Lintang Bedol appears in Comelec

Former Maguindanao provincial elections supervisor Lintang Bedol. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — Former Maguindanao provincial elections supervisor Lintang Bedol arrived at the Commission on Elections at around 9:20 a.m. Tuesday.

Bedol, who was wearing a red checkered shirt and sunglasses, was accompanied by plainclothes security men as he was escorted to the private session room of the Comelec.

The session began at around 9 a.m. Bedol was supposed to appear before the commissioners at 8 a.m.

Comelec announced on Monday that Bedol was under government custody and was expected to serve six months in prison for ignoring summons to appear in a hearing four years ago.

Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. said they could not decide on what kind of investigation to carry out until Bedol surfaces.

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 in jail.

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

Danica Hermogenes, INQUIRER.net