MAGUINDANAO OFFICIAL LINKS GMA, MIKE DIRECTLY TO '07 POLL CHEATING
[PHOTOS - LEFT- Election Chair Sixto Brillantes, photo from FB, BELOW- Maguindanao Provincial Administrator Norie Unas, photo by Jaileen Jimeno]
MANILA, OCTOBER 4, 2011 (MALAYA) BY GERARD NAVAL 'Gotcha: GMA, Mike linked directly to '07 poll cheating Ex-Maguindanao official tells of '12-0' plot, orders'
FOR the first time, former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo and husband Jose Miguel "Mike" Arroyo were directly identified as having ordered the rigging of the elections in Maguindanao in 2007.
In a press conference yesterday, Elections chair Sixto Brillantes presented former Maguindanao provincial administrator Norie Unas, who directly linked the Arroyos to the alleged cheating operations in the province in favor of the then administration senatorial ticket, Team Unity.
According to Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, it is the first time that one with direct knowledge on the alleged involvement of the First Couple in poll cheating has come out.
"Yung kay (former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor) Zaldy Ampatuan is hearsay. Yung kay Lintang Bedol, so far, hearsay din. Unless he has something na pwede ibigay via a supplemental affidavit. I don't really know. Pero ito, this is the first time na may derechong nakarinig nung mga naging instructions ng First Couple," said De Lima.
"The direct implication of the former president and the former first gentleman…That's very damaging," she added.
In a six-page affidavit, Unas said he heard Mrs. Arroyo instruct his boss, then Maguindanao Gov. Datu Andal Ampatuan Sr., days before the 2007 polls to "make" the results of the elections in Maguindanao "12-0." This was during a dinner in Malacañang, he said.
"When the President was about to exit from the hall as she was shaking hands with several participants, the President signaled Datu Andal to a corner and I heard the President tell again Datu Andal: 'Dapat 12-0 sa Maguindanao, kahit pa ayusin o palitan niyo ang resulta,' to which the governor answered: 'Opo Ma'am,'" said Unas.
Unas said the day after, Mr. Arroyo called Ampatuan to a meeting at the LTA Building in Makati City.
Unas said it was only Ampatuan and Mr. Arroyo who met in the latter's room, and the meeting lasted "a few minutes."
"Once outside the office, Gov. Datu Andal told me, 'Utos ni FG, kailangang 12-0 ang result sa Maguindanao...at kailangan walang makuhang boto si Cayetano,'" Unas recalled.
He was referring to then opposition senatorial candidate Alan Peter Cayetano.
It was in Maguindanao where Arroyo's Team Unity swept the senatorial race via the "statistically improbable" 12-0 vote win.
Unas said he tried to dissuade Ampatuan from obeying the instructions of the First Couple, believing it to be "an impossible work to do."
"But Gov. Datu Andal refused to heed my advice saying that he could not decline the First Gentleman. Gov. Datu Andal said that it was a personal request from FG Mike Arroyo and from President Gloria Arroyo herself, and added that: 'Dapat kayanin natin ito kasi ayokong mapahiya kay FG at kay GMA,'" said Unas, who served Ampatuan from 2001 to 2009.
Upon their return to Maguindanao, Unas said Ampatuan called Maguindanao Election Supervisor (PES) Lintang Bedol to relay the instructions of the then First Couple.
He said he recalled Bedol saying he could not refuse the governor because he was also given instructions to produce a 12-0 result.
Unas also said he was the one tasked by the governor to make follow-ups as well as provide logistical support to the operations as requested by Bedol.
Unas also said Ampatuan met election officials in Maguindanao to "announce" the plan and told them "Ito ang instruction galing sa taas."
During the press conference, Unas said it was only now that he was able to muster the courage to come out.
He added t he came out to clear his name after he was mentioned by Zaldy Ampatuan and Bedol in their own testimonies.
"I found it wise that to clear some issues, misstatements and false accusation...I found a way to contact the honorable chairman (Brillantes) and voluntarily discussed with him the possibility of what I'm doing now," said Unas.
Asked whether he and Ampatuan separated in good terms and that there was no reason for him to get back at his former boss as being the reason for his coming out, he replied there was none.
"I have had a lingering illness since 2004 or 2005. I was diagnosed with COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder) then... Yung pag-alis ko, it was a valid reason then and alam niya na I am in and out of the hospital," said Unas.
He added that Ampatuan was even aware that he is set to come out because he communicated with the latter last week.
"Sinabi ko sa kanya na I'm coming out at pinaintindi ko din sa kanila at sa kanyang pamilya na my coming out ay hindi lang patungkol sa isyu na ito kundi what lies behind this issue at tsaka bakit lagi nangyayari ito sa Maguindanao and in any other Muslim province in the Autonomous Region (in Muslim Mindanao)," said Unas.
Unas asked to be placed under the witness protection program and granted immunity from criminal prosecution.
The DOJ and the Commission on Elections are conducting a joint investigation of irregularities in the 2004 and 2007 elections.
