Cheating on; bets bribing poll officials —DND chief

By Mario J. Mallari (The Daily Tribune)
Link: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100430hed3.html

Acting defense secretary Norberto Gonzales yesterday warned that there would be cheating in next month’s national elections as he said that several people were already trying to bribe polling officials and even the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

“I’m telling you that the cheating has (already) begun,” Gonzales told a gathering of Christian and Muslim religious leaders. “There will be cheating in the coming elections.”

Gonzales did not say who was behind the cheating but said people had already begun trying to bribe members of the body overseeing the poll, the Commission on Elections.

“Money is being distributed to some officials already these days,” he said.

Gonzales bared that attempts to bribe some poll officials, the AFP and PNP to rig the results of the May 10 presidential elections.

Ex-colonel tagged in "Hello Garci" scandal a party-list nominee

By Kristine L. Alave (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100324-260572/Ex-colonel-tagged-in-Hello-Garci-scandal-a-party-list-nominee

MANILA, Philippines -- Military officials, including one colonel implicated in the Hello Garci scandal have been named nominees of some party-list groups, according to progressive group Bayan.

The Abante Tribung Makabansa (ATM) has former Army Colonel Allen A. Capuyan as its first nominee, Bayan said in a statement.

Capuyan was among those implicated by former Technical Sergeant Vidal Doble in the “Hello Garci” controversy, Bayan said. The 2005 scandal erupted when Doble presented to the public taped phone conversations between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and a Comelec official (widely believed to be Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano) about her one-million vote lead in the 2004 presidential elections.

The tape also implicated high-ranking military officials and senior poll officials in the 2004 electoral fraud.

Mrs. Arroyo has apologized to the public for talking to the official but denied she asked him to cheat for her, claiming she just called to check on the status of her votes. She survived three impeachment complaints against her.

Foreigners welcome to observe May polls

By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star)

Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=557505

MACTAN, Cebu , Philippines – President Arroyo encouraged last Thursday foreign observers to come to the country and monitor the May 10 elections as she vowed that her greatest legacy would be ensuring honest and orderly polls.

Mrs. Arroyo told the meeting here of the Philippine Councilors League that “there is no more important legacy than to leave the nation with free and fair elections and a smooth transition to a new government.

“To protect the integrity of the vote and the election results, we encourage and welcome independent outside election observers to verify that elections are indeed free, clean and open and the results valid, free from any political interference,” the President said.

She said Filipinos deserve to have confidence “that their votes count and that our democracy works.”

“It is important to have independent verification, to give the people the confidence that the election works and the transition to a new government comes in smoothly,” she said.

She said: “For myself, I will be staying out of the election process. I will trust the Commission on Elections to ensure the new voting machines work, the votes are protected and counted and the results are delivered in rapid manner to the satisfaction of voters.”