Brillantes warned on return of poll manipulators

Manila, Philippines - Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano has said that the refusal of Commission on Elections chairman Sixto Brillantes to conduct a reinvestigation of the “Hello, Garci” fraud scam in 2004 could lead to the return of poll manipulators and more anomalies in future elections.

Cayetano yesterday urged Brillantes to order the reinvestigation because the previous probe conducted during the term of former Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos was not credible.

He cited that several poll body officials implicated in the “Hello, Garci” wiretapped conversations are currently holding key positions in the Comelec.

“He should do something or be replaced. But right now, he is not doing anything. He is just happy being there. He is announcing reform to the media but upon closer inspection of alleged reforms and investigation he could show nothing,” Cayetano said.

Cayetano has questioned the appointment of Brillantes as Comelec chairman from the start because of his reputation as an election lawyer and the conflict of interest brought about by his numerous clients in the past who still have pending cases at Comelec.

He said that the Comelec’s reported intention of seeking out new technology to be used in the 2013 midterm elections has become questionable because of the credibility of Brillantes.

“With chairman Brillantes as head of the Comelec, with him being declared by non-government organizations and media groups as an operator due to his refusal to investigate ‘Hello Garci’ and remove the alleged Hello Garci boys from the commission, are we confident to say that nothing anomalous will happen once he introduces this new technology?” Cayetano said.

“Let me ring some alarm bells. I hope the election watchdogs and NGOs will join me in saying that it is possible for a return of the operators to occur in 2013. This time, they will be more high tech or they will do it, not manually, but they will do it digitally or they would do an automated cheating,” he added.

Cayetano previously revealed that six poll officials mentioned in the Garci controversy are still with Comelec.

He said that the most prominent among the six was Ray Sumalipao, who was mentioned as the operator of former Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, the central figure in the controversy.

Cayetano recalled that during the 2004 elections where massive cheating allegedly took place, Sumalipao was then assistant election director of Region XI and concurrent acting election director of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Sumalipao was recently assigned by Brillantes to head the 2011 ARMM elections before Congress passed the law postponing and synchronizing it with the 2013 midterm elections.

Aside from Sumalipao, Cayetano named the following as the key players in the Hello Garci controversy: Renault Macarambon of Lanao del Sur who is currently head of the Comelec’s election and barangay affairs division; Renato Magbutay, election director of Region X; Teopisto Elnas Jr., Director 4 of the election and barangay affairs division; Cirilo Nala Jr., Comelec supervisor of Surigao del Sur; and Francisco Pobe, election director of the CARAGA region.

The Hello Garci controversy refers to the alleged widespread poll fraud that took place in the 2004 elections as contained in a series of wiretapped conversations between Garcillano and various politicians who ran that year.

Among the people who called up Garcillano was someone who sounded like former President Gloria Arroyo.

“I’m not willing to allow that to happen again that is why I am watching chairman Brillantes closely. But I am not the appointing power here, the President is. I hope the President will give him two choices: shape up or ship out. So far, he’s not shaping up,” he said.

Brillantes was bypassed by the Commission on Appointments during the first regular session of Congress but was reappointed by the President.