could provide TU a 12-0 victory, so should it be surprising that even in a city like Quezon City where Feliciano Belmonte, a GMA ally, was clearly a shoo-in for a new term, TU would be clobbered by GO?

I can even imagine that Pampanga – which, by the way, rejected the two candidates of Malacañang in favor of a priest running on a platform of clean and honest government – couldn’t deliver a 12-0 victory for TU.

Maybe Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita let the cat out of the bag when he explained TU’s defeat in Batangas by saying that Batangas was too close to Manila that Batangueño voters knew what was happening in the National Capital Region. Eh? I suppose he was saying that his province was too close to Manila it was impossible to fool the Batangueños! (I think Ermita’s son is still behind rival Mark Leviste in the race for vice governor, though daughter Congresswoman Eileen has won re-election handily.)

I guess the problem here is that Malacañang still cannot accept the truth: their strategy was off and their tactics backfired. They tried to paint the elections in the way that a vote for GO was a vote for Erap; what happened was the voters picked that message up, turned it on its head and decided that a vote for TU was a vote for Gloria. And if in 2004 their anti-Gloria votes were stolen, this year the voters made sure that wouldn’t happen again!

"Isang boto lang laban sa naka-upo" may have been the most on-point slogan ever thought of in this campaign and indeed that is what happened.

Email address: malaya_columnist@yahoo.com

drhenry4:
I agree with your statements in this blog. It is just that these pessimistic people only blames the people whom they see everday in the media. They do not know the process. This mentality has also brought about the domination of GO during the elections, whoever is always exposed in the media is the rightful person. This country will never prosper unless these pessimistic and unguided partitiosm of some of our countrymen will not be corrected.

hindi ako nanliliit sa sinasabi ko, hindi kasi katulad ng ibang tao dyan na walang alam sisihin kundi ang gobyerno, sana linisin nyo muna ang bakuran nyo. ipupusta ko ang konting pera ng natitira sa akin na kahit sino pa ang pumalit kay GMA ay magrereklamo pa rin kayo. tignan nyo naman ang tunay na motibo ng GO, ang iniisip agad ay ang pagtakbo sa pagiging presidente sa 2010. kahit ano pa nag sabihin nyo, hindi ako babalimbing gaya nyo at ng mga iniidolo nyo sa senado.

i challenge everyone who are agaisnt what I've said to show evidences of massive cheating happened! I bet you can't even produce a single! sumasakay lang kayo sa mga naririnig ninyo. mas nakakaawa kayo kaysa sa akin, may kasabihan nga tayo, "ang naniniwala sa sabi-sabi, walang bait sa sarili"

Re: the survey made by the AFP.

This is another dubious move by the powers-that-be-without-any-mandate.

The soldiers taking the survey questionnaire have no choice but to take the pro-GMA and anti-Trillanes side lest they suffer the fate of those who have openly dared to go against the evil designs of this administration.

The AFP shall then brag that the results of the survey show that members of the AFP did not support Trillanes in the last elections.

This administration is really very good in twisting the truth by hook or by crook!

To all who thinks that COMELEC is not credible.

1. Why did you vote?
2. Why do you raise this question if an admin candidate wins?
3. If there is cheating, did the COMELEC did those acts?
4. Do they control these people for doing the election sabotages?

You only praise the results when it favors you and dispices it when it is not. Kung wla ang COMELEC then you cannot exercise your right the vote. That's the problem with us, you blame people whom you think is not on your side.

To think, the COMELEC could have performed better if the Congress and Senate had created bills that will empower it. Cheating has be ramphant since before this elections. Ngayon lang ito naging issue kasi GO has conditioned the minds of the masses that if ever they lose, the had been cheated.

Si shykulasa naman, kung makapanlait ng mga commenters dito akala mo siya lang ang marunong mag-isip.

Kami pang mga bumabatikos laban sa kabulukan ng gobyernong ito ang sinisisi mo sa hindi pag-unlad ng bansa? Nag-iisip ka nga ba o sarado talaga ang utak at damdamin mo? Kung walang magsasalita laban sa rehimeng ito ni Gloria, lalo lang itong mamamayagpag at magpapatuloy sa tiwaling gawain at lalo lang masasadlak sa paghihikahos ang kaawaawang bayan. Mag-isip ka nga! Sino ba ang nagpapatakbo ng gobyerno? Kami ba na bumabatikos o si Gloria at mga kampon niya na nakaupo sa poder? Kung talagang bulag ka sa katiwaliang nakahambalang sa iyong harapan, katulad ng "Hello, Garci", "Joc-joc Bolante fertilizer scam", "EO 464", "Cha-cha express", at marami pang iba, tumahimik ka na lang at huwag mong sisihin ang mga mamamayang naghahangad ng magandang pamumuhay sa pamamagitan ng maayos na pamamahala ng mga tapat at mabubuting nanunungkulan.

