Party-List Groups, GMA Foes Unite Vs Fraud, Terrorism
Opposition Presidentiables Score Mounting Reports of Cheating

They may be protagonists in the May elections, but opposition presidential bets buried their differences as they agreed to forge a common front against fraud and terrorism which, they said, the incumbent president will commit or is already committing on a massive scale. The united campaign was organized by Bayan Muna last week.

By Alexander Martin Remollino 
Bulatlat.com

UNITED VS. FRAUD (From L-R): Anakpawis nominee Crispin Beltran, Bangon Pilipinas presidential bet Eddie Villanueva, Bayan Muna Rep. Satur Ocampo, Alyansa ng Pag-asa standard bearer Raul Roco, Sen. Gregorio Honasan (representing the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino which is backing up the presidential bid of Fernando Poe, Jr.) and Gary de la Paz of the Youth for Ping Lacson. Photo by Arkibong Bayan

The country’s major political parties and Party-list groups are gearing for a campaign against widespread fraud and terrorism by the Macapagal-Arroyo camp in the coming May elections.

In a launching news conference hosted by the Party-list Bayan Muna last March 23 in Quezon City, the four opposition presidential candidates banded together to forge a common front against fraud and terrorism which, they said, Malacañang is waging and will commit on a massive scale in the presidential elections to give Macapagal-Arroyo a new term.

Organized by Bayan Muna, the Resist Fraud and Terrorism (or Resist) brought together presidential candidates former senator and education secretary Raul Roco; actor Fernando Poe, Jr., represented by Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan; Sen. Panfilo Lacson, represented by Gary dela Paz; and Bro. Eddie Villanueva.

In a statement of solidarity read by Ocampo during the press conference, Resist expressed commitment to “expose and vigorously oppose the use of fraud, repression and other chicanery in the coming elections that would be perpetrated by any party, candidate or group, including the illegal use of state resources.”

The Resist convenors also agreed to launch common actions and mutual assistance “that will uphold and ensure the true expression of the people’s will in the coming elections.”

Teddy Casińo, Bayan Muna’s second party-list nominee, who also emceed the press conference, said Resist organizers will be watching for three kinds of fraud in this election: “First, the incumbent’s use of government funds for campaigns; second, the use of the military and the police to suppress the administration’s opponents; and third, the use of the Comelec (Commission on Elections) itself.”

Worst kind of fraud

Roco of the Alyansa ng Pag-asa, meanwhile, said that aside from the forms of fraud, “there is a worst kind of fraud—the government’s suppression of information regarding its activities.” “The people should know their rights, what candidates should be doing, the right to obtain (information) critical to the election. “The suppression of such information is tantamount to fraud.”

The groups participating in Resist cited reports that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is already committing fraud in her election bid.

In particular, Ocampo noted the diversion of the Medicare funds of the Overseas Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth). The OWWA Medicare fund is a trust fund created with donations from overseas Filipino workers.

In November 2002, Philhealth president Francisco Duque wrote a memorandum to President Arroyo proposing the transfer of the OWWA Medicare funds to the Philhealth, saying that “The proposed transfer will have a significant bearing on the 2004 election.”

Macapagal-Arroyo has recently been giving away Philhealth membership cards bearing her name and picture. While she has told media that she “will continue to distribute (Philhealth cards) because that is what the law provides for, a universal health insurance,” critics from cause-oriented groups, media, and opposition quarters have argued that the distribution of such cards bearing her name and picture is tantamount to electioneering.

The president faces a disqualification case for the distribution of Philhealth cards. The case was filed by the lawyers’ group Pro-Constitution. According to Ramon Rana, who filed the complaint for the group, Arroyo is spending government funds to influence voters.

“Employment program”

The president is also being hit for the use of tarpaulin billboards calling attention to her “employment program” during the election season.

Comelec lawyer Ferdinand Rafanan, until recently public information officer of the Comelec, said that Arroyo’s distribution of Philhealth cards is illegal and she may be disqualified for doing so. He has recently been stripped of his position as Comelec public information officer and reassigned to Eastern Mindanao even as he hails from the north.

Macapagal-Arroyo is also under fire for what critics describe as questionable appointments of Manuel Barcelona, Jr. and Virgilio Garcillano to the Comelec. In a column for the March 24-30 issue of the tabloid-sized Pinoy Weekly, lawyer Remigio Saladero, Jr. noted that Barcelona and Garcillano were appointed at a time when Congress was not in session, thereby allowing them to get away without being grilled by the Commission on Appointments.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism has reported that Barcelona and his son Manuel III donated P500,000 and P100,000, respectively, to Arroyo’s campaign funds when she ran for vice president in 1998.

Garcillano, meanwhile, was the Comelec regional director for Northern Mindanao in 1995, when the dagdag-bawas (vote-padding) scandal broke out. One of the victims, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., who lost in the region which includes his own home province, alleges that Garcillano had a hand in the cheating.

Harassment

Most of the oppositionist presidentiables also said they have been subjected to various forms of harassment by the administration camp. Roco and Lacson have all told, in various media interviews, of being placed under surveillance by the administration camp. They echo the claims of party-list groups—most notably Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Anak ng Bayan Youth Party, and Gabriela Women’s Party—of being targets of political repression.

“We have only a few campaign posters,” Villanueva meanwhile said during the Resist Launching, and these are being removed.”

Also participating in the broad alliance are: Anakpawis, Gabriela Women’s Party, Suara Bangsamoro Party, Anak ng Bayan Youth Party, Migrante Sectoral Party, Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption, Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan All-Filipino Democratic Movement, and Citizens’ Movement for Order. Bulatlat.com

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