De Lima says no to Abalos as poll fraud witness

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Justice (DOJ) opposed the bid of former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos to become a prosecution witness in the election sabotage case filed against a former election supervisor who implicated him in alleged cheating in the 2007 senatorial polls in Mindanao.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday said the electoral sabotage case lodged against former South Cotabato election supervisor Lilian Radam before the Pasay City regional trial court “is back to square one.”

Radam and another government witness, former North Cotabato poll supervisor Yogie Martirizar, tagged Abalos in the 2007 poll fraud.

“Abalos cannot just try to go around it by offering himself as a ‘witness’ against Radam and Martirizar. It’s actually a battle of credibility,” she said in a text message when asked for her reaction on the former Comelec chief’s offer.

De Lima believes the move could just be a ploy to “escape possible indictment,” adding that Abalos is still considered a “probable respondent” in the joint DOJ and Comelec investigation into the 2007 poll anomalies.

“Their (Radam’s and Martirizar’s) pointing to former chairman Abalos, a big fish at that, as the instigator of the rigging of the 2007 senatorial results, is a serious and crucial allegation that deserves utmost consideration,” she stressed.

The two were charged with electoral sabotage by the Comelec under Abalos’ term.

But they surfaced last month and accused Abalos of ordering the poll rigging operations in their respective provinces.

“What is clear is that the ongoing joint investigation throws wide open the allegations both old and new poll fraud in the 2004 and 2007 national elections. With the right environment now for truth and accountability and with first hand witnesses coming out in the open free from intimidation, undue pressure and other improper influences, it’s back to square one for the cases involving Radam and Martirizar,” De Lima said.

The DOJ and Comelec are expected to present today an “explosive witness” linking former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to cheating in the 2007 elections.