 President Arroyo during the State of the Nation Address, July 25 An electoral crisis emerged in the Philippines in June 2005, and arguably halted in September 2005. (It hasn't been halted, soon Gloria Arroyo will be ousted if she will not step down, I hope it won't be a bloody coup or revolution - renoid)[1] Certain evidence has 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. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
July 25 is the 206th day (207th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 159 days remaining. ...
June is the sixth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with a length of 30 days The month is named after the Roman goddess Juno (mythology), wife of Jupiter and equivalent to the Greek goddess Hera. ...
2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
September is the ninth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar and one of four Gregorian months with 30 days. ...
2005 (MMV) is a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...
Electoral fraud is the deliberate interference with the process of an election. ...
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (born April 5, 1947) is a politician and the current (14th) president of the Philippines. ...
Presidential elections, legislative elections and local elections were held in the Philippines on May 10, 2004. ...
Noli de Castro, Jr. ...
Allegations against Arroyo and her accomplices in government are many, including electoral fraud and a subsequent cover-up. The administration has denied some of the allegations and challenged others in court. The House of Representatives, which is dominated by Arroyo's coalition allies denied attempts for an impeachment trial. Arroyo's most well-known alleged accomplice from the electoral commission, Virgilio Garcillano, has not been found since leaving the country. Allegations persist that possible conspirators of the government cover-up helped in his escape. Garcillano denied any wrongdoing regarding electoral fraud before his disappearance. He has reportedly returned to the Philippines, but he is still missing. Electoral fraud is the deliberate interference with the process of an election. ...
When a scandal breaks, the discovery of an attempt to cover up the evidence of wrongdoing is often regarded as even more scandalous than the original deeds. ...
Virgilio Garcillano (born 1948?) is a former official of the Philippine Commission on Elections who allegedly was involved in Gloria Macapagal Arroyos alleged electoral fraud in the Philippine general election, 2004. ...
Events history
- Main article: Timeline of 2005 Philippine electoral crisis
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 media analyzed contents of the tapes. The Ong recordings allegedly proved that Arroyo rigged the 2004 national election 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 acknowledged that it was her voice on the tape. [3] Protests occurred frequently during the crisis either in favor or against Arroyo and her administration. Attempts to impeach Arroyo failed on September 6. The following is an event History of the 2005 Philippine electoral crisis. ...
Samuel Ong is a former deputy director of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) of the Philippines and is a whistleblower, declaring that the 2004 national elections was rigged, starting an electoral crisis. ...
June 10 is the 161st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (162nd in leap years), with 204 days remaining. ...
Telephone tapping or Wire tapping/ Wiretapping (in US) describes the monitoring of telephone conversations by a third party, often by covert means. ...
Virgilio Garcillano (born 1948?) is a former official of the Philippine Commission on Elections who allegedly was involved in Gloria Macapagal Arroyos alleged electoral fraud in the Philippine general election, 2004. ...
Presidential elections, legislative elections and local elections were held in the Philippines on May 10, 2004. ...
June 27 is the 178th day of the year (179th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 187 days remaining. ...
September 6 is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years). ...
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. Social Weather Stations or SWS is a social research institution in the Philippines. ...
The Cable News Network, more commonly referred to as CNN, is a cable television network that was founded in 1980 by Ted Turner & Reese Schonfeld [1] [2] (although the latter is not currently recognized in CNNs official history). ...
(Clockwise from upper left) Time magazine covers from May 7, 1945; July 25, 1969; December 31, 1999; September 14, 2001; and April 21, 2003. ...
Pulse Asia, Inc. ...
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. The Philippine Daily Inquirer logo. ...
Sheila Coronel is winner of the 2003 Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and the Creative Communication Arts. ...
Ethnomethodology (literally, the study of peoples methods) is a sociological discipline which focuses on the way people make sense of the world and display their understandings of it. ...
In his editorial on June 12, 2005 for the Philippine Daily Inquirer [6], Randy David said, The Philippine Daily Inquirer logo. ...
