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Philippine Election, Politics and Controversies

source : PCIJ   
Friday, 24 August 2007 16:30
{mosimage}Maguindanao elections supervisor Lintang Bedol has his work cut out for him if he plans on helping the Commission on Elections (Comelec) institute electoral reform by talking about how poll cheating is done.

Many poll watchdogs have questioned the sincerity of Bedol’s pronouncements, even as some are saying that they would listen to what he will have to say.

“(It’s a) very welcome development if he is sincere about it," said lawyer Carlos Medina, co-convenor of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente). “He should be prepared to identify people, dates and places."

Andie Lasala, Bantay Eleksyon project coordinator, dismissed Bedol’s statement as insincere, and said that the election supervisor merely said it for media mileage. “He might describe a few processes, but he will not name any names," Lasala said, adding that as many people already knew how cheating is done, it would be more important to identify those behind it.
Volunteers for Clean Elections (V-Force) coordinator Benjamin Tolosa was similarly skeptic. “Should we take that seriously? I don’t know if we can rely on him. If there are more reliable sources, I’d rather take them."

The Comelec held Bedol guilty of indirect contempt for defying the poll body’s orders for him to attend hearings on the controversial election results in Maguindanao. The poll body sentenced Bedol to a six-month imprisonment with a fine of P1,000.

However, whether or not he was involved in alleged electoral fraud in the province that resulted in a statistically improbable 12-0 sweep of administration candidates, catapulting Juan Miguel Zubiri to the 12th and last winning slot in the senatorial race, remains unresolved.

Solons and other critics decried the Comelec ruling as a mere slap on the wrist. Bedol is now a free man, having paid his P15,000 bail.

Even before the 2007 elections, Bedol was already notorious. He was repeatedly mentioned in the “Hello, Garci" tapes which hinted at the massive manipulation of election results in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in 2004.

Then, Bedol was the provincial election supervisor of Maguindanao until he was reassigned to Sultan Kudarat shortly before the May 10, 2004 elections.

He also sat as chairman of the Cotabato City board of canvassers in the 2004 polls. The counts in the two areas turned out to be highly problematic.

The Comelec is holding a three-day assessment conference next week with various stakeholders in order to discuss the problems of the the country’s electoral system.

Whether or not Bedol will be invited to air his views remains to be seen. - Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
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