So ang gusto mo ay tumahimik na lang tayong lahat at pabayaan ang gobyernong ito na dalhin tayo sa kaunlarang ating minimithi, pero kapalit ng ano? Kapalit ng pagsiil sa ating kalayaan at pagyurak sa ating mga karapatan? Ganoon ba ang gusto mo? Sabihin mo uli sa akin yan kapag maunlad ka na ngunit may nakadiing maruming bota sa iyong mukha.

Bago ako magtapos ay iiwan ko sa iyo ang isang matalinhagang pananalita para sa iyong pagninilay-nilay:-

"All that is necessary for evil to succeed is for good men to do nothing." (Edmund Burke").

hahaha... bingi at bulag ka nga!!! tsk tsk tsk...

Trillanes nasa bingit pa rin ng alanganin
06/12/2007 | 06:31 PM
*****************************
Fr: Salina

Oh, Hito na. I've saying it all alone that they're trying to get rid of Capt. Trillanes. This is one of the reason why its taken them so long to count all the votes! They were hope baka maka lusot sila for their cheating operation. MAG BANTAY KAYO
*****************************

Email this | Email the Editor | Print | Digg this | Add to del.icio.us Hindi pa rin tiyak kung maipoproklama ng Commission on Elections (Comelec) si Genuine Opposition (GO) senatorial candidate Antonio Trillanes IV kahit matatag na ito sa ika-11 puwesto sa patuloy na isinagawang bilangan ng boto sa halalan noong Mayo 14.

Sa panayam ng media nitong Martes kay Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos, ipinaliwanag nito na hindi pa nila pwedeng iproklama si Trillanes dahil mayroon pang mga boto na hindi nabibilang.

“He can’t be proclaimed until after it is mathematically impossible (for Trillanes) to be overtaken by other bets," anang opisyal.

Nauna nang naproklama ng Comelec ang nangungunang sampung kandidato sa pagka-senador noong nakaraang linggo.

Sinabi naman ni Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, “There is still a mathematical possibility to be overtaken. (The votes involved were) more than 700,000 but less than 800,000."

Sa pinakahuling bilangan sa Comelec nitong Lunes, si Trillanes ay nakakuha na ng 11,093,463 boto. Umabot sa 284,231 boto ang kanyang lamang sa kapwa n'ya Go candidate Aquilino “Koko" Pimentel III na nasa ika-12 puwesto at nakakuha na ng 10,809,232 boto.

Hindi pa nabibilang ng National Board of Canvassers ang mga boto mula sa Surigao del Norte kung saan 261,735 ang rehistradong botante at sa Maguindanao na may 337,108 botante.

Hinihintay rin ng NBC ang mga boto mula sa 12 presinto sa Basilan kung saan isinagawa ang special elections na tinatayang may mahigit 31,000 rehistradong botante -

