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HOW GMA CHEATED AND STOLE THE 2004 ELECTIONS By Jose del Pilar and Alpha Company Part 1 of 4 Parts
Introduction : Many articles were written on how the peoples’ will was thwarted by GMA in the 2004 elections. This series will consolidate the critical items and details to tell the people how the massive cheating was done. We will expose and explain the methods used and show the actual evidences; and indicate the extent and the implications of these to the election results. Although these details have been presented in selected fora and distributed in videos, we intend to reach the multitudes of people, particularly the soldiers and police, who were not able to join us or get the videos. We want them to be informed about the legitimacy issue of their Commander-in-Chief and the involvement of their top brass so they can decide for themselves.
Part 1: “Hello Garci” Conversations and the Vote Tampering in Mindanao
With the words “We, the sovereign Filipino people …“ the Constitution of the Republic of the Philippines makes clear that in our democracy, the people ARE sovereign. This is ELABORATED further in the very first section of our Declaration of Principles and State Policies: “The Philippines is a democratic and republican State. Sovereignty resides in the people and all government authority emanates from them.”
This is why candidates declare their intentions to run. By doing so, they recognize that they must seek a mandate from the people.
Sometimes, candidates say one thing and then do another. GMA is the prime example.
In December 30, 2002, on Rizal Day, she stated (Fig. 1.):
“I have decided not to run for President during the 2004 election. If I were to run, it will require a major political effort on my part since I am among the principal figures in the divisive national events in the last two or three years. My political efforts can only result in never ending divisiveness.”
But in October 1, 2003, ten months later, she announced her candidacy as President in the 2004 elections (Fig. 2.)
Fig. 1 GMA: “I have decided not to run ...” Fig. 2 GMA: “I am running.”
This is well within their right, because in the end, the important thing is they will submit themselves to the voters.
It is our right to vote that guarantees our equality - for only on voting day is each Filipino - rich or poor, young or old, powerful or weak - on the same footing as any other, ONE PERSON – ONE VOTE.
This is why everyone should be responsible for protecting the sanctity of the ballot. In our right to vote lies the essence of our equality as well as of our sovereign authority as a people. It should therefore be clear why our right to vote is sacred and why everyone should be responsible for protecting the sanctity of the ballot. Everyone, including the highest official of our land.
But what happens if it is the highest official of the land who violates that sacred right to vote, and manipulates the exercise of our sovereign power?
On June 6, 2005, Malacanang revealed the existence of audio tapes previously unknown to the public. Secretary Bunye said the original tape contained the President's conversations with a political leader whom he did not identify. (Fig. 3.)
Fig. 3 Secretary Bunye: “I have two discs.”
Less than a month later, however, GMA came out on national TV and said (Fig. 4.):
“I was anxious to protect my votes and during that time had conversations with many people, including a Comelec official.
I recognize that making any such call was a lapse in judgment. I am sorry.”
Fig. 4 GMA: “I am sorry . . .”
What was she sorry about? Her calls to a “Comelec official?”
[She called Commissioner Garcillano 15 times, recorded in the Hello Garci tapes from May 26 to June 10, 2004, well AFTER the elections are over.]
And what are the implications of those conversations?
May 29, 2004 19 days AFTER election:
GMA: Hello…Garci. Garci: Hello, Ma’am, good morning … GMA: So, will I still lead by more than 1 M overall? ... Garci: Pipilitin ho natin yan ... GMA: Ah, ok, ok.
May 28, 2004 18 days AFTER election
Garci: Hello, good evening ma’am. GMA: The FPJ camp raw will file a case raw against the Board of Canvassers and the military in Marawi? Garci: Hindi naman ho siguro nila maa-ano yung ating Board of Canvassers, pero ang military, kasi si Gudani, sa kanila si Gudani. I do not know why they will file. GMA: Oo, oo. Garci: Sa kanila si Gudani ma’am. In fact that’s why we have, I have to work with Gen. Esperon and Gen. Kiamco na at that time, pinalitan namin si Gudani for a while. Kaya kwan, pero bakit nila file-filan yang mga military na sa kanila lahat. Halos ayaw na nga mag-give way sa aming mga tao.
