GMA may not be included in 2nd electoral sabotage case

MANILA, Philippines - Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo may not be included in the second electoral sabotage case to be filed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“It’s not sure that she (Arroyo) will be included in the case because she was not really pinpointed in the North and South Cotabato election, it would depend really on the final review of documents,” Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes said yesterday.

Unlike in the Maguindanao case, Brillantes said the evidence gathered by the joint Comelec-Department of Justice (DOJ) panel is not really strong to prove Arroyo’s involvement in the alleged rigging in the North and South Cotabato elections.

But Brillantes said former Comelec chief Benjamin Abalos would be definitely included among those to be charged in the second case to be filed by the poll body anytime soon.

“Abalos would be included but we are still carefully reviewing the case,” he said.

The Comelec earlier filed an electoral sabotage case against Arroyo and Abalos at the Pasay Regional Trial Court over the supposed poll cheating in Maguindanao in 2007 elections.

Brillantes said among those who may be included in the second electoral sabotage are former provincial election supervisors for South and North Cotabato Lilian Suan-Radam and Yogi Martirizar, former Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) operative Capt. Peter Reyes, and former Central Mindanao election director Michael Abas.

Brillantes said the seven members of the Commission would meet on Tuesday to discuss the filing of the second electoral sabotage case.