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Cut and paste

It was a shock to hear election lawyer Roque Bello admit on TV last Wednesday that he cuts and pastes election returns.

This is what he said when pictures of election returns being altered were shown on TV and was asked if it was part of the work being done in his office/residence: “Yes. The numbers ba, because this is one of the ways that you can determine whether the election returns are fake or not. We cut the paper then paste it to try to get the exact diameter or size.”

He said they needed to do that to be able to compare with those in possession of the Comelec. He denied though that he was manufacturing fake election returns.

Election lawyer Leila de Lima was also surprised. She said it was the first time she heard of “cut and paste” to determine the authenticity of election returns. “I don’t do that and I don’t know of any election lawyer who does that,” she said.

Another election lawyer who asked not to be named said he was aghast at Bello’s admission on TV. “It shows that’s the kind of work he does. That’s his specialty.”

It was, therefore, not surprising that he revised his statement when I talked with him yesterday. He said they just “measure distances” to determine the diameter of the serial numbers.

The pictures that ANC host Pia Hontiveros showed on TV were allegedly taken at the residence of Bello which also serves as his office. The pictures, 11 of them, were given to media last week by persons who claimed to be part of Bello’s team who manufactured fake ERs to match the tampered COCs that were the basis of Arroyo’s proclamation.

I asked Bello if he has clients in Mindanao (in addition to his clients in Cainta, Cagayan, Ilocos Norte and Bais, Negros Occidental). He said he only has some consultancy service but he does not have clients engaged in an electoral protest.

I asked him why the election returns being altered in the photos came from Barangay Sayli, Tapul town in Sulu province and Sultan Kudarat in Mindanao and he disclaimed any knowledge about it. He said the pictures were not of the operations done in his house.

Bello said Gloria Arroyo was never his client.

Newsbreak magazine reported in its Sept. 12, 2005 issue that Arroyo met with Bello, a retired Comelec regional director, on May 18, 2001 “who is known in political circles to have the sophistication and the right contacts within the poll body to influence the votes to favor whoever his principal is.”

That time, Arroyo’s wish was to make sure that Francis Pangilinan’s votes were not shaven and for Ralph Recto to get a full six-year term. The results of the 2001 elections showed that Bello granted Arroyo’s wish. It’s not surprising now why in the 2004 canvassing of the votes for presidential candidates, Pangilinan banged with gusto the gavel every time he relegated to “Noted” the objections of the opposition.

Newsbreak said the 2001 operations was just “testing the waters” for the 2004 presidential elections.

Arroyo’s cheating operations was comprehensive and sophisticated including tampering with exit polls. Yet Fernando Poe Jr. still won.

Newsbreak said: “The Arroyo camp was confident that with the fixed votes coming mainly from the Visayas, the President would be able to win by at least one million votes. However, when the results from Poe’s bailiwicks in Luzon came in, the President’s strategists estimated that the votes could wipe out her margin from the Visayas.

“Dagdag-bawas was then carried out in the Muslim region and a few neighboring provinces in Mindanao. ‘They panicked, so Garcillano’s operators just switched votes indiscriminately,’ one of the operators said. Since the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was Poe’s stronghold, the easiest way to pad Arroyo’s votes there was to just switch her totals with Poe’s in the COCs, the source pointed out.”

The tampering of the COCs was done by the team of Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano with a lot of assistance from members of the military as heard in the Hello Garci tapes.

Arroyo was proclaimed winner on the basis of the tampered COCs. Bello’s group allegedly had to be tapped to make the ERs match the COCs when Fernando Poe Jr. filed a protest before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.

Newsbreak said the Bello group accomplished 6,000 fake ERs. “The ‘corrected’ ERs were taken to the Batasan during four break-ins from January to February 2005 to replace the genuine ERs in the ballot boxes being held there for recanvassing for Fernando Poe Jr.’s election protest.”

One of the photos showed a taxi with Plate no. PXD330 parked in front of the Bello residence. The source said the vehicle was used to transport the fake ERs to the printing press.

Bello admitted they have a taxi being managed by his son-in-law and yes, it’s being used to transport the voluminous documents related to the cases he is handling to the Comelec. He denied transporting manufactured ERs to a printing press. He said he is not engaged in any irregular activity.

