EDITORIAL - Dead end

After six months, a fact-finding board of the Armed Forces of the Philippines has finally released the results of its investigation into allegations that top AFP officials were involved in vote rigging in the May 2004 elections.

Instead of clearing the air with hard facts, however, the outcome of the fact-finding has only raised more questions. The board, headed by Navy chief Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga, cleared four officers of involvement in rigging the vote in the presidential race: Army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Southern Command chief Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon and his predecessor in the Southcom, retired Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko, and retired Marine Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani.

Citing national security, no details have been given by the AFP for clearing the four officers. For the same reason, the AFP has also refused to furnish a copy of the Mayuga report to Congress. The refusal to hand over confidential material to lawmakers is understandable, considering the way AFP officers are harangued whenever they face a congressional hearing. Lawmakers also have a poor track record in keeping sensitive security matters confidential. Often, details are leaked to political allies or to the press by lawmakers even while a supposedly confidential, top-security briefing is being given behind closed doors.

Given the nature of the allegations, however, the refusal of the AFP to provide more details about the findings of the Mayuga board inevitably raises suspicions of a whitewash. The AFP seems unmoved; Gen. Generoso Senga said yesterday that long before the release of the Mayuga report, people had already formed their own conclusions about the case and were unlikely to change their mind.

Opposition lawmakers warned Senga yesterday that they could subpoena Mayuga and his report. Unless the Supreme Court rules that Executive Order 484 is unconstitutional, however, all AFP officers need clearance from Malacañang before they can face a congressional probe.

Like other efforts to determine the truth in the vote-rigging scandal involving former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, this one involving the AFP has again hit a dead end. The ugly consequences for the AFP — and the nation — will be felt long after all the players in this controversy have left public office.