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Grace Poe wants electorate to learn from 2004 cheating in Cebu

Grace Poe: lessons from 2004 elections should be used for lasting electoral reforms.
It’s good that Grace Poe, daughter of the late Fernando Poe, Jr and Susan Roces, brought up the issue of cheating during the 2004 elections in Cebu in the meeting of Team PNoy in that province last Wednesday.

The people should be reminded of that again and again because no one has been punished for that crime against the Filipino electorate.

Gloria Arroyo is out on bail for the crime of electoral fraud but it’s in connection with the 2007 elections, when she was not a candidate. That case is so weak, it would not be a surprise if Arroyo gets acquitted in that case.

Arroyo cheated big time in 2004 but the crime of electoral fraud was enacted only in 2007. She can be charged with the lesser crime (it’s bailable) graft but even that, it has not been done.

Poe, who is a senatorial candidate, said “This is the reason I didn’t stand on another stage in Cebu City, because it still hurts,” referring most probably to Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia and the rest of the Garcia political clan who were die-hard supporters of Gloria Arroyo.

The Cebuanos took pride in 2004 that they gave Arroyo over one million lead over FPJ which defied logic and normal practice.

In many precincts in remote barangays in Cebu, voters turnout was over 90 per cent, which is impossible. We have to remember that in 2004, Comelec was using the old list of registered voters. An almost 100 percent voters turnout means that nobody died all these years. Nobody also left for abroad? No OFW in those places?

When the FPJ camp questioned Arroyo’s record one million win, the Garcias, gloating, quipped, “Cebuanos are intelligent voters.” That condescending remark on FPJ was the recurring message of the Arroyo camp during the campaign.

How the impossible one million lead happened was explained by investigative reporter Miriam Grace Go in her article “Cheats Inc.” Which was published in Newsbreak in Sept. 2005.

Here’s the portion on the Visayas operation:

“ The wholesale switching of pre-fabricated election forms was done in a few provinces in Luzon, particularly Ilocos Sur and the Arroyo’s home province of Pampanga, and in the entire Visayas. The Visayas operation, particularly in Cebu, was considered more sophisticated because the administration effected an artificial dramatic increase of voters’ population and registered “ghost precincts.” This was to justify the lopsided share of votes that operators would enter into the prepared election forms.

“The regional and provincial election officials whose cooperation was needed for this operation were planed in to Manila and billeted either at the Aloha Hotel or at the Grand Boulevard Hotel, both along Roxas Boulevard. The ‘production line,’ sources said, was in safehouses in the target provinces.

“’Nobody would be too stupid to bring in those bulky ERs and COCs in the hotels,’ one of them said. He said that the safehouse in Cebu was rented for six months, but was occupied only from March to June 2004. The safehouse in Iloilo was located in a private subdivision.

The forgers of signatures (called ‘golden arms’) and those who thumbmarked the forms (called ‘pianistas’) were flown in from Manila, the sources said.

“ The master operator, or the one who gave direction to negotiators and bagmen, for the three regions in the Visayas, was said to be Victor Rigor, who was a liaison between Malacañang and the then Ministry of Local Government during the Marcos regime. This means that Rigor, now in his mid-50s and known in the political circle as “Blackjack,” was connected to the agency in the same years that Ronaldo Puno, Ed Soliman, and Gabriel Claudio were there. The three worked in Arroyo’s campaign, either officially or in the shadow campaign teams. Puno is a strategist closely identified with the First Gentleman, and is now congressman of Antipolo City. Soliman is an undersecretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government. Claudio was the campaign manager of the President last year and is at present the presidential adviser on political affairs.

“ NEWSBREAK was unable to reach Rigor, but one of his operatives confirmed the information.

“ This operator said Rigor differentiates his work from cheating, which is ‘the changing of the election results.’ He said Rigor would maintain that what he does is just ‘influencing’ the outcome of the election by a vote-delivery system.

“ 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.”

What happened was when the votes from Central Luzon, mostly from Pangasinan came in, it was an avalanche for FPJ. Arroyo had to call in then Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and the Filipino people got all the more screwed.

Grace Poe stressed during the rally that she was not taking it against the Cebuanos: “Hindi niyo kasalanan kundi kasalanan ng iilan.”

Electoral reforms is one of Grace Poe’s advocacies which she promised to pursue if and when she makes it to the Senate.

Published inElection 2013Hello Garci scandalMalaya

292 Comments

  1. acibig acibig

    i hope gamitin ng voter ang IQ nila, what qualifications does she have? eh ang basic dogma nga na i recognize ang mga anak ni fpj di nila magawa ng nanay nya, pls not again, stop the sympathy vote, just because namatay si fpj eh dapat syang maging senador, enough of getting votes because of deaths, ganyan si cayetano, si noynoy

  2. vic vic

    Electoral reforms is a very convenient platform of just about every aspirant, but who really wants electoral reforms and jeopardize their very own chances?? Cheating and all that are the illnesses of the process are the symptoms of the overall illness of the society, not just its Electoral Process.

  3. xman xman

    Kaunti lang naman ang pumupunta sa political rally ng Team Pnoy kumpara sa UNA.

    Kailangan nila ng attraction sa political rallies nila, Team Pnoy at UNA.

    Inirerekomenda ko itong talented singer na napadaan lang sa mall. Kayang kayang pantayan si Regine Velazquez. Sa Facebook ay 8,000 na ang likes at 3,700 shares sa video nya.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vlf5vqRNkKs

  4. Napakasakim talaga sa posisyon ni GMA. Pati pandaraya naisipan manatili lang sa posisyon. Ngayon ano ang napala niya. Ewan kung may tamang pag iisip siya na hindi lahat na pagkakataon may pag iisip siya. 2004 eleksyon imposibleng manalo siya kay FPJ. Sa aming lugar lang pag punta nina FPJ ay punong puno ang gym. Siksikan masyado ang mga tao ilang oras pa bago ang inaasahan na pagdating. Samantalang kay GMA pagpunta ay iilan lang ang tao. Naipasok ko pa ang bisikleta ko sa loob ng gym. Mga empleyado sa Munisipyo lang siguro ang nakarami. Napakawalang hiya talaga. Sa araw ng eleksyon pagka gabi kita sa blackboard napakalaki ang lamang bawat room sa tally. Bawat room na tingnan ko dalawang ruler na ang kay FPJ ang kay GMA ay di pa nga mag 5 inches.

  5. Napakasakim talaga sa posisyon ni GMA. Pati pandaraya naisipan manatili lang sa posisyon. Ngayon ano ang napala niya. Ewan kung may tamang pag iisip siya na hindi lahat na pagkakataon ay mananatili siya sa itaas at maimpluwensya. 2004 eleksyon imposibleng manalo siya kay FPJ. Sa aming lugar lang pag punta nina FPJ ay punong puno ang gym. Siksikan masyado ang mga tao ilang oras pa bago ang inaasahan na pagdating. Samantalang kay GMA pagpunta ay iilan lang ang tao. Naipasok ko pa ang bisikleta ko sa loob ng gym. Mga empleyado sa Munisipyo lang siguro ang nakarami. Napakawalang hiya talaga. Sa araw ng eleksyon pagka gabi kita sa blackboard napakalaki ang lamang bawat room sa tally. Bawat room na tingnan ko dalawang ruler na ang kay FPJ ang kay GMA ay di pa nga mag 5 inches.

  6. vic vic

    I would rather suggest to Grace Poe to direct her attention of educating the Political Leaders to learn to do their Jobs and keep their promises and also learn to refrain to keep themselves against the TEMPTATIONS that the Office will bring, especially the millions in PORKS…the voters just been doing the right thing in voting them to office and most of the Time it was the Politicians who failed to do their Part…And Ms Poe does not need any more lesson to know that this has been the case…

  7. chi chi

    Kinakampanya ko sya, napagtiyagaan nga si Lapid, Revilla, Jinggoy na walang karapatang maging senador si Grace pa na maganda ang edukasyon at maayos naman ang personal na buhay, tiyak hindi sya korap! Equal opportunity ‘ika nga. 🙂

  8. rupertl rupertl

    Ako ang dahilan ko kung bakit ko sya iboboto this comming eleksyo ay para maiba naman. Kasi kung papansinin nyo, iilang pangalan lang naman ang naglalaro sa pulitika. Gusto ko sumubok ng iba, kasi dun sa mga luma wala ng aasahan. At least sumubok ng iba, baka dun tayo maka kuha ng pagbabago.

  9. In fairness to Grace, she said she finished Political Science in the US. She said so herself in the GMA7 political interview program of the 2013 senatoriables.

  10. rich rich

    Grace is sincere and not corrupt. I’ll vote for her.

  11. chi chi

    Dalawa lang ang boto ko:

    Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes lV, at Grace Poe. Sa dalawang ito nakakasiguro ako ng serbisyo!

    Bagong mukha, bagong pag-asa!

  12. Mike Mike

    A bit OT, pero tungkol pa rin sa eleksyon.

    This has been going around facebook and I’m not sure if true. Would really be helpful to undecided voters if anyone could say for sure if true or not.

