Comelec official denies involvement in 2007 election anomalies

One of the thirteen election officers who have been recommended by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Law Department to be slapped with criminal charges and disciplinary actions on Monday denied involvement in the alleged 2007 election anomalies. “Wala akong kasalanan, wala akong kinalaman dun (I have not committed any wrongdoing, I am not involved in that)," Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Regional Election Director Ray Sumalipao told reporters in an ambush interview at the Comelec office. Last July, the poll body’s Law Department recommended to the Comelec en banc that charges be filed against 13 election officers allegedly involved in irregularities in the 2007 elections. [See: No room for ‘operators’ in 2010 polls - Comelec chief] In a resolution dated August 19, 2008, the department recommended that Sumalipao be charged with “insubordination and misconduct" for supposedly allowing anomalies in the 2007 elections in Mindanao. The alleged irregularities prompted Comelec to hold special elections in the provinces of Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao. Sumalipao said he hasn’t heard of such charges being filed against him. “I’m waiting for the case, I’m amazed and surprised why my name was dragged into this. Why are they always dragging my name?" he said. He added that he did not serve in ARMM in 2007, claiming that this should be reason enough to absolve him of the said anomalies. The regional director said that he was surprised when he heard that he had supposedly filed a motion for reconsideration at the Comelec en banc. “There was a ghost who signed a motion for reconsideration," he said. Sumalipao said that he and fellow “accused" Lanao Del Sur Provincial Election Supervisor (PES) Yasib Nasin are in fact the only ones left working for the commission “because we didn’t do anything wrong." No formal charges yet Comelec’s Law Department told GMANews.TV that Sumalipao and Nasin are the only ones who have not been formally charged, since the Comelec en banc has yet to decide whether there is enough evidence to back the charges. The department officers clarified that Sumalipao and Nasin were investigated only because of some shortcomings in performing their duties in 2007, based on an investigation made against Camal Calandada, an election assistant in Lanao Del Sur. Calandada was charged with “usurpation of authority and unauthorized registration." Also under fire due to 2007 poll anomalies is lawyer Lintang Bedol, former PES for Maguindanao. In January 2009, Bedol was slated to be charged with “failure to account for election documents, gross neglect of duty, grave misconduct, and gross insubordination," among others. He has since gone into hiding. Hamilton Cuevas, PES for Lanao Del Norte, was charged with “insubordination," while PES Yogie Martirizar (North Cotabato) and Lilian Suan-Radam (South Cotabato) were charged with “electoral sabotage." Four other election officers in Lanao Del Sur and North Cotabato and two election assistants in Lanao Del Sur were likewise charged with miscellaneous violations ranging from unauthorized registration, illegal deletion and transfer of votes, grave abuse of authority, grave misconduct, dishonesty, and simple neglect of duty. Garci links Some of the 13 election officers have also been linked to controversial former Comelec commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. Garcillano figured in the famous “Hello Garci" scandal that broke out in June 2005, when several wiretap recordings of his supposed phone conversations with President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo were released to the public. In the said recordings, Garcillano and Arroyo were allegedly talking about rigging the May 2004 election results to favor administration bets. In one of the said recordings, Garcillano supposedly talked with a certain “Ray." Sumalipao later confirmed that he was the “Ray" talking with Garcillano, but pointed out that there was no mention of any poll rigging in their conversation. Both Arroyo and Garcillano have repeatedly denied involvement in rigging the May 2004 polls. - GMANews.TV