MANILA, Philippines?The Commission on Elections has ordered the filing of criminal charges against the election supervisor of South Cotabato province after finding her guilty of tampering with the results of the 2007 mid-term senatorial race.

In a July 29 decision, the Comelec en banc said Lilian Suan Radam should be charged with electoral sabotage and falsification in court for tampering with the votes that could have affected the rankings in the senatorial race.

According to the Comelec, the figures that appeared in the Provincial Certificates of Canvass (PCOCs) differed greatly with those that appeared in documents prepared by the Special Provincial Board of Canvassers (SPBOC).

?Considering the glaring discrepancies in the PCOCs, this Commission is convinced that tampering to either increase or decrease the votes in favor of several candidates were committed. It likewise bears stressing that respondent Radam failed to adduce sufficient evidence in her defense to establish the regularity of the PCOC in her possession,? it said.

Thumbprints

The Comelec also noted that the thumbprints of the provincial board members in some documents were not theirs and that Radam?s reasoning that the members were biased against her did not hold water.

The case against Radam was filed by losing opposition senatorial candidate Aquilino ?Koko? Pimentel III, who said he was edged out by Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri from the 12th Senate slot because the tallies coming from Mindanao were tampered with.

A study of the figures in the documents submitted by Radam and the SPBOC showed that the candidates for Team Unity, the administration ticket, secured more votes in the Radam CoCs than in the papers of the SPBOC.

The figures from the SPBOC and Radam?s CoCs were: Joker Arroyo?102,971 and 212,972; Michael Defensor?92,880 and 211,880; Vicente Magsaysay?62,471 and 150,471; Teresita Aquino-Oreta?39,136 and 156,044; Prospero Pichay?86,858 and 203,958; Ralph Recto?94,758 and 210,788; Vicente Sotto III?52,613 and 149,613; and Juan Miguel Zubiri?141,674 and 218,674.

Pichay had the largest discrepancy of 119,110, followed by Defensor and Recto. All three lost in the polls.

Former Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis ?Chavit? Singson had reduced votes. In Radam?s CoCs, Singson got 12,023 votes, but in the SPBOC count, he got 26,694.

Comelec law department chief Ferdinand Rafanan said the differences in the votes were so large and glaring that a recount could change the rankings of the senators.

?The recount is being done in the Senate Electoral Tribunal,? he said.

Rafanan said the Comelec would file the charges against Radam in a court outside her province.