Philippines: Comelec told to stop charade on Bedol

MANILA — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr.
(PDP-Laban) today called on the Commission on
Elections to stop hoodwinking the people and
pretending that it is running after Maguindanao
provincial election supervisor Lintang Bedol in the
face of its blatant efforts to cover up his role in
the wholesale falsification of the senatorial results
in the province.

Pimentel said Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos is
making it appear that it is sanctioning Bedol by
supposedly ordering his arrest when the truth is the
poll body is treating him with a kid’s gloves, while
doing nothing about the election mess in Maguindanao
of which he is the principal culprit.

He said the much-ballyhooed arrest order was nothing
but a ploy to divert public attention away from the
massive electoral fraud in Maguindanao.

It took the Comelec several days before issuing the
arrest order which was recommended by Commissioner
Nicodemo Ferrer, head of the Task Force Maguindanao,
after Bedol repeatedly ignored the summons to explain
the mysterious loss of certificates of canvass and
other election documents from the 22 municipalities in
Maguindanao.

Pimentel said Chief Superintendent Jose Goltiao,
Regional Commander of the Philippine National Police
in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, could not
arrest Bedol although the Police knew his whereabouts
of the election official in the absence of arrest
warrant.

But now that the arrest warrant is out, Bedol could
not be located anymore, as he has apparently gone into
hiding.

Pimentel said there could be repetition of the failure
to enforce a Senate’s order to arrest Elections
Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano in 2004 in connection
with the probe of the “Hello Garci” controversy
because he went into hiding with the help of
Malacañang.

He expressed dismay that the Comelec, acting as
national board of canvassers, railroaded the
tabulation of the disputed senatorial votes from
Maguindanao without waiting for Bedol to be
apprehended by the police and to testify on the
disappearance of the municipal COCs and other election
documents which were believed to have been fabricated
by fraud operators in cahoots with Bedol.

“Whatever actions that the Comelec is doing now is
just a moro moro, a charade because of what use is
Bedol’s testimony when the tainted Maguindanao COCs
have already been tallied by Comelec? Chairman
Benjamin Abalos had simply ignored the repeated motion
of the Genuine Opposition to have he questioned
election documents examined to verify allegations of
fraud,” Pimentel said.

What should not be overlooked, Pimentel said, is that
the biggest offense committed by Bedol is not his
refusal to obey the summons of Commissioner Ferrer but
how he manipulated the Maguindanao municipal COCs to
give way to the proclamation of a candidate not really
elected by the people.

Pimentel said the tampering of election documents
involving more than 5,000 votes is tantamount to
electoral sabotage under Republic Act 9369 which is
punishable by life imprisonment.

He also demanded an explanation from Comelec Chairman
Benjamin Abalos why Bedol has not been relieved as
Maguindanao provincial election supervisor as
recommended by Commissioner Ferrer.

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