Bedol in gov’t custody

COCKY AND CONTROVERSIAL Former Maguindanao Election Supervisor Lintang H. Bedol grants a rare interview with the Inquirer and GMA 7 at his house in Cotabato City on June 25, 2007. INQUIRER PHOTO

Lintang Bedol is under government custody and is expected to serve a six-month imprisonment meted out for ignoring summons to appear in a hearing four years ago, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced on Monday.

Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. said that “reliable sources” had reported to him that Bedol would be turned over at 8 a.m. today (Tuesday) to the poll body, which will determine where the former Maguindanao election supervisor would serve his sentence.

“I don’t know if he surrendered or was arrested. Maybe he was just invited,” Brillantes said.

Bedol disappeared after he was called by the Comelec to testify on alleged irregularities in the 2007 senatorial elections. He was subsequently cited for contempt and sentenced in absentia to six months imprisonment.

“I know for a fact that he is already in government custody but I am not in the position to state as yet by whom,” Brillantes said.

He stressed that the six-month jail sentence had nothing to do with Bedol’s fresh allegations in an interview with ABS-CBN broadcast on Wednesday of election irregularities in 2004 and 2007 against former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who is now a Pampanga representative.

The interview with Bedol, who appeared older but otherwise composed, took place in the back seat of a vehicle at an undisclosed place and time.

Brillantes said an arrest warrant previously issued against Bedol was renewed on Friday after the interview was aired and that the latter was reportedly taken into custody either on Saturday or Sunday.

“When he comes, we would like to talk to him, we’d like to know if he has executed affidavits and check if he has sworn statements and documents about what he has been saying in the media,” Brillantes said.

But until Bedol appears before the Comelec, the poll body cannot decide yet what kind of investigation it will carry out and whether the body will create a panel for such purpose, he said.

“We can’t decide until he appears,” Brillantes said, adding that the election body has to know what his charges are and take a look at “specifications.”

No probe yet

“We cannot decide based on mere media reports… we are not doing anything official as yet but we are already preparing for a possible investigation,” said the Comelec chief.

As to credibility, Brillantes said that although there were errors in his claims during his TV interview, Bedol knew many things.

He said Bedol was “right in the middle of the election activity in Maguindanao.”

“We are more interested in what he is still going to say and announce and who is he going to pinpoint, if there is any,” said Brillantes, a former opposition election lawyer.

Abigail Valte, deputy presidential spokesperson, told reporters that Malacañang would leave it to Congress to decide which of the two chambers should investigate the new allegations of election shenanigans.

“We have no preference one way or the other,” Valte said.

Sen. Francis Escudero is pushing for a Senate inquiry, but Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said the investigation was best left to the justice department, otherwise the case would just drag on.

House objective

Bayan Muna Rep. Teodoro Casiño said the House was interested in how the elections were manipulated “to determine how cheating was done, who should be accountable, and what improvements can be made in our electoral system.”

He said other bodies were better qualified to correct the results of past elections.

Bedol and former Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao last week accused then President Arroyo of engineering vote-shaving and vote-padding operations in the 2004 presidential election and the 2007 senatorial balloting.

The lawyer of Arroyo, Raul Lambino, has dismissed allegations of Ampatuan and Bedol as mere hearsay meant to gain concessions from Malacañang for their freedom.

Ampatuan has been charged as one of the conspirators in the 2009 massacre of 58 people in Maguindanao.

Casiño said that Ampatuan and Bedol should immediately sign their affidavits or tell their charges under oath, instead of giving TV interviews or issuing unsigned statements.

“We don’t need a commission to do that and that process would only delay the process. The fact is these charges have been investigated by other agencies. What is important is that Ampatuan and Bedol will provide inside information and for that a House inquiry would suffice while a commission’s probe can come later,” Casiño said. With reports from Norman Bordadora and Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.

Original posted: 12:38 am | Tuesday, July 19th, 2011