Electoral Fraud Timeline
November 18, 2011 | 12:00am
| Electoral Fraud Timeline | |
| 11-Jun-02 | MMDA Chairman Benjamin Abalos was appointed by President Arroyo as head of the COMELEC |
| 16-Oct-02 | Sen. Edgardo Angara said that the proposed Absentee Voting Law that the Senate approved on second reading last week has 35 safeguards against electoral fraud |
| 2-Dec-03 | President Arroyo lambasted Sen. Edgardo Angara for accusing her administration of preparing the groundwork for massive cheating in next year’s national and local elections |
| 13-Feb-04 | Senate President Franklin Drilon urged President Arroyo to recall the ad interim appointment of Virgilio Garcillano as one of the two new commissioners of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) |
| 19-Feb-04 | President Arroyo will recall the appointment of Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano or any presidential appointee if critics can prove irregularities involving the appointees, Malacañang said |
| 24-Mar-04 | Party-list group Bayan Muna forged an alliance yesterday with presidential candidates Fernando Poe Jr., Panfilo Lacson, Raul Roco and Eddie Villanueva to thwart any attempt by the administration to commit fraud in the May 10 elections. |
| 9-May-04 | An alliance of Church groups and non-government organizations (NGOs) warned administration and opposition candidates yesterday against using fraud and violence in tomorrow’s general elections, as they vowed to monitor and gather evidence of electoral fraud. |
| 9-May-04 | With only a few hours before voters troop to polling precincts all over the country, President Arroyo called for prudence and sobriety, saying partisan passions can derail efforts to hold honest and orderly elections. |
| 10-May-04 | Members of the House of Representatives expressed hope that today’s national and local elections will be peaceful and orderly. They also urged the country’s 43 million voters to exercise their right to suffrage and elect the candidates of their choice. |
| 12-May-04 | A day after the presidential elections, the Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP), led by its standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr., accused President Arroyo of engaging in massive electoral fraud and intimidation to thwart "the will of the people." |
| 15-May-04 | Opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. urged his supporters yesterday to shun street protests amid allegations of fraud over last Monday’s general elections. |
| 16-May-04 | Malacañang warned President Arroyo’s rivals yesterday that attempts to ignite another people power revolt to try to grab power would be met with "the full force of the law." |
| 17-May-04 | The camp of Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. said yesterday "all options" are being considered against the administration, including the possible filing of electoral fraud charges against President Arroyo. |
| 17-May-04 | ‘No poll cheating on massive scale,' Malacanang said |
| 18-May-04 | Presidential candidate Raul Roco conceded to President Arroyo yesterday even as he said his Aksyon Demokratiko party will continue to gather evidence of widespread electoral fraud. |
| 18-May-04 | Concerned about "localized cheating," President Arroyo urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday to conduct a thorough probe on verified cases of electoral fraud, "regardless of partisan involvement." |
| 19-May-04 | Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) senatorial candidate Francisco Tatad questioned yesterday the "impartiality" of the two top officials of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), saying they had been biased for President Arroyo even before the May 10 electi |
| 19-May-04 | Malacañang accused the opposition yesterday of engaging in an apparent "disinformation and underground propaganda" to mislead the public about the results of the May 10 elections by using "bogus" quick counts. |
| 21-May-04 | President Arroyo warned yesterday of an anti-government plot linked to last week’s bitterly contested elections that she was projected to have won. |
| 22-May-04 | President Arroyo threatened last night to file charges of sedition against people who are reportedly plotting to stop the proclamation of winners in the national elections. |
| 23-May-04 | Malacañang appealed yesterday to members of Congress to stick to the rules and the timetable within which they, as the National Board of Canvassers, are mandated to tally election returns and proclaim the winners of the May 10 presidential and vice presidential elections. |
| 24-May-04 | Opposition presidential candidate actor Fernando Poe Jr. appealed to Congress yesterday to conduct an honest and fair canvassing of votes for president and vice president when it convenes in joint session today as the National Canvassing Board |
| 24-May-04 | The Philippine National Police (PNP) has placed on extra alert all its regional commands in Luzon and advised that they be ready for deployment as protest groups converge at the Batasan complex in Quezon City, where lawmakers are set to start the official canvass of votes in the presidential elections |
