Poll commissioner: No election raps vs Bedol yet

MANILA, Philippines - No criminal charges have been filed yet against controversial Maguindanao elections supervisor Lintang Bedol, Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioner Armando Velasco admitted Wednesday. In a Commission on Appointments (CA) confirmation hearing, Velasco said he examined Bedol’s record and found there were no criminal charges initiated versus the controversial poll official. The Comelec found Bedol guilty of indirect contempt after defying summonses to appear in investigations on the conduct of elections in Maguindanao in the May 2007 midterm polls. The poll body sentenced him six months imprisonment and fined him P1,000, but authorities have yet to locate him. The Genuine Opposition in 2007 accused Bedol of manipulating the provincial poll results in favor of Team Unity bets. Earlier in the hearing, Comelec Commissioner Lucenito Tagle said Bedol has remained at large more than a year since he was ordered arrested, adding that the controversial poll executive may be hiding in the United States. Tagle explains delay In a separate interview, Tagle said they will initiate the filing of election charges against Bedol before the Manila regional trial court. He admitted there may be neglect on the part of the Comelec in the filing of election raps. But he cited a number of reasons that might explain the delay, saying that the Bedol case happened during the time of former Comelec chair Benjamin Abalos, and that new Comelec leadership was busy making preparations for the 2010 automated polls. He added that the killings of the heads of the Comelec legal department also caused delay in the investigation on Bedol. Moreover, Tagle said he just received information that graft charges have been filed against Bedol before the Office of the Ombudsman only this January 2009. - Sophia Dedace with a report from Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV