i Report Issue No. 3 2005 - Philippine Center for Investigative ...

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likewise rebutted Zuce’s charges. But Comelec regional director Helen A. Flores, who was not in any of the meetings Zuce said took place from 2002 to 2004, says Garcillano, through his security officer and nephew Capt. Valentino Lopez, had offered her P50 million to rig the 2004 polls. Flores says she spurned the offer. Four days before election day, she was relieved as regional director for the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao and moved to Region 9 (Western Mindanao). Lopez, now with the Army Headquarters Support Group, denies involvement in the bribery attempt. ZUCE’S MINDANAO TRIPS On August 10, Capt. Marlon Mendoza, a former Intelligence Service officer assigned as Garcillano’s chief security officer during the polls, surfaced to say he flew to Mindanao on May 11, 2004 on Garcillano’s order, and accompanied Zuce when the latter visited Lanao del Norte and Cotabato City. Mendoza told the Senate he saw Zuce handing Lanao provincial election supervisor Ray Sumalipao a “large amount of cash in an envelope” on May 12. A Comelec director in Cotabato City also received cash from Zuce on May 14, he said. Mendoza said that by May 16, he and Zuce were in Iligan City. As their group was having lunch in a restaurant there, he heard someone say, “Huling binibilang ang balota sa area ng Lanao del Norte at Lanao del Sur para makakuha ng dagdag (The ballots from Lanao del Norte and Lanao del Sur will be the last to be counted so we can increase these) if GMA will lose in other areas in the country.” In a recorded May 29 conversation with Garcillano, the president had asked pointedly, “So will I still lead by more than one million (votes)?” The commissioner replied that her rival’s count was high but “mag-compensate po sa Lanao ‘yan (that will be com- pensated in Lanao).” At the time, the counting of votes from seven towns in Lanao del Sur’s 39 provinces was far from over. Zuce says his uncle sent him to Mindanao to coordinate with the Comelec personnel there. He says the region’s “special operations” headed by Ernesto ‘Butch’ Paquingan, a political consultant based in Cagayan de Oro City, helped in ensuring Arroyo’s victory. Zuce says Paquingan was reporting directly to then Executive Secretary Romulo. Paquingan has called Zuce a liar. Zuce, he added, told him the opposition had offered him P4 million to P5 million to testify against Arroyo. But an old hand in electoral RIGGING THE COUNT. “Special operations” in Mindanao supposedly widened Arroyo’s lead. campaigns says Zuce worked with Paquingan in previous polls, including the 1998 elections. Many candidates for national position also engaged Paquingan’s services to help them win in Mindanao, says the campaign veteran. In his Senate testimony, Mendoza said Garcillano sent him to Cagayan de Oro on May 11, 2004 as security officer for Zuce, Paquingan, “King James,” and a certain “Jun L. Bamboo” of the Presidential Management Services. He identified Paquingan as “a consultant related to DFA Secretary Romulo” and “King James” as George Goking, whom he said was Arroyo’s close friend. In the “Hello, Garci” tapes, there are two recorded conversations between the Comelec commissioner and Zuce. The first was on May 28, 2004 when Garcillano asked Zuce and Goking, a Cagayan de Oro businessman who is also a director of the Philippine Amusements and Gaming Corporation (Pagcor), to come to his house for a meeting. Zuce, who confirmed to the Senate that he was among those recorded in the “Hello, Garci” tapes, called the commissioner again on June 16 to say he and “George” (apparently Goking) were at Harrison Plaza. In both conversations, Zuce addressed Garcillano as “’cle,” short for uncle. The campaign veteran says Mindanao is home to many freelance operators, including businessmen, who help candidates by buying votes for them. Zuce had been Garcillano’s conduit to some of these key players, according to the source. “(The operators) join Senate party coalitions if not hired by a senatorial candidate,” says the campaign expert. “Then they moonlight toward the finish line either buying votes or doing presidential campaigns. After the campaign, they are hired as political officers.” The campaign veteran says the operators have long been in existence; all a candidate has to do is tap into the existing syndicates and networks. “OPLAN MERCURY” Businessman Rodolfo Galang, however, says it is also important to ensure the “cooperation” of local officials and political rivals for a candidate to