| 26-May-04 | Opposition leaders slammed an unnamed official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday for prematurely disclosing that President Arroyo won in the May 10 presidential vote. |
| 30-May-04 | Congress will finally start canvassing tomorrow the votes for president and vice president after nearly a week’s delay caused by the debates among lawmakers over rules in the conduct of the actual tabulation |
| 1-Jun-04 | An "army of lawyers and paralegal minds" has been mobilized by the opposition to collect evidence of electoral fraud nationwide to prove that Fernando Poe Jr. and Sen. Loren Legarda should be the next president and vice president, respectively. |
| 3-Jun-04 | The opposition Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP) asked the Supreme Court yesterday to stop a congressional committee from proceeding with the canvassing of votes for president and vice president on the grounds that the process was unconstitutional |
| 11-Jun-04 | Malacañang advised the opposition yesterday against stalling the proclamation in Congress of the country’s next president and vice president. |
| 12-Jun-04 | Malacañang twitted yesterday opposition leaders behind the presentation of hooded witnesses who would supposedly testify to alleged electoral fraud committed by the administration in Cebu during the May 10 polls. |
| 20-Jun-04 | As she is still President of the Republic, President Arroyo said yesterday she has to raise her voice in defense of democracy after the ongoing congressional canvass was marred by a walkout Friday night by opposition lawmakers. |
| 20-Jun-04 | Six election officials from Maguindanao have filed a complaint against alleged opposition "point men" who tried to recruit them to bear witness to alleged widespread cheating by the Arroyo administration in the May 10 elections. |
| 20-Jun-04 | Deposed President Joseph Estrada said yesterday his close friend, opposition front-runner Fernando Poe Jr., believes he won the presidential race but was "cheated" by President Arroyo. |
| 22-Jun-04 | CEBU CITY — President Arroyo thanked Filipinos yesterday for giving her a full six-year mandate and vowed to work for national healing. |
| 24-Jun-04 | Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos dared yesterday the Mindanao businessman who claimed to have taken part in a secret operation to steal votes from opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. to come out with his evidence. |
| 13-Jul-04 | The influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) has formed a committee that would look into cases of fraud in the last elections in order to improve its election monitoring system in the future. |
| 28-Jul-04 | The Supreme Court convened yesterday as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) and ordered President Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro to answer charges of poll fraud filed by losing candidates Fernando Poe Jr. and former senator Loren Legarda. |
| 10-Sep-04 | Four months after securing a six-year mandate, President Arroyo saw her net satisfaction rating plummeting to 12 percent on suspicions that she cheated in the May 10 vote, according to the latest Social Weather Stations (SWS) nationwide survey results released yesterday. |
| 11-Sep-04 | Malacañang remained confident that President Arroyo will overcome her plummeting satisfaction ratings once the fiscal crisis eases up. |
| 13-Mar-05 | President Arroyo should stop reappointing Virgilio Garcillano to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) after he was bypassed by the Commission on Appointments (CA), an opposition senator said yesterday |
| 6-Jun-05 | Malacañang bared yesterday another "desperate" plot by the opposition in spreading a purported taped conversation between President Arroyo and an election official discussing plans on how to cheat in the May 10, 2004 elections. |
| 7-Jun-05 | Malacañang’s move yesterday to release "original" and "altered" copies of phone conversations to disprove claims of President Arroyo’s alleged involvement in electoral fraud in the May 2004 elections raised more questions than answers. |
| 10-Jun-05 | Embattled by questions about her credibility to lead the nation, President Arroyo denied cheating in last year’s election and reiterated that she would not step down. |
| 11-Jun-05 | Administration lawmakers have vowed to repel moves by the opposition to force the resignation of President Arroyo, calling the effort nothing but a "daydream." |
| 12-Jun-05 | Turning what was supposed to be a peaceful ecumenical prayer rally into a demonstration against President Arroyo, opposition groups called yesterday for her resignation amid fresh allegations of electoral fraud |
| 12-Jun-05 | Former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director Samuel Ong, who claimed to possess the original audiotapes of President Arroyo’s recorded conversations about plans to rig the 2004 presidential election, reiterated yesterday his call for Mrs. Arroyo’s resignation. |
| 15-Jun-05 | After being passed over by the Commission on Appointments (CA), embattled election official Virgilio Garcillano could also soon face charges of electoral fraud. |
