No House break-in, ballot boxes intact’

[grabehbebe]

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By Jess Diaz
The Philippine Star 03/14/2006
http://www.philstar.com/philstar/NEWS200603140405.htm

There was never a break-in at an enclosed area of the south lobby of the House of Representatives where ballot boxes containing election returns used in the May 2004 presidential elections are kept, an official of the chamber said yesterday.

Roberto Nazareno, the chamber’s secretary general, told a news conference that reports about the break-in and the existence of video footage allegedly of the intrusion "are an irresponsible and a malicious fabrication."

"This matter is clearly a recycled issue; it is being revived during a period of unrest. The purported CD (compact disc) allegedly containing footage of the break-in is tainted with malice and falsehood," he said.

At Malacañang, Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye questioned why the alleged CD was released only now when the issues surrounding the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration, including the so-called "Hello Garci" tapes, have been discussed and resolved through the proper bodies.

"This (video) is just another attempt at dirty tricks and psychological manipulation. The alleged break-in supposedly took place in January 2005," Bunye said. "Why is this being revealed only now? We have already battled this issue to the bone and gone through the worst of unfounded allegations of election cheating."

In Palayan City in Nueva Ecija, Vice President Noli de Castro said that whoever is holding the compact disc purportedly containing photographic evidence of poll fraud during the May 2004 presidential election should bring it out in public to clear the air on the alleged cheating.

"Kaya nga ang sabi k,o ilabas ang CD. Ilabas nila kung mayroon silang ebidensya hindi iyong puro lang sila dada," he said, stressing solid evidence and not talk was what was needed.

"No break-in is possible in the storage room of the ballot boxes since the area, which is secured with padlocks, is on a 24-hour security watch by the House security backed up by a closed-circuit monitoring system," Nazareno added.

He stressed that the House has zealously guarded the integrity of the ballot boxes.

Nazareno asked the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, to order the opening of the ballot boxes to check their authenticity in order to disprove reports that the election returns were tampered with to favor President Arroyo.

Minority Leader Francis Escudero said they heard of the story about the intrusion during their failed bid to impeach Mrs. Arroyo last year but that no proof had ever surfaced.

"What we had were witnesses who would have testified on the tampering of election returns to favor the President had not her allies killed the impeachment process, and together with it the truth behind the presidential election," he said.

Escudero said he would not be surprised if there was indeed a break-in and a video footage "since those ordered to alter the election results and those who witnessed the tampering would at some point become conscience-stricken and tell the truth."

Like Nazareno, Majority Leader Prospero Nograles and Rep. Mauricio Domogan of Baguio City said the timing of the report about the alleged intrusion and the existence of the video was suspect.

"It (CD) could have been fabricated using modern technology. If there is a tape, then we will investigate it," they said.

They urged anyone with an authentic footage to file the appropriate charges against those who supposedly committed the break-in and tampering.

Bunye said, "those behind this canard should give the people a break. We believe the people can clearly see through this ploy and will not be fooled."

De Castro, Mrs. Arroyo’s running mate in the last May 2004 polls, has remained steadfast in supporting the President, even defending her on allegations that there was massive cheating in the elections.

Reports had it that a compact disc containing photographs of alleged cheating, particularly the rigging of election returns, would be published soon in a magazine.

De Castro said this is one of the reasons why he wanted the election protest filed by his rival, former senator Loren Legarda, resolved before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal as soon as possible.

He expressed hope that a ruling on the case could be issued before yearend.

Meanwhile, Philippine National Police chief Director General Arturo Lomibao ordered a thorough investigation into the reported break-in at the House of Representatives during the canvassing for the May 10, 2004 presidential elections.

"We will look into that. It’s the first time I’ve heard of the reports," Lomibao said in an ambush interview yesterday.

PNP spokesman Senior Superintendent Samuel Pagdilao said they would coordinate with House sergeant-at-arms Bayani Fabic as well as wait for a report from the Quezon City police. — With Paolo Romero, Cecille Suerte Felipe, James Mananghaya

[mosimos]

Kadtong hepe ba sa Security sa House of Rep mura man ga kurog kurog pag interview. Ingon siya unsaon gud pag tamepr nga 24 hours man ang bantay unya ang camera nag sige man ug focus sa ballot box.

Pero sa dihang gipangutana siya "Sir naa ba moy video from January to February 2005" Ingon siya a wala kay adtong panahona amo na gi erase ang mga record.

