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Thursday, July 21, 2005
Sonny Osmeña poll fraud charge stirs tempest
CEBU CITY -- Some of Cebu's local officials fired back at former senator John "Sonny" Osmeña for his allegation that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo only won in Cebu in last year's elections through massive vote-padding. One congressman called for the reopening of ballot boxes and a recount.
Former Cebu governor Pablo Garcia said Osmeña wanted to be appointed as the secretary of finance or agriculture but he failed to get it.
"That's why he just talked about the alleged fraud now. It is because the Cabinet positions have been filled and he was not (included)," Pablo said.
Representative Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south) said it was impossible to carry out large-scale cheating in Cebu because "you will be killed by the poll watchers and all eyes were focused on the ballots."
"Why don't we retrieve those election returns inside the ballot boxes? Let us have a recount, let us start in Cebu right away. And we will see GMA won fair and square," Cuenco told a press briefing in Malacañang.
He said Osmeña was merely weaving a fantastic fairy tale.
"We deny vigorously this fairy tale from somebody. The charges (are as) wild as the winds coming from the fairies," Cuenco said.
Capitol consultant Pablo John Garcia also said Osmeña's credibility has been shot "because he has made a career out of lies."
Pablo John asked why Osmeña has figures on the vote padding when he earlier said that he has no copy of the certificates of canvass (COCs).
"We'll just have to grant him his entertainment in these lonely years of his life. His evidence that the votes were padded was a computer printout of an analysis of a so-called expert that he did not even name. Anybody can come up with a computer printout. Two days before, he was asking for copies of COCs. So what documents does he have to prove that there was fraud in Cebu?" Pablo John said.
In a press conference in Manila, Osmeña said Arroyo's votes in Cebu was padded by 460,000 and that the padding occurred in at least 10 regions, leading to his conclusion that Arroyo's closest rival, the late movie actor Fernando Poe Jr., won.
"Osmeña's revelation that the administration cheated massively in Cebu bolstered our position that Noli de Castro could not have possibly won in Cebu, and by an implausible 800,000-vote margin at that," defeated vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda said in a press statement.
Provincial Election Officer Edwin Cadungog described as unfounded and baseless the claims of Osmeña and Legarda that massive cheating took place in Cebu.
He said the two should just wait for the ruling of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal and the Senate Electoral Tribunal since their protests are pending before the bodies.
Poll officials and employees in Cebu have signed a manifesto last month standing by the integrity of the election results in Cebu following allegations that President Arroyo cheated her way into office.
In Malacañang, presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said Osmeña's move would have been reasonable if it were done either during the canvassing of votes or at the height of the electoral protest filed by the Opposition.
"But as his allegations are being raised only now, they smack of media grandstanding," he said.
Meanwhile, Acting Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama cautioned Osmeña against making allegations of electoral fraud, saying the latter's statements are unacceptable.
Rama said Osmeña should not be making general statements and should specify where exactly the cheating happened.
"If we say there was vote padding, are we saying that the teachers cheated? That the prosecutors, Comelec and all those who were around condoned the cheating? Such sweeping allegation is unacceptable," Rama told Sun.Star Cebu.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said the Cebuanos are "amused and befuddled" by their fellow Cebuano Osmeña, "whom they no longer take seriously" because of his inconsistencies and eccentric behavior.
Arroyo's landslide victory in Cebu, Representative Nerissa Soon-Ruiz said, is no surprise because the President was backed by three gubernatorial candidates and a full complement of candidates for local posts.
Ruiz (Cebu, 6th district) pointed out that Poe had a small number of local bets and this worked to the advantage of the President.
Osmeña, who ran under the administration coalition K4, lost in Cebu, landing 13th in the senatorial race, because Cebuanos distrust him, said Gwendolyn.
"His credibility is totally shut. Two weeks ago, he was supporting the President. Then two days later, his support became conditional. Now, he's saying there was fraud. Recent events have shown that he has become a political butterfly," Pablo John said. (Sun.Star Cebu/Manila Standard Today/Sunnex)
(July 21, 2005 issue)
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