| 15-Jun-05 | The US Embassy had no comment on the findings of a New Jersey-based voice analysis firm that said the voices heard in an alleged wiretapped conversation between President Arroyo and election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano were indeed theirs |
| 16-Jun-05 | The alleged wiretapped conversations between President Arroyo and elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano cannot be used as the basis to impeach President Arroyo even if the tapes are authenticated, Senate President Franklin Drilon said yesterday. |
| 16-Jun-05 | Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has asked President Arroyo to call a special session for Congress to pave the way for an inquiry into the alleged wiretapped conversation between herself and Commission on Elections Commissioner (Comelec) Virgilio Garcillano. |
| 17-Jun-05 | President Arroyo said yesterday she will not appear before any congressional probe into the controversial recordings that purportedly document her attempts to rig the results of last year’s presidential election. |
| 19-Jun-05 | President Arroyo will talk about the alleged wiretapped conversations she had with Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano "at the right time," her former election campaign spokesman said yesterday. |
| 22-Jun-05 | Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye clarified yesterday that although the female voice heard on the "Gloriagate" recordings sounds like President Arroyo, he is not sure if it is indeed his boss talking to an election official about poll fraud. |
| 23-Jun-05 | Former National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) deputy director Samuel Ong, who had claimed he possessed the original audio tapes purporting to show election fraud by President Arroyo, failed to show up yesterday before lawmakers conducting the inquiry into the controversy. |
| 23-Jun-05 | The secretary-general of the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) said yesterday they did not detect massive fraud that could have changed the results of last year’s presidential elections. |
| 24-Jun-05 | President Arroyo called for an end to "political warfare" as pressure mounted on her to answer allegations that she ordered the rigging of the results of last year’s presidential election. |
| 25-Jun-05 | President Arroyo’s allies in the House of Representatives want the five committees looking into the controversial "Gloriagate" recordings to stop their investigation. |
| 25-Jun-05 | Security forces blocked thousands of protesters from marching to Malacañang yesterday as the opposition stepped up calls for President Arroyo to resign over allegations of electoral fraud. |
| 27-Jun-05 | The lawyer of the late opposition standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. and his widow Susan Roces asked yesterday Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos and the six Comelec commissioners to immediately resign from their posts so they could be charged with electoral fraud. |
| 27-Jun-05 | President Arroyo would serve the remainder of her term despite calls for her to resign over alleged massive electoral fraud in last year’s elections, Malacañang said yesterday. |
| 29-Jun-05 | Malacañang expects the political opposition to step up calls for President Arroyo’s resignation after she owned up to improperly calling an election official during the 2004 presidential vote count. |
| 29-Jun-05 | Elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and several other poll officials could face criminal charges for electoral fraud following President Arroyo’s confession that it was her voice on controversial wiretapped conversations. |
| 29-Jun-05 | A former member of President Arroyo’s Cabinet joined the growing clamor for her resignation yesterday in the wake of her admission that she talked to an election official during last year’s congressional canvass of votes for president and vice president. |
| 1-Jul-05 | The lawyer who filed an impeachment complaint against President Arroyo hinted yesterday that he might produce "missing" former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano as a witness. |
| 1-Jul-05 | President Arroyo’s allies, stung by criticism that they were afraid of airing the so-called "Gloriagate" tapes, finally agreed last night to allow the House committees inquiring into the controversy to play the recordings in public. |
| 2-Jul-05 | The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is now looking for former commissioner Virgilio Garcillano as it prepares its own investigation into alleged cheating in last year’s presidential election. |
| 6-Jul-05 | President Arroyo welcomed critics moving for her impeachment, saying this would provide her the opportunity to refute allegations that she cheated in last year’s elections. |
| 7-Jul-05 | Virgilio Garcillano, the man accused of stealing the 2004 election for President Arroyo, has faced allegations in the past of ballot-box skullduggery. |
| 15-Jul-05 | Undeterred by calls for her to quit over allegations of vote rigging, President Arroyo said yesterday she would not be coerced by massive street protests and pledged to fight her opponents "every step of the way." |
