Ballot boxes and poll documents were among those seized by the military during the raid of Ampatuan homes in Maguindanao last weekend following the declaration of Martial Law in the province.
Why were election documents and paraphernalia being kept in Ampatuan residences?
The declaration of Martial Law in Maguindanao (except in ‘MILF areas’) has raised fears that the move is part of a larger, sinister scheme by the Macapagal-Arroyo administration to stay in power beyond June 2010 as the country’s chief executive as well as ‘destroy evidence’ of the fraud committed by the Ampatuan clan on Arroyo’s behalf to ‘secure’ her victory in the 2004 elections. The Daily Tribune reports:
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said he received information that election officials assigned to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have been ordered to examine and take custody of the poll documents.
Pimentel believed the documents are key to prove the rigging of results in the 2004 polls that enabled President Arroyo to win another six-year term as president and for administration candidates to sweep the senatorial race in the province in 2007.
“The Ampatuans have threatened that if the government
would nail them down, they would reveal what really happened in the past two elections,” he said.
COMELEC has asked the military to turn over the confiscated ballot boxes and poll documents to the poll body.
It would interesting to find out what those ballot boxes and poll documents contain.
To jog our memory of the election fraud committed in Maguindanao for Macapagal-Arroyo’s benefit, see the extract below on the Maguindanao elections from the report of the Minority Members of the Joint Committee of Congress, the body which canvassed the votes for presidential and vice-presidential candidates in the May 10, 2004 elections.
85. MAGUINDANAO
The following observations were made:
1. The Committee denied the request of counsel for candidate Poe to have a power point presentation showing that the provincial COC for Maguindanao is a product of fictitious and spurious votes coming from 11 municipalities, which have a turnout of 99.99%, with all the votes going to candidate GMA and zero for candidate Poe.
2. In the municipality of Ampatuan, the number of registered voters is 9,616; election turnout was 27.67%. The manufactured election results are as follows: Arroyo got 9,321 or 100% of all the votes cast in the town of Ampatuan, while FPJ got zero or 0% of all the votes in the town of Ampatuan.
3. In Datu Piang, 17,688 registered voters; 97.56% voters actually voted. Actually received, 17,250 [for GMA], while FPJ received zero.
4. In Sahriff (sic) Aguak, with registered voters of 22,854. There was a turnout of 99.89% and Arroyo received 22,754 or 99.98%, while Poe was given 5 or .02%.
5. In Datu Saudi Ampatuan, registered voters—9,974; election turn out—94.67%. Manufactured results for Arroyo was 8,944 but FPJ got only 5.
6. In Mamasapano, with registered voters of 10,503, election turn out was 98.14%. Arroyo received 10,192 or 99.78%, and they gave Poe 22 votes.
7. In Datu Unsay, registered voters total 7,970. There was a turnout of 99.69%, and Arroyo received 7,905 or 99.05%, while FPJ was given 40 or .05%.
8. In Datu Abdullah Sanki, with 6,866 registered voters, voter turnout was 89.08%. Arroyo received 6,045 or 99.02%. FPJ received 60 votes.
9. In Talayan, where there are 7,114 registered voters, we have a turnout of 93.49% and we have here 6,777 for Arroyo or 97%, 174 votes for Poe.
10. The same is true with Gindulungan, Buluan, Ampaglat. All of these have a voting percentage of 93% and above and in all these places, candidate FPJ received very minimal votes.
11. The total of all these 11 towns in Maguindanao is 109,151 for Arroyo, and FPJ gets 1,471. In other words, for all of these towns, Arroyo received 98.71%. FPJ received 1.29%.
12. There were no elections in these places in Maguindanao. In fact, petitions for the exclusion from canvass of the municipal COCs from these municipalities were filed on May 12, 6:10 pm, on the ground that no elections took place.
13. The following alterations and erasures were noted by counsel for candidate Villanueva.
In Precincts 118-A/123-B, under SOV/P No. 000708, Municipality of Datu Udin Sinsuat, GMA’s 57 votes was (sic) changed to 67.
In Precinct 10-A the 120 votes of candidate Legarda was (sic) changed to 50.
In Precinct No. 1A in the Municipality of Barira, the 10 votes of GMA was (sic) changed to 140.
14. Only 31 Election Returns, out of an expected 1,687, were turned over to the Senate by the Provincial Board of Canvassers.
15. Congressman Dilangalen of Maguindanao confirmed that no elections took place in the municipalities mentioned by the counsel for candidate Poe, and that it was really improbable for any candidate to have gotten 100% of the votes in those municipalities even if elections really did take place. [He] mentioned that [he] has many relatives in those places, specially Datu Piang, who were out and out for candidate Poe.
A request for the opening of the election returns for Maguindanao was flatly rejected by the Committee.
Nothwithstanding the foregoing observation, [in] which case [cast] doubt as to the veracity of those votes indicated for the candidate, and despite continuing reservation and objection against a canvass, the authenticity of the canvass documents not having been proved, there being no submission by the COMELEC of the security marks to serve as basis for determination of authenticity, and, even if there was absolute lack of improper identification of the canvass documents, the Committee simply noted the same and proceeded to canvass the COC for Maguindanao.
The Committee was chaired by Raul M. Gonzales (for the House), who later became Arroyo’s justice secretary, and Francis Pangilinan (for the Senate), the latter earning the monicker, ‘Mr. Noted’, for his ‘notable’ performance in the 2004 canvass of the presidential and vice-presidential votes.
The emphases (in bold) were added and, for purposes of clarity, minor style edits (in brackets) were made.
A copy of the Minority Report can be downloaded from this page.
A reprint of the Minority Report can also be found in the edited volume, Fraud: Gloria M. Arroyo and the May 2004 Elections, edited by Bobby M. Tuazon, with preface by Temario C. Rivera, published by CenPEG (Center for People Empowerment in Governance), Quezon City, Philippines, 2006, pages 309-420.
