Military officers believe fraud tainted 2004 polls

MANILA, Philippines - Some military officials interviewed by an Armed Forces of the Philippines fact-finding panel believed that fraud marred the 2004 presidential elections in Mindanao, said a leader of an activist group who has a copy of the Mayuga report.

Quoting the Mayuga report, Renato Reyes Jr. of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) said that one general believed that the so-called Garci tapes were real.

The Garci tapes are a compilation of the supposed conversations of former Commission on Elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano with several personalities allegedly involved in an election-rigging operation in 2004.

The most controversial of the recordings was the alleged conversation between Garcillano and former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

"The interviews reveal a divided and corrupted AFP. Several ranking officers testified about bribery, electioneering and other actions that sought to undermine the 2004 polls. These should have been the basis for a thorough investigation into the conduct and criminal liability of some officials," Reyes said.

The information on fraud is contained in the 65-page summary of interviews attached to the recommendations of the Mayuga report.

Among of the interesting observations by ranking officials are the ones made by Lt. Gen Rodolfo Garcia, who then headed the AFP Task Force on Honest Orderly and Peaceful Elections (HOPE).

Garcia said that feedback from ground commanders indicated pressure from senior officers and that some officers were involved in partisan politics

Regarding the involvement of AFP officials as heard from the “Garci” tapes, Garcia told investigators “that is true and you better accept it at this point in time. We all know it. Whether you deny it to yourself or not, we have to accept it that our officers have been involved in this (poll fraud).”

He challenged the fact-finding panel to do its job and make the right recommendations, saying that “if we do not do anything now, this organization will go to the dogs and politics will not be stopped”.

“No less than the officer who headed Task Force HOPE was saying that fraud may have happened and that the contents of the Garci wiretaps were real. The Mayuga panel should have pursued this lead, yet there is no mention of this in the recommendations," Reyes said.

He said that the most incredulous of the interviews was with then Maj. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon.

According to the summary of interviews, Esperon “boasted that the elections in 2004 was very clean” and that “credit should go to the AFP and PNP for doing their best to have more honest, orderly and peaceful elections.”

A few years later, Esperon was appointed by former president and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as AFP Chief of Staff.