| 15-Jul-05 | Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson made public yesterday a supposed wiretapped conversation revealing former President Joseph Estrada supposedly orchestrating plans to assassinate President Arroyo and former President Fidel Ramos to make way for a transition government. |
| 16-Jul-05 | Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez declared yesterday Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson could be held liable for violating the anti-wiretapping law. |
| 18-Jul-05 | Three lawmakers are pushing for the creation of a truth commission that will recount election returns nationwide amid allegations that President Arroyo committed electoral fraud to ensure her victory in last year’s elections. |
| 19-Jul-05 | Former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano’s passport cannot be canceled without a valid court order, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said yesterday. |
| 21-Jul-05 | Former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano has not yet been investigated by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) because of the lack of "admissible" evidence |
| 24-Jul-05 | Malacañang announced yesterday that moves to create the "truth commission" to investigate President Arroyo over allegations of electoral fraud would be delayed because of mounting opposition against it. |
| 1-Aug-05 | The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has excluded its erstwhile commissioner, Virgilio Garcillano, from its investigation into alleged cheating in last year’s polls. |
| 3-Aug-05 | Former Malacañang staffer Michaelangelo Zuce, the latest to accuse President Arroyo of electoral fraud, was paid by the opposition to make unsubstantiated allegations and undermine the administration, Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Michael Defensor claimed yesterday. |
| 6-Aug-05 | The House committee on public information has launched its own global search for controversial former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. |
| 9-Aug-05 | Former Isabela governor Faustino Dy Jr. is sure to testify during the impeachment proceedings against President Arroyo, opposition leaders said yesterday. |
| 10-Aug-05 | Sen. Panfilo Lacson identified Capt. Marlon Mendoza yesterday as the witness he plans to present before the Senate today to corroborate the allegations of whistle-blower Michaelangelo Zuce that President Arroyo was present when payoffs were given to election officials in her La Vista, Quezon City home. |
| 11-Aug-05 | An Army captain claimed yesterday suspected big-time jueteng operator Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda gave P300 million to former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Virgilio Garcillano to finance the rigging of the May 10, 2004 elections to favor President Arroyo. |
| 13-Aug-05 | President Arroyo could ask the House of Representatives to throw out the impeachment complaint against her for allegedly cheating in last year’s presidential election on the grounds that the main evidence has been digitally altered, her spokesman said yesterday. |
| 17-Aug-20 | Most of the senior military officers mentioned in the so-called "Hello Garci" wiretapped recordings have submitted themselves to the military’s fact-finding board for investigation into possible involvement in alleged cheating in the May 2004 elections. |
| 19-Aug-05 | Bureau of Immigration (BI) Commissioner Alipio Fernandez denied yesterday opposition charges that his agency allowed former election official Virgilio Garcillano to slip out of the country to avoid questions about his alleged role in helping President Arroyo cheat in last year’s election. |
| 5-Sep-05 | The chairman of the lead House committee inquiring into the "Hello, Garci" tapes accused the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) yesterday of covering up for elusive former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. |
| 7-Sep-05 | A relieved President Arroyo called on the public yesterday to "mark the glorious day in history" and rally behind her as the House of Representatives junked opposition attempts to impeach her for election fraud, ending a three-month crisis which virtually paralyzed the government. |
| 7-Sep-05 | The Singaporean embassy has confirmed that former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano arrived in Singapore for the second time, this time last Aug. 14, Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez disclosed yesterday. |
| 15-Sep-05 | Catholic bishops called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday to resolve the allegations of electoral fraud against President Arroyo. |
| 25-Oct-05 | A military fact-finding board has completed its investigation three months after it was created to look into the alleged participation of some military officers in electoral fraud last year in Mindanao. |
| 23-Nov-05 | Former election official Virgilio Garcillano has returned to the country and is willing to tell all about poll fraud allegations hounding President Arroyo, ABS-CBN News Channel reported yesterday. |
| 28-Nov-05 | Former election official Virgilio Garcillano emerged briefly from hiding somewhere in Mindanao yesterday to deny charges that President Arroyo cheated in last year’s presidential election and that he conspired to help her win by a narrow margin. |
