2 Comelec officials deny Cebu fraud

CEBU, Philippines - The insistence of some political leaders in Manila that there was fraud in Cebu during the 2004 presidential elections is getting to be irritating to the Cebuanos.

Two officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Cebu yesterday said that there was no massive cheating in 2004 where President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo beat Fernando Poe, Jr. by a margin of over a million votes in this island alone.

“Wala ko kasabot ani nila nga magsige sila og insist nga naay tikas sa Cebu,” said Edwin Cadungog, Cebu City South Election Officer and Cebu Provincial Election Officer in 2004.

Cadungog said it is not surprising that movie-actor and presidential candidate Poe lost to former President Arroyo specifically in Cebu, because Arroyo had three candidates running for governor on her side while Poe has only one candidate.

In 2004, gubernatorial bets Gwendolyn Garcia, Celestino “Junie” Martinez, Jr. and John Gregory “John-John” Osmeña all backed Arroyo’s bid for the presidency.

The opposition’s gubernatorial bet was Fred Tuadles.

Garcia was seeking her first term as governor then while Osmeña was the incumbent vice governor. Martinez, who is now mayor of Bogo City, was also a former congressman of the 4th District.

“Mga lig-on kaayo nga pulitiko ang naa ni Gloria as compared to the opposition candidate,” Cadungong said.

He said that Poe only got more than 200,000 votes as compared to Arroyo’s over a million votes.

Cebu Provincial Election Officer Lionel Marco Castillano, who was then the election officer in the town of Daanbantayan in 2004 said that it would be difficult to cheat considering that there were a lot of poll volunteers from both sides.

“Manikas ka nga inig basa nimo sa resulta, naay daghang madre sa imong luyo,” Castillano said.

Both officials said that they are willing to face any investigation in relation to these issues.

“Aw atoa nang atubangon. Di ta mahadlok ana kay wala man tay dautang gibuhat,” Castillano said.

He added that even volunteers of C-CIMPEL, a church-based election watchdog, can attest that there is no cheating in Cebu in favor of Arroyo.

Cadungong said that if indeed there was massive cheating in Cebu, how come the lawyers or representatives of Poe never made any objections considering that all political parties were given the right to be represented during canvassing. He said that Poe’s camp, being the minority party, had the copies of the Certificate of Canvass and they know that nothing was changed when the results were transmitted to the senate for the national canvassing.

The issue of alleged massive poll fraud in the 2004 elections here in Cebu once again surfaced in light of the recent surfacing of witnesses claiming to have a hand to help in the victory of Arroyo in 2004.

Arroyo won by barely a million votes over Poe in that election. Arroyo assumed office in January 2001 when President Joseph Estrada stepped down from office following a popular protest. In 2004, she sought a full six-year term.

That term ended last year amid various accusations of corruption. Arroyo is now a congresswoman representing one of the districts of Pampanga. — /NLQ (FREEMAN)