Arroyo, poll execs may still be liable for 2004 poll fraud–Sen. Escudero

MANILA, Philippines — Former President and now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and other election officers involved in the 2004 massive elections could still be held liable, Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero said on Wednesday.

Escudero issued the statement a day after former Shariah Circuit Court Nagamura Moner claimed that the late Fernando Poe Jr would have won at least a million votes in Mindanao alone if Arroyo did not order her men to cheat for her.

“Kaugnay ng 2004 elections, prescribed na yung election offense pero kaugnay ng Comelec officials , commissioners na involved dito kabilang si Pangulong Arroyo para sa akin, hindi pa prescribed yung offense dahil hindi naman sila pwedeng kasuhan habang sila’y nakaupo [In relation to the 2004 elections, the election offense was already prescribed but not the offense committed by Comelec officials including President Arroyo because they could not be charged while they were still in service],” said Escudero, who served as Poe’s spokesman during the 2004 presidential race.

“Yung five-year prescriptive period nagsimula lang tumakbo matapos nilang mawala sa pwesto dahil bago noon, hindi naman sila pwedeng samapahan ng kaso maliban sa pamamagitan ng impeachment [The five-year prescriptive period only starts after they left their positions because before this, no case could be filed against them except for impeachment],” he said.

“So yung election offense na nagawa o ginawa sa parte ni Pangulong Arroyo kung meron man ay hindi pa lapsed at hind pa prescribed sa ngayon (So the election offense of President Arroyo, if there is any, has not yet lapsed and has not been prescribed yet),” he further said.

In the meantime, Escudero expects that a resolution recognizing Poe as the real winner in the 2004 race would be the outcome of a Senate investigation on the issue.

A resolution, he said, would correct the history that Poe should have been declared the 15th President of the Philippines.

“50 years from now, 100 years from now, tsismis na lang lahat itong pinag uusapan natin dito dahil patay at matagal nang ibinaon sa lupa yung mga nakakaaalam ng bagay na ito Tama lang na maitala sa Kongreso ang mga ebidensya para sa gayun hindi man kami, ang saling lahi ang magwawasto ng kasaysayan [50 years from now, 100 years from now, all that we’re discussing will just become a rumor because all those who know about this would be dead by then. It’s just right that the evidence should be recorded in Congress so that the next generation, if not us, can correct the history],” the senator added.