Bedol sends surrender feelers to DILG
MANILA, Philippines—Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo said former election officer Lintang Bedol would likely turn up “sooner than later” after the latter supposedly sent feelers to department officials for a possible surrender.
“We have information that there is a search for him and that very likely sooner than later, he will be located,” Robredo said in an ambush interview Friday.
The official said he had not received any such feelers personally, but some officials in the Department of Interior and Local Government had. He did not name them.
The Philippine National Police earlier said it needed to verify the existence of the 2007 warrant for Bedol’s arrest before it could start looking for him again. Criminal Investigation and Detection Group deputy chief Benito Estipona said they don’t have a copy of the warrant.
Interior Undersecretary Rico Puno said Bedol had been the subject of a search for a long time, but: “I don’t know what happened after that.”
Robredo said Bedol might surface “probably within next week.” He added that the DILG would provide protection to the former election officer should he ask for it.
“First of all, it is probably not easy for him to just come out … I suspect that even though he is trying to reach out, he is very concerned for his safety,” he told reporters.
Bedol was the Commission on Elections supervisor in Maguindanao during the 2007 polls where a reported 12-0 sweep of the administration senatorial bets triggered allegations of fraud.
In August 2007, the Comelec ordered Bedol’s arrest after finding him guilty of indirect contempt when he failed to appear before the poll body to answer questions on the alleged election cheating in the province.
The Comelec also found Bedol criminally liable for the loss of the pertinent election documents for Maguindanao.
But the police in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao could not find Bedol despite an exhaustive search, reasoning that he could not possibly be in the region or he would have been found already.
