MANILA, Philippines -- Citing the need for closure, five presidential candidates said on Monday they would support a reopening of the investigation into the ?Hello Garci? poll fraud controversy should they succeed President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Senator Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III of the Liberal Party said his government would back an investigation if only to correct flaws in the electoral system that purportedly allowed election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano to manipulate the canvass of presidential tallies in Mindanao in 2004.

?It is essential for the government to determine why the system failed, what went wrong and why it is so difficult to correct the problem,? Aquino said.

?If there is no closure, we perpetuate the problem,? he added at the 13th Annual prospects Conference of the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (Focap).

Aquino and six other bets were asked whether they would ?allow a reopening? of the Hello Garci case.

Aquino, along with Senator Ana Consuelo ?Jamby? Madrigal, Olongapo councilor JC delos Reyes, environmentalist Nicanor Perlas and preacher Eddie Villanueva all flashed placards saying ?yes?

The five agreed that the controversy should be resolved if only to give closure to the issue that almost toppled the Arroyo administration.

Gilbert ?Gibo? Teodoro, Jr. of Lakas-Kampi-CMD said ?no? but later explained that he wanted an ?independent, unbiased and unprejudiced body? to initiate the investigation.

Senator Richard Gordon of Bagumbayan also voted ?no?, adding that he would rather focus on what should be done to ensure good government in his administration.

It is widely believed that Garcillano was the ?Garci? that a female voice that sounded like President Macapagal-Arroyo was talking to in an unauthenticated voice tape that made the rounds in 2005.

The female voice asked ?Garci? about the status of the one million votes he was supposed to deliver for her. Circulation of the tape greatly eroded confidence in the Arroyo administration.

President Macapagal-Arroyo later admitted that she was the woman on tape and apologized for her lapse in judgment. She, however, did not identify the person she was talking to in the recording and she insisted that she did not ask that person to cheat for her as she was only concerned about her own vote margins.

The two houses of Congress held separate investigations on the issue but have yet to release any findings.

Madrigal said closure would be necessary in order for Filipinos to finally move forward.

?We have an expression here saying ?only in the Philippines.? It is only in this country where a president can be caught asking for one million (votes) and still stay in power,? she said.

?We need closure in order to move forward. Since the time of (dictator Ferdinand) Marcos, we have not had closure and the gap is getting wider. We can?t continually live in denial and say nothing?s wrong. We cannot forgive or condone what President Arroyo did by way of cheating,? Madrigal added.

Delos Reyes of Ang Kapatiran said it was unimaginable that a popular candidate like Fernando Poe Jr. did not get any votes at all in Maguindanao where Garcillano reportedly operated in 2004.

?That is one of the reasons why I am running. One of our major problems is the apathy of the youth. They seek greener pastures (somewhere else). Because the issues here remain unresolved,? he said.

Perlas said the truth should be revealed ?in the context of justice and the truth.?

?We must examine all potential criminal acts to see if the modus still exists,? he said.

Perlas warned that if the situation that allowed ?Hello Garci? remained uncorrected, ?there is no political will, we only condemn ourselves and continue (living with the) fear of repercussion. We need to move forward in the context of justice and the truth.?

Villanueva of Bangon Pilipinas said the Filipino?s duty to history should push him to correct the errors of ?Hello Garci.?

He noted that the controversy did not only involve the two characters whose voices were recorded.
Villanueva said the voice tape revealed a greater conspiracy that involved possibly the military and the kidnapping of teachers tasked to guard the ballot.

?Let the Filipino people be given justice because justice was not served. We need it if we are to all out strengthen democracy,? he said.

Meanwhile, administration candidate Teodoro said he would respect the outcome of an investigation of ?other bodies which are more independent, unbiased and unprejudiced.?

Baguymbayan?s Gordon would rather concentrate on more important matters.

?That (Hello Garci controversy) is done! We can?t be working backwards and stumbling forward. That?s the problem when we don?t do it quickly enough?I am intolerant of people who do foolish things but when it?s done, it?s done. Finito!? he exclaimed.