Published inMalaya

300 Comments

  1. luzviminda luzviminda

    Actually, SOBRANG KAPAL NA NG PAGMUMUKHA ng mga alipores ni GMA. BISTADO na NAGSISINUNGALING PA. Talagang TALAMAK na ang KADILIMAN at KASAMAAN sa administrasyon ni Arroyo. NAKAKASUKA NA!

    By the way, in case you want to watch the video of Erap’s TRIUMPH OF TRUTH: Hit this link :- http://erap.ph/media/triumph.wmv … and also compare it to GMA’s PAGLABAN SA KATAKSILAN -> http://www.gov.ph/multimedia/files/1017.wmv

  2. misteasa misteasa

    nakakaawa naman po ang pamilya ng mga ganitong tao.Nakakatulog pa kaya sila sa ginagawang kahihiyan ng kanilang AMA o ASAWA… tsk… tskk.. tsk… masasabi ko po na isang nakapagaling na abogado si ATTY. Roque Bello (graduate po kasi sya ng LOW SCHOOL OF SAINT ANDREWS FIELD “Mababang Paaralan Ng San Adress Bukid”)….. MAGALING PO SA KALOKOHAN.. MAGALING PO SA KASINUNGALINGAN.. saan kaya kumukuha ng KAPAL ng APOG ang mga taong ito..

  3. mabel mabel

    haha, check out rene saguisag’s t.g.i.f. column today and try to disagree…

    Fred, Raul, Jun and PP
    RENE SAGUISAG
    Manila Times, March 17, 2006
    http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/storypage.aspx?StoryId=32893

    Fred Benipayo and I met on March 7, 2006, when the Solicitor General and our legal panel clashed on PP 1017.

    He will be jobless on April 1. Apparently he took too seriously his role not as Palace attack dog but the People’s Tribune. He defended GMA but not the overreaching police.

    I first met Fred decades ago when our San Beda debating team of Tony Carpio (human-rights lawyer and former NBI Director from Bicol), Raul Roco and I clashed with his UST team. We won but Fred ran away with “best debater” honors.

    He trained well under Ka Pepe Diokno, like Justices Romy Callejo and Francis Garchitorena, which means intellectual dishonesty is not ingrained in you, no way, absolutely. In other lawyers, the reverse is part of the job description. Fred, Romy and Francis, like certain chief justices, had reputations though for a roving eye but maybe all that happened oh so long ago, so, as the song goes, how important can it be?

    One may not sleep around only if one were President Erap. Other presidents may have plenty of sex with no one caring.

    Secretary Raul M. Gonzalez sent Fred off, his fellow Tomasian, with a damning “his best was not good enough.” How condescending, I think. In my view, no one could have done a better job in defending a proclamation crafted by a president who is not a lawyer, guided by an executive secretary, a soldier with a national security mindset, a recipe for disaster that could create a national emergency where there is none. Marcos, Johnny Ponce Enrile, Titong Mendoza, Dick Puno and Lolong Lazaro trained in the law.

    Even Justice Tony (the other or younger) Carpio could not contain himself on March 7 in joining the chorus of observations that certain things done under PP 1017 might simply be too difficult or dicey for anyone to defend.

    Another government official is leaving soon, Overall Deputy Ombudsman Jun Gervacio, who was reduced to counting clips after Sonny Marcelo replaced Aniano “Susmaryosep” Desierto, whose entry into the Office of the Ombudsman started its decline.

    Jun blasted her present Boss, Tanodbayan (I find Ombudsman awkward) Merceditas Gutierrez. She is behind her work and yet finds the time for useless conferences. Chief Justice Art Panganiban seems unable to say no either when he has only one task: decide cases. But pareng Art is all over. Justices should set the example in not having familiars, with all due respect.

    Raul Gonzalez has not seen fit to criticize the arrest of Ka Bel Beltran by virtue of a 1985 warrant. I have a sense that if he looks at the NBI records, he will find there is still a pending case against himself as a columnist in connection with the case of People v. Burgos. In December 1981, We Forum, like today’s Daily Tribune, was raided. However, the raiding team, headed by the dreaded Colonel Rollie Abadilla had a search warrant issued by the Court of First Instance of Quezon City (whose judge sentenced me to jail for calling Mr. Marcos a “supersubversive”). The Supreme Court eventually quashed the warrant.

    Today, the police do not even bother with such an inconvenience as getting a warrant. No ASSO, no PCO, no PDA, no warrant, no paper printed at government expense was shown the Tribune.