- "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 some of those facing the additional allegations have not been given opportunity to provide solid evidence. Rashma Hali, an electoral official from Basilan, who can claims that Arroyo is related to a kidnapping operation. Michael Zuce claimed that he was present in an incident where Arroyo allegedly bribed officials from the Commission on Elections. Retired general Francisco Gudani claimed that he can prove military involvement in Arroyo's alleged acts of electoral fraud. Roberto Verzola, leader of the Philippine Greens and an IT expert, also claimed that Gloria Macapagal Arroyo cheated and the citizens' election watchdog, National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) was also involved. Jay Carizo, from the Institute for Popular Democracy, developed the election cheating indicators. Other sources claimed fraud in several other government positions, 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 also won the vice presidency, in 2004. Basilan is an island province of the Philippines located in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). ...
Green Party of the Philippines -- official name of the political party of the newly established Philippine Greens and of the environmentalist movement in the country. ...
PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (born April 5, 1947), also known by her initials GMA, is the current and 14th President of the Republic of the Philippines. ...
The National Movement for Free Elections or NAMFREL is an officially accredited election watchdog in the Philippines. ...
Loren Legarda-Leviste (born January 28, 1960) is a Filipino broadcast journalist and senator of the Philippines. ...
Noli de Castro, Jr. ...
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 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. Image:Darna8. ...
Darna is a fictional character and superheroine created by Filipino comics legend Mars Ravelo. ...
Resident Evil, known as Biohazard (ãƒã‚¤ã‚ªãƒã‚¶ãƒ¼ãƒ‰) in Japan, is a successful franchise of horror-adventure video games developed by Capcom. ...
Issues
Accountability 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 and rigged the 2004 elections. A sizable number of people wanted the results of the 2004 elections to be made invalid. The Supreme Court withheld judgment on the matter, refraining from actions toward invalidating the election. The administration said the Ong recordings were inadmissible in court, since the audio was taped without consent. It is normally preferred that an elected official have it tested through litigation for the sake of accountability. Ignacio Toting Bunye is a politician in the Philippines. ...
Electoral fraud is the deliberate interference with the process of an election. ...
Accountability has several meanings and is the subject of a broad debate among students of modern governance. ...
Legitimacy Initially, there were two possible outcomes for the government; Arroyo could have either resigned or be ousted through a constitutionally accepted process. 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. Neither outcome occurred, and hence no final course of action was taken to resolve Arroyo's legitimacy or to prevent electoral fraud. Those unrealized possible outcomes could have resolved definitely the legitimacy issues.
Some analysts assert that Arroyo is only president de facto, since her legitimacy was temporarily lost in June. This legitimacy could only be restored if Arroyo had been cleared of any wrongdoing by trial. This opportunity to regain her legitimacy however was then permanently lost when the House of Representatives intentionally prevented her trial in September. The adminstration evidently decided to sacrifice Arroyo's own legitimacy to maintain what is left of Arroyo's authority. Legitimacy in political science, is the popular acceptance of a governing regime or law as an authority. ...
In politics, authority generally refers to the ability to make laws, independent of the power to enforce them, or the ability to permit something. ...
Several political scientists however assert that legitimacy is never lost, or even created, since legitimacy of elected officials is only transferred through elections. With this as the case, the highest ranked political figure, who is untainted by fraud allegations related to the 2004 elections, has become president de jure as soon as Arroyo unknowingly transferred her legitimacy, when the House of Representatives prevented a trial. This posts a serious problem; who should be the actual president? Is it Arroyo who is president de facto, or another individual who is president de jure? Questions such as these remain to haunt the circles of political scientists, although other political scientists dispute this. Legitimacy in political science, is the popular acceptance of a governing regime or law as an authority. ...
Presidential elections, legislative elections and local elections were held in the Philippines on May 10, 2004. ...
Electoral system The Philippines, according to experts, has a reputation for having political issues based on patronage politics and personality politics. To some experts, what is unique about the crisis is that it addresses the greater issue of electoral fraud and an allegedly faulty election system that allows cheaters to win and 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. Electoral fraud is the deliberate interference with the process of an election. ...
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. 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. Presidential elections, legislative elections and local elections were held in the Philippines on May 10, 2004. ...
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 or punished. Analysts assert that the people have always been desensitized to their politicians cheating during elections. Accordingly, people generally doubt their leaders' mandates. The people are often suspicious of the winners, especially in close poll results, but do nothing. Constituents generally allow their leaders, assuming proven acts of cheating, to get away with it until the crisis erupts.
