Guingona proposes electoral reforms.(Main News)

Manila Bulletin June 26, 2004 Byline: DAVID CAGAHASTIAN & MARIO CASAYURAN Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr. has called for reforms in the countrys electoral system following allegations of massive electoral fraud during the last May 10 presidential elections.

In a forum entitled “The Carnival of Counting” held at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City the other day, Guingona said that unless reforms are implemented in the countrys electoral process, “elections do not serve its real purpose.” “There is truth to the allegations that the anomalies in the elections have pervaded down and even people who vote expect money or goods and therefore it has stained the entire process,” Guingona said.

Guingona added the electoral process of the Philippines has been marred by so much irregularities of fraud and corruption that “any reform will have to go with economic reform, political reform, and reform of the Filipino character.” “No matter what kind of system, in the same mannerno matter if presidential or parliamentary, it is the men in office who will really shape the real reform,” Guingona said.

“Unless we change, elections do not serve the real purpose,” he warned.

Guingonas views on the countrys electoral process were shared by Rep. Francis Escudero, spokesman of the opposition Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP), Sanlakas Party List Rep. J.V. Bautista and Bangon Pilipinas spokesman lawyer Luis Sison.

Credibility issues Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, president of PDP- Laban party, said yesterday Philippine democracy is under siege as the proclamation of President Arroyo and Sen. Noli de Castro as winners of the May 10 presidential and vice presidential elections stands on “shaky legal and constitutional groups.” “Even after the proclamation, we will continue to raise fundamental questions for to do otherwise would be to acquiesce to or participate in a travesty of democracy,” Binay said.

“The speedy proclamation of a President and Vice President amid unresolved issues of credibility is, in fact, a more potent cause for widespread chaos and anarchy, rather than allowing justice to prevail, though it may travel with a leaden heel,” Binay stressed in a speech at the Diplomatic Kapihan held at the Skytop of Hotel Inter-Continental Manila in Makati city.

Former senator Francisco Tatad, one of the defeated senatorial candidates of the opposition KNP, said the political opposition does not accept Mrs. Arroyos “victory” because it was achieved by the massive use of government funds and resources which are violations of the laws.

“The past three years of the Arroyo administration is a complete failure. The Presidency was stolen twice the past three years which cannot be allowed to go unchallenged,” Tatad said during the press forum that followed his speech.

Tatad was referring to then Vice President Arroyos take over of Malacanang after then President Joseph Estrada hastily left the Palace was illegal although she was sworn into office by Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.

Like other opposition leaders, Binay and Tatad could not say what will probably happen in the new few days.

There are already reports that a Metro-wide noise barrage in protest against the proclamation of Arroyo and De Castro would begin early last night.

Movie actor Fernando Poe Jr., KNP standard bearer, has not yet conceded defeat to President Arroyo, after the minority blocs in Senate and the Lower House fought a “losing” battle against the 22- man joint committee backed by the majority in Congress during the canvassing of the certificates of canvass (CoCs).

Had the election returns (ERs) and statement of votes (SOVs) been opened during the canvassing of votes by the joint committee of Congress, this would have substantially reduced the lead of Mrs. Arroyo to a point that Poe could have taken the lead from her, opposition Sen. Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr. said.

Poe would have come out as the winner over Mrs. Arroyo by no less than 510,000 votes and Sen. Loren Legarda over Sen. Noli de Castro by no less than 702,000 votes had the ERs and SOVs been produced as urged by the minority members in the joint committee to contradict forgeries or tampered results in the CoCs, Pimentel said.

Binay said people wanting to protest would hold demonstrations with or without permit “because we have precedence.” Binay issued this statement after revealing that some Palace people had asked him whether he would be giving rally permits to pro-Poe elements. He was one of the high-profile demonstrators during the Marcos years.

“As long as the issue of justice and truth are not addressed (by the Arroyo administration), the holding of demonstrations would be successful,” he added.

