Bribe try on soldiers in Sulu last May 10 bared

The head of the Philippine Marines on Tuesday bared attempts by some local candidates in Sulu province to rig the recently-concluded May 10 automated elections. Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban claimed there had been several incidents of local candidates bribing Marine soldiers to leave the clustered precincts they were guarding allegedly so that cheating could be carried out. "Ang [sistema] dun is 'Sarge [Sergeant], puwede bang umalis na kayo diyan at kami na ang bahala sa inyo.' Sila na mag-boboto," Sabban said without disclosing names of the involved candidates. [They would ask the soldiers, 'Can you abandon your posts and will give you something in return.' And then they will carry out the cheating.] Sabban stressed that despite the number of bribe attempts, none of his men had accepted the offers and that the results of the local elections in the province should not be questioned. "The presence of the Marines deterred anomalies such as this," he said. He said he would be going to Sulu on Wednesday to hand down medals to soldiers who did not give in to bribe try. "It shows their dedication and also their professionalism. We are commending our troops for doing the right thing." Marine spokesman Capt. Alden Gwyn Amargo said the soldiers are being honored "for gallantly protecting the integrity of the election by fervently refusing acts of bribery in several attempts to cheat the elections." Among those who will be awarded for refusing bribe offers include Pfc. Rhomel Divina and S/Sgt. William Magpili, who were both offered thousands of pesos to abandon their respective posts so that hundreds of ballots would be tampered. Divina was stationed at Maligay precinct while Magpili was in Baunoh Bangkal precinct, both in Patikul town. "Similar awards will also be given to other Marines deployed in other precincts who steadfastly performed exemplary election security duties and vehemently refused any attempt of bribery to prevent the ill intents of some political personalities who dared to destroy the credibility of the May 10 elections," said Amargo. Sabban said the military would just be leaving the investigation of the bribery reports to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) "Hindi na namin trabaho iyong kung may cheating. Ang trabaho namin is it should be orderly and peaceful (It is not part of our mandate to investigate poll fraud. Our job is to keep the elections orderly and peaceful)," Sabban said. - MM/KBK, GMANews.TV