June 4, 2004 25 days AFTER election
Garci: Hello. GMA: Hello, Garci? Anong gagawin natin dun sa NAMFREL presscon, yung NAMFREL Lanao del Sur. Garci: Ah, inaano ko. Meron na ho akong kopya ng ifinax ni Nobong, yung kay Dalidig (Lanao del Sur Provincial Chairman, NAMFREL). But that is not true because I have already here my staff whom I assigned Lanao Sur. Pagkatapos ho si Rey Sumalipao the supervisor is coming and then we will also try to make him say something after this. GMA: Uhm-um. Garci: Pagsasalitahin ko sila ho without me letting people know that I am the one who will address it ho. Ganun lang po ang kwanin natin, sige po ma’am. GMA: Ok, ok.
May 31, 2004 21 days AFTER election
Garci: Hello, ma’am. GMA: Hello, tsaka ano yung kabila, they’re trying to get the Namfrel copies of the Municipal COCs. Garci: Namfrel copies ho? GMA: Uhm-um. Garci: Ay wala naman, ok naman ang Namfrel sa atin. They are now sympathetic to us. GMA: Oo, oo. Pero you have to make sure that Namfrel does some tally. Pero yun nga, yung dagdag, yung dagdag.
June 2, 2004 23 days AFTER election
Garci: Hello, ma’am. Good evening. GMA: Hello, tungkol dun sa Lanao del Sur at Basilan, di raw nagma-match ang SOV* sa COC* … Garci: Hindi na nag-match? May posibilidad na hindi mag-match kung hindi nila sinunod iyong individual SOV ng mga munisipyo … Dun naman sa Basilan at Lanao del Sur, ito ho yung ginawa nilang pataas sa inyo. Maayos na naman ang paggawa eh. GMA: So nag-mamatch.
Note 1. SOV – Statement of Votes. The election document that contains the accumulated votes in each municipality of the province. The vote total of each candidate in these municipalities should equal that of the candidate’s vote total COC.
Note 2. COC – Certificate of Canvass. The election document that contains the vote total of each candidate in the province.
So what was the result of these conversations?
The provincial totals from Lanao del Sur shows that in the election returns (ERs), FPJ is leading with 81% of the votes and GMA had 19%. The Namfrel partial tally still showed FPJ in the lead. But the final Provincial COC counted by Congress showed GMA ahead with 75% of the vote against FPJ’s 25%. The total votes affected by the very obvious “dagdag-bawas” were 226,120. (See Fig. 5. Totals- LANAO DEL SUR.)
Fig. 5 Totals- LANAO DEL SUR
June 7, 2004 28 days AFTER election
Garci: Hello. GMA: Hello, did you get my text about the Tipo-Tipo? Garci: Oho, oho Ma’am kwan ho, that’s what I’m being fearful about. Kung si Rashma Hali * yun, that’s why we’re asking people to look for her so that we can control her. GMA: She’s probably already being held by them. Garci: Ma’am? GMA: She’s being held by them already. Garci: She is here, that’s why if it is possible we will ask her family to call her up from Zamboanga.
June 7, 2004 3 hours later
GMA: Hello, ano nahanap na ninyo? Garci: Ma’am? GMA: Ano nahanap na ninyo iyong sa Tipo-tipo? Garci: Tipo-tipo, hindi pa. Ang inaano nila ngayon kaya nga...(line cut)
Note 3. HADJA RASHMA HALI – The Election Officer of the Municipality of Tipo-Tipo, Basilan who reported the election anomalies done in her area to favor GMA. She and her family were threatened with kidnapping.
As a result, the vote totals in Tipo-Tipo showed FPJ leading with 71% and GMA with 29% as per the ERs. But the Provincial Statement of Votes had FPJ down to 25% and GMA with 75%. The total votes affected by “dagdag-bawas” were 15,105. (See Fig. 6. Totals- TIPO-TIPO, BASILAN.)
Fig. 6 Totals- Tipo-Tipo, BASILAN
In the province of Basilan, the ERs show that FPJ was ahead 88% against GMA’s 12%. At that point, GMA had 10,198 votes against FPJ’s 73,274. The Municipal COC shows a marked decrease for FPJ to 58% and an increase for GMA to 42%. In the Provincial COC, we see FPJ down to 38% with 48,685 votes and GMA finishing at 62% with 79,702 votes. (See Fig. 7. Totals- BASILAN.)
