Ex-DOJ chief Agra tagged in 2007 poll fraud

MANILA, Philippines - The two key witnesses in the government’s investigation on poll anomalies yesterday implicated former Justice secretary and solicitor general Alberto Agra in the cheating operations during the 2007 elections in Mindanao.

Former provincial poll supervisors Yogie Martirizar and Lilian Radam said it was Agra who gave them legal assistance when they faced electoral sabotage charges for rigging poll results.

Both revealed to The STAR that at least five counsels were provided to them by Agra to represent them during earlier proceedings in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on the charges filed against them by then senatorial candidate Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.

The two identified them as lawyers Andrei Bon Tagum, Jose Ventura Aspiras, Bernadette Sardillo, Cristopher Lim and Wyn Mariano.

Records showed Tagum, reportedly former law partner of Agra, appeared as counsel for Martirizar and Radam before the Comelec in June 2007, while Sardillo did so in April 2009.

Lim did not appear but represented them February this year, while Mariano appeared for the two last March.

Martirizar and Radam said they were aware that Agra was “a close associate of the former first gentleman, Atty. (Jose Miguel) Mike Arroyo.”

Martirizar recalled meeting Agra in a hotel in Manila sometime in May 2007.

“His (Agra) first words were, ‘paano yan, nahuli tayo (now what? We were caught).

He then introduced himself as the lawyer of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“He said Arroyo sent him to discuss with me what to do next,” Martirizar said.

She then told Agra about the incident in the national canvassing in the Philippine International Convention Center where discrepancies in the certificate of canvass she submitted were discovered.

“He told me that GMA (Arroyo) knows what happened to me and that she will help me and will provide everything I need. I need not worry for they will take care of me,” she said.

Martirizar said Agra asked her to turn over the original documents, and later told her they were already disposed of.

“He cautioned me not to inform anybody about our meeting and that he will call me later on what I should do next,” she recalled further.

Radam corroborated this story, saying they first met at the Marco Polo hotel in the first week of July 2007.

“Atty. Bon Tagum is also the lawyer representing Atty. Lintang Bedol and at one given time, the three of us were all represented by the law firm of Atty. Alberto Agra through Atty. Tagum,” Radam recalled.

She claimed Tagum even assured her the case filed against her by Pimentel would be dismissed.

“He instructed us on what our defense will be. He prepared our affidavits based on the wishes of his superiors. We were powerless under the circumstances,” Radam said.

Martirizar and Radam surfaced last Sept. 19 to cooperate with the joint investigation of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Comelec on the alleged anomalies in the 2004 and 2007 polls.

They alleged the orders to rig the poll results in their respective areas in North Cotabato and South Cotabato came from then Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos himself.

The two claimed the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) provided them security during the operation and that they were told the orders came from Malacañang.

They said they were made to submit to the National Board of Canvassers (NBC) in Manila original certificates of canvass (COC) with altered results along with supporting statements of votes on May 24, 2007.

In a related development, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. are in touch with a “high profile” witness who could substantiate allegations that massive cheating marred the 2004 and 2007 elections.

De Lima revealed yesterday that the witness has already completed writing his affidavit that detailed his knowledge of how results of the 2004 and 2007 polls were rigged.

“This week, I am expecting the witness who has already accessed Chair Brillantes. According to Chair Brillantes, he has already spoken with the witness who has already written his affidavit. But he will inform me when he can be presented,” she said.

De Lima said the DOJ-Comelec joint fact-finding team would soon go to Maguindanao to interview at least 12 election supervisors who may have participated in the alleged election fraud in 2004 and 2007.

De Lima earlier had a “word war” with Abalos, who accused her of harboring criminals, since the two witnesses had outstanding warrants of arrest. She said Martirizar and Radam were accepted as witness in the joint DOJ-Comelec probe and put under government protection after being found credible.

De Lima then advised Abalos to just prepare his defense since he and others implicated by the witnesses would inevitably be summoned in preliminary investigation of the charges.

Saying they were sacrificial lambs, the two witnesses earlier claimed the charges against them were just a “smokescreen” to save the reputation of the Comelec at that time.