Filipino electoral crisis of 2005

A electoral crisis major occurred with the Filipino in June 2005. Certain elements published by the press seems to show that one folds electoral major took place at the time of the general elections of June 2004. The general elections of the May 10th 2004 made up of elections presidential, legislative and local were completed by a victory of the outgoing president Gloria Macapagal-Stream taken back for a 6 years mandate. The result of this presidential ballot as well as hundreds of national and local results are currently constestés and are the subject more or less of legal proceedings.

Several evidence and testimonys made irruption in the Filipino press. The president Arroyo and her close relations are shown to have used their positions within the government to make a electoral Fraud major. According to the allegations published, Stream and its close relations would have handled the results of the poll and would have had recourse to harassing even with the kidnapping of certain personalities. The government denied the majority of the allegations openly and several activists and defense organizations of the human rights try to engage of the legal procedures against the president and to her close relations. One of the most important supposed accomplices of Stream, Virgilio Garcillano, a member of the Electoral commission, recently left the country, in the hope to perhaps choke the business. Garcillano denied the charges of fraud publicly.

Chronology

The last June 10th, Samuel Ong the former director of the National office of Investigation (NBI) declares during a press conference that it is in possession of master originals of a conversation between the president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and official of the Electoral commission. In ls following weeks, the contents of the recordings are analyzed by the Filipino media. These bands seem to show that the general elections of 2004 were faked to allow Arroyo and its allies to be maintained with the capacity. Stream denies any electoral charge of fraud at the time of a televised allocuation of June 27th, where she admits that the voice of the recording is however his. Throughout the crisis, various demonstrations in favor or discredit of Stream take place. This electoral business is accompanied by politicking tournaments between the supporters of Stream and its opponents. It is also frequent to see various the political parts implied to devote itself to acts of faith mediatized like prayers or taken care. The fraudre electoral itself did not make the object of a lawsuit or attempt at lawsuit so far, on the other hand a procedure of impeachement is made an attempt against the president Arroyo. The procedure of impeachement fails however when the Congress votes in favor of Report/ratio 1012 last August. In spite of this crisis, the operation from day to day of the administration and government were not very affected.

The public opinion

The local sounder Social Weather Stations (SWS) undertook a series of opinion polls in connection with the crisis. In Manila, the confidence index of the president Arroyo chutté of 31%, with 48% of probed which do not rely on it, and only 17% which still trust him. 94% of the questioned people answered that they had been informed of the bands accusing the president Arroyo and the member of the Garcillano electoral commission. 59% answered that they considered the behavior supposed of Stream as an electoral fraud whereas 29% answered that they thought that it was about a legitimate behavior. 20% of questioned wish to forget this business, 26% wish to know the truth and 18% think that Arroyo should resign. The question, the vice-president Noli of Castro is able to replace the president, 48% answered yes and 29% not.

According to another public opinion poll carried out by CNN and Time magazine, 57.5% of the questioned people think that the president Gloria Macapagal-Stream will not finish her mendat. (See See the article of English CNN).

A survey of Pulse Asia of the July 12th watch that 57% of the Filipinos wish that Gloria Macapagal-Stream resign.

Evidence and testimonys

This ressense part the unit of the facts which would be probably used during a lawsuit but which was not legally tested so far

Samuel Ong

Two recordings were made public so far. That which comes from Samuel Ong and a copy authenticated by gouverment of this recording which would present major differences with the version of Ong. The recording which the government regards as the version orginale is easily accessible to Philippines because its diffusion was not blocked. The media however could diffuse the two versions, sticking especially to the disputed version of Samuel Ogg. A transcription in Tagalog of the version the governmental version is available on line on wikisource.

Little time after the bursting of the scandal, a journalist of the Filipino Daily Inquirer, quoted two passages of the recording of Ong in an article. Sheila Coronel, of the Filipino Center off Investigative Journalism succeeded in deciphering not very audible parts of the band which would imply Arroyo in the scandal. David analyzed this band with techniques of ethnomethodology and arrived at the same conclusion as Coronel. Its analysis describes one of the interlocutors as a woman who comes to speak with a subordinate. Stream later recognized the authenticity of its voice in this recording. David describes the subordinate like a man " which does not count the votes but the products ". See.

Sheila Coronel showed not only Arroyo of electoral fraud but also the group of protection of the civil rights, Namfrel, of collusion with the government. These accusations of corruption rest on the analysis of the band, whose least audible passages would have been numerically reprocessed. Stream would have chuchotté " Yung dagdag, yung dagdag" ( money, the money ) after having mentioned the Namfrel group.

According to the law in force in the Philippines, the two recordings, the official one and the nonofficial one, belong to the public domain.

Rashma Hali

Rashma Hali is official of Tipo-Tipo, Basilan, which stated to have evidence of the implication of Stream in the kidnapping of its family. This kidnapping would have been perpetrated in order to make sure of its co-operation in an immense operation of handling of the results of the poll. She states not to have been the only victim of such acts.

Michael Zuce

Michael Angelo Zuce affirms that it was present during an exchange or Stream would have bought the official ones of the Electoral commission. Zuce worked for Presidential Liaison Office of the Ministry for the Political matters. Zuce also admitted its participation in corruption affairs which imply the official ones of Mindanao to make sure of the victory of Stream, where it would have used public money to buy them. He as declared as Arroyo would not be a simple recipient of the electoral fraud but that it was the instigator. Its testimony accuses also many civils servant and official local.

Roberto Verzola

Roberto Verzola is the leader of the Vert part of the Philippines and a data processing specialist, who revealed that it could prove the cheating of Gloria Macapagal-Stream with the elections of 2004. According to Verzola, the cheating reached its paroxysm in the area of Mindanao where more than 50% of the voices would have been distorted. The provinces of Balisan, Sultan Kudarat, Lanao LED On, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi would have even reached peaks of 70% of faked votes. To arrive to these conclusions, Verzola used data collected by various groups and defense associations of the civic rights which supervised the election. One as of these groups, NAMFREL, which carried out an independent survey did not arrive at the same conslusions. Verzola openly showed them to cover the government

Random links: