Bedol could face perjury, libel charges for poll fraud claim — Comelec exec

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Rene Sarmiento on Thursday said Lintang Bedol, the former poll supervisor in Maguindanao province, may face perjury or libel charges for claiming in a television interview that cheating occurred during the 2007 elections. Sarmiento, whom Bedol accused of having a hand in the alleged poll fraud, noted the discrepancy in Bedol’s statement regarding election documents used in Maguindanao in 2007. “Ang sinasabi niya, lost yung documents na yan. Ngayon, sinasabi niya andito sa Comelec. Totoo na may contradiction yung kanyang dalawang statements, yung sinabi niya noon at ngayon. Lumalabas na talagang may serious discrepancies sa kanyang pagsasalita," the poll commissioner said. He said Bedol losing custody of the documents in 2007 was one of the bases for the issuance of an arrest warrant against him by the Comelec en banc on October 22, 2007. Another basis was Bedol’s failure to answer to the summons sent by the en banc. Sec. 261 of the Omnibus Election Code provides that an election offense is committed when “any public official, who neglects or fails to properly preserve or account for any ballot box, documents and forms received by him and kept under his custody". Sec. 226, meanwhile, states that it is considered infidelity in the custody of document if there is a “public officer, who shall remove, destroy or conceal documents or papers officially entrusted to him." Bedol is also facing violation of Sec. 3 (e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for allegedly “causing any undue injury to any party, including the Government, or giving any private party any unwarranted benefits, advantage or preference in the discharge of his official administrative or judicial functions through manifest partiality, evident bad faith or gross inexcusable negligence." Bedol, in August 2007, was sentenced to six months imprisonment but was released after posting a P15,000 bail. Sarmiento, meanwhile, denied Bedol’s accusation that he was involved in a supposed poll fraud in 2007. “Walang katotohanan ni katiting. Kaya ako po ay nasorpresa na ako ay idinadawit," he said Bedol claimed that Sarmiento was an “accessory" to the authentication of the alleged fake election returns in the province in the 2007 polls. Aside from Sarmiento, Bedol also linked then-President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, then-Comelec chief Benjamin Abalos, and then-Comelec commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer to the supposed poll fraud. - KBK, GMA News