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Friday, June 24, 2005
Poll group official: No election fraud in Lanao
By Lizanilla J. Amarga
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY -- An official of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) said there were 33 percent of "unaccounted" election returns in Lanao del Sur during the 2004 presidential polls.
Namfrel secretary general Ibra Macapanton insisted, however, that no election fraud was committed in the province, contrary to what Namfrel-Lanao del Sur chairman Abdullah Lacs Dalidig had earlier claimed.
Macapanton appeared in a press conference, which the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) 10 helped facilitate to declare that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo won "fair and square" in the area.
He said there were 1,256 precincts in Lanao Sur but the number of election returns counted by their office was only 841.
The Namfrel official said election returns from 415 precincts or 33 percent of the total in Lanao were lost or not counted.
"In May 22, 2004 there were 1,256 precinct election returns but only 800 plus were counted. There were 400 plus or 33 percent that were unaccounted...33 percent were not tabulated and we are still in the process," he said.
Macapanton did not clarify what he meant when he said "we are still in the process."
The documents he presented showed there were 1,256 precincts but only the votes from 841 precincts were tabulated.
Macapanton said when they noticed this "irregularity", they decided that Dalidig should travel to Namfrel national headquarters and "ask for advice" on what to do.
He said Dalidig did not do this but instead recently went to the national media and made statements on how there was a massive systematic electoral fraud committed in the Lanao del Sur area.
"We told Lacs Dalidig that the most he could do is to confer with Namfrel in Manila to reconcile not the with media," he said.
In the documents presented Thursday, Namfrel-Lanao del Sur did not receive any election report from the municipalities of Balagan, Calanogas and Madalum during the 2004 election.
Macapanton said the election returns they received were "partial" and that it was still "premature" for Dalidig to declare that cheating was committed during the elections.
"I agree with Chairman Lacs that the election returns do not reconcile with the certificates of canvass because the election returns are incomplete...but this does not mean there was cheating," he said.
He explained that the election returns they received were "incomplete" because they have communication problems with some precincts in far-flung areas.
When Macapanton was asked as to who could have pushed Dalidig to come out and say that there was massive cheating in Lanao Sur, Macapanton said he could not give an answer.
"Chairman Lacs Dalidig is a respected man...ambot lang unsay nahitabo nga instead moadto siya sa Namfrel niadto man hinoon siya sa (we don't know what happened that instead of going to Namfrel he went to the) media. It was shocking for us," he said.
When asked as to whether he believes that Namfrel-Lanao del Sur has failed in its duty to safeguard the people's votes, Macapanton replied that they did their best under the circumstances.
(June 24, 2005 issue)
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