Surprise Witness
Hadji Abdullah Dalidig
was a picture of calm when he testified at the second session of the
Citizens’ Congress for Truth and Accountability. Just as he was calm when
he faced Namfrel chairman Jose Concepcion, who kept banging on the table,
and Lanao del Sur provincial election supervisor Ray Sumalipao, who
theatrically promised to kill himself if election fraud is proven to be
true, during the Nov. 17 Senate hearing.
BY ALEXANDER MARTIN
REMOLLINO
Bulatlat
He was the
picture of calm as he testified on alleged fraud in Lanao del Sur province
in Mindanao, southern Philippines during the 2004 election before the
Citizens’ Congress for Truth and Accountability (CCTA) on Nov. 9 and
before the Senate Committee on National Defense and Security on Nov. 17.
He certainly didn’t look like a man who had to travel under close security
because of threats to his life, and one who was being tempted with bribery
attempts left and right.
He was the
surprise witness at the second session of the CCTA, held Nov. 9 at the
College of Social Work and Community Development, University of the
Philippines (UP CSWCD). He was calm even as lawyers said he had to sneak
past “agents” of the administration camp who were monitoring the
proceedings.
He kept his
cool even as during the Nov. 17 Senate hearing, his adversaries National
Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) chairman Jose Concepcion
was banging the table with his fists and Comelec-Lanao del Sur provincial
election supervisor Ray Sumalipao was vowing he would kill himself if it
was proven that there was fraud in the said province during the 2004
election.
|
Hadji Abdullah Dalidig
PHOTO BY
ALEXANDER MARTIN REMOLLINO |
He is Hadji
Abdullah Dalidig, Lanao del Sur provincial chairman of the National
Movement for Free Election (Namfrel), a non-government poll watchdog. He
has been chairman of Namfrel-Lanao del Sur since 1992.
His
revelations were shocking, to say the least.
Namfrel’s
summary of provincial election returns, he said, showed that opposition
presidential candidate Fernando Poe, Jr. was leading President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo, 42,374 to 32,389 while the opposition vice presidential
candidate Loren Legarda was ahead of the administration’s Noli de Castro,
56,568 to 23,242 in Lanao del Sur.
But the
congressional tally of certificates of canvass showed Macapagal-Arroyo
garnering 128,301 votes while Poe got 43,302. In the special elections
held in Lanao del Sur towns where failure of elections was declared,
Macapagal-Arroyo is supposed to have received 30,447 votes to Poe’s 6,805.
A college
dropout, Dalidig has nonetheless been many things. For several years since
the late 1950s, he worked at the Bureau of Customs. He is also a media
practitioner, currently having three radio programs and one TV program in
his home province.
As a media
practitioner, he prides himself in exerting efforts toward promotion of
peace and understanding between his fellow Muslims and the Christian
majority. He related that once, when a mosque was bombed in Iligan City,
Lanao del Norte, he promptly went on air calling on the people to refrain
from using violence, and that, he said, prevented retaliations.
Before
becoming chairman of Namfrel-Lanao del Sur, he was known as the founder of
the Islamic Movement for Electoral Reforms and Good Governance (IMERGG).
The said organization, he said, aimed for what he called the
“Islamization” of politics: the elimination of vote-buying, bribery, and
other forms of fraud. In 1992, Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla tapped
the IMERGG to serve as the Namfrel in Lanao del Sur and some parts of
Lanao del Norte.
He had
attempted to expose the fraud in Lanao del Sur as early as last year, he
says, but neither the election officials nor the top Namfrel leadership
paid attention to him.
Bulatlat
interviewed Dalidig after his appearance at the Nov. 17 Senate hearing.
Below are excerpts from the interview:
This whole
issue about the so-called “Hello Garci” tapes, pertaining to alleged fraud
in the 2004 presidential election, is being depicted by the administration
camp as merely a plot by the opposition to discredit and thus destabilize
the Macapagal-Arroyo government. For the record and for the benefit of our
readers, do you know the late opposition presidential candidate Fernando
Poe, Jr?
I really
don’t know Fernando Poe, Jr. I only see him in the movies. Muslims idolize
Fernando Poe, Jr. But I’ve never met that fellow, I only hear about his
name.
You said in
your testimony before the Citizens’ Congress last Nov. 9 that the election
in Lanao del Sur was the dirtiest. What made you say so?
As I said,
since 1992 I’ve been in the Namfrel. It was only in last year’s election
that I saw fraud committed there on such a massive scale. First, they
bribed everyone involved in the election. Second, our Namfrel volunteers
and even some party inspectors were not allowed to enter the polling
places during the canvassing.
You know, it
was also suspicious that the only votes being canvassed were those for the
local candidates. For the national candidates, the election returns were
canvassed but the certificates of canvass were done somewhere else. So
what came out was what they wanted to come out.
So everyone
was bought there. I think I can say that I’ve been the only one there so
far who has dared to say what actually transpired.
What do you
think there was in Lanao del Sur that fraud on such a large scale took
place there?
You know,
that is one of our problems. Because our leaders are like robots, they are
controlled by whichever political camp that comes to power. We are ashamed
of what happened.
Before you
came out with these testimonies in the Citizens’ Congress and in the
Senate, what other efforts did you make to expose the cheating in Lanao
del Sur?
I did it
through the media, the local media. And then, it was elevated here.
Because you know, I am a mediaman also. That is why it is very easy for me
to reveal what is going on. Namfrel chairman Joe Concepcion says I am
employed by the opposition. No. It’s very easy for me to call a press
conference because I am a mediaman, I talk with my brothers there in
Cagayan de Oro and Lanao del Sur and I have contacts with the media here
in Manila. That is why it is very easy for me to have a press conference.
It is not
the opposition that arranges that. But the opposition has a participation
in that because they want the truth to come out. They have also
contributed.
How
difficult has it been to be coming out with all these, shall we say,
damning evidence of fraud? Have you experienced any form of harassment or
any attempt at bribery?
Yes, the
people working with me, they have affidavits. There are threats from the
military and some election officers. It was really difficult for us to get
copies of the election returns and certificates of canvass.
Bribery
attempts? There have been so many. Since I first came out with my expose
on July 4, 2004 there were so many bribery attempts. They promised me
millions in exchange for turning over my evidences. They offered big
positions. But I was never tempted by these offers. There are offers being
made, even today – even at the last hour before I spoke in the Senate.
So far, what
do you think has given you the strength to resist all these harassments
and bribery attempts?
I am proud,
very proud, of being Muslim. You know, my faith in Allah that gave me the
strength. Money is not important, position is not important, for a Muslim.
What is important is the pleasure of Allah.
You can
stand against temptation because of Allah, then you know that Allah is
very pleased with you.
I know there
will be more threats against me. There could be someone out there who
wants to do to me the worst things – after all it is the President I am
going against. But who cares? If I die, I die at the pleasure of Allah. I
would have nothing to regret. Bulatlat
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