An electoral crisis emerged in the Philippines in June 2005, and has arguably halted in September 2005. [1] Certain evidence have surfaced regarding alleged electoral fraud conducted by incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the 2004 national election. The official results of that election gave Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Noli de Castro the presidency and vice-presidency, respectively. Hundreds of national and local positions were also contested during this election.
Allegations on Arroyo and her accomplices in government are many, but chief among these include electoral fraud, and a subsequent cover-up of the electoral fraud. The administration has denied some of the allegations and challenged others in court. Attempts however for an impeachment trial were denied in the House of Representatives. Arroyo's most well-known alleged accomplice, from the electoral commission, Virgilio Garcillano, has left the country. Allegations that his escape was supported by the alleged government cover-up persist. Garcillano denied any wrongdoing regarding electoral fraud before his disappearance.
Events history
Samuel Ong, a former deputy director of the country's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) declared in a June 10 press conference [[2] that he possessed original recordings of a wiretapped conversation between Arroyo and an official of the Commission on Elections, who was alleged to be Virgilio Garcillano. In the following weeks, the contents of the tapes were analyzed by the media. The Ong recordings allegedly proved that the 2004 national election was rigged by Arroyo to maintain her presidency and the political success of her allies. Arroyo denied the accusations of election rigging in a television broadcast on June 27, but she acknowledged that it was her voice on the tape. [3] Protests occurred frequently during the crisis in favor or against Arroyo and her administration. Attempts to impeach Arroyo failed on September 6.
Public opinion
During the crisis, various polls and surveys conducted by Social Weather Stations, CNN/Time, and Pulse Asia measured public opinion regarding the allegations and other related issues.
According to a CNN/Time poll, 57.5 percent of the people surveyed said that Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should not finish her term. [4]. A Pulse Asia survey released on Philippine news on July 12 showed that 57% of the people wanted incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign from office.
Evidence
Ong recordings
Two recordings were presented to the public: the Ong recordings and the government endorsed version of the recordings. Uncut copies of the Ong recordings managed to become widespread. The first recordings to be released to the press were used in the Congressional inquiry on the crisis. The second set of recordings, described by the government as the original, was more easily accessible in the Philippines as the government did not restrict the media from airing it. However, the media aired both sets, focusing on the Ong recordings. A transcript is available here, but its lack of government censorship has yet to be determined. [5]
Shortly after the scandal broke, Randy David, a nonpartisan columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, cited two excerpts from the Ong recording in an article. Sheila Coronel, of the Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism, was able to decipher some of the garbled parts of the tape, which allegedly implicated Arroyo in the scandal. David analyzed the tapes using ethnomethodology and came to the same conclusions as did Coronel. His analysis described one of the speakers as a female coming across as a person speaking to her subordinate. Later, Arroyo acknowledged that it was her voice on the recording. However, no trial took place regarding Arroyo's intentions with her conversations in the recordings. According to Philippine law, both recordings are part of the public ___domain and are freely distributable.
In his editorial on June 12, 2005 for the Philippine Daily Inquirer [6], Randy David said,
- "On the surface it does look like an innocent exchange. The key word here is "nagco-correspond"-a gloss that refers to the practice of fixing canvass results at, say, the provincial level so that they are not at variance with precinct election returns or statement of votes for municipalities. The other gloss is the question "Kumpleto?" This is not a harmless inquiry. Given the kind of response it elicits, it is an urgent demand to make sure the doctoring is done with care".
David described Arroyo's subordinate as a "man...not in the business of counting votes; he produces them."
Sheila Coronel, described not only electoral fraud, but also the involvement of the independent watchdog group Namfrel. In her analysis, Coronel alleged that corruption was clearly evident. [7] She also commented on the garbled portions of the tape, which were digitally enhanced for clarity. [8]. Allegedly, Arroyo whispered "Yung dagdag, yung dagdag" ("The addition, the addition"), implying fraud and mentioned Namfrel's sympathy for her. In her blog, she said,
- "The conversations, after all, provide damning proof that Garcillano was, in the words of a Comelec official, “the plotter for electoral fraud, the overall supervisor and commander in chief” of the manipulation of the count in favor of the administration. The recording points to systemic and institutional fraud perpetrated by the Comelec. Does this mean that the President, by confirming her phone calls to the commissioner, also provided, albeit indirectly, a virtual confirmation of the fraud?"