Media coverage Critics alleged that some media groups in broadcast and print were partisan in dealing with the crisis. Alternative media, mostly in radio, made similar accusations, though some may be partisan themselves. These accusations though between them are not new, and are common during propaganda wars, as politically motivated groups use connections in media to promote their side. During the latter part of the crisis, this has changed as the media became generally more critical in delivery, which was beneficial for properly informing viewers about the many sides of the issues. However, the ongoing labeling of unarmed leftist protesters as "militants", and the mainstream opposition as "destabilizers" has shown the existence of a strong slant in favor of Arroyo, as the slants help shape public opinion. Traditional media which includes print, radio, and television were accompanied by e-mail, online journals, and blogs during the crisis.
The National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) initially warned the country's radio and TV networks of a possible forced closure on any network that airs the contents of the Ong tapes. In response, the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) 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. It should be noted that three out of seven VHF TV channels are controlled by the government. International Federation of Journalists, IFJ, is global union federation of journalists trade unions - the largest in the world. ...
Attempts for an Impeachment trial
 President Arroyo welcomes the impeachment case filed against her and desires to refute the charges and issues that struck her administration. The primary legal means of removing the president was through the process of impeachment. Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
Image File history File links File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ...
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, Jose Rizaldo P. Lopez, a private citizen, filed a similar impeachment complaint. The mainstream pro-impeachment bloc in Congress advocated an amended version of the Lozano complaint. June 27 is the 178th day of the year (179th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar, with 187 days remaining. ...
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (born April 5, 1947) is a politician and the current (14th) president of the Philippines. ...
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. August 23 is the 235th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (236th in leap years), with 130 days remaining. ...
On September 6, the minority could not garner the 79 signatures to send the amended impeachment complaint to the Senate. A vote of Report 1012 commenced in favor of the report. Impeachment proceedings ceased, preventing a trial for Arroyo for at least one year. [14] September 6 is the 249th day of the year (250th in leap years). ...
Aftermath: solution or escalation? After the failure of impeachment, a broad coalition of protesters engaged the government in peaceful protest for several days, which was reminiscent of the People Power Revolution of 1986. Some of those protesters included former president Corazon Aquino and former vice president Teofisto Guingona. 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 did not affect the outcome in Congress. Thus, its power soon diminished. Lingering protests remain, accompanied by a campaign to present evidence directly to the electorate, since such evidence were restricted from use in trial. Arroyo eventually pressed on with certain reforms, albeit unrelated to the crisis, that included new taxes that will shrink government's fiscal deficit [15] and institutional reforms. These were similar to the agenda that Arroyo advocated as early as 2004, 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 authority, her pursuit of reforms, and a booming economy, most analysts agree that the crisis has failed to address its root causes - pervasive electoral fraud conducted by candidates during elections, the faulty electoral system, and the Commission on Elections that encourages fraud. Accordingly, confidence in Arroyo has declined as explained by Amando Doronila of the Philippine Daily Inquirer who said [16]. The EDSA Revolution, also referred to as the People Power Revolution and the Philippine Revolution of 1986, was a mostly nonviolent mass demonstration in the Philippines. ...
MarÃa Corazón Sumulong Cojuangco Aquino (born January 25, 1933), widely known as Cory Aquino, was President of the Philippines from 1986 to 1992. ...
Teofisto Guingona, Jr. ...
The Philippine Daily Inquirer logo. ...
"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 to have Arroyo face a public trial. A trial was the ultimate means of proving/disproving once and for all her alleged involvement in electoral fraud. The trial was also the preferred means of holding Arroyo accountable for her actions, and of implementing the consequences that must be faced. With Arroyo's escape from trial, the legitimacy of the Arroyo administration has been given its biggest blow, especially since holding a future trial for Arroyo would be too late. What is uncertain though still is her security in tenure, especially since Virgilio Garcillano, the missing link who can finally end the issue of Arroyo's legitimacy, is himself missing. Virgilio Garcillano (born 1948?) is a former official of the Philippine Commission on Elections who allegedly was involved in Gloria Macapagal Arroyos alleged electoral fraud in the Philippine general election, 2004. ...
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
The Philippine Daily Inquirer logo. ...
Asia Times Online is an Internet-only publication that reports and examines geopolitical, political, economic and business issues, looking at these from an Asian perspective. ...
External links - Commission on Elections
- Inside PCIJ
- Institute for Popular Democracy
- ABS-CBN News Special Report
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