Admin official ordered us to manipulate votes—alleged witnesses

Three alleged poll fraud witnesses showed up at the Senate on Monday and exposed the purported manipulation of votes in the last May 9 national elections, which had supposedly benefitted the administration’s candidates like former Interior Secretary Manuel “Mar” Roxas II and Camarines Sur Representative Ma. Leonor “Leni” Robredo.

Roxas ran for president but he has already conceded defeat to incoming President Rodrigo Duterte. Robredo, on the other hand, is set to be proclaimed by Congress as the winner in the vice presidential race this Monday afternoon.

“Kami po ay humarap at humiling ng tulong kay Mr. Boy Saycon upang mailahad namin ang katotohanan, ang buong pangyayari, ang nangyaring manipulasyon at dayaan sa nangyaring halalan ng nakaraang bilangan,” said one of the witnesses, who described himself as a logistic supervisor.

(We showed up and asked for Mr. Boy Saycon’s help to expose the whole truth regarding the manipulation and poll fraud in the counting of votes.)

Saycon is Pastor Saycon, secretary-general of the Council on Philippine Affairs (Copa), who joined the witnesses during a press conference at the Senate.

“Nagpasya po kaming lumantad dahil sa nangyayari na kami po ang mismong nakasaksi at kami po ang ginamit na kasangakapan sa pangyayaring ito,” he said.

(We decided to show up because we witnessed and were used in [the poll fraud].)

The witness said the manipulation of votes was done in a privately-owned building and affected the Quezon province, which has over a million voters.

“Sa amin po na-i-transmit yung mga galing sa munisipalidad na nabilang na upang mamanipula namin ang mga numero at mailagay po namin dun sa gusto nilang kandidato at ang ginagawa po namin, pagkatapos po sa amin binabato naman po namin doon sa aming mga kasama sa second floor, 3rd floor na sya pong may makina ng Smartmatic na nagbabato po sa mga kaukulang server…Sila na po ang nagsasaayos nun para po ang boto ay mailagay kung saan po nila gusto.”

(The counted votes from the municipalities were transmitted to us so we could manipulate the numbers in favor of their candidates… we then transmit it to our accomplices on the second and third floors who control the Smartmatic machines which transmit votes to corresponding servers. They manipulate the numbers in favor of their candidates.)

He said he is not an information technology (IT) expert, however, they were taught how to manipulate the results. His other accomplices, he said, were the ones who encoded the results transmitted from the municipalities.

Asked who had ordered them to manipulate the votes, the witness said: “Isa pong mataas na opisyal ng gobyerno…particular po ay Liberal Party.”

(A high-ranking government official who particulary belongs to Liberal Party.)

He refused to name the official, saying they have yet to prepare their legal moves.

Asked who were the candidates who benefitted from the manipulation, the witness said the votes were added to Roxas and Robredo.

He said Robredo’s closest rival, outgoing Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., had lost about 200,000 votes in the province alone while Robredo allegedly received additional 300,000 votes.

The votes, which were allegedly added to Roxas were more than 400,000, the witness said.

He said votes were also added to certain senatorial candidates but he again refused to name the others, except for Senate President Franklin Drilon, vice chairman of LP.

“Marami po, mahirap pong sabihin isa-isa kasi marami po sila,” he said.

(It’s difficult to name names because there were many candidates who benefitted.)

However, when pressed to name at the least the biggest beneficiary of the manipulation of votes in the senatorial race, the witness said: “Senator Drilon po.”

Asked again why they came out only now, the witness said: “Hindi na po namin kayang tiisin ang pangyayaring ito kaya po kami humingi ng tulong kay Ginoong Boy Saycon.”

(We cannot stay silent on this issue that’s why we asked for Mister Boy Saycon’s help.) RAM/rga

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