Other evidence
After the Ong allegations surfaced, many others also claimed to have evidence of cheating by the Arroyo administration; however the additional allegations have not been backed by solid evidence. Witnesses included Rashma Hali, an electoral official from Basilan, and Michael Zuce who claimed that he was present in an incident where Arroyo allegedly bribed officials from the Commission on Elections. Roberto Verzola, leader of the Philippine Greens and an IT expert, alleged that he could also prove that Gloria Macapagal Arroyo allegedly rigged the 2004 elections. Verzola also claimed that he could prove fraudulent involvement by the citizens' election watchdog, National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel). Jay Carizo developed the election cheating indicators. Other sources claimed fraud in several other government postions, as well as the murder of political opponents by incumbents. There were also eyewitness claims as well. Loren Legarda-Leviste also claimed that she had evidence of being cheated by Noli de Castro won the vice presidency, also in 2004.
Fraud techniques
Electoral fraud in the country was usually done by manipulating the ballots. However, a new technique has arisen which just involves the manipulating the election return or ER, which is a summary of the votes in precincts. Evidence exist showing that the 32,000 sets of overprinted ERs of the Commission of Elections could manipulate an election by as much as three million votes. Such number of votes could change a result. [9]
Pop culture
Humour
There is also the wide spread use of a portion of the contents in Ong tapes as a mobile phone ring tone. The ring tone starts with Hello, Garci? Hello Ma'm. This is common among the youth, especially with the start of the new school year in June. It became one of the world's most downloaded ring tones. [10] There are also more various varieties of ring tones that are derived from the wiretapped conversation aside from the original ring tone. [11] In addition to the popular ring tones, the so-called "prayer jokes" have become popular.
Partisan propaganda
A poster of President Arroyo being Valentina, a villain of the popular television series Darna, was in circulation. It is entitled "President Evil", alluding to the popular film and video game series Resident Evil. Another poster depicts a fictional film as it was called "Destabilisasyon: Ang Pagbabalik ni Asyong Salonga." (translated as Destabilisation: The Return of Asyong Salonga) The poster depicts the following people as its characters, Joseph Estrada, Laarni Enriquez, Samuel Ong, Sandra Cam, and Francis Escudero. These people are either opposition leaders and political opponents, or for Ong and Cam, whistleblowers. The two posters are definitely partisan either in favor or against Arroyo, and as propaganda, uses pop culture in aiding the cause of one side.
Implications
Government
The evidence carried with it great consequences. The Ong tape were neutrally authenticated by foreign companies Uniquest (Australia) and Voice Identification (United States). Also, Arroyo's spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, as well as the president herself, acknowledged that it was indeed Arroyo's voice. The protesting public insisted that the tapes and CDs proved electoral fraud, and that Arroyo cheated, rigging the 2004 elections. A sizable number of people wanted the results of the 2004 elections to be made invalid. The Supreme Court withheld judgement on the matter, refraining from actions toward invalidating the election. The administration said the the Ong recordings were inadmissible in court, since the audio was taped without consent.
There were two possible outcomes for the government. Arroyo could either have resigned or been ousted through a constitutionally accepted means. These actions could only take place after addressing the current state of the faulty electoral system. The other outcome was for Arroyo to be cleared of any wrong doing. No final course of action was taken to resolve Arroyo's legitimacy or to prevent electoral fraud.
Electorate
The Philippines, according to experts, has a reputation for having political issues based on patronage politics, and personality politics. However, what is unique about this crisis, according to same experts, is that it addresses the greater issue of electoral fraud and an allegedly faulty election system that allows cheaters to win, and worse, to get away with it. This is manifest with a humourous local saying that, "There are two types of people in elections. Those who win and those who get cheated out of office." Politically outspoken student groups mention that this is rather new for Philippine politics, and shows a gradual development of the voting public, the electorate.
The accusations, if recognized to be true by the Supreme Court, will prove that the declared winners of the 2004 elections do not actually have the legal mandate to be in power. And, if the winners are stripped of their positions, this will be the first time that cheating politicians, in significant numbers, may actually be punished for their actions. Again if this happens, it will be a turning point in the country's electoral history, as the electorate's demand for free and fair elections will topple cheating candidates who almost got away with cheating, assuming these politicians are proven cheaters.