To the VOTING PUBLIC

This 2007 election did not serve its good purpose for the Filipinos being the great chance they have for reforms the constitution have specifically stated. Instead of focusing on real reforms, people had been so mesmerized with the good speakers of the opposition, not realizing who paid these speakers to win the hearts and not the minds, a clever capitalization on the fanatic attitude of the voting public. I understand that people are desperate to look for leaders who would change the course of the country’s history, real heroes who would save them from their miseries. That desperation put them in a wrong position, an attitude that should be thrown away. Instead of individuals initiating reforms, they look for leaders who would do it for them, and this is wrong. Since 1986, this had been the cycle of Filipino’s history and look at where are we now? The condition is worse before Marcos was exiled. People does not accept their mistakes instead justified them to redeem their faces being the first country in the world to use “people power� for change and became the model to topple other undemocratic, people-oppressive regimes such as the communist USSR. Such attitude didn’t help the country.
Because GMA did not perform fully well what is expected of her after the people had given her the chance in 2001 (because of her obsession to remain in power which may be because time is not enough for her to prove to Erap that she is worthy of the position), people look at Erap again recalling the movie events that he was a hero. People became confused of what is fantasy and what is reality (this answers why fantaserye became so popular). They were confounded and forgot the fact that Philippines is not a movie house. They began entertaining the thoughts, “Were the facts in the Erap’s impeachment trial real or fabricated?� Then this became worse with the sudden outbreak of the “Hello Garci� scandal. People then came into an absurd conclusion that indeed Erap was misjudged, and that GMA was just hungry for power, allowing Erap to escape the people’s castigation for his economic sabotage, the highest since Marcos. And so there was a complete transformation of the picture, GMA is the most corrupt leader in Asia and Erap is just a victim of politicians’ appetite for power. Why not? Legarda, Pimentel, Cayetanos, Escudero, Drilon, Pangilinan, Villar who were contributors for Erap’s downfall are now in his side. Then Erap once again took advantage of this chance. He embraced them in his fold, an act of a “forgiving� leader. Filipinos are stunned with this reaction of Erap. Again, they made a ridiculous conclusion that Erap indeed is righteous. Then they turn there grim faces to GMA and said, “You are really terrible. This is a righteous man. You fooled us.�
Or is everyone fooled by all of the above after all? Hadn’t it been the people instead looked to themselves and started reforming, making themselves competent to decide for their own and not being dictated subliminally by paid media ads and news, they wouldn’t have been deceived again with the same cunning politicians. “People power� should have been used to compel, not only to tell these leaders what to do instead of frequent hunting for substitute presidents. They should have been able to discern the motives of the politicians presented to them because politicians wouldn’t show their true colors during elections. Sadly, elections had been a traditional trial and error experiments for the country, to hunt better heroes, but ended up frustrating. “People power� should have been used to make these leaders cautious of their actions and decisions, to make policies for common good and not for self interest. Instead, “people power� had been used foolishly to achieve selfish political ambitions. And sadly, the people are continuously deceived.

mr. acero wala akong nilalait sa mga nagbibigay ng opinyon dito, fyi...

ang sinasabi ko .... maraming taong nagmamarunong na akala moy alam ang lahat ng nangyayari eh narinig lang naman nila o kaya nabasa sa dyaryo...sinabi lang ng isang ma impluwensyang tao o kaya ng media ... aba naniwala na at kung makapagbigay ng komento eh parang "gospel truth" na dapat paniwalaan...

hindi ko sinasabing walang kasalanan ang gobyerno...dahil alam nating lahat meron, pero di lang ang kasalukuyang gobyerno pati pa ang mga nakaraang gobyerno, marami ring pagkukulang...

sana lang imbes na patuloy na ibagsak ang kasalukuyang gobyerno...tulungan na lang upang maging maayos at umunlad. tama na ang mga bangayan!

Throw Bedol in jail’

Pols cross party lines to slam poll exec

By Jerome Aning, Christian V. Esguerra
Inquirer
Last updated 01:58am (Mla time) 06/13/2007
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Fr: Salina

Throw their ass in jail where they belong. Alone with Gloria Arroyo, Because she's the one who's behind all these cheating operation.
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MANILA, Philippines -- Lintang Bedol must be a lonely man these days.

On Tuesday, calls for his head reverberated across the political spectrum following the mysterious disappearance of municipal certificates of canvass (CoCs), or vote tallies, from Maguindanao that were deemed crucial in determining who had won the last two Senate slots.

The tallies from the May 14 elections were supposed to be in the safekeeping of Bedol as the Maguindanao provincial election supervisor. He claimed the tallies had been stolen and that he had no idea who took them.

Two pro-administration lawmakers and the head of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), a Church-affiliated poll watchdog, said Bedol should be held accountable for the theft.

Outgoing Sen. Franklin Drilon said the embattled election official should be jailed.

Malacañang did not sound any more gracious.

“We are confident that the Commission on Elections will do whatever is necessary to investigate the Maguindanao election officer’s apparent lapses and impose stiff sanctions as warranted,� Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said in a statement.

Calls for Bedol’s scalp mounted a day after he revealed that the municipal CoCs -- which were supposed to back the administration’s claim that its Team Unity (TU) candidates had scored a 12-0 shutout of the opposition in Maguindanao -- had been stolen from the provincial capitol.

Bedol reported the theft for the first time the other day -- nearly a month after the polls --as the canvassing of the senatorial results headed to a photo finish.

Genuine Opposition (GO) candidates Antonio Trillanes IV and Aquilino “Koko� Pimentel III and TU’s Juan Miguel Zubiri are all fighting for the last two places in the 12-way senatorial race.

“He was the one in charge there, the CoCs were supposed to be in his possession, so if they were lost, he should be held responsible,� PPCRV chair Henrietta de Villa told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

De Villa also said she found it strange that Bedol only revealed the theft of the CoCs the other day.

Why only now?

