MANILA, Philippines -- The military dismissed as "rehashed" a statement posted on a pro-rebel soldier website linking Armed Forces chief of staff General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. and several other active and retired officers to alleged vote-rigging operations in 2004.

The statement, entitled "Sins of the Cavaliers," posted on http://www.sundalo.bravehost.com, detailed the alleged role of Esperon and the other officers in the supposed electoral fraud, as described in purported wiretapped phone conversations between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.

Graduates of the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) are called cavaliers. As such, they are expected to follow an honor code instilled in them as cadets that prevents them from cheating, stealing, and lying and condoning others who do so.

Asked who could be behind the statement, Bacarro said, "It can be anybody, but one thing is definite, they want it out, they [must] have underlying interest [s]."

"These are rehashed issues that are coming out," the spokesman said. "The burden of proving those allegations would fall on their shoulders."

Bacarro said Esperon has repeatedly said he would clear his name over the so-called "Hello Garci" controversy after he retires.

Esperon will retire on May 9, when his three-month term extension expires.

The military chief is one of four officers mentioned in the "Hello Garci" wiretaps. He and the three other officers were cleared by a military fact-finding board, but its report has never been released in full.