Saturday, May 26, 2007 Palace hits Pimentels over 'unfounded' accusations of fraud
ADMINISTRATION officials on Friday accused Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and his son, Genuine Opposition (GO) senatorial candidate Aquilino III, of conditioning the minds of the public that they were cheated off their possible victory in the elections by threatening to file criminal charges following alleged election sabotage and election fraud.
Chief Presidential Legal Counsel and Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) spokesman Sergio Antonio Apostol said the threat of Aquilino Jr. to file the charges is aimed at saving face in case Aquilino III loses.
He said blaming the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the supposed massive election frauds and election sabotage is probably just an excuse. He said as far as he could see the Comelec was doing a good job.
Apostol said it is however within their rights to file a protest.
The older Pimentel said the position would file criminal charges against Comelec officials for alleged involvement in the massive cheating in the elections.
Among those identified were Rey Sumalipao, Comelec regional officer for Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (Armm), and Remlane Tambunag, Comelec regional director for Southern Mindanao.
Tourism secretary and Team Unity spokesman Joseph Durano said it is unfortunate that "cheating" has become the standard excuse of losing candidates both in the national and local levels.
Durano said instead of criticizing, everyone must instead help Comelec to filter out "the ill-motivated allegations of cheating so an accurate picture of the election will come out."
"Clearly, there are elements that will take advantage of the vulnerabilities of the electoral process. However, I still believe that the multi-sectoral vigilance protecting the integrity of the polls succeeded and the results we see truly expresses the general will of the voters," he said.
Based on partial tallies of the Comelec and the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), the young Pimentel had been going up and down from the 11th to 14th spot.
Vice President Noli De Castro, who supported members of the Senate's Wednesday Group, continues to hope that reelectionist Senator Ralph Recto would make it to the Magic 12, who is faring poorly in the tallies. (JMR/Sunnex)
