Government studying other charges vs people involved in 2004 poll fraud

MANILA, Philippines - President Aquino disclosed yesterday that the government will look at other possible charges against those allegedly involved in cheating in the 2004 elections, as the prescription period for the filing of cases appeared to have run out.

The President also deplored that the Mayuga report failed to pursue leads that could have pointed to the ones who perpetrated cheating in the 2004 general elections.

“I don’t recall that it (Mayuga report) pointed in that particular direction (linking then president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macagapal-Arroyo). The issue is whenever they begin (to explore an angle) that might lead to that, they stopped that line of questioning and then they would change the topic,” Aquino told reporters in Malacañang after the ceremony to hand over the petition to stop the trafficking of children and young people.

He ordered the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) to study the Mayuga report and point out to him the shortcomings of the investigation, upon the review of the thick volume of annexes.

“They repeatedly said that once the (probe) would lead to that delicate topic (of implicating Arroyo) they would change the line of questioning,” Aquino said.

The findings of the military fact-finding report on the “Hello, Garci” scandal led by then Navy chief Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga were held from the public during the Arroyo administration.

But when the report was eventually made public, it absolved the generals allegedly involved in conspiracy and the manipulation of results to favor Arroyo during the 2004 elections.

Cleared were former generals Hermogenes Esperon, Gabriel Habacon and Roy Kyamko.

Retired Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani, accused of being sympathetic to the opposition, was also cleared.

Gudani was relieved as head of Task Force Ranao two days after the 2004 elections for no apparent reason just as the counting of ballots and canvassing of election returns were getting underway in Lanao del Sur.

Gudani, a Marine general, later testified at the Senate that the Commission on Elections, aided by other top military officials, maneuvered to “slacken” security in Lanao del Sur, leaving the door open to massive cheating in the province.

The President directed the Department of Justice (DOJ) to make a recap of the PMS study and determine the possible actions that the government could undertake.

“Our problem really is, if it would all be about the 2004 elections, there are talks that we are already outside the prescription period, the time limit is five years within which you file a case. We came into the position on June 30, 2010, by that time, it’s over,” Aquino said.

“The DOJ is studying what other violations of the law were committed, not just election-related,” Aquino said.

The President said there were reports that high-ranking officials during the past administration had been visiting military camps before the elections in 2004.

He said the government could still find out what the instructions to them were and that those who came out and spoke before, such as Gudani, could “be revisited and be given the opportunity to reveal everything that they knew.”

Aquino said there were many others who would like to participate and contribute what they knew about the elections in 2004.

“But let me repeat, if we are to run after the (alleged cheaters) in the 2004 elections, that line is no longer open, the filing (of cases) under the Omnibus Election Code,” Aquino said.

Aquino said this was the reason why other violations were being reviewed.

“For instance, were there officials who ordered his men to commit something illegal? If there is evidence, we will file a case,” Aquino said.

“There might also be violations of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. There are many potentials that can be considered but those election-related would no longer be part of them,” he said.

Aquino said he asked Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and the Department of National Defense to examine the new leads.

He said they gave out copies of the annexes to several senators and congressmen who requested for the report.

De Lima, who was at the Palace to attend the same ceremony, said “there could be other charges like violations of the Revised Penal Code or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act.”

“If there are active military officers or personnel whose participation in the election fraud in 2004 and 2007 would be established, the Articles of War could also be used,” De Lima said.

Meanwhile, Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. has ordered an investigation into the alleged break-in that some police personnel have admitted to staging at the Batasan premises in early 2005.

He told reporters yesterday that he has given the House committee on suffrage and electoral reform chaired by Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. the go-signal to conduct the inquiry. – With Jaime Laude, Jess Diaz, Paolo Romero, Cecille Suerte Felipe