Poll fraud expose mere ‘propaganda’—Arroyo lawyer

MANILA, Philippines – The expose on an alleged electoral fraud in 2004 involving former President and now Pampanga’s Second District Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is mere “propaganda,” her legal counsel said.

In an interview with 990AM Friday, lawyer Raul Lambino said that there could be “motives” behind all these allegations.

“Somebody just wants to gain something from these…there are motives we do not know…somebody might want to run for senator..,” Lambino said.

Lambino said that it was impossible for police personnel to break in at Batasan Pambansa for four days to switch election returns.

“It’s like a Hollywood movie,” Lambino said.

Lambino added that it would be impossible to change election returns because it has six copies intended for dominant political parties, opposition party, National Citizens Movement for Free Elections, Commission on Elections and election supervisors. If one copy was modified, it has to be consistent with the other copies. At electoral protests, he said, they no longer looked at certificates of canvass and election returns but at the ballots.

He said that it if there was really a massive election cheating in 2004, the Supreme Court would have found out about it when Loren Legarda filed an election fraud against then Vice President Noli de Castro.

The Supreme Court, sitting as Presidential Electoral Tribunal, later dismissed Legarda’s protest for insufficient proof on her claims.