Palace takes new tack on alleged 2004 poll fraud

It may be too late to file election fraud charges against those supposedly involved in alleged vote padding-shavings in 2004 presidential polls, but government could still pursue non-election related cases, President Aquino said Wednesday. The prescription period for filing election related charges in connection with the 2004 polls was five years, which had lapsed by the time he assumed office last June 30, 2010, the President said. Aquino said in an interview with Palace reporters that he had asked the Department of National Defense (DND) to look into the alleged cheating after some members of the military and police were dragged into the controversy. He then tapped the Department of Justice — the appropriate agency to file the case — to help with the investigations. “Pinag-aaralan ngayon ng DOJ ano ba ang pwedeng mga violations of the law na hindi election-related na lang… Merong mga allegations na pagdadalaw ng mataas na opisyal o hindi mga opisyal pero may tinask na mga tao ng dating administrasyon, sa mga kampo bago noong halalan," the President said. “Ano iyung instructions, et cetera, may mga lumantad na at nagsalita, tulad ni [Brigadier] General [Francisco] Gudani, na pwedeng mabalikan muli at mabigyan ng pagkakataong masabi ang lahat ng kanilang nalalaman," he added. According to the President, more people are now wiling to come out in the open and share what they know. But “if we will run after them in connection with the 2004 elections, it is not clear or open to us if we could file cases under the Omnibus Election Code." “For instance, meron bang mataas na opisyal na nag-utos sa kanyang tauhan na gumawa ng isang iligal na bagay? Kung may pruweba isasampa natin ‘yung kaso. Baka may violation sa Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act — ang daming potentials na pwedeng pasukan, ano," he said. Unexplored leads “Ang sinasabi lang natin ngayon, ‘yung elections mismo hindi na kabahagi," he added. The President said they want to look into unexplored leads in the Mayuga Report that cleared members of the military of involvement in the alleged 2004 election fraud after the Presidential Management Staff (PMS) reported several possible areas worth looking into. Aquino said the Mayuga Report, an offshoot of the investigations by a panel headed by former Navy chief Mateo Mayuga, was a slim report compared to the six boxes of annexes that contained more details and information. De Lima, however, said they would look into possible violations of the Revised Penal Code, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, the Articles of War and other laws that maybe appropriate. Commission on Elections would be helping the DOJ in the investigation, the Justice chief said. Following the claims of Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes on the possibility of an exemption to the five-year prescription period, De Lima said it’s an area worth looking into. “Isa iyan sa mga legal issues na gusto namin i-validate nang husto, iyung proper interpretation, because… there is an exemption that if it was discovered in the course of a proceeding. "So, tinitignan namin iyung sinasabi ni chairman Brillantes na meron supposedly kaso na naka-file and that can be within the purview of that exemption. We want to make sure, kaya nga kasama iyan sa pag-aaral para matapos na iyung proceedings ng DOJ-Comelec joint committee ay alam na alam namin kung ano ang mga kaso ang pwedeng i-file," De Lima said. — VS, GMA News