According to pundits, the past 60 years of the Philippine history already has a reputation of electoral fraud, proven or otherwise. It is just that no one ever gets caught, and that no one ever gets punished. Analysts assert that constituents have always been desensitized to their politicians cheating during elections, and because of this, people usually doubt their leaders' mandates. The people are also often suspicious of the winners, especially in close poll results, and do nothing. Constituents generally allow their leaders, assuming proven acts of cheating, to get away with cheating, until now.
Media coverage
Critics alleged that some media groups in broadcast and print were overwhelmingly partisan in dealing with the crisis. Alternative media, mostly in radio, made similar accusations, though they may be overwhelimgly partisan themselves. These accusations though between them are not new, and are common during propaganda wars. Traditional media which includes print, radio, and television are accompanied by e-mail, online journals, and blogs during the crisis.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) warned the country's radio and TV networks of a possible forced closure on any network that airs the contents of the Ong tapes was a contentious issue during the early part of the crisis. The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) even condemned the Arroyo administration for attempting to restrict the airing of the Ong recordings. [12] Eventually, the media were allowed to present the evidence to the public. Three out of seven VHF TV channels are controlled by the government.
Attempts for an Impeachment trial
The primary legal means of removing the president was through the process of impeachment.
On June 27, human rights lawyer Oliver Lozano filed an impeachment case against Arroyo on the grounds of "betrayal of public trust". Ten minutes later a similar impeachment complaint was filed by Jose Rizaldo P. Lopez, a private citizen. The mainstream pro-impeachment bloc in Congress though advocated an amended version of the Lozano complaint.
On August 23, the justice committee delayed a vote on the impeachment complaints, instead focusing on a vote on procedures. [13] The committee eventually sent Report 1012 to the rest of the House of Representatives. The report suggested that impeachment proceedings should cease altogether. Both chambers of Congress and the justice committee are dominated by Arroyo's coalition allies.
On September 6, the minority was not able to garner the 79 signatures to send the amended impeachment complaint to the Senate. A vote of Report 1012 commenced, with the "yes" winning, in favor of the report. Impeachment proceedings ceased, preventing a trial for Arroyo, for possibly at least one year. [14]
Aftermath
After the failure of impeachment, a broad coalition of protesters that included former president Corazon Aquino and former vice president Teofisto Guingona engaged the government in peaceful protest for several days, which was reminiscent of the People Power Revolution of 1986. However, due to the lack of protesters that took part in common venues, the government's hard line approach in regulating traditonal protesting venues in Mendiola and EDSA, and other factors, the protests had no direct impact at all to the outcome in Congress, and it soon diminished in size and in number. The economist and technocrat Arroyo eventually pressed on with certain reforms, albeit unrelated to the crisis, such as new taxes that will shrink government's fiscal deficit, and work on institutional reforms. These however were the same planned agenda that Arroyo advocated as early as 2004 and is unrelated to the crisis, although effective with the economy entering a boom period reminiscent of the country's mid-1990's economy. Despite Arroyo's preservation of her hold onto the presidency, and her pursuit of reforms and a booming economy, most analysts agree that the crisis has failed in addressing its root causes - pervasive electoral fraud conducted by candidates during elections, and the faulty electoral system run by the Commission on Elections that actually tolerate this. And because of this, confidence in Arroyo has certainly declined as explained by Amando Doronila of the Philippine Daily Inquirer who said [15],
- "The quashing of the complaints is an empty victory for the administration. It merely demonstrated that the administration has the capacity to deploy the advantages of incumbency to save the president from being unseated. Until the president stands trial where she can defend herself and where it can be shown that the accusations are false and do not constitute impeachable offenses, it would be hard for her to regain public confidence and reestablish the legitimacy of her government."
The crisis has arguably ended with the failure of both the impeachment process and the people power movement in subjecting Arroyo in a public trial. A trial was the ultimate means of proving/disproving once and for all her alleged involvement in electoral fraud, and was the preferred means of holding Arroyo into accountability for her actions, and the subsequent implementation of the consequences that must be faced. With Arroyo's escape from trial, the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration has definitely been given its biggest blow. What is uncertain though still is her security in tenure, especially since Virgilio Garcillano, Arroyo's most damning missing linking witness, is himself missing.
References
- David, Randy (June 12, 2005) "Hello, Garci? Hello, Ma'am" Philippine Daily Inquirer
- Coronel, Sheila (June 13, 2005) "Yung dagdag, yung dagdag" Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
- Coronel, Sheila (June 28, 2005) "Apology in a can of worms" Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
- Davis, Leslie (September 7, 2005) "Arroyo claims hollow victory" Asia Times Online