    GMA wants the press to be “responsible.” But, as Chief Justice Warren Burger said, “[A] responsible press is undoubtedly a desirable goal, but press responsibility is not mandated by the Constitution and like many other virtues it cannot be legislated.”

    This “responsibility” thing is the amendment GMA wants introduced, and taxpayer’s money is illegally used to project that point of view. The president has no role in Constitution-making. Private funds should be used by Raul Lambino & Co. It is not fair that the opposing point of view is not equally funded by the taxpayer. Raul even insults Ting Paterno who had the balls to ask 30 years ago why Marcos was buying one nuclear power plant for the price of two. Ting has paid his dues.

    Responsibility is so broad, vague and amorphous anyway. When I ask the foolish questions of the day, am I being irresponsible, like seeking the bar grades of Mercy Gutierrez, or whether the First Couple sleep around?

    Responsibility is like obscenity maybe which drove Justice Potter Stewart to near despair. He sighed: “I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description [of `hard-core pornography’]; and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it. . . .”

    Today, PP, for Presidential Proclamation, also stands for political pornography. I know it when I see it.

    This administration is obscene. Between the oldest and the youngest member of the Cabinet, and the PNP, GMA can only sink lower and lower. About roving eyes. . . .

  4. goldenlion goldenlion

    Habang nagtatagal, dumarami ang mga taong nasasangkot sa pandaraya noong nakaraang eleksyon ng presidente. Hindi nga maitatatwa kung gaano kalaki ang pera ng bayan na ginamit sa dayaan.Hanggang ngayon ay patuloy pa rin ang paglustay ng pondo ng bayan. Diyos ko!!! napakatigas na nga ng mga mukha ng tao sa malacanang. Kulang ang lethal injection sa mga abusado sa gobyerno. Dapat sa kanila ay tadtarin ng pino at ipakain sa langgam. To hell with them.!!!

  5. jinxies jinxies

    17 March 2006

    What more to say, only PATHETIC, how could you cut and paste an ipmortant document, whatever bello says “IT IS TAMPERING”. The moment you cut part of an important document, it means that you have intentions of falsifying, after pasting, what happens next, your guess is as good as mine.

    I don’t know if you watch last night DEBATE??? Mike Defensor talks a lot, even the head of VACC Dante (what’s his last name???) cannot utter word/s to describe to answer the question.

    They talk too much while the other side talks less.

    Mike Defensor is getting more pathetic whenever he opens his mouth (crazy).

    jinx

  6. Pinoy 101 Pinoy 101

    Walang Lihim na di nabubunyag.Itago mo man lalabas din ang baho.

  7. Bugegay Bugegay

    Dapat dyan kay Mrs Arroyo at mga alipores niya ay ipakain sa buwayang katulad nila. Napakasakim nila. Nakakatulog pa kaya sila?

    Laban mga Pinoy!!! Ipaglaban natin ang katotohanan. Magising naman sana ang AFP at ang buong kapulisan.

  8. Ferdinand Ferdinand

    Defensor is really STUPID…
    Men grabe sa kapal ng mukha. Anong klaseng pamilya meron tong taong to? Kahihiyan ang ipamamana ng mga taong gaya nito sa kanyang mga anak.. kung meron man…

    Unti unti ng lumalabas mga ebidensya kulang na lang ay kumanta na rin tong mga Heneral. Kaso baka naman mabawasan ang kanilang pensyon. at alisin ni Glueria…

  9. Ferdinand Ferdinand

    5M Bounty for Honasan?

    Bakit pag oposisyon may bounty pag hinahanap?
    Bakit yung bounty dati kina Garcillano pinaalis nila?
    sira talaga tong gobyernong ito…

    Asan na nga ba si Bolante? Asan na si Garcillano?
    Pinaglalaruan na lang tayo ng gobyernong ito..

  10. Para sa Kanto Mama Para sa Kanto Mama

    T-shirt protests depicting Malacanang obscenities would surely heighten awareness among those who chose to be silent and safe. These cater well for Pinoys love of “alaskahan”. You could say your piece silently even without joining rallies. Sama tayo diyan.

  11. elfuegovaca elfuegovaca

    I was just wondering whether GMA gave some money to some of the bishops in a guise of donations. We all knew very well that kahit dirty money tanggapin ng ibang obispo kaya panay ang punta ni GMA maybe to remind them that they also have a dirty secret in their closets. See the Prime Minister(?) of South Korea? Golf scandal lang nag resign na kaagad.Dear God kailan kaya ma konsensya c GMA at ang mga bishops supporter nia? But then we have but one luxury GMA doesn’t have we can sleep in the evening knowing that waking up on the following morning alam natin kung ano ang kagigisnan natin pero c GMA it will always be a sleepless nite for her.