Aside from Unas, Brillantes also presented 15 other possible witnesses in the investigation who are current and former election officers from different municipalities in Maguindanao.
They are Al-Haj Saliao Amba (Mamasapano town), Ma. Susan Albano (Datu Unsay), Nena Alid (Talayan), Alice Lim (Pagagawan), Susan Cabancan (Gen. S.K. Pendatun), Magsaysay Mohamad (Sultan Sa Barongis), Araw Cao (Mangudadatu), Estelita Orbase (Shariff Aguak), Jeehan Nur (Ampatuan), Salonga Edzela, Ragah Ayunan (Rajah Buayan), Russam Mabang (Pandag), Asuncion Reniedo (Paglat), Rohaida Khalid (Datu Saudi), and Norijean Hangkal (Guindulungan).
The Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, has acknowledged a Comelec request to gain access to documents submitted by Fernando Poe Jr. in the election protest that he lodged against Mrs. Arroyo in relation to the 2004 presidential elections.
The request for documents was made by Brillantes to complement the evidence already in possession of the joint Comelec-DOJ fact-finding committee.
In a one-page resolution, the PET through clerk of tribunal Enriqueta Vidal took cognizance of Brillantes' letter request despite the dismissal of the PET No. 002 (Ronald Allan Poe vs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo). – With Evangeline de Vera
FROM PALACE OFFICIAL GAZETTE
Statement of His Excellence Benigno S. Aquino III President of the Philippines On the appointment of Attorney Sixto Brillantes as Chairman of the Commission on Elections
[Delivered by Presidential Spokesperson Edwin Lacierda during a press briefing at Malacañang on January 17, 2011]
Last January 15, I appointed veteran election lawyer Sixto Brillantes Jr. Chairman of the Commission on Elections to serve out the unexpired term of former chairman Jose Melo.
I have always said that correct identification of a problem leads to the correct solutions. Brillantes' long career in election law has given him extensive on-the-ground expertise, not just of the law, but also of the systems and processes that govern our electoral exercises.
The country needs someone with practical knowledge and not just theoretical understanding of election law, and an intensive knowledge of the bureaucracy, who could hit the ground running.
We need someone who understands, and can fix, the defects in the system: nuisance candidates who end up disqualified late in the day, leaving too little time to inform the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI).
We also need someone who will guide the Comelec to ensure that the laws will not be used to game the system.
The Comelec has much to do to ensure cases are resolved, not days to go before election day, or days to go before the contested term expires.
Chairman Brillantes' main task now is to ensure an orderly and credible election in 2013 and I am confident that he is capable of achieving this and leaving a legacy that will culminate a distinguished legal career.
RELATED EARLIER NEWS
Brillantes: Give me a chance abs-cbnNEWS.com Posted at 01/17/2011 11:48 AM | Updated as of 01/17/2011 2:42 PM
Buckles down to work on first day as Comelec chief
MANILA, Philippines - Newly-appointed Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes has asked the public to give him a chance to clean up the electoral system, as he brushed aside the criticisms that were hurled his way days prior to his appointment.
"If I can do this for the next 5 years, lay down the ground work for clean, honest and peaceful elections, my career as an election lawyer is through. I will end it as a constitutional officer who has managed the elections," he told Comelec employees during his first flag ceremony with them on Monday morning.
In a separate interview with reporters, Brillantes brushed off rumors he is an "operator"—which, in Filipino slang, has a negative connotation.
Some quarters fear he may not be an objective Comelec chief, having served popular clients such as former President Joseph Estrada and the Ampatuan family.
Brillantes, who resigned as poll lawyer following his appointment on Saturday, said: "Marami ang nakakakilala sa akin, and for the last 20 years, ako ho ang humahabol sa mga operator."
Even former Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas II supposedly expressed reservations over his appointment. He allegedly voiced out his fears to President Aquino that Brillantes may favor Chiz Escudero or Vice-President Jejomar Binay in the 2016 elections.
Meeting
This early, however, a militant group has already criticized Brillantes for meeting Roxas.
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) secretary-general Renato Reyes, Jr. said: "Why should a prospective Comelec appointee have to meet with Mar Roxas? And why would the president endorse such a meeting? Why is Roxas' objection so huge, that no less than the President would ask the prosepective appointee to meet with the former senator?"
Reyes challenged him to prove himself amid questions of partiality.
"The biggest challenge he faces now is how to clean up the Comelec. This would be the main yardstick by which we can measure his performance, independence and integrity as a poll chair," Reyes said.
Poll automation
Brillantes will serve until 2015. He said, however, that he will make sure that the country will finally have a successful and fully-automated elections by 2016.
He also said the Comelec should now buckle down to work since the ARMM elections is already near.
He said Comelec will study options whether the latter could be synchronized with the 2013 mid-term elections.
This is also precisely the reason why he had to come in immediately as Comelec chief.
Former Comelec chairman Jose Melo stepped down on Saturday, 2 weeks ahead of his intended resignation.
Brillantes explained Malacañang could not anymore appoint an ad interim official once Congress opens sessions. The sessions start today.
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Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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