“Why is he only reporting that now? Did he report the theft to the police?� she asked.

“I think Comelec should be more stringent in making local election officials culpable for things like this. If nobody will be held accountable, then it’s likely that this is going to be repeated again,� she added.

De Villa said the PPCRV chapter in Maguindanao was sure elections were held in six of the 22 towns of the province where the poll watchers were based.

PPCRV watchers obtained copies of statements of votes from precincts but many of them had not been duly authenticated by the boards of elections officers.

However, De Villa said the conduct of the elections in the whole province remained under a cloud because the poll watchers were refused access to municipal and provincial canvassing venues.

A lesson for all

“Bedol should be jailed. He should be a lesson to our election officials,� Drilon said in an interview after an Independence Day speech at the Pinaglabanan Shrine in San Juan, Metro Manila.

“He could be charged with infidelity in the custody of public documents and that is a crime,� Drilon said.

He said there was prima facie evidence against Bedol because he admitted the CoCs were taken from his office in the provincial capitol.

According to Bedol’s account, several municipal CoCs went missing on May 29 while he was out of town and while a protest rally was being held outside the building.

Drilon, who is retiring from the Senate after 12 years as a senator, said the Comelec should discount the Maguindanao votes as these were likely to have been tampered with.

Only in the Philippines

He lamented that it was “only in the Philippines� where election officials were still counting votes a month after the polls.

Two administration lawmakers from Mindanao were not buying Bedol’s story.

Representatives Douglas Cagas of Davao del Sur and Benasing Macarambon of Lanao del Sur Tuesday urged the Comelec to place Bedol under its custody until the controversy had been resolved.

“Bedol has already delayed the process and the Comelec must not let him get away with it. He should be made accountable for the stolen CoCs,� Macarambon said in a statement he issued jointly with Cagas.

Assuming Bedol was telling the truth, Cagas said he should have immediately alerted the Comelec in Manila and the Philippine National Police.

“Why did it take him too long to surface and report the incident? His alibi is too lame,� he said.

Vital proof in TU win

Macarambon said Bedol should explain “how the CoCs were stolen and what he did to try to recover these.�

Cagas said the missing CoCs were important in proving that the administration ticket had indeed scored a sweep in Maguindanao.

“Team Unity’s victory in Maguindanao was not too impossible because of the administration’s strong political machinery there,� he said.

The Comelec is studying whether to declare a failure of elections in Maguindanao.

Hearing Friday

Several public school teachers from the area have told the media and watchdog groups that armed men filled out the ballots with the names of Team Unity candidates, or forced the teachers to do it for them.

Some Maguindanao officials have denied there was fraud in the voting and said the 12-0 win scored by TU was the result of “command votes� -- or the votes of residents obeying the bidding of their leaders.

They also said the shutout was not impossible because the opposition senatorial candidates did not campaign in their province.

The Comelec has summoned the Maguindanao election inspectors, as well as local candidates who had been proclaimed, to attend a hearing on Friday in order to resolve the issue. With reports from Juliet Labog-javellana and Kristine L. Alave

Copyright 2007 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

No, Shroud, you do not get it. Most people voted not because COMELEC is credible. People voted because it is their right, their only way of expressing what they feel about people who run for office. People raise questions not because an Admin candidate wins. If a GO candidate wins and if people think that that winning is questionable, they will also raise questions. No, Shroud. If there was cheating, did the COMELEC do them? The COMELEC has the mandate to prevent them, Shroud, but by all indications, it has failed the voting public to prevent cheating especially in Maguindanao.

Shroud, I assure you, I am capable of appreciating a good work done. Shroud, with or without the COMELEC, voting is my right. I do not owe it to the COMELEC. You, just like the others, have again and again underestimated the people’s capacity to think, understand and analyze the situation. It works in the same way,Shroud... GO conditions the minds of the masses as you say, TU did the same way with more resources than GO can muster. I think the issue is which of them holds the better truth in the public’s mind.

Doc_mhaq, who should we believe? I think there was a time in our history that COMELEC was perceived to be non-partisan. Its main problem today is its credibility. Now, you blame us for not thinking the way you do? All COMELEC has to do is show us that they did an excellent job. Right now, hohum…

ganito na lang, imbes na puro satsat kayo gaya ng idolo nyo na si Cayetano, bakit hindi kayo tumakbo sa susunod na halalan? puro kayo satsat ata batikos, wala naman kayong nagagawa para sa Pilipinas

No, Shroud, you do not get it. Most people voted not because COMELEC is credible. People voted because it is their right, their only way of expressing what they feel about people who run for office. People raise questions not because an Admin candidate wins. If a GO candidate wins and if people think that that winning is questionable, they will also raise questions. No, Shroud. If there was cheating, did the COMELEC do them? The COMELEC has the mandate to prevent them, Shroud, but by all indications, it has failed the voting public to prevent cheating especially in Maguindanao.

