Senator Legarda to turn over to DOJ, Comelec 'proof' of poll fraud

Senator Loren Legarda on Monday said she will turn over to the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Commission on Elections (Comelec) documents that will supposedly support claims of alleged fraud during the 2004 polls. Legarda lost the 2004 vice presidential race to broadcaster and former Vice President Noli De Castro. Legarda said she will give to the DOJ and the Comelec transcripts of the Presidential Electoral Tribunal's (PET) hearings on her electoral protest against De Castro. In the transcripts, Legarda said the Comelec's printer Ernest Printing - through its then manager Roberto Payongayong - testified that at least one of the election returns (ER) their camp was contesting before the national board of canvassers was not authentic. "Peke ang Congress ER na yun at that time (That Congress ER was not authentic)," she said, adding that this will prove that there was indeed a break-in at the Batasang Pambansa in 2004. She noted, however, that she does not plan to pursue anymore action on the matter herself, saying that she has already "moved on." "Maliwanag ang nangyari, maliwanag sino ang nanakawan ng tagumpay... dapat lang tuwirin ang kasaysayan. Ipauubaya ko na lang sa DOJ and Comelec,(It's clear what happened, it's clear who was robbed of their victory, history must be corrected. I will leave everything to the DOJ and the Comelec)," she said. "I will leave it to the hands of God, our destiny, and the justice system," she added. De Castro won over Legarda with a slim margin of 881,722 votes. Legarda contested the result but the Presidential Electoral Tribunal dismissed her protest in January 2008. Legarda was the running mate of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., who also claimed that he was cheated by former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo during the 2004 presidential polls. Blaming the canvasssers Meanwhile, Senate Majority Floor Leader Vicente Tito III, who was Poe's campaign manager, accused the 2004 national board of canvassers, including their colleague Senator Francis Pangilinan, of being involved in a cover-up of alleged fraud during that time when they refused to confirm the authenticity of the ERs. Legarda said she understood Sotto's sentiments because they were "on the same boat" but that she does not blame Pangilinan or anyone. "I hold no regrets and that's true. I do not take it against one single person." she said, adding that she just wishes to focus on her work now at the Senate. "Wala na ako hinahangad pang posiyon na mas mataas pa (I am no longer hoping for a higher position) I would just like to serve as senator," she said. - VVP, GMA News