Lawyer Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, today hailed an order of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to file a case of electoral sabotage against South Cotabato provincial election supervisor Lilian Suan-Radam after finding sufficient evidence of her involvement in the padding of votes for 10 administration candidates and three bets from other parties in the May 2007 Senatorial Election.

The complaint against Radam was initiated by Atty. Pimentel, who ran for senator under the Genuine Opposition banner and who is contesting the 12th winning senatorial slot through a protest that is being heard by the Senate Electoral Tribunal.

In an en banc resolution unanimously approved by six commissioners led by Chairman Jose Melo, the COMELEC said “it is clear that a crime has been committed as evidenced by the discrepancies in the provincial certificate of canvass (PCOC) submitted by respondent Radam and that submitted by the Special Board of Canvassers (SPBOC).”

“In the same light, the fact that there has been tampering of the figures of votes in the PCOC, the most logical explanation as to the discrepancies must come from the Provincial Board of Canvassers (PBOC) chair (Radam), he or she having personal knowledge of the incidents surrounding the canvassing. This she failed to do. Based on the foregoing reasons, this Commission finds probable cause to warrant the filing of information before the proper court,” the poll body said in its resolution.

COMELEC Chairman Jose Melo says “it is clear that a crime has been committed as evidenced by the discrepancies in the provincial certificate of canvass (PCOC) submitted by respondent Radam and that submitted by the Special Board of Canvassers (SPBOC).”

With this order, Radam will get the dubious distinction of being the first election official to be charged with electoral sabotage which is punishable by life imprisonment under Republic Act 9360.

RA 9360 states that the crime of electoral sabotage is committed if “any person or member of the board of election inspector or board of canvassers tampers, increases or decreases the votes received by a candidate in any election” and the tampering of votes is “perpetrated on a large scale or in substantial numbers.”

Official COMELEC records revealed that the vote counts for nine Team Unity senatorial candidates in South Cotabato were inflated by 77,000 to 119,000 votes each through falsification of election documents.

In the PCOC submitted by Radam, Sen. Edgardo Angara obtained 246,653 votes while he was credited with 145,653 votes in the tally prepared by the SPBOC.

A comparison of the tallies appearing in the Radam PCOC and those made by the SPBOC showed that the votes of the other Team Unity candidates in the said province were illegally increased as follows:

Joker Arroyo – from 102,971 to 212,972, Michael Defensor – from 92,880 to 211,880, Vicente Magsaysay – from 62,471 to 150,471, Teresita Aquino-Oreta – from 39,136 to 156,044, Prospero Pichay – from 86,858 to 203,958 Ralph Recto – from 94,758 to 210,788, Vicente Sotto III – from 52,613 to 149,613 and Juan Miguel Zubiri – from 141,674 to 218,674.

Considering the “glaring discrepancies” in the Radam PCOC, the COMELEC said it was “convinced that tampering to either increase or decrease the vote in favor of several candidates was committed.”

The poll body said respondent Radam failed to present sufficient evidence in her defense to establish the regularity in the PCOC in her possession.

“The arguments foisted by said respondent consist largely of denials instead of explaining the discrepancies,” he said.

Moreover, the Commission cited the testimonies of PBOC member Bernardita Vallar and PBOC secretariat member Aileen Palo that their signatures in the statement of votes by municipality and the summary of statement of votes presented by Radam had been tampered while the thumbmarks appearing in the said documents were probably not theirs as well. This prompted the Commission’s Law Department to tap the services of the Election Records and Statistics Department (ERSD) Voters Identification Division to conduct a Dactyloscopic Report.

The young Pimentel said the COMELEC’s ruling vindicates his assertion that the senatorial election in South Cotabato and many other Mindanao provinces had been marred by massive “dagdag-bawas” (vote padding and shaving) operations.

“I commend the COMELEC, under the leadership of Chairman Melo, for taking pains to unearth the truth behind the allegation that the May 2007 Senatorial Election in South Cotabato had been tainted by large-scale electoral fraud and that no less than provincial election supervisor Atty. Lilian Radam was its prime perpetrator. I see this as an indication of the poll body’s determination to enforce the law against electoral sabotage and to ferret out and prosecute the culprits without fear or favor and without the influence of partisanship,” Atty. Pimentel said. # # #

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