Aquino to revisit Mayuga report amid poll fraud claims

President Benigno Aquino III has vowed to revisit the Mayuga report — a report of an inquiry into claims that some military officials were involved in the alleged rigging of the 2004 elections to favor then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo — as he admitted forgetting its contents. “That has not been on the top of the agenda recently. And I’m sorry, I have to recall exactly what I saw in the Mayuga report. I have to get back to you on that. Medyo matagal-tagal na noong dinaanan," he told reporters when asked about the report. Aquino received the report when he was elected president last year. He promised to make public the report when he was running for president. The report was prepared by former Navy Flag Officer-in-Command Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga, who headed the panel tasked to look into alleged cheating in the 2004 elections. Alleged irregularities in the 2004 presidential elections once again reached the headlines after several personalities, including some policemen, surfaced and claimed they had been unwilling participants in the supposed rigging of the elections. Six boxes Aquino said of the six boxes of documents included in the report, he read only the briefer. “I think it’s six boxes worth of documents. Nakita ko lang iyong parang pinaka-briefer. The briefer is like two or three pages. Pero lahat ng ongoing investigations actually impinge on that," he said. He said he cannot remember the briefer because it does not contain much information. “I really don’t remember the details that I saw there. Parang it’s not in the three pages that you will find the issues, it is in the six boxes worth of supporting documents." Aquino said he instructed the Presidential Management Staff last year to “exploit the leads" stated in the report. “I have to follow that up," he said. — Amita O. Legaspi/KBK, GMA News