Filipino opposition raises fears of fraud

MANILA: The opposition yesterday warned of massive cheating amid “unnecessary delays” in the counting of votes in the Philippines’ mid-term elections.

While many winners in the congressional and local races have been proclaimed since the vote on May 14, the results of the elections for half of the 24-member Senate are still being tallied.
So far, opposition bets were dominating the senatorial races, according to a quick-count by a citizens’ watchdog.

Despite their lead, opposition candidates instructed their staffs to continue their vigilance, especially in areas where the tabulation of votes was very slow.

“We are keeping watch over unnecessary delays,” opposition Senator Panfilo Lacson, who is seeking re-election, said. “We instructed our staffs to watch whether the delay is deliberate or not.”
Lacson warned that delays in the canvassing of votes could “open the door to some parties that are planning bad things”.

“It is possible that plans are being laid out and election officers are part of them,” he said. “We must keep close watch to keep whatever is left of the integrity of our elections this year.”
Various groups monitoring the elections have received reports of fraud, especially in the southern region of Mindanao, which has traditionally been where cheating occurred in past polls.

In the province of Maguindanao, teachers, who are delegated as election officers, complained that they were being forced to fill in blanks in ballots in favour of administration candidates.
A poll watchdog also reported finding discrepancies in the number of votes cast against the number of registered voters in several precincts in various provinces in Mindanao.

Elections in some towns in Mindanao have also been postponed due to irregularities, including missing ballots and ballot boxes.

The elections have been billed as a referendum on President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who has battled calls for her resignation over vote-rigging allegations.

Arroyo has survived two impeachment bids and a number of coup attempts over charges she rigged the 2004 presidential vote.

Analysts said the opposition’s dominance in the Senate was a “protest vote” against Arroyo, especially since one of the leading candidates is a detained navy officer who led a mutiny against her.
Arroyo, however, has shrugged the outcome of the senatorial elections and stressed that her allies have won most of the more than 200 seats up for grabs in the House of Representatives.

The president’s allies must maintain the majority in the House to prevent a third impeachment bid over the vote-rigging charges as well as accusations of corruption and human rights violations.–DPA