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Friday, May 25, 2007
15 Bogo returns flown to Manila
By Katrina N. Tabanao
With Ace Matthew Togonon, UP Mass Comm Intern
CEBU CITY -- Because of “serious doubts” on whether these poll forms are authentic, the Special Board of Canvassers decided Thursday to bring 15 election returns (ER) from Bogo to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Manila.
“The board cannot prolong the agony. Many people have been suffering,” said lawyer Eddie Aba, head of the canvassers’ board.
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“The board is now in serious doubt as to the authenticity (of these ERs). However, we do not have the expertise to determine if these are genuine or not,” Aba added.
He led the team that ferried the ERs Thursday night to Manila, the third time Bogo’s election forms have been moved since last May 16—first from Bogo to the Capitol, then to the Comelec regional office in Cebu City.
The ERs contain about 4,500 votes, Aba said.
No official updates were given on the results of the congressional race between Bogo Mayor Celestino Martinez III of Lakas-CMD and former Provincial Board member Benhur Salimbangon of One Cebu-Kampi.
Martinez’s father, however, was proclaimed mayor of Bogo before the canvassers left for Manila.
The board also ordered that all the canvassed ERs be brought to Manila, “para mawagtang na nang mga tawo diri (so all those supporters here can go home),” according to Aba.
Last 18
He clarified, however, that the canvassers are not abdicating on their responsibilities. “We are not washing our hands of this matter,” he said.
Salimbangon’s lawyers have argued that 12 of the 15 questioned ERs appear to be manufactured.
At least three ERs remain missing, out of 196.
“We included that in our report. All in all, there are 18 uncanvassed election returns,” Aba said.
When will the canvassing resume? That depends on the results of the expert examination of the documents.
“If these are proven to be genuine, canvassing will resume. If not, these will be excluded. As to the venue where the canvassing will resume, that will depend on the commission,” explained Aba.
The Martinez camp questioned the transfer, saying it is “beyond the board’s power” to order such a move. They cited the absence of an order from the commission.
Stamped
Lawyer Edgar Gica also pointed out that the canvassing has long been delayed and it is the mandate of the board to canvass the returns as fast as they can.
“Just because they are losing, they will say these ERs are fake?” asked Gica.
By agreeing to canvass the Senate and party-list votes from the same questioned ERs, the board “has already stamped with certainty the genuineness and authenticity” of the returns, the Martinez camp said.
They also argued that the “citizen’s arrest” attempted by one of Salimbangon’s lawyers last Saturday—who accused the previous board of “electoral sabotage”—can be considered a ground for the candidate’s disqualification.
Lawyer Noel Malaya of the Salimbangon camp said, however, that the canvassing of the Senate and party-list votes is not a waiver on their side.
They also urged the other camp to go to court if they want to question the legality of the attempted citizen’s arrest.
All these arguments were also forwarded to Manila.
C-Cimpel count
All the questioned ERs were put in one ballot box, which was then sealed. The ballot boxes containing the canvassed and uncanvassed election returns were then brought to the airport under tight security.
Since Tuesday, no traffic has been allowed on the block where Comelec’s regional office is located, near the Basilica del Sto. Niño and just a block away from Plaza Independencia.
With supporters from both camps camping out at both ends of Comelec’s block, the business establishments near the area have complained about the traffic and litter.
With all of the district’s towns except Bogo, the official tally shows Salimbangon ahead by 13,140 votes. Bogo has over 40,200 registered voters.
An unofficial tally by the church-based election monitor C-Cimpel—with 87.2 percent of the district’s precincts counted—showed Salimbangon ahead of Martinez by 3,726 votes.
Salimbangon has repeatedly asked that C-Cimpel’s copy of the ERs be used for the canvassing, to remove doubts about fraud and “manufactured” returns.
C-Cimpel’s Msgr. Roberto Alesna, in a separate interview, said that all the ERs given to C-Cimpel have been under the custody of Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal since last Sunday.
Trust
It has been C-Cimpel’s custom that right after the Operation Quick Count wraps up, all ERs are turned over to the cardinal for safekeeping.
“We are just guardians,” Cardinal Vidal said in an interview Thursday in Lapu-Lapu City. “Accordingly, we cannot just bring these out in the open without permission from the Commission on Elections or the court.”
The cardinal, however, revealed that the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections called up C-Cimpel saying that with regards to photocopying, no permission was needed.
Monsignor Alesna also confirmed that C-Cimpel’s copy of the ERs from Bogo town were already photocopied and the photocopies given to Salimbangon’s camp last Wednesday afternoon.
One condition was that only C-Cimpel personnel could do the photocopying.
“They can see the procedure but they cannot be part of it,” Monsignor Alesna said.
For his part, the archbishop advised both parties to bring reality to the table and concede, if their defeat is what the votes are showing.
“I could not find any presence of trust. Why can’t they trust each other?” the cardinal said. (Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Cagayan de Oro. (May 25, 2007 issue)
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