Comelec to probe 2007 poll fraud

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will investigate allegations of cheating in the 2007 senatorial polls based on the revelation of dismissed Maguindanao provincial election supervisor Lintang Bedol.

“Yes, we have decided in the commission en banc already that we will investigate what happened in 2007. We will see if there were election offenses committed,” Commissioner Lucenito Tagle told reporters.

Tagle said the investigation would start soon to determine if cases of election offenses, such as electoral sabotage, were committed.

He, however, said that Comelec has yet to decide whether to conduct the investigation on its own or coordinate with the Department of Justice (DoJ).

“Maybe, we can decide if we will coordinate with the DoJ or not within the week,” Tagle added.

Bedol claimed cheating operations took place to favor administration candidates and ensure that the opposition would get zero votes. He claimed fake ballots were used, thus casting doubts on the authenticity of election returns that served as basis of the canvassing.

He claimed that then Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. told him it was former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo who ordered the cheating operations.

Bedol’s allegations on the election irregularities were corroborated by municipal election officers Salonga Edzela and Saliao Amba and computerized voters list technician Magsaysay Mohamad.

Bedol surrendered last week after four years in hiding. He was ordered jailed for six months by the Comelec. He was also charged by the Office of the Ombudsman with graft in connection with the loss of election documents in the province after the 2007 polls.

Comelec Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. had said the poll body’s investigation would also determine if Arroyo was really involved in the cheating. He sent election lawyers to Bedol and the other witnesses to get supplemental testimony, including documents, to firm up their claims.

Brillantes also said he would inhibit himself in the investigation because he was the election counsel of the Team Unity opposition senatorial slate in 2004.

Bedol claimed that opposition senatorial candidates Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, Alan Peter Cayetano and now President Aquino lost votes as a result of the cheating operations.

The Comelec chief, however, said the investigation would only focus on election-related criminal charges and not on the results of the 2007 senatorial race.

Pimentel, who claimed he won the 12th spot in the race, has a pending protest before the Senate Electoral Tribunal.

Brillantes said the crime of electoral sabotage was likely committed because of the thousands of votes that have been misreported or cheated. The penalty for electoral sabotage, a nonbailable offense, is life imprisonment.