win. Galang says he volunteered to do this for the president in parts of Mindanao during the 2004 elections. Galang, who co-owns a banana chips processing plant in Maguindanao with Paulino Ejercito, brother of ousted President Estrada, says he decided to help the Arroyo camp because he believed the country would not benefit from a Poe presidency. Galang had also been eyeing a slot machine franchise from the Pagcor. He never got it. Soon after the polls, Galang changed his mind about Arroyo and executed on June 21, 2004 an affidavit he later filed with the Office of the Ombudsman. His affidavit charged the Arroyo administration with buying off local officials and opposition candidates in Romblon and certain areas in Mindanao under “Oplan Mercury.” These were Lanao del Sur, Davao City, Davao del Norte, Maguindanao, Cotabato City, Davao Oriental, South Cotabato, Davao del Sur, Sulu, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat, Tawi-Tawi, Samal, Compostela, Sarangani, Zamboanga Sibugay, and Bukidnon. Galang says his conduit to the president was Limcaoco. A March 28, 2004 memorandum for Arroyo purportedly coursed through Limcaoco identified the political leaders who Galang said he could convince to pledge their support for the president, paving the way for the conversion of about a third of Poe’s projected votes to Arroyo’s. He estimated this roughly to be 1.6 million of the 5.5 million votes in the “Mercury” areas. The “conversion,” according to Galang, could be made by using the carrot of fund releases to convince local government officials to mobilize support for Arroyo. Thus, in his affidavit, Galang implicated the officials who made those fund releases possible: Nena Valdez, the president’s former Assumption Convent classmate who reportedly took charge of the funds released for Oplan Mercury; then Agriculture Secretary Luis Lorenzo for approving the release of the fertilizers given to Mindanao officials; then National Food Authority director Arthur Yap for the rice distributed to them; Pagcor chair Ephraim Genuino for the capital equipment that was also given out; and then Health Secretary Manuel Dayrit for the medicine. (See “Running on Taxpayer’s Money.”) Before the March 2004 memo, Galang says he submitted to the president, again through Limcaoco, analyses of the political situation these places, including informal surveys assessing the chances of Arroyo and local candidates. The document on Maguindanao projected Poe would win 70 percent of the votes, or about 284,310. “Oplan Mercury” would pad the votes to ensure that Arroyo got 262,2440, leaving Poe with only 43,740 votes. (PCIJ has copies of the Maguindanao document and the March 2004 memo.) Right after Galang disclosed “Oplan Mercury” in a press conference last year, Limcaoco dismissed his allegations as hearsay and baseless. He said Galang had volunteered to campaign for K-4 but “he was never my employee or political operator. Nor did we authorize or support any illegal operation.” Former Cabinet members say it was unlikely Limcaoco had time to mount such an operation. They say taking care of the K-4 senatorial candidates was a full-time job. Still, the president did post one 8 PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM I REPORT
T H E C A M P A I G N of her biggest winning margins in the congressional count for Maguindanao, garnering 193,938 votes against Poe’s 59,892. The opposition considers the outcomes in eight towns there as highly dubious. Poe scored zero in Ampatuan and Datu Piang, and got as little as five to 174 votes in six other towns. In their June 6 conversation, the president sought Garcillano’s assurance that the documents in Maguindanao were consistent. The commissioner had replied that Maguindanao wasn’t really much of a problem. Four days later, Arroyo expressed concern over the local canvassing in South Upi town, where Comelec had proclaimed different winners. But she told Garcillano that the important thing was “hindi madamay ‘yung sa taas (we don’t get affected at the top).” The commissioner assured her that he had control there. A SHADOW QUICK COUNT Like the other Cabinet members gathering certificates of canvass, Deles brought the documents she had collected to presidential legal counsel Cruz, who ran the K-4’s official quick-count center at Olympia Towers. But that was not the only Arroyo quick-count in town. K-4 campaign handlers now speak of another done with the help of the Philippine National Police (PNP), then under Gen. Hermogenes Ebdane. Now public works secretary, Ebdane’s name was mentioned in the “Hello, Garci” tapes. The PNP appeared to have