Poe: Let’s not allow repeat of rigged 2004 elections

Presidential candidate Senator Grace Poe. EDWIN BACASMAS

Presidential aspirant Grace Poe urged the public on Monday to guard their votes and not allow a repeat of the 2004 elections which were allegedly marred with massive cheating.

Poe made this call when sought for comment on reports that the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) had received information that vote counting machines (VCMs) had been found at the Novotel in the Araneta Complex owned by the family of her rival, former Interior Secretary Mar Roxas.

The report, she said, was alarming and should be investigated immediately.

“’Yon ang nakakatakot, sapagkat ‘yon nga, narinig ko ang mga balita. Kailangan talaga mapuntahan ‘yan agad para maimbestigahan. Maraming salamat sa PPCRV sa kanilang pagbabantay,” Poe told reporters after casting her vote at Sta. Lucia Elementary School in San Juan.

(These reports are frightening. Someone needs to go there to investigate. I thank PPCRV for their diligence.)

READ: Roxas camp to PPCRV: Go, inspect alleged VCMs at Novotel, but…

“Sa ating mga kababayan, nangyari po ‘yan noong 2004, kung saan ang ibang mga balota ay nakatago sa isang hotel. Ang mga nasa likod ng mga ganyang operasyon ay mga batikan na operators. Huwag po nating payagan na maulit ‘yung ganyan,” she said.

(To our countrymen, this happened last 2004 where there were ballots which were hidden in a hotel. The people behind these kinds of operations are expert operators. Let us not allow this to happen again.)

Poe’s father, the late action king Fernando Poe Jr., ran but lost to then President and now detained Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004.

She admitted that she had some apprehensions that cheating could happen again in this year’s elections.

Asked again if she thinks the elections would be credible, Poe said, “I pray.” JE/rga

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