Fraud: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the May 2004 Elections is a daunting read. With over 400 pages, the book is hefty and heavy; but it is neither the weight nor the number of the pages that makes it difficult to read. It is the dead-serious content. With the 2007 national elections just around the corner, to read Fraud is a must-do.

BY INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Contributed to Bulatlat.com

Fraud: Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the May 2004 Elections is a daunting read. With over 400 pages, the book is hefty and heavy; but it is neither the weight nor the number of the pages that makes it difficult to read. It is the dead-serious content. With the 2007 national elections just around the corner, to read Fraud is a must-do.

Electoral integrity is arguably one of the most important political issues to face the Filipino people since the EDSA 1 uprising and the ouster of then President Ferdinand Marcos. Not since the 1986 elections when Corazon Aquino ran against Marcos has the issue of electoral fraud hogged the headlines. From 2004 up to now, election-related issues like legal deception, graft and corruption have not been resolved. These issues and the consequent failure of the incumbent administration to clear itself and convince the public of its innocence, coupled with incidences of political killings and human rights violations, raised the question of whether or not democracy still exists in the Philippines.

The grounds for righteously questioning the integrity of the May 2004 elections, as laid down all throughout Fraud are simple, straightforward and not easily disputable: the redirection of public funds towards Macapagal-Arroyo’s campaign kitty; the reports from all over the nation regarding the outright manipulation of records of counted and tallied votes; and, last but not the least, Macapagal-Arroyo’s own admission that she did talk to Garcillano on the eve of the polls. In short, the book describes and goes deep into the workings of the system the Macapagal-Arroyo camp established specifically and deliberately to facilitate fraud.

The book leaves no doubt in the readers’ mind as it accuses Macapagal-Arroyo and her allies of committing electoral fraud. Names are mentioned and so are places, dates and circumstances accounted for. From the lowest baranggay (village) official to the high-ranking generals and all the way up to Malacanang, the book does not spare anyone who has had even the slightest involvement in the infamous scheme to give Macapagal-Arroyo another six years in office.

What proved to be unexpected was the naiveté of those responsible for electoral fraud that they would not get caught. Either they underestimated the intelligence and vigilance of concerned groups and individuals or they actually believed that their plan was fool-proof.

What proves to be most infuriating about the May 2004 elections, as the book points out, is that the main perpetrators did not even cover their tracks cleanly. Proof of electoral fraud and related dirty dealings were coming out of the woodwork and there were periodic reports affirming the desperation of Macapagal-Arroyo to remain in power.

The book gives a comprehensive and detailed look into the circumstances that surrounded the May 2004 elections. The term “blow-by-blow account” comes to mind, as the book contains, among others, the complete findings and recommendations of the Citizens’ Congress for Truth and Accountability (CCTA); and the True Report, or the report made by the Minority bloc of the 13th Congress of the House of Representatives on the presidential polls.

Dark Panoply of Forms of Fraud

The May 2004 electoral fraud came in a dark panoply of forms. As dissected in the book, fraud, Macapagal-Arroyo style, ranged from procedural violations of electoral law (violations which the book asserts were intended to distort the poll results), to the outright use of violence, harassment and political repression not only against voters, but even against the media, independent observers, incidental and accidental whistle-blowers, members of the political opposition and progressive party-list groups and people’s organizations. To ensure Macapagal-Arroyo’s victory, her henchmen did not stop at ballot-rigging. Even as they evidently saw ballot rigging – vote shaving and padding – as integral parts of electoral competition, they must have resolved that it would not be enough.

In the introduction titled “Fraud in the 2004 elections,” Rodolfo Desuasido traces the steps the administration camp took to ensure Macapagal-Arroyo’s victory in May 2004. He refreshes the readers’ memory and reminds them of the scandals that hogged the headlines and were eventually exposed to be among the first elements of the Arroyo camp’s game plan – redirecting the 2003 national budget; siphoning public funds and using them for Macapagal-Arroyo’s promotion and publicity campaign; assigning henchmen to key positions in the National Printing Office (NPO) – which prints the ballots and other official election paraphernalia) – and the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Desuasido also gives a detailed description of how the electoral fraud was perpetrated, first with the expertise of “master operator” former Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, and then with the railroading of the canvassing of election returns in Congress. He reminds the reader of the infamous day and hour, June 23 at 3 a.m., when Macapagal-Arroyo was proclaimed winner of the May 2004 polls, with 1.1 million votes more than her closest rival, Fernando Poe Jr. The Arroyo camp tried to cover all bases – it even instigated a brutal smear campaign with below-the-belt attacks against Poe. This was aimed not only at undermining public confidence in the latter, but more decisively to have Poe disqualified and his candidacy nullified.

The book’s introduction, short but comprehensive, prepares the reader for the mind-blowing and staggering amount of information and testimonies from many sources pointing out the crimes of Macapagal-Arroyo long before and in preparation for the May 2004 polls.

Comprehensive Bulk of Evidence

According to electoral fraud analysts¸ political competition dictates the nature of electoral fraud. Efforts to steal elections become more obvious depending on the resources and ruthlessness of the political competitors. The desperation to win even through cheating –not only with the use of military might and the outlay of millions of funds – determines the strategies candidates adopt.

Judging from what was implemented by the fraud masterminds and as documented by the CCTA, the members of the Minority during the investigations of the House of Representatives and the independent investigation of the media, there was an attempt to elevate cheating to a higher level than just plain vote-buying, ballot switching or ballot snatching.

Fraud includes the verbatim transcription of the testimonies of four experts who testified how the fraud was committed in May 2004, namely Segundo Tabayoyong, Hermenegildo Estrella Jr., Francisco Alcuaz and Roberto Verzola. They explained the various means by which fraud was done like highly irregular thumbprints in countless election returns and clean taras in many other ERs.

Add these sworn testimonies to the comprehensive bulk of evidence that the elections were fixed and what you’ll have is a highly compelling and urgent reason to demand the President’s ouster: (a) anecdotal evidence from voters – e.g., lack of indelible ink and other election paraphernalia, incomplete list of candidates and party-list groups, lack of security and authenticity of election materials; (b) massive disenfranchisement of voters ranging from 800,000 to three million; (c) partisan activities of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP); (d) impossible and improbable voting results – e.g. GMA winning landslide victories in baranggays, provinces or regions arguably acknowledged as bailiwicks of other presidential candidates; more votes reported than registered voters, and negative total number of votes; (e) exit poll discrepancies – accurate polls in precincts with validated ballots, inaccurate polls in other precincts and all discrepancies favoring GMA or her party; and (e) statistical and qualitative analyses of these anomalies.

Verzola’s article on the results of the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) and the author’s conclusions based on the NAMFREL tally all the more demolishes the credibility of Arroyo’s claim to victory. He, however, also strongly hints at the shortcomings deliberate or not on Namfrel’s part. He offers criticism against Namfrel’s refusal to release their official breakdown despite the strong urging of the opposition, the media and election watchers. “If NAMFREL releases this breakdown, we might be able to narrow down the probable range (between GMA’s and FPJ’s votes) and get closer to the truth,” Verzola writes.

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