Pangutana why in the world that ang video from Jan to February 2005 wala man or ngano sa tanan gisapawan man? Pangutana lang.

[grabehbebe]

UPDATE: ‘Break-in part of plot’

Malacañang yesterday slammed an opposition move to revive the congressional inquiry into the “Hello Garci” scandal and summon witnesses to the purported break-in at the House of Representatives, and the tampering of 2004 election documents.

“We expect these alleged witnesses to sing the same tune but as far as we are concerned, the President’s win is a closed book, the people are sick and tired of chronic destabilization attempts disguised as electoral inquiries,” Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye said.

“The accusers of the President had their opportunity... before the bar of impeachment. It is time this charade must stop so we can go on with the business of the nation,” he said.

The Palace spokesman issued the statement in response to the claim of House Minority Leader Francis Escudero that there were witnesses willing to testify before Congress on the alleged break-in at the storage room of the House in January and February, 2005 in which genuine election returns used in the 2004 presidential election were supposedly replaced with falsified ones.

The congressman from Sorsogon said the same witnesses would have been presented by the opposition before the Senate last September had the House not thrown out the impeachment case against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

Last card

Meanwhile, photos and video footages of the alleged ballot switching in 2004 are expected to figure in the new impeachment case the opposition will file against President Arroyo.

Palace allies in Congress, however, said the move would suffer the same fate as the Hello Garci tapes, that were used to back last years’ impeachment case.

Calling the supposed photos and videos as the opposition’s “last card,” Nationalist People’s Coalition Reps. Douglas Cagas of Davao del Sur and Eduardo Veloso of Leyte said the images will be dismissed as a product of fiction.

The lawmakers also claimed that the alleged break-in and ballot-switching at the House of Representatives were fabricated to “further destabilize the Arroyo government.”
“We can’t help but think that the opposition was behind the production of the video to back up their new impeachment case against the President or to provoke the people,” Veloso said.

Realm of fiction

Senior Supt. Samuel Pagdilao, Philippine National Police spokesman, said the PNP will not start a probe despite calls by the opposition in the Lower House to put the incident under scrutiny.
“According to the House, there’s no such thing. And another thing, there’s no tape. We have not seen it. So it’s within the realm of fiction and tale,” he said.
He explained that in the absence of CD tapes or records, “the PNP won’t initiate any investigation at this time.”

“It’s like no evidence, no case. No body, no murder,” Pagdilao said.
House Secretary-General Roberto Nazareno said the alleged break-in and the existence of a video footage of the intrusion were “irresponsible and malicious fabrications” even as Malacañang dismissed it as another “ploy” by destabilizers. Fel V. Maragay, Joel M. Sy Egco, Romie A. Evangelista

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?...1_mar15_2006By Fel V. Maragay

[FK]

Ex-Comelec director denies hand in faking ERs

FORMER Comelec Regional Director Roque Bello admitted today that the house that appears in a photo where election returns in the May 2004 polls were supposedly tampered with is possibly his. But he denied an operation that manufactured election returns took place in his Cainta, Rizal home in December 2004 as reported in Newsbreak‘s latest issue.

Bello told ANC that as an election lawyer, it was usual for him to examine election returns, revision reports, even ballot boxes, in his home, which doubles as his office.

He said he was counsel for candidates from different parts of the country, including Cainta, Mindoro and Ilocos Norte.

The photos published in Newsbreak show that the election returns supposedly being altered were from Barangay Sayli, Tapul town in Sulu province.

Bello said it was also common for his group to cut and paste carbonless paper to fit the space for the serial numbers. This, he said, enabled them to get the exact size of the serial numbers and compare these with those in the possession of Comelec.

The former election regional director denied borrowing a printing press from Ernest Printing, which was allegedly used to print serial numbers on the fake returns.

He also said he used an FX van at around that time to transport voluminous documents from his home to the Comelec. But he denied the van was used to transport the fake returns to the printing press.

Bombs exploded outside Ernest Printing, Rounce Printing and Bello’s house last December, on the day former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano was testying before the House of Representatives on the issue of the wiretapped conversations between him and President Arroyo.

Yesterday, Bello told GMA News that his friendship with Garcillano may have been the reason he was being linked to the electoral fraud.

Ballot boses dalhon sa balay? now that is strange...