| 30-Nov-05 | Malacañang called yesterday on President Arroyo’s critics to stop attacking the administration and instead wait for former election official Virgilio Garcillano to come out of hiding and air his side of the electoral fraud charges against Mrs. Arroyo in which he allegedly conspired. |
| 1-Dec-05 | Aside from the fear of Sen. Panfilo Lacson, former election official Virgilio Garcillano said he went into hiding when the political crisis began because he also feared he might be murdered by henchmen of the Arroyo administration. |
| 6-Dec-05 | Former election official Virgilio Garcillano, through his lawyer yesterday, identified eight members of the House of Representatives whom he said spoke with him "either personally or over phone lines" to discuss "election matters" during last year’s national and local polls. |
| 7-Dec-05 | Today is the moment of truth for former election official Virgilio Garcillano as he finally appears before an inquiry at the House of Representatives on the electoral fraud allegations hounding President Arroyo in which he allegedly played a key rol |
| 13-Dec-05 | A senior sound engineer who works in the local music industry disclosed yesterday that he has made an independent analysis of the "Hello, Garci" tapes and they appear to be authentic. |
| 11-Jan-06 | Malacañang criticized yesterday attempts in the Senate to revive the "Hello, Garci" wiretap investigation, saying it was a "heavily recycled issue" from which the country had nothing to gain. |
| 13-Jan-06 | President Arroyo expressed confidence yesterday that the vote-rigging allegations against her would soon die a "natural death" once the Supreme Court confirms her victory in the bitterly contested 2004 presidential election. |
| 31-Jan-06 | The Commission on Elections (Comelec) aired its support yesterday for proposals to reform the scandal-ridden poll body but rejected calls for its commissioners to give up their posts. |
| 4-Apr-06 | A management consultant who was initially commissioned by an opposition senator to conduct a study told the Senate yesterday that votes taken from the tally for the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. were used to pad the votes for President Arroyo during the May 2004 elections. |
| 5-Apr-06 | Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos challenged yesterday those who have evidence to come forward and prove that President Arroyo cheated in the 2004 presidential election. |
| 7-Apr-06 | The opposition is sending a formal letter to President Arroyo requesting that she call a "snap" presidential election to resolve the political crisis hounding her since last year over vote-rigging allegations. |
| 8-Apr-06 | The Black and White Movement (BWM), an umbrella organization of groups and individuals calling for President Arroyo’s resignation or ouster, has launched an online signature drive calling on Filipinos to support the opposition call for an early or "snap" presidential election. |
| 9-Apr-06 | Malacañang maintained yesterday that calling an early or "snap" presidential election is not an option for resolving the political crisis hounding President Arroyo. |
| 12-Apr-06 | BAGUIO CITY - President Arroyo has approved the release of a report of an Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) fact-finding body on the possible involvement of military generals in the alleged cheating in the May 2004 elections, Malacañang said yesterday. |
| 17-Jun-06 | The Senate will once more invite Malacañang officials and the top brass of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to appear before what could be its final inquiry on the "Hello, Garci" wiretap controversy. |
| 28-Jun-06 | President Arroyo should not have made her "I am sorry" speech last year as she had nothing to apologize for in the first place; rather, she was manipulated by former Cabinet officials who wanted to oust her, presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor said yesterday. |
| 1-Jul-06 | The Office of the Ombudsman recommended yesterday the impeachment of a ranking official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for alleged anomalies in the awarding of a contract to a private company in line with government’s efforts to modernize the country’s antiquated electoral system. |
| 4-Jul-06 | Commission on Elections Commissioner Resureccion Borra claims he was a "victim of circumstance" and believes he is being "singled out" for impeachment over alleged anomalies in the Comelec’s 2003 purchase of ballot counting machines. |
| 10-Jul-06 | Catholic bishops are standing firm on their call for a search for truth behind allegations of electoral fraud and corruption against President Arroyo. |
| 14-Jul-06 | Commission on Elections officials who were summoned by the Office of the Ombudsman snubbed yesterday its first hearing on anomalies surrounding the Comelec’s 2003 acquisition of ballot counting machines for the May 2004 general elections. |
| 15-Jul-06 | The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will cooperate in the Office of the Ombudsman’s investigation into the anomalous acquisition of ballot counting machines for the 2004 elections. |
