Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume IV, Number 9 March 28 - April 3, 2004 Quezon City, Philippines |
Party-List
Groups, GMA Foes Unite Vs Fraud, Terrorism They
may be protagonists in the May elections, but opposition presidential bets
buried their differences as they agreed to forge a common front against fraud
and terrorism which, they said, the incumbent president will commit or is
already committing on a massive scale. The united campaign was organized by
Bayan Muna last week. By
Alexander Martin Remollino
The
country’s major political parties and Party-list groups are gearing for a
campaign against widespread fraud and terrorism by the Macapagal-Arroyo camp in
the coming May elections. In
a launching news conference hosted by the Party-list Bayan Muna last March 23 in
Quezon City, the four opposition presidential candidates banded together to
forge a common front against fraud and terrorism which, they said, Malacañang
is waging and will commit on a massive scale in the presidential elections to
give Macapagal-Arroyo a new term. Organized
by Bayan Muna, the Resist Fraud and Terrorism (or Resist) brought together
presidential candidates former senator and education secretary Raul Roco; actor
Fernando Poe, Jr., represented by Sen. Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan; Sen.
Panfilo Lacson, represented by Gary dela Paz; and Bro. Eddie Villanueva. In
a statement of solidarity read by Ocampo during the press conference, Resist
expressed commitment to “expose and vigorously oppose the use of fraud,
repression and other chicanery in the coming elections that would be perpetrated
by any party, candidate or group, including the illegal use of state
resources.” The
Resist convenors also agreed to launch common actions and mutual assistance
“that will uphold and ensure the true expression of the people’s will in the
coming elections.” Teddy
Casińo, Bayan Muna’s second party-list nominee, who also emceed the press
conference, said Resist organizers will be watching for three kinds of fraud in
this election: “First, the incumbent’s use of government funds for
campaigns; second, the use of the military and the police to suppress the
administration’s opponents; and third, the use of the Comelec (Commission on
Elections) itself.” Worst
kind of fraud Roco
of the Alyansa ng Pag-asa, meanwhile, said that aside from the forms of fraud,
“there is a worst kind of fraud—the government’s suppression of
information regarding its activities.” “The people should know their rights,
what candidates should be doing, the right to obtain (information) critical to
the election. “The suppression of such information is tantamount to fraud.” The
groups participating in Resist cited reports that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
is already committing fraud in her election bid. In
particular, Ocampo noted the diversion of the Medicare funds of the Overseas
Workers Welfare Administration (OWWA) to the Philippine Health Insurance
Corporation (Philhealth). The OWWA Medicare fund is a trust fund created with
donations from overseas Filipino workers. In
November 2002, Philhealth president Francisco Duque wrote a memorandum to
President Arroyo proposing the transfer of the OWWA Medicare funds to the
Philhealth, saying that “The proposed transfer will have a significant bearing
on the 2004 election.” Macapagal-Arroyo
has recently been giving away Philhealth membership cards bearing her name and
picture. While she has told media that she “will continue to distribute (Philhealth
cards) because that is what the law provides for, a universal health
insurance,” critics from cause-oriented groups, media, and opposition quarters
have argued that the distribution of such cards bearing her name and picture is
tantamount to electioneering. The
president faces a disqualification case for the distribution of Philhealth
cards. The case was filed by the lawyers’ group Pro-Constitution. According to
Ramon Rana, who filed the complaint for the group, Arroyo is spending government
funds to influence voters. “Employment
program” The
president is also being hit for the use of tarpaulin billboards calling
attention to her “employment program” during the election season. Comelec
lawyer Ferdinand Rafanan, until recently public information officer of the
Comelec, said that Arroyo’s distribution of Philhealth cards is illegal and
she may be disqualified for doing so. He has recently been stripped of his
position as Comelec public information officer and reassigned to Eastern
Mindanao even as he hails from the north. Macapagal-Arroyo
is also under fire for what critics describe as questionable appointments of
Manuel Barcelona, Jr. and Virgilio Garcillano to the Comelec. In a column for
the March 24-30 issue of the tabloid-sized Pinoy
Weekly, lawyer Remigio Saladero, Jr. noted that Barcelona and Garcillano
were appointed at a time when Congress was not in session, thereby allowing them
to get away without being grilled by the Commission on Appointments. The
Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism has reported that Barcelona and
his son Manuel III donated P500,000 and P100,000, respectively, to Arroyo’s
campaign funds when she ran for vice president in 1998. Garcillano,
meanwhile, was the Comelec regional director for Northern Mindanao in 1995, when
the dagdag-bawas (vote-padding)
scandal broke out. One of the victims, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel, Jr., who lost in
the region which includes his own home province, alleges that Garcillano had a
hand in the cheating. Harassment
Most
of the oppositionist presidentiables also said they have been subjected to
various forms of harassment by the administration camp. Roco and Lacson have all
told, in various media interviews, of being placed under surveillance by the
administration camp. They echo the claims of party-list groups—most notably
Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Anak ng Bayan Youth Party, and Gabriela Women’s
Party—of being targets of political repression. “We
have only a few campaign posters,” Villanueva meanwhile said during the Resist
Launching, and these are being removed.” Also participating in the broad alliance are: Anakpawis, Gabriela Women’s Party, Suara Bangsamoro Party, Anak ng Bayan Youth Party, Migrante Sectoral Party, Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption, Katipunan ng mga Anak ng Bayan All-Filipino Democratic Movement, and Citizens’ Movement for Order. Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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