In his speech, Binay said “the country suffered an apparent systemic and systematic electoral fraud that made all other Philippine elections pale in comparison.” “We continue to face an abnormally complacent civil society, perhaps due to its uneasiness to admit the mistake it committed some three and one half years ago. We found an intransigent Congress that drew strength in their numbers, one that deluded themselves into believing that their democracy was in action, not knowing that their blind adherence to the letter of law ran counter to its spirit,” he said. in our site last night movie

Binay then stressed that Mrs. Arroyo and de Castro were proclaimed “in the wee hours of the morning, while most of our countrymen and women were sound asleep.” After expounding on his view that “massive, systematic and premeditated fraud marred the May 10 electoral exercise,” Binay took the majority solons to task for refusing to open the ERs to support the oppositions contention that CoCs in more than 20 provinces and highly-urbanized cities were forged and that “the truth is in the ERs.” “May the supremacy of the true will of the people be restored and the sanctity of our Constitution be upheld soon, so that, once again, our country shall enjoy a strong democracy,” Binay said. (Mario B. Casayuran) Council of Leaders The proclamation of President Arroyo as the winner in the May 10 presidential election gives her formal legitimacy but it is subject to continuing doubts and challenges, Horacio “Boy” Morales, president of the opposition Partido ng Masang Pilipino, said yesterday.

As a result, various opposition groups under the Coalition of Hope are in the process of forming a “Council of Leaders” or a bridge team that would function as a transitional government in the event the Arroyo administration fails to meet the expectations of the people,” Morales said.

Morales stressed that the Arroyo administration is on the political defensive on the issue of electoral fraud.

He maintained that the minority bloc during the controversial canvassing of the CoCs relating to the May 10 presidential and vice presidential elections was able to state its case repeatedly that there was substantial fraud in the last elections “enough to affect the final results in favor of Poe although the majority in the National Board of Canvass (NBC) managed to push through with the count and formal proclamation.” After three weeks of protracted debate on the continued refusal of the NBCs joint committee to open the election returns that would have substantiated the minoritys allegation that the CoCs were doctored to favor Mrs. Arroyo, Congress finally ended its canvassing and proclaimed Mrs. Arroyo and Sen. Noli de Castro winners.

Morales said various opposition groups under the Coalition of Hope are in the process of forming a “Council of Leaders” or a bridge team that will function as a transitional government in the event the Arroyo government fails to meet the expectations of the people.

While Poe remains the immediate opposition “pole,” the situation calls for the building of a broad coalition of all those who refuse to accept the fraudulent election results and who oppose Mrs. Arroyo for one reason or another, Morales said.

“FPJ will figure prominently in this coalition. He could perform a role in inspiring and initiating a leadership that could unite the people,” he added. (Mario B. Casayuran) Fruitless filing at PET The KNP has rejected the administrations suggestion for opposition standard-bearer FPJ to file his election protest in the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), expressing no confidence in the judicial bodys efficiency and impartiality.

Guingona said filing an election protest to the PET would be “fruitless,” as “interminable delays” would just plague the proceedings of the PET should Poe decide to file an election protest over allegations of massive electoral fraud in the last presidential elections. here last night movie

“Fruitless for all practical purposes, because that one, though it is constitutional, will involve opening up so many precincts, so many boxes. Before they can hear the case, there will be interminable delays,” Guingona said when asked whether the KNP should file an election protest.

Guingona also lashed out at the administration panel dominating the 22-man Joint Committee of canvassers for their wrong interpretation of the Constitution in insisting that the Joint Committee is an administrative body and is prohibited by law to answer to election protests.

“They said this is not the right body, it is the Supreme Court after the election,” Guingona said, noting the apparent railroading of the proceedings of the Congressional canvassing amid persistent calls by the opposition to revert to the corresponding election returns of questionable provincial certificate of canvass.

“But they forget that the Joint Committee is an administrative body with quasi-judicial powers. They are precisely furnished there (with the election returns) because they are supporting documents of what is supposed to be canvassed,” Guingona said.

Meanwhile, Sanlakas Rep. JV Bautista said the administration panel dominating the 22-man Joint Committee of canvassers has “deceived” the people with their wrong interpretations of the Constitution.

Bautista said that the Constitution does not indicate a deadline for the proclamation of a new president, contrary to the administrations claim that Congress, as mandated by the Constitution, should proclaim a new president by June 30.

“The Constitution even has a provision that should there be no proclamation by June 30, the Senate President will serve as temporary president until a new president is proclaimed. This is to provide Congress with more time to do a correct canvass, but there is no deadline,” Bautista said. (David Cagahastian) Disinformation The Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino yesterday lashed out at Malacanang for releasing through the state-controlled Philippine News Agency (PNA) a report that opposition presidential candidate FPJ has conceded to President Arroyo.

