Comelec: GMA conspired with co-accused to give P-noy zero vote

Commission on Elections (Comelec) prosecutors claimed yesterday that former President Gloria Macapagal-arroyo and her co-accused had conspired to give zero votes to then senatorial candidates Benigno Aquino III, Alan Peter Cayetano, and Panfilo Lacson during the 2007 elections in Maguindanao.

Comelec prosecutors made the allegations yesterday after they presented their first witness, lawyer Nelia Oreo, a former chairman of the Municipal Board of Canvassers of Pagalungan, Maguindanao, at the sala of Judge Jesus Mupas of the Pasay City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 112. Oreo is one of the prosecution witnesses in the hearing on the petitions for bail filed by Arroyo, now a Pampanga representative, and former Maguindanao provincial election officer Lintang Bedol.

The Comelec had filed electoral sabotage charges against Arroyo, Bedol and former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. in connection with the alleged cheating in the 2007 senatorial elections in Maguindanao.

Oreo attended the hearing and verified the election documents in the 2007 election that were submitted by Bedol to the Comelec.

The poll documents showed Aquino, who is now President, and incumbent senators Cayetano and Lacson, got zero votes in Maguindanao.

“The statement of witness will collaborate other testimonies to prove the tampering of certificate of canvass (COC) in Maguindanao,” said Comelec prosecutor Juana Valesa.

Oreo was municipal chairman of the special board of canvassers that was created to correct errors and to complete the canvass of ballots from Pagalungan, Maguindanao.

The canvassing of the votes in Pagalungan was stopped after Bedol went into hiding after the elections.

Oreo’s team continued the stalled canvassing at the Comelec office in Manila.

Valesa told Mupas that they will prove the alleged conspiracy to tamper the COC and erase the votes for Aquino, Lacson and Cayetano in Maguindanao.

Bedol’s lawyer Reynaldo Princesa opposed the testimony of Oreo, saying that she is not a witness to the alleged tampering of votes in Pagalungan.

Oreo failed to continue her testimony after Princesa questioned the former poll officer’s credibility as a witness.

“There was no tampering of votes, the witness has no personal knowledge on the alleged electoral sabotage,” Princesa said.

The defense counsel also moved to delete the testimony of Oreo in the court proceedings, saying that her testimony is irrelevant to the bail petition filed by Bedol and Arroyo.

Princesa later told reporters that the COC filed by Bedol was never submitted to the National Board of Canvassers in Pasay City after the 2007 polls because a new provincial board of canvassers, headed by lawyer Emilio Santos, took over and completed the canvassing of votes in Maguindanao.

He said the COC made by Bedol showed that Luis “Chavit” Singson topped the senatorial elections in Maguindanao while the canvas of Santos’ team showed that Juan Miguel Zubiri was the top candidate in the province.

Valesa, however, insisted that the Comelec created a special board of canvassers to correct the alleged tampering of votes of Aquino, Lacson and Cayetano.

She said the COC submitted by Oreo showed that Aquino and the other opposition candidates got more than 1,000 votes in contrast to the zero votes submitted by Bedol.

The Comelec had earlier decided to limit the presentation of evidence and witnesses in the ongoing bail hearings.

The prosecution team had trimmed down their witnesses from 42 to 12 to speed up hearings.

The Comelec has also submitted more than 100 documents that included COCS, election-related directives, and reports in relation to the May 2007 midterm election in Maguindanao province.

Valesa said that they would pursue the conspiracy theory against Arroyo, Bedol, and Ampatuan.

“We will present witnesses to collaborate the documentary evidence,” she said.

Arroyo’s counsel Benjamin Santos welcomed the reduction of witnesses and the presentation of documents in the bail hearing.

“The bail hearings would only determine if there is strong evidence against the former president,” he said.

The bail hearings would resume today with the Comelec submitting more documents for marking and later on they would also present witnesses to verify the documents.

“We will be presenting surprise witnesses to prove our case,” Valesa said.

Arroyo is currently detained at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center (VMMC) in Quezon City, while Bedol is at the Philippine National Police custodial center in Camp Crame, and Ampatuan at the Armed Forces of the Philippines Medical Center in Quezon City.

Meanwhile, Arroyo’s lawyer in the electoral sabotage case filed a motion before the Pasay RTC to grant her an additional one hour of sunbathing at the VMMC to cure her vitamin D deficiency that is complicating her bone ailment and other diseases.

Santos made his oral motion at the Pasay RTC during yesterday’s bail hearings.

The court had already granted onehour sun exposure in the morning for Arroyo, and the motion, if granted, would double that.

Last month Antonio Sison, an orthopedic consultant, testified in court that after three major surgeries at the St. Luke’s Medical Center (SLMC) the former president is not completely cured and needs close supervision on her daily therapy at the hospital.

Sandiganbayan OKS proceedings at VMMC

The Sandiganbayan had granted the motion of Arroyo seeking to conduct the proceedings to post bail at the VMMC in connection with graft charges filed against her for alleged involvement in the national broadband network (NBN) deal anomaly in 2007.

In a two-page order issued yesterday, the anti- graft court’s Fourth Division chaired by Associate Justice Gregory Ong approved the former president’s motion filed through her lawyers Estelito Mendoza and Jose Flaminiano.

The Sandiganbayan granted the former president’s motion after Ombudsman lawyers led by Director Rabrendanath Uy of the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) did not object to the request.

The Sandiganbayan said Arroyo should first post bail in the amount of P70,000 through her legal counsel.

Thereafter, the anti-graft court will issue another order directing official court representatives to go to the VMMC to take her fingerprint samples and pictures.

After bail proceedings, Arroyo’s arraignment would be held on April 11, along with her husband Jose Miguel Arroyo and former transportation secretary Leandro Mendoza, who are both co-accused in the case.

The former first gentleman and Mendoza have already posted P30,000 bail each.

Mendoza is still confined at the St. Luke’s Medical Center in Taguig City after he recently suffered a heart attack.

The former president was ordered to pay a higher bail since she is facing two separate graft charges and one for alleged violation of Republic Act 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

Another co-accused in the NBN deal, former Comelec chair Benjamin Abalos Sr. has not yet appeared before the Sandiganbayan to post bail.