| 16-Jul-06 | Opposition lawmakers are willing to quit their renewed impeachment bid against President Arroyo if she makes a full public explanation on the electoral fraud allegations hounding her since last year. |
| 19-Aug-06 | Malacañang said yesterday that the latest allegations of electoral fraud against the Arroyo administration now sound like "a broken record" to many people that they are choosing to ignore it. |
| 24-Aug-06 | The Supreme Court (SC) denied yesterday the petition of the election lawyer of President Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro to allow the poll body and the Department of Science and Technology to use 1,991 automated counting machines or ACMs purchased by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in next year’s elections |
| 3-Oct-06 | After recommending graft charges in June, the Office of the Ombudsman reversed itself and cleared several officials of the Commission on Elections yesterday of suspected wrongdoing in the Comelec’s purchase in 2003 of ballot counting machines meant for modernizing the electoral system. |
| 4-Oct-06 | The battle over the Commission on Elections’ poll modernization program will return to the Supreme Court (SC) — which in 2004 ruled that the deal was riddled with anomalies — after the Office of the Ombudsman cleared last Monday all Comelec officials implicated in the scandal of criminal and administrative liability. |
| 5-Oct-06 | Amid mounting criticism, Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez defended yesterday her agency’s decision to clear election officials and several private individuals implicated in the Commission on Election’s anomalous poll modernization program, maintaining that it was based on facts and evidence. |
| 25-Dec-06 | Sen. Richard Gordon scored Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos yesterday for virtually shutting the door to partial automation of next year’s elections. |
| 26-Dec-06 | Sen. Panfilo Lacson, one of 20 opposition lawmakers who filed complaints of perjury and falsification of public documents against former Commission on Elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, urged yesterday Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez to stop lying to save the controversial former poll official. |
| 27-Jan-07 | The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Senate are on a collision course over the poll body’s refusal to computerize the elections in May despite the recent enactment of the poll automation law. |
| 4-Apr-07 | Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and his son, Genuine Opposition candidate Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III, disputed yesterday the charges filed against them by a lawyer of former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. |
| 22-May-07 | The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will not be able to proclaim the winners in the senatorial and party-list elections on its self-imposed deadline of May 26. |
| 24-May-07 | Malacañang defended anew the election results in Maguindanao, which have stirred controversy because pro-administration senatorial candidates swept the top 12 slots in the province. |
| 26-May-07 | A member of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) in Maguindanao has revealed that the recent elections in the province were rigged, opposition and poll watchdog groups claimed yesterday. |
| 31-May-07 | Amid allegations of cheating, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) ordered yesterday a new canvassing of votes in South Cotabato in Mindanao today |
| 11-Jul-07 | The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) stood firm in its call for top to bottom electoral reforms beginning with the removal of Commission onElections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos, insisting the recommendation was based on concrete evidence and moral judgment. |
| August 08, 2007 | Controversial poll supervisor Lintang Bedol was sentenced yesterday to six months in prison by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for indirect contempt. |
| August 24, 2007 | Retired military intelligence agent Vidal Doble admitted to a crime when he declared to Sen. Panfilo Lacson in a videotaped conversation that he tapped a telephone conversation between President Arroyo and former election commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, the former lawyer of Garcillano said yesterday. |
| 2-Oct-07 | Senators will meet to decide whether to cite for contempt three Cabinet and five military officials who have ignored summons from the Senate to appear before a hearing on the “Hello, Garci” case. |
| January 28, 2008 | Senators have expressed hope that newly appointed Commission on Elections(Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo will bring back “lost glory” to the electoral body and ensure that the next presidential elections in 2010 are not marred with fraud. |
| March 25, 2008 | The man who replaced the slain Commission on Elections (Comelec) legal department director was himself shot as he was walking back to his office from a restaurant in Intramuros, Manila yesterday. |
