Comelec to Adaza: Name rotten apples in poll fraud

The Commission on Elections on Tuesday challenged lawyer and former lawmaker Homobono Adaza to identify the four poll regional officials who allegedly engaged in poll irregularities in the May 10 automated polls. The poll body "welcomes" Adaza’s claims that a person — whose identity the lawyer refused to disclose — reportedly told him Comelec officials were involved in assuring candidates poll victories in exchange for fees as much as P1 billion. "We would like to have them named. If they can name them in executive session, it doesn't bring any problems to tell the Comelec that we have rotten apples among us," Jimenez told reporters after the House committee hearing on alleged poll fraud. The Comelec's request for identities did not only apply to Adaza but to all individuals — mostly losing candidates in the recently concluded polls — who have so far claimed to have been offered 'pre-programmed' Compact Flash cards before May 10. Among those who claim to have been approached by supposed poll manipulators include the camp of former President Joseph Estrada — second in partial results — as well as defeated gubernatorial candidate Robert Ace Barbers and defeated Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor Jr. "Inaanyayahan namin lahat ng tao na nagsasabi na kumausap sila ng Comelec official o may umalok o kumontrata sa kanila na Comelec official na pangalanan sila," he said. (We are inviting everyone who claim that they have been approached by Comelec officials or have been offered arrangements that would benefit their campaigns to name these same Comelec officials.) Jimenez assured that the Comelec would be more than willing "to throw out" poll officials who would be proven to have connived in alleged election manipulation. During the fourth day of the committee hearing on Tuesday, Adaza — an outspoken lawyer who was a leading opposition figure during the Marcos regime — said his informant did not tell him who the four regional poll officials were. However, he agreed to divulge more details on the alleged poll fraud, including the name of his informant, in an executive session with members of the House Committee on Electoral Reform and Suffrage. Adaza claimed one of the four regional poll officials even bragged that he or she was one of the "operators" in the highly-controversial "Hello, Garci" scandal that cast doubts on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo's victory in the 2004 presidential elections. Aside from Adaza, a number of losing candidates in the local level turned up at Tuesday's hearing to claim that they, too, were cheated in the polls. Among the people who testified on Tuesday were losing mayoral, vice mayoral, and village-level candidates from Cavite, Cebu, and Caloocan City. A losing senatorial candidate from defeated presidential candidate JC de los Reyes' camp — Ang Kapatiran — also showed up to cry poll fraud. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV