JOINT DOJ-COMELEC PROBE ON ALLEGED POLL FRAUD BEGINS
MANILA, AUGUST 20, 2011 (STAR) By Edu Punay - The joint panel of the Department of Justice and the Commission on Elections tasked to look into allegations of cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections formally begins its investigation today.
DOJ's Prosecutor General Claro Arellano, chair of the five-man special committee, said he would meet his members at 3 p.m. today to lay down ground rules and procedure of their preliminary investigation into the poll fraud charges.
"We will be drafting the rules and procedure and might also start listing down who would be summoned to the preliminary investigation," he told reporters in an interview yesterday.
(PHOTO - DOJ's Prosecutor General Claro Arellano)
Arellano, the head prosecutor of DOJ, said they have yet to decide when to set their first hearing.
The probe body was formally created last Monday through a joint order of the DOJ and the Comelec.
With Arellano in the committee are Comelec law department head Ferdinand Rafanan, lawyer Michael Villaret, Laguna Provincial Prosecutor George Dy and Pasig City Prosecutor Jacinto Ang.
"Resolutions finding probable cause for election offenses, defined and penalized under the Omnibus Election Code, and other election laws shall be approved by the Comelec in accordance with the Comelec rules of procedure," the five-page order signed by DOJ Secretary Leila de Lima and Comelec chair Sixto Brillantes Jr.(PHOTOS ABOVE)
"For other offenses, or those not covered by Omnibus Election Code and other election laws, the corresponding criminal information may be filed directly with the appropriate courts," it added.
In the same order, DOJ and Comelec created a separate fact-finding team that would gather pieces of evidence to boost the preliminary investigation.
Chaired by a DOJ assistant secretary with two members each from the DOJ, Comelec and National Bureau of Investigation, the team is given 45 days to submit a report to Arellano, De Lima and Brillantes.
De Lima and Brillantes will update the public on the progress of the investigation before a spokesman is named.
The joint probe will operate from funds from the Office of the President.
It is expected to start with the evaluation of testimonies of Senior Supt. Rafael Santiago and his men on the reported switching of election returns (ERs) to cover up cheating in the 2004 presidential polls.
Last Monday, De Lima was criticized by former DOJ Secretary Raul Gonzalez for her decision to personally supervise the preliminary investigation.
Gonzalez told The STAR that De Lima was "a little out of bounds" with her being involved directly in the probe.
De Lima, who is now in China for an official trip, has consistently said she would not meddle in preliminary investigation of a criminal complaint in the DOJ since the case could be elevated to her office for review anyway.
She also announced earlier that she would not inhibit in the probe despite her being the lawyer of newly proclaimed Sen. Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III in his electoral protest in 2007.
She believes there is nothing wrong with her participation in the investigation, which would include Pimentel's case, because the probe does not intend to proclaim poll winners but only seeks to determine who should be held liable for poll fraud.
Military officers believe fraud tainted 2004 polls By Dennis Carcamo The Philippine Star Updated August 19, 2011 11:56 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Some military officials interviewed by an Armed Forces of the Philippines fact-finding panel believed that fraud marred the 2004 presidential elections in Mindanao, said a leader of an activist group who has a copy of the Mayuga report.
Quoting the Mayuga report, Renato Reyes Jr. of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said that one general believed that the so-called Garci tapes were real.
The Garci tapes are a compilation of the supposed conversations of former Commission on Elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano with several personalities allegedly involved in an election-rigging operation in 2004.
The most controversial of the recordings was the alleged conversation between Garcillano and former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
"The interviews reveal a divided and corrupted AFP. Several ranking officers testified about bribery, electioneering and other actions that sought to undermine the 2004 polls. These should have been the basis for a thorough investigation into the conduct and criminal liability of some officials," Reyes said.
The information on fraud is contained in the 65-page summary of interviews attached to the recommendations of the Mayuga report.
Among of the interesting observations by ranking officials are the ones made by Lt. Gen Rodolfo Garcia, who then headed the AFP Task Force on Honest Orderly and Peaceful Elections (HOPE).
Garcia said that feedback from ground commanders indicated pressure from senior officers and that some officers were involved in partisan politics
Regarding the involvement of AFP officials as heard from the "Garci" tapes, Garcia told investigators "that is true and you better accept it at this point in time. We all know it. Whether you deny it to yourself or not, we have to accept it that our officers have been involved in this (poll fraud)."
He challenged the fact-finding panel to do its job and make the right recommendations, saying that "if we do not do anything now, this organization will go to the dogs and politics will not be stopped".
"No less than the officer who headed Task Force HOPE was saying that fraud may have happened and that the contents of the Garci wiretaps were real. The Mayuga panel should have pursued this lead, yet there is no mention of this in the recommendations," Reyes said.
He said that the most incredulous of the interviews was with then Maj. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon.
According to the summary of interviews, Esperon "boasted that the elections in 2004 was very clean" and that "credit should go to the AFP and PNP for doing their best to have more honest, orderly and peaceful elections."
A few years later, Esperon was appointed by former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as AFP Chief of Staff.
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