| May 10, 2008 | Results of the Aug. 11 elections in Maguindanao will be known within an hour after voting has ended, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday after it inked a P525-million contract with a European company that will supply voting machines for the province. |
| 6-Jan-09 | The full automation of the country’s general elections in May 2010 remains uncertain despite a law that mandates the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to implement it. |
| January 10, 2009 | Malacañang submitted to the House committee on appropriations yesterday an P11.9-billion supplemental budget for the automation of the 2010 elections. |
| February 05, 2009 | Sen. Panfilo Lacson is verifying information that new Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Elias Yusoph has links with former commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, who allegedly masterminded the supposed electoral fraud in the 2004 presidential elections. |
| 19-Feb-09 | MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Appointments (CA) confirmed yesterday the appointments of two new commissioners of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) but only after grilling them over former Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol, who was accused of manipulating the results of the senatorial elections in 2007. |
| 26-Feb-09 | MANILA, Philippines - Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo warned yesterday that a “hybrid” exercise of combined manual and automated counting of votes in next year’s polls would further disgrace the electoral process and allow cheating to continue. |
| March 01, 2009 | MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will renew its quest for controversial Maguindanao poll supervisor Lintang Bedol, believed to have been behind massive electoral fraud in the province in the 2007 senatorial elections. |
| 24-Mar-09 | MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo yesterday approved the supplemental budget of P11.3 billion for the full automation of next year’s national elections. |
| 26-Jun-09 | MANILA, Philippines - A few politicians are raising doubts on next year’s automated elections in order to retain the manual mode that will allow them to cheat, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday. |
| December 13, 2009 | MANILA, Philippines - Congressmen are open to the proposal to hold elections at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) a week ahead of the general elections on May 10, 2010. |
| December 29, 2009 | MANILA, Philippines - Election officials who allegedly conspired with former Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Virgilio Garcillano to cheat in the 2004 elections have remained unpunished and have even been promoted to higher positions, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. said yesterday. |
| March 02, 2010 | MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has invited all presidential and vice presidential candidates in the May 10 elections for a tour of the National Printing Office (NPO) in Quezon City and the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines warehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna, on March 11. |
| 7-Mar-10 | MANILA, Philippines - Since no extra ballots have been printed for the May 10 polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday came up with guidelines on what the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) should do in case there is a shortage of ballots in a voting center. |
| 25-Mar-10 | MANILA, Philippines - Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and running mate Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II yesterday said the Commission on Elections (Comelec) failed to install safeguards to ensure the credibility of the coming elections. |
| April 07, 2010 | MANILA, Philippines - The Bids and Awards Committee (BAC) of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday defended its price recommendation for the planned purchase of ballot secrecy folders, saying P380 apiece was “reasonable.” |
| May 19, 2010 | MANILA, Philippines - An inquiry into cases of alleged electronic fraud during the May 10 elections begins at the House of Representatives today. |
| May 20, 2010 | MANILA, Philippines - Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo called yesterday on the masked witness who claimed there was large-scale poll fraud to identify himself and specify his allegations before the public. |
| 20-May-10 | MANILA, Philippines - The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) ended its count yesterday, and concluded that although there were discrepancies in the election returns (ERs) that the group tallied, no systematic fraud occurred. |
| 31-May-10 | MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Joker Arroyo yesterday slammed delaying tactics in the congressional canvass of votes for president and vice president. |
| 30-Jun-10 | MANILA, Philippines - President Arroyo honored yesterday Chairman Jose Melo and the five commissioners of the Commission on Elections for successfully holding the country’s first automated elections last May 10. |