instructed some of its members to get copies of precinct-level election returns. These were forwarded to the K-4 headquarters for senatorial candidates and their handlers to monitor. On the count’s third day, however, the Senate tally was canceled, forcing the candidates to get their own precinct count. A consultant of a K-4 senatorial candidate was told the PNP received word to send the results straight to Malacañang. The consultant was then asked to call two phone numbers to check the count’s progress: one number was a phone at the Olympia Towers; the other was picked up by someone at the Department of National Defense or DND. Soliman recalls that as election day neared, then Defense Secretary Ermita increasingly took the lead among the Cabinet members in the president’s campaign. But Deles says Arroyo had stressed the need for Ermita, a Lakas regional chairman known for his good political instincts, to stay “behind the scene.” Neither Deles nor Soliman, though, remembers any instructions given to the DND. The K-4 candidate’s consultant, however, says ex-elections commissioner Gorospe, who reportedly had his own group besides being in the K-4 legal team, was often at the DND during the counting. A former DND staffmember also says access to the Defense Intelligence Service Group (DISG) compound at the back of the DND building in Camp Aguinaldo was prohibited during the elections. The DISG primarily provides the security escort of the defense secretary and pursues intelligence projects. Heavily tinted vehicles were GUIDE TO NAMES IN THE CAMPAIGN CHART Silvestre Afable: then Arroyo’s communications director; chief government negotiator with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front Al Agra: elections and local governance law expert Amable Aguiluz: founder and chairman of the AMA Education System; special envoy to the Gulf Cooperation Council Tomas Alcantara: businessman, former trade undersecretary; now presidential chief of staff Paul Aquino: Philippine National Oil Co. president and CEO Hernani Braganza: mayor of Alaminos, Pangasinan; a Lakas stalwart Gabriel Claudio: political adviser Avelino Cruz: then presidential legal counsel, now defense secretary Angelo Tim de Rivera: commissioner, Commission on Information and Communications Technology Michael Defensor: then housing chief; now environment secretary Rodolfo del Rosario: Davao del Norte governor; also presidential adviser for New Government Centers Agnes Devanadera: former local government undersecretary, now government corporate counsel Marita “Mai Mai” Jimenez: former presidential assistant on appointments and former secretary for special projects and overseas development assistance; now Philippine representative to the Asian Development Bank Pedro “Junie” Laylo: formerly with Social Weather Stations; now Palace pollster Conrado Limcaoco: then presidential adviser on media and ecclesiastical affairs; now Cabinet Offi cer for Provincial Events Edgardo “Ed” Pamintuan: presidential adviser on external affairs Abraham Purugganan: former deputy presidential adviser for special concerns; now Philippine National Construction Corp. director Jose Ma. “Joey” Rufino: then presidential liaison offi cer for political affairs Corazon “Dinky” Soliman: then social welfare secretary Patricia “Pat” Sto. Tomas: labor secretary seen coming in and out of the DISG, even at late nights and early hours in the morning, according to the ex-DND insider. New computers were moved there, along with Arroyo election paraphernalia. Ermita’s head executive assistant Alfredo Bunye, the presidential spokesman’s brother, was said to have held office at the DISG during this period as well. Requests from local goverment officials for election materials were directed to the DISG. On occasion, DND soldiers and personnel were used to distribute the materials to requesting parties, says the former DND staff member. Non-party Mobilization Grassroots Sector (Abraham Purugganan) Political Bureau (Gabriel Claudio) Overseas Ops (Amable Aguiluz) Speakers Bureau Campaign Spokesman (Michael Defensor) Legal (Al Agra) MIS / Database (Angelo Tim de Rivera) Political Intelligence Admin and Logistics Parallel/Support Groups (Hernani Braganza / Edgardo Pamintuan) Presidential Candidate (Gloria Arroyo) Executive Council (See Story for List) General Campaign Manager (Gabriel Claudio / Paul Aquino) Nena Valdez: former classmate of Arroyo at Assumption College; former presidential assistant on internal household affairs in charge of the president’s personal finances Communications (Silvestre Afable) FACT-FINDING BODIES AND ANTIDOTES After the “Hello, Garci” tapes revealed what appears to be military involvement in manipulating last year’s elections, the military formed a fact-finding board to investigate four senior officers mentioned in the conversations: Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon of the Special Operations Command; Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon of the 1st Infantry Division; Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani, assistant superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy; and retired lieutenant general Roy Kyamko. During the 2004 polls, Kyamko was Southern Command chief. Esperon was the deputy chief of Task Force HOPE, Gudani the former chief of Task Force Ranao, and Habacon chief of Task Force Comet. In a statement last August 4, a group calling itself “The Young Officers Union of the new generation (YOUng)” sought the investigation of other officers for their supposed part in the alleged electoral fraud: Brig. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito, chief of the Army’s 104th Brigade based in Marawi City; Brig. Gen. Nelson Allaga, 3 rd Marine Brigade commander; Navy Capt. Feliciano Angue, then head of Naval Task Force 62 operating in Tawi-Tawi and now Navy operations chief; Marine lieutenant colonels Melvin Pelonia and Elmer Estopin based in Tawi-Tawi and Sulu, respectively; Army Colonels Rey Arde and Aminkandra Undug; and a certain Colonel Pereno and Captain Perez. It’s uncertain if there was a military component to the socalled “Antidote Group,” which a senator’s adviser first heard of weeks before the polls. While fretting over the absence of a K-4 senatorial campaign plan, the adviser was assured by a presidential consultant, “Don’t worry, there’s an antidote.” Rufino also referred to an “Antidote Group” in his marginal note to Arroyo when he endorsed Garcillano as elections commissioner. Wrote Rufino: “He (Garcillano) will be a great asset to you. He has proven track record and can deliver! Part…The Antidote Group.” The senator’s adviser says the Antidote Group was often offered as the solution whenever the campaign had problems. Whoever made up the group remains a mystery to the adviser, but its purpose has since become clear. “Our own quick count showed some election returns did not match the certificates of canvass,” says the adviser. But many of these somehow got “cured.” Finance Committee (Rodolfo del Rosario) Events and Appointments (Tomas Alcantara / Paul Aquino Budget and Accounting (Nena Valdez) Governance Liaison (Marita Jimenez / Patricia Sto. Tomas) VP/ Senatorial Coordinator (Conrado Limcaoco for Senatorial) Rallies and Sorties (Corazon Soliman / Pearl Viernes) Sample Ballots Poll Watch (Avelino Cruz / Agnes Devanadera) Operations Operation Quick Count Special Ops (Jose Ma. Rufino) Strategic Research & Surveys (Pedro Laylo) Merchandising Production and Distribution Pearl Viernes: professional events organizer in charge of recruiting showbiz personalities for the campaign PHILIPPINE CENTER FOR INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM I REPORT 9
Page 1: i REPORT July-September 2005 P75 Ph
Page 4 and 5: SHEILA S. CORONEL NO TWO presidents
Page 6 and 7: Tobacco, the country’s biggest ci
Page 8 and 9: THE TWO FACES OF GMA. Aides say tha
Page 12: T H E C A M P A I G N Presidential
Page 15 and 16: C A M P A I G N F U N D S Buying vo
Page 17 and 18: C A M P A I G N F U N D S On March
Page 19 and 20: T H E V I C E P R E S I D E N T WHO
Page 22 and 23: HAPPY DAYS ARE HERE AGAIN? In 1998,
Page 24 and 25: legislators have given themselves p
Page 26 and 27: LIGHTS, CAMERA, IMPEACHMENT! ALECKS
Page 28 and 29: For Visayans, the center does not h
Page 30 and 31: The Moro people can be part of a pl
Page 32 and 33: TWO AT EDSA ‘When the wheels of h
Page 34 and 35: FOCUS ON FILIPINO YOUTH DEFYING THE
Page 36: T H E L O S T G E N E R A T I O N d
Page 39 and 40: T H E L O S T G E N E R A T I O N K
Page 41 and 42: T H E L O S T G E N E R A T I O N s
Page 43 and 44: T H E L O S T G E N E R A T I O N d
Page 45 and 46: Stay, serve poor first, Stay, serve
Page 47 and 48: T H E L O S T G E N E R A T I O N l
Page 49 and 50: T H E L O S T G E N E R A T I O N W
Page 51 and 52: T H E L O S T G E N E R A T I O N m
Page 53 and 54: T H E L O S T G E N E R A T I O N a
Page 55 and 56: le Up le lim CHANGING FACE. Muslim
Page 58 and 59: FOCUS ON FILIPINO YOUTH ALECKS P. P
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T H E L O S T G E N E R A T I O N a
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GRASSROOTS GAME Jueteng has deep ro
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