GMA confident cheating allegations will die a natural death

President Arroyo expressed confidence yesterday that the vote-rigging allegations against her would soon die a "natural death" once the Supreme Court confirms her victory in the bitterly contested 2004 presidential election.

The court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), has begun a recount of ballots in the 2004 race to resolve an electoral protest filed by losing vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda against Vice President Noli de Castro.

Legarda was the running mate of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., the opposition’s candidate and Mrs. Arroyo’s closest contender in the election, while De Castro was Mrs. Arroyo’s running mate.

Poe had also accused Mrs. Arroyo of robbing him of victory but his electoral protest was junked by the Supreme Court shortly after his death from a stroke in December 2004, leaving only Legarda’s protest pending with the tribunal.

Mrs. Arroyo said her electoral victory would be "unassailable" once the recount confirms that she won by a narrow margin of over one million votes and Legarda’s protest is resolved.

Her lawyer, Romulo Macalintal, said the Supreme Court has already completed finished reviewing election returns from all 771 precincts in Mandaue City, Cebu, and found that they had not been tampered with.

The court has started the review of returns from 692 precincts in Lapu Lapu City, also in Cebu, which voted heavily for Mrs. Arroyo and gave her the winning margin.

Speaking in Cebu, where she again thanked Cebuanos for their overwhelming support, Mrs. Arroyo said "if the trend of the results of the revision in the protest against Noli de Castro continues, my election lawyer Romy Macalintal is very optimistic that we could write ‘finis’ to the 2004 poll controversy in the presidency.

"And all this political grandstanding on alleged poll cheating at the level of the presidency will die a natural death," she added.

"Our lawyer is optimistic that the more than one million vote lead that I got from the entire province of Cebu and Cebu City for the bulk of my final lead will be confirmed and the legitimacy of my proclamation is unassailable and should be respected."

Macalintal also represents De Castro in the electoral complaint.

Mrs. Arroyo said "no evidence of poll irregularities for the President or Vice President were discovered" in the returns from Mandaue and Lapu Lapu.

"And for that, I thank you again, beloved people of Cebu," she said during the inauguration of the Don Vicente Gullas Medical Center in Mandaue City.

Macalintal said the actual examination and recount of ballots of Legarda and De Castro from Lapu Lapu and Mandaue did not reveal any discrepancies when compared with the results reflected in the election returns.

This, he said, disproved Legarda’s claim of massive electoral fraud in Cebu province.

"And this is the same conclusion that could be derived from such findings insofar as the ballots for President Arroyo are concerned since the ballots and returns for Legarda and De Castro were the same ballots and returns used, counted and canvassed for the presidential election," Macalintal said.

Official records show that in the entire province of Cebu, Mrs. Arroyo garnered 965,630 votes as against Poe’s 123,099 or a difference of 842,531.

In Cebu City, Mrs. Arroyo got 220,060 while Poe obtained 58,591 or a difference of 162,469, giving her a total vote lead of 1,005,000 from Cebu where the bulk of her 1,123,576 final vote lead over Poe originated.

The results of the presidential ballot recount are being followed closely by the parties because Legarda’s lawyer, Sixto Brillantes, also represented Poe.

"I am optimistic that this trend will continue as we open the ballot boxes and recount the ballots from the other cities and municipalities of the province of Cebu," Macalintal added.

"This will prove beyond doubt that the election in the entire province of Cebu and Cebu City was clean and honest and that the claim of the opposition of massive cheating in these areas was baseless and mere speculation."

Mrs. Arroyo’s popularity has plunged to record lows in recent months after she survived an impeachment bid in the House of Representatives in September over opposition allegations of vote rigging.

Mrs. Arroyo has been locked in a protracted battle with the opposition since July after audiotapes were released publicly in which she could allegedly be heard discussing ways to cheat in the 2004 presidential election.

She has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, but issued a televised public apology for her "lapse in judgment" in calling an election official.

The vote-rigging allegation set off Mrs. Arroyo’s worst crisis since she took office in 2001. Her apology prompted 10 Cabinet members and advisers to resign and her key allies — including former President Corazon Aquino and Senate President Franklin Drilon — to abandon her.

A key Arroyo backer, former President Fidel Ramos quickly expressed his support for Mrs. Arroyo. Some analysts say his support prevented Mrs. Arroyo’s downfall.

But in a press conference last Monday, Ramos said his support was waning because of Mrs. Arroyo’s reluctance to agree to his proposal that she cut short her term next year and stand in parliamentary elections under a new Constitution.

Ramos warned that clinging to power amid a credibility crisis was hurting the country’s fragile economy.