Shroud, I assure you, I am capable of appreciating a good work done. Shroud, with or without the COMELEC, voting is my right. I do not owe it to the COMELEC. You, just like the others, have again and again underestimated the people’s capacity to think, understand and analyze the situation. It works in the same way,Shroud… GO conditions the minds of the masses as you say, TU did the same way with more resources than GO can muster. I think the issue is which of them holds the better truth in the public’s mind.

Doc_mhaq, who should we believe? I think there was a time in our history that COMELEC was perceived to be non-partisan. Its main problem today is its credibility. Now, you blame us for not thinking the way you do? All COMELEC has to do is show us that they did an excellent job. Right now, hohum…

OFW in Afghanistan:
Without the COMELEC you cannot exercise your right to vote. I think you can see that both sides are questionable but it is not what is happening in the country, perhaps you can only say those words because it is what the news is broadcasting bout in here the situation is different. But GO is but bullish in their accusations, I am not with any sides, if they want to playp fair they should stop conditioning PEOPLE's mind. Right before the election they have told the people that if they will lose then there is ramphant cheating and if they win then there is still democracy. Tell me, what would you think if you are just someone who only reads the news, probably everyone from the countryside will come to believe that. Yes, the COMELEC has the mandate to stop cheating but there are a lot of people in power to influence that you cannot stop, even GO's own Loren Legarda benefited from the cheating but it did not make news because right from the start GO has been blaming TU for any cheating that will happen. I have never underestimated anyone, but you should know that people in this country regards allegations as facts. You may say I'm wrong, but try to live in the countrysides before you tell it to me.

shykulasa,

I-remind lang kita dun sa isang parte ng initial post mo:

"sana mag isip naman kayo!"

Kung hindi panlalait yan, ewan ko kung ano. Ina-assume mo na hindi nag-iisip ang mga anti-GMA commenters dito dahil lamang hindi kami sumasang-ayon sa opinyon mo. At ang komento kong iyan ay pinatotohanan mo sa sumunod mong post:

"ang sinasabi ko …. maraming taong nagmamarunong na akala moy alam ang lahat ng nangyayari eh narinig lang naman nila o kaya nabasa sa dyaryo…sinabi lang ng isang ma impluwensyang tao o kaya ng media … aba naniwala na at kung makapagbigay ng komento eh parang “gospel truth� na dapat paniwalaan…"

Na para bang porke narinig lang namin sa radyo/TV o nabasa sa diyaryo, ay wala na kaming kakayahan para i-discern o i-analyze ang mga balita o pangyayari sa ating bansa. Bigyan mo naman kahit konting kredito ang kakayahang mag-isip ng mga kababayan mong iba ang pananaw kaysa sa iyo. Maaaring magkakaiba nga ang ating mga pananaw sa bawat isyu pero hindi ibig sabihin nito ay hindi nag-iisip ang iba sa atin. Ang mahalaga ay pagtalunan natin ang mga isyung ito sa paglalahad ng ating mga depensa at katuwiran at hindi sa pag-atake sa kakayahan o kapabilidad ng isang tao.

Anyway, kalimutan na natin ang isyung yan dahil mas gusto kong pagtuunan ng pansin ang mas mahalagang punto ng komento ko: Na hindi tayo dapat magsawalang kibo sa mga kasalanan o kawalanghiyaan na ginagawa ng gobyerno. Na salungat naman sa iyong paniwala na, pabayaan na lang ang gobyerno (na ikaw mismo ay naniniwala na may kasalanan) sa ginagawa nila basta mapaunlad ang bayan.

Although hindi ako naniniwala na uunlad nga ang bayan kung hahayaan lang natin ang mga tiwaling nakaupo sa mga ginagawa nila, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt. Pero uulitin ko sa iyo: gugustuhin mo ba na maunlad ka nga ngunit may nakatapak na sapatos sa iyong mukha? Hindi ba puwedeng tamasahin natin ang minimithi nating kaunlaran na kasabay ng ating kalayaan at mga karapatan? Na sa tingin ko ay maaari lamang mangyari kung tayong mga mamamayan ay maging mapanuri at mapagmasid sa mga ginagawa ng mga nakaupo sa ating pamahalaan.