Binay warns Arroyo: No more cheating

from The Daily Tribune
http://www.tribune.net.ph/metro/20100212met1.html

Never again.

Thus said United Opposition (UNO) vice presidential candidate Jejomar Binay as he vowed never to let a repeat of the 2004 election fraud happen this year.

And if this happens again, Binay said he will lead protest actions to exposé election cheats and assert the people’s right to elect leaders of their choice.

Binay said no one must again be allowed to steal the presidency, in direct reference to the cheating and disenfranchisement that marred the result of the May 2004 election and demolished the democratic pretense of the Arroyo regime.

The opposition leader served as campaign manager for opposition bet Fernando Poe Jr. during the latter part of the campaign.

“In case they attempt to repeat what they did to Fernando Poe Jr. in 2004, you can be sure that I will be with you in the fight for truth. I will be with you in the streets, in the rallies, in the barricades for the restoration of our rights,” he said.
“The era of oppression for the poor and the weak is at an end. Enough is enough,” Binay added.

Binay, a human rights lawyer during martial law, has been a staunch critic of the Arroyo administration from the beginning, when Arroyo usurped the presidency from former President Joseph Estrada in 2001 and cheated her way to “victory” in the 2004 elections.

The Makati mayor said Arroyo’s link to electoral fraud was exposed when the “Hello, Garci!” tape, which recorded the conversation between her and former Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano as she pleaded to the latter to maintain a lead of one million votes over FPJ. Arroyo admitted talking to Garcillano but did not quit after apologizing for her misdeed.

“I am pretty sure that right now, there are already elements seeking to disrupt the elections so that there will be a basis for the declaration of a failure of elections. If this happens, Mrs. Arroyo will extend her term in office,” he warned.

“Even the Catholic Church has dismissed these plans as evil,” Binay stressed.