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Alleged taped conversation between Comelec exec, operator circulating online


An alleged taped conversation between a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official and an operator has been circulating on the internet, days after a masked whistleblower claimed that fraud occurred in the May elections, the poll body said on Friday. A person sent the poll body a link to a website which supposedly features a supposed recorded conversation between Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer and a poll operator, Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said. "I think (it has) something (to do) with the elections, parang ganyan yung pag-rig ng elections, parang ganun yung tema ng conversation (I think it has something to do with the rigging of the elections, that was kind of like the theme of the conversation)," he said. However, the commissioner was unable to immediately identify the website, adding that one of the voices did not sound like Ferrer at all. "Hindi naman siya yun at hindi naman niya boses (That's not him and that's not his voice)... after working with Ferrer for so many years, I would know," he said. Ferrer already knows about the matter and has denied talking to anyone about the matter indicated in the recorded conversation, Sarmiento said. Ferrer could not be immediately reached for comment as of posting time. In 2004, a similar taped conversation about alleged vote-rigging between a woman presumed to be President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and a man presumed to be former Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano took place. When it surfaced in 2005, it became known as the "Hello Garci" controversy. Sarmiento, for his part, said the taped conversation tagging Ferrer seems to be part of some "sinister pattern" to discredit the poll body. "It is our dream to put a closure to the past then things like this surface. It's definitely a way to distract the people and undermine the electoral process," he said in Filipino. But he said that he still has no idea as to who would be behind the recorded conversation. "I would not know. Hopefully, the truth will come out," he said, adding that the Comelec en banc plans to take up the matter soon. However, he still appealed to those responsible for the taped conversation. "Sana magiisip isip yung gumagawa, think of the national interest and spare the innocent. May pamilya din naman yan (I hope the perpetrators think carefully about what they're doing. They should think of the national interest and spare the innocent. They have families too," he said. Earlier, a masked whisteblower named "Robin" had alleged that the two leading vice-presidential bets — Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay and Senator Manuel "Mar" Roxas — paid "players" to rig the results of the automated elections and that Binay allegedly paid more, explaining his lead in the tally of election returns. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV

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