Fig. 7 Totals- BASILAN
May 27, 2004 17 days AFTER election
GMA: Hello, meron tayong Statement of Votes at E.R. para sa Sulu? Garci: Oo ma’am, meron po. GMA: Nagco-correspond ? Garci: Oo ma’am. Lahat ho meron, hindi po namin ika-count kung ... GMA: Ok, ok.
May 29, 2004 19 days AFTER election
Garci: Hello ma’am. Tumawag raw kayo. GMA: Sabi nung kabila, nagpla-plano sila among themselves, meron daw silang mga affidavits from teachers and Board of Canvassers na they witnessed and were made to cheat. Garci: Wala naman hong… san ho kaya? Yung kwan ho kanina, yung Pangutaran (Sulu) it was like this. It's true na, yung nag-appear doon, nabaligtad si FPJ. Sa canvassing sa province, ang result yung din hong original ang nalagay because the words and figures were not changed. Kasi sila Gen. Habacon ba, hindi masyadong marunong pa dyan …
As a result, in Sulu, the fight between FPJ and GMA was made to appear to be close. The ERs show FPJ leading but the lead changes with the Municipal COCs and Provincial COC. As per Garci’s description, the operators in Sulu are not too adept in the game of “dagdag-bawas.” Total votes affected were 53,893. (See Fig. 8. Totals- SULU.)
Fig. 8 Totals- SULU.
As they became public, the taped conversation revealed a pattern of plotting and planning designed to subvert the very foundations of the sovereignty of the Filipino people as exercised through the sacred right of suffrage.
Again and again, there were these conversations …
May 26, 2004 16 days AFTER election
GMA: Hello, Hello. Garci: Hello ma’am good morning po. GMA: Oo, oo. Si ano, si Biazon nagbabanta, kung madadaya daw siya papabuksan daw niya yung sa ... at sa Tawi-tawi, eh baka raw ako ang madale doon... Garci: Baka nga ho ... (line faded, cut)
In Tawi-Tawi: From the ERs, FPJ has 79% of the votes and GMA had 21%. FPJ still won but by a smaller margin. He was reduced to 60% and GMA grew to 40%. Obviously, the threat from Biazon prevented the “baligtaran” pattern. Still, vote shaving or “dagdag-bawas” was implemented, affecting 27,236 votes. (See Fig. 9. Totals- TAWI-TAWI.)
Fig. 9 Totals- TAWI-TAWI.
Garcillano’s action to GMA’s calls were not limited to the above provinces. His operations and influence were also obvious in the election results in Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat;
If you think the “baligtad” pattern was strange, take a look at Maguindanao. (See Fig. 10. Totals- MAGUINDANAO.)
In Maguindanao, there were 11 municipalities that had no elections. These are referred to as “command areas,” where the local officials control the voting. But look, they have results! Of course, it shows GMA getting 99% or 109,151 votes. FPJ got 1,416 votes or a measly 1%.
In the 16 municipalities where elections were help, FPJ got 41% and GMA 59%.
Fig. 10 Totals- MAGUINDANAO
The provincial totals for Sultan Kudarat show that the ERs had FPJ at 68% and GMA at 32%. The Municipal COCs show FPJ still ahead at 62% and GMA climbing at 38%. But in the Provincial COC, FPJ was pushed down to 24% and GMA soared to 76%. The total votes affected by “dagdag-bawas” were 151,971. (See Fig. 11. Totals – SULTAN KUDARAT.)
Fig. 11 Totals – SULTAN KUDARAT
Here is the total effect of “dagdag-bawas” in these Mindanao provinces in favor of GMA:
for a grand total of 661,044. As a result of the tampering by Garcillano and his operators in Mindanao, GMA got what she wanted and asked Garcillano in May 29, 2004: “Will I still lead by 1 M, overall?” She was proclaimed by Congress as the winner with a fabricated margin, nationwide, of 1,063,772.
To keep the truth from coming out, legal obstacles were erected.
It started on September 28, 2005. Brig. General Francisco Gudani was called to testify before a Senate committee. In defiance to Executive Order 464 issued early that morning by Malacanang, forbidding members of the Cabinet or the Armed Forces to testify without the express permission of the President, Gen. Gudani appeared at the hearing, accompanied by his comrade at arms, Marine Col. Alexander Balutan. (Fig. 12. Gen. Gudani Testifying in the Senate.)
Eloquent and with disarming honesty, Gudani uncovered the sinister scheme to rig the elections in Mindanao.
“This is the only place where I saw cheating from start to end,” he said of Lanao del Sur, where Mrs. Arroyo won. “They were herding voters from other towns” to polling centers while politicians handed out money to buy votes, he said.
He said an unnamed friend of his had helped the President’s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, personally deliver bundles of money.
He was told that an estimated P500 million was sent to Mindanao for vote-buying. But he did not identify his source.
Fig. 12 Gen. Gudani Testifying in the Senate.
GMA herself believes she won “fair and square:” In her interview with Korina Sanchez in Malacanang after her “I am sorry”, GMA said:
“I won the elections, fair and square. I won the elections, every survey, international monitors and the CBCP said so.”
The full force of government was used to repress the truth and to tell lies over and over again in the hope that in time, it would become the truth.
Later, these were all struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional.
From the above situation, all the people saw was simply a fight between two political factions and the need to answer the question: "Sino ang ipapalit?"
In the process, we were made to believe that this was all political bickering; at worst, if indeed the administration cheated, so what? Her main opponent was dead and everyone cheats anyway.
What most people failed to see - or were not allowed to see - was that this was all about respect for the sovereign authority of the Filipino People, as embodied in the Constitution.
In just the brief scenarios above, GMA COMMITTED CULPABLE VIOLATIONS OF THE CONSTITUTION.
· She destroyed the integrity of the democratic, electoral process
· She committed illegal conversations with Commissioner Garcillano (in the “Hello Garci” recordings) where she ordered the:
1. Delay the canvassing of election returns in Mindanao in order to synchronize the cheating and changing of election results.
2. Manipulation of election returns, certificates of canvass and statements of votes in ARMM and other Mindanao provinces.
3. Use of military and police for partisan political activity favoring GMA.
4. Manipulation of election results to ensure that GMA will lead not less than one million votes nationwide.
5. Increase of votes for GMA and shaving of votes of her opponents.
6. Abet the kidnapping of Rashma Hali to prevent the exposure of cheating for GMA in Tipo-Tipo, Basilan.
· She influenced and allowed her operators in Comelec to revise the electoral data to suit her fraudulent plan.
As GMA had said “I am sorry . . for my lapse in judgment ... ,” it is good to remember the response of Susan Roces, FPJ’s widow in her press conference of June 29, 2005 at Club Filipino (Fig. 13):
“Mrs. Arroyo. Habang pinagmamasdan kita … sa iyong paghingi ng paumanhin sa amin . . . mga taong-bayan . . . Kitang-kita ko sa iyong mga mata, hindi nanggagaling sa iyong puso . . . and iyong sorry!
Ang sinungaling ay kapatid ng magnanakaw.
Hindi ko matatanggap ang itong sorry!”
Fig. 13 Susan Roces: FPJ’s widow in Club Filipino
She was angry. And she had a right to be angry.
The question is: shouldn’t we all be?
Let us be reminded of what Susan Roces finally said then to the Filipino People:
"Tuwing araw lamang ng halalan tayo tunay na pantay-pantay, mayaman man o mahirap. Tig-iisa lang tayo ng boto … kaya iyon ay sagrado."
THEREFORE, WE MUST:
ACCOUNTABLE TO YOU, TO ME, TO ALL OF US, THE SOVEREIGN FILIPINO PEOPLE.
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In Summary: We have told you about Garci’s participation as directed by GMA in the massive cheating in 2004 elections. In the succeeding parts, we will tell you the manufacturing of election returns before the elections, featuring those for the Pampanga, Cebu, Iloilo and Bohol provinces (the PCIB area); and the preparatory work to facilitate this unprecedented and premeditated electoral fraud. We will also reveal what we believe is the true result of the 2004 elections.
For comments: Please email josedelpilar@sundalo.com
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PART 2. The Fabrication of Election Results BEFORE the Elections
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