Palace exec: Unas' testimony a 'very strong evidence'

This early, a Malacañang official finds the testimony of former Maguindanao provincial administrator Norie Unas linking former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to the alleged 2007 poll fraud as "very strong evidence." "We asked if it (testimony) is a hearsay, this is personal knowledge. So under the rules of evidence, personal knowledge is a very strong evidence," presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda, a lawyer, said at a press briefing Tuesday. When asked if he thinks the testimony is credible, Lacierda said he will leave it up to the Department of Justice and Commission on Elections to evaluate the matter. "But it seems like, in his affidavit, it appeared that he was very confident of being able to state for the record that he was able to hear former President Arroyo giving the order," he said. In his affidavit, Unas recalled that during a dinner meeting at Malacañang days before the May 2007 elections, he heard Mrs. Arroyo instruct Andal Ampatuan Sr. to make her administration bets win senatorial seats, at least in Maguindanao. Unas also claimed that then-First Gentleman Jose Miguel “Mike" Arroyo also gave instructions to rig the polls. The Arroyo camp has since denied Unas' allegations. First person Lacierda said Unas was the first person to be able to identify, testify and to have personal knowledge that Mrs. Arroyo ordered the 12-0 in the 2007 election, at least in one province. "That will have to be appreciated or rather evaluated by the panel of justice but certainly this is the first time we’ve heard of someone identifying the President as ordering a 12-0 manipulation of the 2007 election. But again we leave it with the DOJ officials to evaluate," he said. He said a number of people, mostly from the Comelec, are coming out because they believe they can divulge what they know now. "These [are] officials who [were] privy to what went on during the 2004 and 2007 [polls]. There was a fear and apprehension at that time to come out, on their own volition, they decided to come out and reveal what they knew about those elections," he said. On Monday, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes presented 15 of 22 election officers who were assigned to Maguindanao's 22 towns in the 2007 elections.