| 17-Jul-10 | MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri denied yesterday the claims of lawyer Aquilino Pimentel III that he is delaying the process at the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) on their electoral protest case. |
| July 30, 2010 | MANILA, Philippines - Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will cooperate in an investigation by the Truth Commission into alleged misdeeds when she was president. “We don’t want to escape all the forums where we can possibly explain our side. Because the way everything is going on right now, things are coming out in the media, and we all know that there may be some things or context missed out, so these bodies are better because our side will be heard,” Mrs. Arroyo’s spokeswoman, Elena Bautista-Horn, said yesterday. |
| September 14, 2010 | Retired Armed Forces chief Narciso Abaya Jr. denied yesterday that he was involved in the “Hello, Garci” electoral fraud in 2004. |
| 7-Jul-11 | MANILA, Philippines - Senate Minority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano is welcome to present to the public all the evidence he has to prove that former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo cheated in the May 2004 elections, a Malacañang official said yesterday. |
| 15-Jul-11 | Manila, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will seek the immediate arrest of former Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Hasim Bedol, who is facing six months’ imprisonment for failing to produce poll documents in the 2007 midterm poll in the province. |
| July 16, 2011 | MANILA, Philippines - Fugitive former Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Hasim Bedol alleged yesterday that massive fraud was committed in the 2004 general elections and that former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was the principal beneficiary. |
| 16-Sep-11 | MANILA, Philippines - A retired Army colonel confirmed that soldiers were indeed involved in rigging of votes during the 2004 election to ensure the presidential victory of then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in Mindanao. |
| Electoral Sabotage | |
| REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9369 | |
| 23-Jan-07 | |
| Amending RA 8436 | |
| Sec. 42. Section27 (b) of Republic Act No. 6646 is hereby amended to read as follows : | |
| Sec. 27. Election Offenses; Electoral Sabotage. - In additional to the prohibited acts and election offenses enumerated in Sec. 261 and 262 of Batas Pambansa Blg. 881,as amended, the following shall be guilty of an election offense or a special election offense to be known as eletoral sabotage:
(a) x x x |
|
| (b) Any person or member of the board of election inspectors or board of canvassers who tampers, increases or decreases the votes received by a candidates in any election or any member of the board who refuses after proper verification and hearing ,to credit the correct votes or deduct such tampered votes: Provided, however, That when the tampering, increase or decrease of votes or the refusal to credit the correct votes and /or to deduct tampered to deduct tampered votes are perpetrated on large scale or in substantial numbers, the same shall be considered not as an ordinary election offense under Sec. 261 of the omnibus election code. But a special election offense to be known as electoral sabotage and the penalty to be imposed shall be life imprisonment.
The act or offense committed shall fall under the category of electoral sabotage in any of the following instances; |
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| (1) When the tampering, increase and / or decrease of votes perpetrated or the refusal to credit the correct votes or to deduct tampered votes, is/are committed in the election of a national elective office which is voted upon nationwide and the tampering, increase and/ or decrease votes refusal to credit the correct votes or to deduct tampered votes, shall adversely affect the results of the election to the said national office to the extent that losing candidate/s is /are made to appear the winner/s;
(2) Regardless of the elective office involved, when the tampering, increase and/or decrease of votes committed or the refusal to credit the correct votes or to deduct tampered votes perpetrated , is a accomplished in a single election document or in the transposition of the figure / results from one election document to another and involved in the said tampering increase and/or decrease or refusal to credit correct votes or deduct tampered votes exceed five thousand (5,000) votes, and that the same adversely affects the true results of the election ; |
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| (3) Any and all other forms or tampering increase/s and/ or decrease/s of votes perpetuated or in cases of refusal to credit the correct votes or deduct the tampered votes, where the total votes involved exceed ten thousand (10,000) votes;
Provided finally; That any and all either persons or individuals determined to be conspiracy or in connivance with the members of the BEIs or BOCs involved, shall be meted the same penalty of life imprisonment." |
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