“We have not released any statement regarding conceding or anything to that effect,” Rep. Francis Escudero said.

But the opposition learned PNA was the source of the “distorted” report, which the government released a day after Mrs. Arroyo appealed for a “honeymoon” with the media after being proclaimed winner in the May 10 presidential election.

Escudero, who is also Mr. Poes spokesman, said “Mr. Poe has not conceded and will never concede to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo unless the truth is brought out.” Escudero also said that “FPJ is disappointed over the canvassing results that led to GMAs midnight deal proclamation.” “This is part of a grand plot to discredit the opposition,” according to Escudero. “FPJ has not conceded and in fact, he will be consulting with his lawyers on whether to file an election protest in the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.” Escudero said that although FPJ believes that nothing will come out with an election protest before the PET, they have not ruled out the possibility of filing a case questioning Mrs. Arroyos alleged victory.

“It seems GMA is having a heyday fooling the Filipino people by seeking a honeymoon with media after her proclamation while using her own media to discredit the opposition,” he said.

Whirlwind of instability Senator AquilinoPimentel Jr. (PDP-Laban) yesterday expressed fears that the Filipino nation would remain politically divided and unstable as a consequence of the railroading by Congress of the proclamation of President Arroyo as winning presidential bet on the basis of flawed canvassing of votes.

If restiveness and discord continue to stalk the land and the government is gripped by insecurity, Pimentel said the President and her minions in Congress have nobody else to blame but themselves.

In his speech on the minority report on the canvassing of votes at the June 24 plenary session of Congress, Pimentel issued this forewarning:

“If the majority in this Chamber is bent on sowing the seeds of falsehood instead of truth, of injustice instead of justice, of hate instead of love, I am afraid that your aim to bulldoze the proclamation of Mrs. Arroyo at all costs might reap the whirlwind of instability for the country. I can only hope for the sake of our people, that dire prediction wont come to pass,” he said.

The opposition senator from Mindanao debunked the claim of Senator Francis Pangilinan and House Deputy Speaker for the Visayas Raul Gonzales that the Joint Committee of Congress had determined the authenticity and due execution of the 180 Certificates of Canvass (COCs).

“It (Joint Committee) certainly did no such thing. It glossed over questions on the authenticity and due execution of the Certificates of Canvass, ignored challenges thereon raised by counsel of opposition candidates for president Fernando Poe, Jr. and Eduardo Villanueva and for vice president Loren Legarda and smugly evaded its obligation to rule initially on the issues thus raised by peremptorily issuing the monotonously meaningless mantra Noted,” Pimentel said.

He decried that the administration-dominated Joint Committee consistently and summarily rejected the arguments of the opposition legislators and lawyers to allow the opening and scrutiny of election returns whenever there were alterations, erasures and changes that were visible on the face of the COCs and statement of votes.

Deception and deceit Approximately 1,000 rallyists from various sectoral groups yesterday staged a rally around the Welcome Rotunda against the proclamation of President Arroyo in the recently concluded canvassing of votes, saying it is based on deception and deceit.

Groups led by Sanlakas, Freedom from Debt Coalition, Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino, Partido ng Manggagawa, Kilusan ng Pambansang Demokrasya, Peoples Patriot Movement (Patriots) and youth group Batang Panday collectively denounced Arroyos proclamation.

Marching around the edifice marking the boundary of Quezon City and Manila, the rallyists said that her presidency is based on deceit and should therefore be declared invalid.

According to PO2 Bongato of the Central Police District-Police Community Precinct (CPD-PCP) 1, the rally started at around 1:30 p.m. where leaders of the various groups aired their grievances through a public address system.

Concerned for the safety of the people, both the CPD and the Western Police District (WPD) sent response teams to the area.

The combination of police and protesters blocked part of both Espana and Quezon Avenues, causing massive traffic jams in the immediate areas.

A large part of the rally lasted until around 5:45 p.m., with most of the protesters leaving the welcome rotonda. Only several groups including Bayan, Gabriela, and Patriots stayed to continue the rally which the demonstrators claim will last until Arroyos proclamation on June 30.