  12. a de brux a de brux

    Ellen,

    Bello is a crook like no other crook there is.

    Trained lawyer to be a liar.

    Like master like dog!

  13. a de brux a de brux

    http://www.Macapagal.Com/
    The website describes The Macapagals as “Models of Integrity and Dedication to Public Service”.

    I don’t mind Cong Dado being labeled as a model of some kind but for Luli’s (with her internet brigade) to say that her mother (who is DM’s daughter) is a model of integrity is friggin way off the mark and a downright lie. I mean, are they trying to convince themselves or what? They might as well say that the Kuratong Baleleng members are modern day Robin Hoods and that Garci is a saint.

    Other rha-rha-rha wesbite:
    http://www.macapagal.com/gma/

    And if you want to write to the next generation of corrupt Macapagal, you may do so: mikey_arroyo@yahoo.com

  14. ystakei ystakei

    Over here in Tokyo, we discovered the cheating as we observed the ballots with same handwriting and even sequence of names of the candidates that we know were inserted in the ballot boxes in place of ballots sent by mail by those who had not been disenfranchised. When I questioned an official about it, I was given the flimsy excuse that they have no way of knowing, but someone told me of filled up ballots coming from Manila and when questioned about it, the embassy people may give the escuse that the Japanese postmen made the mistake of sending filled up ballots to the Philippines even when the election envelopes clearly stated Philippine Embassy with Japanese address, and no Comelec written on the envelope for the ballots to have been delivered to the Comelec and from there resent to Japan.

    So, who says that they can keep the election clean when these crooks are allowed to cheat with the help of Joe de Venecia and his fellow mandurugas in the Philippine Congress! Ang tindi!

    My sympathy goes to all Filipinos!

  15. peterpan peterpan

    I think my not being able to post has got something to do with being censored or someone from the internet brigade doesn’t like what I’m saying about punggok in the people’s palace by the river.

  16. peterpan peterpan

    I see the freaks in malacanang has got a search going on on me… hehe! what a bunch of cowards they are.

    truth hurts… gloria the miserable lying freak, the cheating bitch and her firgging family of thieves don’t like what i’ve been writing so far about them.

    a de brux Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

    March 18th, 2006 at 12:30 am

    Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

    March 17th, 2006 at 8:37 pm

    http://www.Macapagal.Com/
    The website describes The Macapagals as “Models of Integrity and Dedication to Public Service”.

    I don’t mind Cong Dado being labeled as a model of some kind but for Luli (with her internet brigade) to say that her mother (who is DM’s daughter) is a model of integrity is friggin way off the mark and a downright lie. I mean, are they trying to convince themselves or what? They might as well say that the Kuratong Baleleng members are modern day Robin Hoods and that Garci is a saint.

    Other rha-rha-rha wesbite:
    http://www.macapagal.com/gma/

    And if you want to write to the next generation of corrupt Macapagal, you may do so: mikey_arroyo@yahoo.com

  17. peterpan peterpan

    peterpan Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

    March 18th, 2006 at 1:52 am

    I see the freaks in malacanang has got a search going on on me… hehe! what a bunch of cowards they are.

    truth hurts… gloria the miserable lying freak, the cheating bitch and her firgging family of thieves don’t like what i’ve been writing so far about them.

    a de brux Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

    March 18th, 2006 at 12:30 am

    Says: Your comment is awaiting moderation.

    March 17th, 2006 at 8:37 pm

    http://www.M*c*p*g*l.Com/
    The website describes The Macapagals as “Models of Integrity and Dedication to Public Service”.

    I don’t mind Cong Dado being labeled as a model of some kind but for Luli (with her internet brigade) to say that her mother (who is DM’s daughter) is a model of integrity is friggin way off the mark and a downright lie. I mean, are they trying to convince themselves or what? They might as well say that the Kuratong Baleleng members are modern day Robin Hoods and that Garci is a saint.

    And if you want to write to the next generation of corrupt Macapagal, you may do so: mikey_a*r*y*@yahoo.com

  18. I have to ask your patience if sometimes, it takes time for your comment to be posted. I don’t know what’s the criteria for choosing which if the comments are for moderation (by me) or not. But if it had to be approved by me, sometimes it takes time if I don’t get to check on the weblog right away.

