Palace aide not surprised Mike Arroyo linked to poll fraud

MANILA, Philippines—A spokeswoman for President Benigno Aquino said Friday she was not surprised by allegations linking former First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo to the switching of election returns at the House of Representatives in 2004.

“We can’t really say that we are surprised. Even way back 2004, there were already reports that came out involving the former first gentleman,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said during Friday’s news briefing at Malacañang.

“But again, the process there is it would be looked at by Justice Secretary (Leila) De Lima. There will be a joint probe on the alleged election fraud that happened in 2004. In tandem with the (Commission on Elections), they will look at the evidence that will be produced by their probe,” she added.

Told that the former first gentleman had branded  allegations against him as mere hearsay, Valte said it would be up to the investigators and the courts, if charges are filed, to determine the value of the evidence presented.

“Whether the evidence will be judged as hearsay would be up to the investigators and eventually to the courts if cases will be filed,” Valte said.

“The camp of Representative Gloria Arroyo is saying they are ready to answer these allegations at the proper forum. Let us just wait for their answer,” she added.

Valte denied the existence of a multi-million-peso public relations fund in the government against Arroyo. The alleged switching of ERs was done supposedly to cover up fraud made by the Arroyo camp in the 2004 elections.

“The funds of the government are limited and, of course, it’s not true,” Valte said the of the PR fund alleged by Arroyo’s legal spokesperson Raul Lambino.

“We can’t say that the Aquino government would release money because we’d rather, given the limited resources that we have, focus funding on services for the people instead of things like this,” she added.

Valte said it isn’t only the government that is filing cases against officials of the past administration in connection with irregularities uncovered but also private individuals.

“As to the timing, I will not anymore comment because they are saying these are all stage-managed. But from what you can see, even those who are not our allies are filing cases against them,” Valte said.