More witnesses talk of Arroyo camp's 2004 'bribe attempt'

(UPDATED 1:00 p.m.) More witnesses on Tuesday claimed that there were attempts to give away bribe money to help former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo win the 2004 presidential polls. Former Judge Casan-Ali Limbona claimed before the Senate committee that he helped a former Shari'a court judge find contacts to help Mrs. Arroyo get the necessary votes to win the presidency during the 2004 elections. During a previous Senate blue ribbon committee hearing, former Shari'a court judge Nagamura Moner testified that he helped distribute bribe money to help Mrs. Arroyo win in the 2004 elections. "I affirm the statement of Judge Moner," Limbona said during Tuesday's Senate probe. Moner said that if it weren't for the cheating in ARMM, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ), Arroyo's closest rival during the 2004 presidential elections, would have won by at least one million votes. "Kung walang dayaan, malayong-malayo sana ang panalo ni FPJ," said Moner. During the same hearing, Moner alleged that in May 2004, he called Limbona to ask if he had a "contact" in Sultan Kudarat, where Mrs. Arroyo was losing heavily against Poe. He said Limbona told him that he has a friend named Lintang Bedol, who was then Maguindanao election supervisor, who can help them. "I told him after that to talk to Lintang Bedol and ask him if he can do something to the provincial canvassing in Sultan Kudarat so that GMA (Mrs. Arroyo's initials) will be made to win in Sultan Kudarat," he said. Moner said he was supposed to pay Bedol through Limbona. Moner said he gave Limbona P50,000 initially. Limbona clarified, however, that the P50,000 was just a reimbursement for an operation and that their commitment to Bedol was a payment of P5 for every lead vote for Mrs. Arroyo. "He (Bedol) agreed in principle," Limbona said. In the end, Limbona said they did not pay Bedol anymore because other contacts had already paid him for his work. Another witness Aside from Limbona, a professor named Maulawi Calimba also confirmed that Moner allegedly distributed bribe money to election officers of Lanao del Sur in Marawi City. Calimba said he was just there by accident because he was visiting Moner, who was his former professor, when he was asked to go to Marawi to round up election officers. Calimba likewise said he was just there to "observe" the workings of the local politics for a paper he was working on. "We are all victims of a system, no one can be faulted," he said. During the same hearing, Moner's former student named Amer Hassan Doro likewise confirmed that he helped the former judge distribute bribe money to several people. He said he specifically gave some police officers P5,000 to P8,000 in 2004. "(I gave money) to PO2 Sabal and his companion," he said. GMA News Online is still trying to obtain the reaction of the Mrs. Arroyo on the testimonies of the two new witnesses. However, the Arroyo camp has earlier denied involvement in the 2004 and 2007 poll fraud. Earlier in the hearing, Former Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines director general Alfonso Cusi, whom Moner accused of recruiting him for the operation, likewise denied that there were alleged bribery attempts during the 2004 polls. During last week's Senate blue ribbon committee hearing, Moner admitted said there were also other people who distributed bribe money for the alleged operation. Moner said "someone" allegedly paid 17 election officers of Lanao del Sur P15,000 each to ensure Arroyo's victory. He refused to identify the person. However, on Tuesday, Calimba said aside from them, Marawi City administrator Barry Macaumbos allegedly distributed money for Mrs. Arroyo. "He is a friend of mine also... we were together in the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources)," he said. The Senate hearing was still going on as of posting time. - VVP/RSJ, GMA News