    “BAM AQUINO IS THE SON OF PAUL AQUINO WHO, AS DOE OFFICIAL UNDER PGMA, SOLD ALL OUR COUNTRY’S GEOTHERMAL POWER PLANTS TO A CORPORATION IN WHICH HE IS THE PRESIDENT AND CEO. RIGHT AFTER THE “PRIVATIZATION” OF THE SAID POWER PLANTS, PAUL AQUINO RESIGNED FROM THE DOE AND IMMEDIATELY RESURFACED AS THE PRES. AND CEO OF ENERGY DEVELOPMENT CORP. WHICH CHARGES US – POOR CONSUMERS – WITH THE MOST EXPENSIVE ELECTRICITY IN THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD!!!— “

  13. chi chi

    Latest Social Weather Stations pre-election survey
    conducted last February 15-17, 2013 found UNA candidates Jack Enrile and Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan dropping out of the top 12 candidates for senator.

    Enrile, son of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, is now ranked at 13th place from 8th-9th in the last poll; while Honasan placed 15th from 5th-6th.

    On the other hand, 2 Team PNoy candidates, Paolo Benigno “Bam” Aquino IV and Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” M. Angara, are now in the Magic 12.

    Rank Candidates
    1 Loren Legarda
    2 Francis Escudero
    3 Alan Peter Cayetano
    4 Cynthia Villar
    5-6 Grace Poe, Koko Pimetnel
    7 Nancy Binay
    8 Sonny Trillanes
    9-10 JV Ejercito, Bam Aquino
    11-12 Sonny Angara, Migs Zubiri
    13 Jack Enrile
    14 Jamby Madrigal
    15 Gringo Honasan
    16 Jun Magsaysay
    17 Dick Gordon
    18 Risa Hontiveros
    19 Ernesto Maceda
    20-22 Tingting Cojuangco
    http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/02/26/13/enrile-honasan-out-magic-12-%E2%80%93-sws

  14. chi chi

    #12. Mike, I never liked Paul Aquino. Thanks for that info.

  15. Mike Mike

    Chi, nakakaiyak naman ang survey na yan. 🙁

  16. chi chi

    Mike, nakakaiyak pati kamo ang mga kandidato maliban sa dalawa o tatlo. 🙂

  17. Mike, Paul Aquino was CEO of PNOC-EDC (EnergyDev) during the time of Gloria but EDC was sold to Bobby Ongpin’s Ashmore group. They first bought Petron after buying out Saudi Aramco’s 40% share. Then they practically bought the whole privatized portion of PNOC and later sold 51% to SMC, it’s major business outside of it’s traditional food conglomerate.

    Aside from Paul Aquino, another Aquino, Pedro, Jr., also heads one of the subsidiaries – the PNOC-EC (exploration) But Paul Aquino was still just a pawn to then PNOC group President Tony Callao (he still is PNOC president) who reports to Gloria Aquino, este Arroyo. Well you know who calls the shots. Tony Callao surprisingly, was retained in the post. Well if you remove him you will have to remove the Aquinos in there too, diba?

    Of course these Aquinos have Noynoy’s Momma to thank for why they are in PNOC in the first place. And doubly so because they were there when most of it was sold. Yeah you know what I mean. Grease is the word!

  18. chi chi

    Ay sus, ganun pala ang link ng EnergyDev at Aquinos n’ Gloria! Thanks, tongue.

  19. LCsiao LCsiao

    Doesn’t the Lopez Group through First Gen now “own” EDC, with Paul Aquino then at the helm before and after it was privatized?

  20. LCsiao LCsiao

    Naiintindihan ko naman ang sentimiento ni Grace Poe ukol sa mga alipores ni Gloria Dorobo sa UNA. Pero ang tanong: May ipinagkaiba ba ang mga ito sa mga kasama niya ngayon sa Team PeNoy? Hindi ba niya naaalala ang ginawa ng kanilang malusog na campaign manager sa official canvassing noong 2004 sa Tonggreso, kasama ni Mr. Noted Kubeta?

  21. Sorry, LCsiao, for the mixup. It was PNOC-EC which owned the Petron Brand which was part of the business that was privatized. That went to Uncle Danding via the Ongpin/Recto route in Ashmore. I noticed a few lines did not see print or was erroneously cut and not pasted by myself hehehe.

    PNOC-EDC was the branch that is concerned with PNOC’s Geothermal and other Renewable Energy power-generation biz. That was devoured by the Lopezes through layers of corporate structures those companies were virtually operating in stealth until the deal had been sealed. I’m talking about Red Vulcan, Prime Terracotta, First Holdings, First Philippine Holdings, First Gen, even a surety firm – Lopez Insurance – plus a Real Estate company by the Lopezes (I’m sure I missed one or two more names) all offered and bought EDC from PNOC and its minority owners Gotianun, Aboitiz, San Miguel, not to mention its two partners in winning the bid, 2 companies from Iceland.

    It was a competitive bid and I don’t know if there was much that Paul Aquino can twist to swing the deal over to the Lopezes. Knowing it was done during Gloria’s time, there is
    no way they would favor an easy victory for First Gen.

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