    Thank you very much for making this site vibrant with your comments.

  19. KUNG MAYAMAN LANG AKO AT KAYA KONG MAGBIGAY NG P5 MILYON AY AKO ANG MAGBIBIGAY NG PABUYA KUNG SINO ANG MAKAKAHULI NG PATAY OR BUHAY SA MGA MAGNANAKAW SA GOBYERNO NATIN NGAYON.
    ALAM NA NINYO KUNG SINO ANG MGA MAG NANAKAW SA ATIN NGAYON.

  20. ystakei ystakei

    I cannot help feeling ballistic whenever I think of the state the Philippines is now under the criminal at large still being allowed to trot like a bow-legged, and bloated queen with a voice of a demon (try listening to a recorded speech of the criminal in the reverse and you will know what I am talking about), lips that protrude when she talks, and thinks she owns the Philippines just because she is supported by the Mafia bosses running the military and the police.

    I actually saved a cartoon by a Tribune cartoonist showing the Midget doing “belat” to the proponents of the impeachment and that is exactly what she and her fellow criminals are doing, insulting the intelligence of Filipinos in general even by presenting a gay witness who is being original when he says he was “tumatae” when he saw the 5 partylist Congressmen, all rivals of SiRaulo Gonzales for partylist seat in Congress, allegedly talking to San Juan. If that is not insulting Filipinos, what is?

    Frankly, over here in Tokyo, we discovered a lot of discrepancies and obvious cheating for the Midget especially when those assigned to oversee the election were kabalens who would most likely be willing to cheat for her for their own personal survival and aggrandizement. Unfortunately, my Japanese friend and I were not in a position to push the issue. We could only state our observation and nothing more.

    At least, over here, our elected officials and bureaucrats know who butter their bread and what the Constitution says especially about basic freedoms, particularly the freedom of expression, press and assembly.

    With the Mafia generals in the police and military there, Filipinos have no alternative but to remove them by force as the Americans now fear is likely to happen.

    Kawawang bansa!

    HUWAG MATAKOT SA MGA KURAKOT! IPAGLABAN ANG KARAPATANG PATALSIKIN ANG ISANG KRIMINAL NA NAGPAPANGGAP NG PANGULO NG PILIPINAS! ANG PANGDARAYA SA HALALAN AY ISANG MALAKING KRIMEN! ENTONCES, IYONG NAKAUPO AY ISANG KRIMINAL! MAHIRAP BA IYANG INTINDIHIN?

  21. BILIB NA TALAGA AKO SA MGA KAWALANGHIYAAN NITONG MGA ARROVO. BAKIT KAMO SI HONASAN AY MAY PATONG NG 5 MILYON AT BAKIT HINDI NILA NAGAWA KAYLA GARCI AT BOLANTE ITO. KUNG IKAW PALA AY MARANGAL IYAN ANG MAKUKUHA MO AT KUNG IKAW AY ISANG MAGNANAKAW AT NAGPAPAHIRAP SA BAYAN AY MAGANDA ANG MAKAKAMIT MO MAY BANTAY KA PA MGA SUNDALO PARA HINDI KA MALAPITAN. “F” U MGA HINAYUPAK NA MAGNANAKAW… KAPAG NA ALIS KA SA PUWESTO GLU-RIA MAKAPAL ARROVO PIDAL AY HINDI KA NAMIN KIKILALANIN NA NAGING PRESIDENTE NG PILIPINAS. ISASAMA KO OR I AAPLAY KO ANG PANGALAN MO SA GUINNESS BOOK OF RECORD NA ISA KANG PINAKA DAKILANG MAGNANAKAW SA BUONG BANSA. ANG MGA ANAK MO AY MAKAKAPAL ANG APOG RIN NA SINISIGAW NA HINDI KA MADAYA.. MAMAMATAY RIN KAYO AT ANG MGA TAO AY MAGSASAYA SA PAG YAO NINYO.

  22. marcial_lo marcial_lo

    Eh mga sira naman pala kayo, alam nyo nang
    SINUNGALING, MANDARAYA at PANDAK yan si Gloria, bakit pa kayo nagtataka?!

    Di nyo ba alam, INOSENTE LANG ANG NAGTATAKA!

    Ang solusyon dyan, PATALSIKIN ANG TYANAK!

    Salamat

    …peace

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