MANILA, Philippines?The sister of President-elect Benigno Aquino III has found a strange ally in Malacañang, who scoffed at Jose Ma. Sison?s claim she met with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to rig the May 10 elections.

Secretary Rogelio Peyuan dismissed Sison?s claim that Pinky Aquino-Abellada met with Ms Arroyo to plot the ?pre-programming? of the automated elections as baseless.

He said this was a ?figment of Sison?s imagination,? saying he doubted that even Ms Arroyo and Abellada communicated by phone.

?If she herself has denied this, the more that the Palace would ignore this. In our view, this has no basis. Perhaps, he just wants to draw attention to himself, or be the subject of talk,? he said in a briefing.

Sison, founder of the Communist Party of the Philippines, claimed in an online story that an official of the Central Intelligence Agency, the Arroyo administration and the Aquino family plotted to ?pre-program? the computers to be used in the elections six weeks before the elections.

?Ang pag-uusap nina Pinky Aquino-Abellada at Ginang Arroyo ang nagbigay daan sa ganitong areglo (The meeting between Pinky Aquino-Abellada and Ms Arroyo paved the way for this deal),? Sison was quoted in an article as saying. The remark appeared in an interview posted on Pinoy Weekly Online on June 7.

Peyuan, deputy presidential spokesperson, said Sison had a ?good imagination? to concoct this story.

?We don?t know if they have their own instrument to monitor the movement of every Filipino in the Philippines while they?re in The Hague,? he said.

Peyuan said that unless he could substantiate this with solid evidence, Sison should not be making such allegations.

?Maybe they don?t want this country to get better, and every Filipino to be united. Whatever their agenda is, they should leave the incoming administration and outgoing administration of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo out of this,? he said.