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Monday, May 17, 2004
Namfrel: No sign of massive election fraud
MANILA -- President Arroyo widened her lead over Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino candidate Fernando Poe Jr. in a government-sanctioned "quick count" conducted by the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) who said it saw no signs of massive cheating alleged by the opposition.
As of 7:40 p.m. Sunday, a Namfrel tally covering 27.23 percent of the total precincts nationwide showed Arroyo leading the presidential elections with over a million votes over her closest rival Poe.
Arroyo got 3,967,341 votes over Poe's 2,783,092 or 1,184,249 more votes over the KNP presidential candidate.
The President's runningmate, Sen. Noli de Castro, is also enjoying 981,288 more votes than Sen. Loren Legarda in the same Namfrel count. De castro tallied 4,477,390 votes while Legarda received 3,496,102 votes.
In the senatorial race, former trade secretary Max Roxas is still at number one with 5,082,420 votes. The others who made it to the magic 12 are: Ramon B. Revilla, 4,000,328; former tourism secretary Richard Gordon, 3,453,927; Aquilino Pimentel, 3,440,931; Jamby Madrigal 3,274,869; Miriam Defensor-Santiago, 3,230,895; Pia Cayetano, 3,271,359; Manuel "Lito" Lapid, 2,938,870; former Manila mayor Lim, 2,919,619; Rodolfo Biazon, 2,767,803; Robert Barbers, 2,736,309; and Juan Ponce Enrile, 2,601,627.
At a government convention center, employees of the official Commission on Elections (Comelec) began opening up ballot boxes from all over the country in preparation for the formal nationwide canvass of votes.
However, the tally still had not begun and the official results are not expected for weeks due to the laborious process of hand-counting an estimated 35 million ballots.
Poll problems
Namfrel chairman Jose Concepcion, meanwhile, said he saw no signs of the massive cheating in favor of Arroyo, as alleged by the opposition.
"We don't see signs of massive cheating, no deliberate, massive cheating," Concepcion said.
He conceded there had been numerous problems during the voting with many people unable to cast their ballots because their names were not on the official lists.
But he said this was largely because the Comelec did a "bad job" of preparing for the polls.
Exit polls and media "quick-counts" of the May 10 elections showed that Arroyo will defeat Poe to win a new six-year term.
Followers of Poe and other opposition groups have charged that cheating has ensured an Arroyo victory, citing cases of an entire town that voted for Arroyo or places with inflated voter turnouts.
Poe in a statement even said he is ready to give a reward to anyone who can provide evidence of election fraud but did not specify any amount.
Arroyo's spokesman Ignacio Bunye said the President is committed to helping determine if there was election fraud and punishing the guilty but that she need the help of the opposition in proving that cheating did occur.
"We would welcome any assistance from the opposition showing specific instances of fraud backed by evidence. But so far, there is nothing to show a systematic trend of fraud of a nationwide scale as to materially affect the outcome of the national elections. All incidents have so far been identified as local and isolated," he added.
Unverified charges
Concepcion said his group was looking into allegations of election fraud but he also warned against unverified charges of fraud.
"My concern is that this campaign has been very heated. Candidates were hitting each other over their personalities. It was not a 'platform" campaign'," he said.
At least 147 people died in election-related violence since the start of the campaign period in December.
Concepcion slammed opposition members who have accused Namfrel of being part of the alleged cheating scheme, challenging them to prove their accusations.
He also appealed for calm until the official results are clear, saying even Namfrel's figures are only partial results intended to discourage cheating.
"The results of the election will eventually be shown in the end, when all things are said and done," he said.
Bunye agreed that the counting is still ongoing and said he hoped that everyone would respect and accept the outcome of the elections.
As to the opposition's claim of large-scale cheating, Bunye said the opposition should document such alleged fraudulent acts and file charges against those responsible.
While the administration is hopeful that no big rallies would occur after the May 10 elections, Bunye said nevertheless that government is prepared for any possible mass action. JMR/AFP/(With Matisa V. Cabillo)
(May 17, 2004 issue)
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