Poll chief: Poe won the 2004 polls
July 21, 2011
FERNANDO Poe Jr. won the 2004 presidential elections, said Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes, who was the former legal counsel of the late action king.
“Alam ko kung sino talaga ang nanalo, si FPJ. Ako ang abogado ni FPJ. Ipinaglaban ko ng husto yan. Kaya lang ang alam ko (I know who really won – it’s FPJ. I am the lawyer of FPJ. I fought hard for it. What I know) is personal and in my heart. I don’t have the evidence to show it,” said Brillantes, who used to handle high-profile election cases before the election body.
He noted that they also filed a presidential election protest before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) as they believed they have won the 2004 polls.
“Sigurado ako ang bilang namin nong nagfile kami ng protesta, nanalo si Fernando Poe, sigurado ako doon. Kung hindi e di hindi sana ako nag file ng protest kung talo pala (I am sure of the numbers when we filed the protest that Fernando Poe won, I am sure of that. If not, I should have not filed a protest),” he said.
Recalling the figures, Brillantes said Poe would have won by almost 150,000 votes had the votes not been tampered as manifested during the testimonies in the subsequent probes on the scandal.
“Ang lamang ni GMA (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) was 1.1 million. Lampas kami dun kaya nga panalo (si FPJ). Sa computation namin, ang natatandaan kong figure ay over 146,000… sigurado ako sa bilang namin nong nag-file kami ng protesta,” said the poll chief.
He said most of the “tampered” votes were in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and Cebu, a known Arroyo bailiwick.
Brillantes also said Poe’s running mate, Senator Loren Legarda, would have won in the 2004 race against the elected Vice President Noli de Castro if not only for the vote-shaving and -padding operations.
Calls for a fresh investigation on the 2004 poll irregularities was renewed after dismissed Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol resurfaced last week claiming that the presidential race was rigged to favor Arroyo.
The “Hello Garci” scandal involves the discovery in 2005 of a recorded phone conversation supposedly between then President Gloria Arroyo and then Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano talking about rigging the 2004 presidential poll results to swing it in her favor.
And according to Brillantes, Arroyo can still be charged of committing an election offense if it is proven that she had a participation in the poll irregularities.
This, despite, the five-year prescription period for all types of election offenses, which is punishable by six years imprisonment and removal of rights to vote and be elected in public office.
“It has not prescribed insofar as GMA is concerned. It is simple as saying that when GMA was president, we could not have filed any case against her because she was immune from suits. So, sa akin, ang prescription is starting June 30, 2010, or noong mag-expire ang kanyang term. Doon lang nag-uumpisa ang five years. Doon mo lang siya pwedeng idemanda,” opined Brillantes.
The poll chief has already said he is willing to stand as a witness in the event that charges will be field in connection with the controversy. He said he is even willing to inhibit himself in the event that the Comelec will be the one to conduct the probe.
With Bedol surfacing after a four-year absence from the public eye, Brillantes called on Garcillano to come out and reveal things that he knows in the 2004 polls.
“Gusto kong sabihin sa kanya pwede ba lumabas ka na? Tulungan mo naman ako dito para makatulong ka naman for once,” said the poll chairman.
“Commissioner Garcillano, please come over anyway. Iba na naman ang administration ngayon. Sana makatulong ka,” he added.
Brillantes said Garcillano’s statements would be substantial as he is identified as being a “principal player” in the 2004 polls.
Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse Robredo, earlier in the week, related that Garcillano may be just a few days away from resurfacing. (FP/AMN/Sunnex)
Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2011/07/20/poll-chief-poe-won-2004-polls-168017
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