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Automated polls were allegedly rigged, 'whistleblower' claims


A videotaped interview with an alleged whistleblower revealed details of an alleged massive rigging of the May 10 polls, tagging, among others, vice presidential frontrunner and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay as among those who paid ‘players’ to manipulate results. The video was shown before members of the media on Tuesday in a forum sponsored by the Catholic Media Network. It was attended by presidential candidates Nicanor Perlas, Jamby Madrigal, and JC De Los Reyes, as well as Sen. Aquilino Pimentel and former Sen. Francisco Tatad. The masked man in the video, who identified himself as among those who allegedly rigged the polls, claimed that Binay paid P1 billion to shave votes from his other rivals for the vice presidency. He added that second-placer Sen. Manuel Roxas II also paid another group of ‘players’ to rig results for him. “Kaya nagkakaroon ng problema ang mga players ngayon. Kung magaling ang mga players ni Roxas, talo si Binay, pero kung mas magaling ang pera ni Binay, [siya ang mananalo]," the unidentified man said. (This is the reason why the players are having trouble right now. If Roxas’ players are good, Binay would lose. But if Binay’s money is better, he’ll win.) “[Sa mga vice-presidentiables], si Binay lang ang kumagat sa offer. Alam naman ng player kung sinong may pera. [Si Binay] ‘yong consolidator eh. Bale-wala yung ginastos niya. Meron siyang sariling players. Sa Laguna, Pangasinan, CAR [Cordillera Administrative Region], at Region 4 ang trinabaho." (Among the vice-presidential bets, Binay was the only one who bit. After all, the player knows who has money. Binay was the consolidator. He has his own players and they worked in Laguna, Pangasinan, Cordillera Administrative Region, and Region 4.) GMANews.TV has tried to get the side of Binay regarding this matter but no reaction yet been received as of posting time. Moreover, the alleged whistleblower said that 15 million ballots were sold on the market to candidates who wanted to win. “Kung gusto mong manalo, kuha ka ng player. Tantiyado na ‘yan sa naka-assign sa balota kung ilang boto ang dapat lamang niya sa kalaban," he said. (If you wish to win, you get a player. The lead one has over one’s rival has already been predetermined.) “15 million ballots ang pinaghati-hatian for president, vice president, senator..Sa totoo lang walang kaalam-alam diyan ang higher-ups ng Comelec kasi ang kasama sa operasyon ay mga nasa mababang posisyon," the man claimed, saying the process was “too simple anyone can do it." (15 million ballots have been divided among candidates for president, vice-president, and senator. In truth, Comelec higher-ups know nothing about the whole operation because only those in lower positions are involved.) He added results from the presidency, in favor of frontrunner Sen. Benigno Aquino III, have also been included in the P1 billion payment made by Binay. The alleged whistleblower said the presidential race was actually between administration bet Gilberto Teodoro and former president Joseph Estrada, whose votes were shaved by an average of five million each. "Si Gibo, si Erap, si Bro. Eddie Villanueva, [ang binawasan ng boto]. Hindi ko ma-figure-out masyado [iyong eksaktong numero]. Supposed to be nanalo si Gibo. Naglalaban [sila ni Erap]. Five or six million ang nabawas kay Gibo. Kay Eddie, almost two to three million. Si Erap, four million yata." (Gibo, Erap, and Bro. Eddie had their votes shaved but I wasn’t able to figure out exactly how much. Gibo was supposed to win. He and Erap were fighting it out. About five to six million votes were shaved off from Gibo. Bro. Eddie had two to three millions votes shaved. Erap had some four million votes shaved.) “Kay dilaw, ang magiging boto niya konti lang supposed to be. It should be either Gibo or Erap. Basta po mga tao na nakadikit kay Gloria, syento porsyento po yan talo, bawas. Babaliktarin po iyan," the man said, referring to Aquino, whose campaign collor is yellow. (Mr. Yellow’s votes were supposed to be few. The leading contender should either be Gibo or Erap. People close to Gloria [Macapagal-Arroyo], they are expected to lose one hundred percent. But the results will be reversed.) He also said that vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda’s votes were also shaved. “Si Legarda, wala namang pera iyon eh, pero malaki ang nabawas sa boto sa kanya. More or less four to five million," he said, adding that Bayani Fernando’s votes were also shaved by 1.7 to 1.8 million. (Legarda had no money and a lot of votes were shaved off from her, more or less four to five million.) Among the senatorial candidates, the man also tagged proclaimed senators Vicente Sotto III and Ralph Recto as having paid players to ensure victory, although he provided no other details. “The operation itself goes to the opposition. Besides, sila ang may pera. Samantalang ‘yung mga nasa administrasyon, maganda ang makinarya ng Lakas pero anong magagawa kung pera ang kalaban mo?" (The opposition has money. Although the administration party had the machinery, it was nothing compared to money.) The alleged whistleblower said they fed pre-shaded ballots to machines similar to the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines used in precincts but are of a different color and brand name. The manipulated results, he said, were then sent to servers of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) ahead of the true transmissions from the actual precincts. “Tantyado na ng player [‘yung oras].. Kapag sinabi sa counterpart sa probinsya na we are now starting to send votes in the area, three minutes ahead tayo sa transmission," he added. (The players are able to determine the correct time when to transmit the results. When counterparts in the province say that they have begun to send votes in the area, we’re three minutes ahead of transmission.) Once data from the "hocus-PCOS machines" are transmitted, the transmission from the real PCOS machines are blocked. The servers are expected to accept results from the "hocus-PCOS machines" because the numbers of the precincts and the ballots are the same, he said. Even under automated elections, cheating took place, said the man, who began to be involved in these kinds of activities since 2007. "Ngayon nga po iyong pinakamadali, dahil pinakamahirap i-prove na may dagdag-bawas," the man said. (It’s been the easiest under automation because it’s going to be difficult to prove vote-shaving.) Crisis of conscience The video was provided by Manila Times columnist Buddy Cunanan, who said that the video was given to one of his colleagues in an informal citizens’ group closely monitoring the elections. The group didn’t really have a name, he said. “This man surfaced because of a crisis of conscience. He has documentary evidence that he would be willing to [reveal] with the proper protection. He is willing to come out," Cunanan said, who admitted that he has not yet seen any of these documentary evidence. The interview, Cunanan added, lasted for about two hours but was compressed to 30 minutes to be shown to the media. Cunanan assured that the video would be uploaded in the popular video sharing site Youtube within the day. “[This man] is afraid for his life, but he said he was willing to come up with documentary evidence at the proper forum," Cunanan said during the same forum. Pimentel, for his part, challenged the whistleblower to identify himself to give credence to his statements. “Ang mahirap dito, it’s easy to make charges but we are afraid to stand up to those charges. Eh wala nang katapusan ito. I’m very sorry to say that but tumayo na siya ngayon, [sabihin niyang] alam [niya] kung ano ang nangyari. He claims na may dayaan pero he is unwilling to show his face," Pimentel said. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV

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