Miriam accuses gov’t of cheating Bongbong

Presidential candidate Miriam Defensor-Santiago. LEO M. SABANGAN II/FILE PHOTO

In her first statement since the May 9 national elections, losing presidential candidate Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago all but accused the Aquino government of cheating her running mate Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

She echoed Marcos’ protest at being overtaken by administration vice presidential candidate Camarines Sur Rep. Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo, questioning how Marcos could be trailing in the vote count despite leading in the pre-election surveys.

READ: Miriam defends Bongbong, accuses gov’t of ‘manufacturing’ numbers

Santiago, who as a trial court judge had defied martial law imposed by Marcos’ father, went on to compare to a “garrison state” the administration of President Benigno Aquino III, son of the late People Power icons former President Corazon Aquino and Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr.

“The roller coaster ride of vice-presidential candidate Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. invites comparison with a garrison state. In such a state, the authoritarian government feels free to manufacture numbers as they are needed,” Santiago said in a statement Wednesday.

READ: Marcos camp asks Comelec, PPCRV to stop unofficial count

“I find it astounding that Marcos should have led in the vice-presidential surveys for many months, until the penultimate month, when suddenly the administration could jump up survey results to finally overtake him,” she added.

“This is an eventuality that will cause the peoples of the democratic world to shake their heads and question the values of the society it produced,” she went on. RAM