Contrary to the demonized picture his elitist and hypocritical, unpatriotic enemies paint him out to be, Joseph "Erap" Ejercito Estrada has proved to be an effective, truly patriotic leader that has the heart for the masses. The "Father of the Masses" has carved for himself a rather outstanding track record throughout more than three decades of executive and legislative service.
Outstanding, Nationalist Mayor
In 1971, the Inter-Provincial Information Service voted Erap as Outstanding Mayor and foremost Nationalist. The following year, also for his record as Mayor of San Juan, Manila, he was chosen as Ten Outstanding Young Men (TOYM) in Public Administration by the Philippine Jaycees in 1972. The same year, he also won recognition by the Philippine Princeton Poll as the "Most Outstanding Metro Manila Mayor."
Infrastructure development was a mark of Estrada's administration as mayor--including the construction of the first San Juan Municipal High School and concreting of nearly all of San Juan's alleys and roads; renovation and improvement of other school buildings; and building of artesian wells, among others. Erap was so effective an administrator that, even with his accomplishments in infrastructure developments, he left San Juan with P24 million in savings.
Erap also exhibited vision, even early on. he first mayor to computerize assessment of the Real Estate Tax in the Municipal Assessor's Office. He established several foundations and trust funds aimed at providing scholarship and other assistance to the poor. In the movie industry, he is credited with the establishment of the Movie Workers Welfare Foundation (MOWELFUND), Inc. which has now become a robust organization that provides industry workers with financial and professional assistance.
Outstanding Nationalist Senator
As Senator, he chaired and co-chaired the Committee on Public Works and Committees on Health, Natural Resources and Ecology and Urban Planning, respectively. Among other bills, he was responsible for the passage of the he bills on irrigation project and the protection and propagation of carabaos, the beast of burden in the rural areas. Many farmers continue to benefit today from his so-called Carabao Bill.
He also proved his nationalism once more while in the Senate, being one of the "Magnificent 12" who voted against the extension of the onerous, imperialistic RP-US Military Bases Agreement. Additionally, even before the vote proper, he produced the anti-Bases film "Sa Kuko ng Agila" in his crafty move to stir nationalist sentiments in a people long mired in 'American worship' miseducation. In 1989, Free Press magazine cited him as one of the Three Outstanding Senators of the Year.
Vice-President and Anti-Crime Czar
As Vice-President under the administration of Fidel V. Ramos, concurrently served as Chairman of the Presidential Anti-Crime Commission (PACC), in which capacity he ran after kidnappers, illegal recruiters, bank robbers, hoodlums both "in uniform" and "in robes." Unfortunately, when Ramos issued Executive Order No. 221 which significantly clipped the PACC'S operational control over is varied task forces, Estrada was forced to later resign as its chairman on June 4, 1997.
Presidential Accomplishments
As President, Estrada was able to increase the Gross National Product up to 3.6% while raising agricultural growth rate to 6.6% from virtual 0% growth. He was also able to lessen inflation rate, registered at 12% around the time he first occupied Malacanang, by some 3%. All these happened within only 2 1/2 years--and despite the fact that the Ramos administration exited with ZERO savings in the national treasury. AND also despite the fact that Erap took over during the time that the Philippines and practically rest of countries in Asia were still reeling from the Asian crisis.
Another important, but much overlooked, accomplishment of Estrada was his removal of sovereign guarantees on public project contracts, thus freeing the sovereign Filipino people the unjust responsibility of assuming private companies' financial losses while doing business with government. One of the onerous contracts his administration canceled was the $100 million customs contract with the Societe Generale de Surveillance (SGS S.A.) contract. Forged under Ramos' term, it involved "pre-shipment inspection" (PSI) which has been described as a "global racket" involving players, some of which have been convicted of bribery of high Third World officials.
Estrada showed commitment to cleaning government by ordering wide-ranging investigations of all government contracts from previous administrations and all suspected big-time tax evaders, as well as ordering the immediate relief of corrupt military and police officials. True to his pro-poor campaign line, the deposed and defamed President also undertook an aggressive nation-wide housing program targeting low-cost homes for the poor.
Kind, Self-Made and with Strength of Character
Estrada, in contrast to his Yellow opponent, is a self-made man who built his name all on his own. He built his name as actor all by himself. He won overwhelmingly as Mayor, Senator, Vice-President, and President without his mother or father campaigning for him.
The EDSA 2 and Plunder charge chapter of his life also undeniably reveals his uncanny strength of mind, will and character. Beyond, he showed a level of kindness and forgiveness that most mortals can hardly give to their neighbors. To borrow Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile's words:
Despite all the betrayal, the public humiliation, the most vicious and meanest attacks upon his person, name and honor, and the long years of confinement and restriction on his freedom, what I saw in Erap was an inexhaustible capacity for kindness and forgiveness.
Many times when I would visit him under detention, I would be surprised by the people who I found there in his company, enjoying his generosity, hospitality, and even seeking his help and support. I just quietly said to myself: "How can this man bring himself up to even feed these people who betrayed his trust and those who were instrumental in his painful and illegal ouster?"
Such a man able to withstand what he went through, still forgive and hold no rancor, and still run for President not only to redeem his name but also to resume his pro-poor projects is a gem hard to find.
I'm not saying Estrada was flawless. He had his share of what ails Philippine politics but overall, he had the guts to implement a pro-Filipino, pro-poor policy that does not tolerate business shenanigans. A media practitioner Facebook friend sums it up: "Estrada went to jail for loose change, sent by a conspiracy of bigger crooks involved in the counterfeiting of bills, drug and human trafficking, dollar salting etc."
Looking back to the elitist, haughty, derisive, bad-mouthed, judgmental, undemocratic, not spontaneous but conspiratorial impostor "People Power" that was EDSA 2, Estrada can perhaps be faulted for caving in to the seditious mob. In his great respect for the lives of the common masa, he sacrificed his position and the vote of the sovereign people. The result is nine years of reign with impunity by Gloria's cabal of thieves, cheaters, and liars. An evil Illegitimate's reign that not only smashed the Filipinos' moral fiber but, as well, led to unparalleled hunger and killings, and death from extrajudicial executions, warlord-perpetrated massacres or negligence by sheer misappropriation of disaster funds. By opting not to confront the EDSA 2 conspirators and mob, Estrada ultimately did not save Filipino lives but perhaps lost more.
During the campaign, Estrada promised that next time he sits in Malacanang, such a power grab won't happen again. From experience, the modern-day champion of Filipino masses has grown wiser. I believe him and I believe his vow to continue with his pro-poor, practically patriotic programs. That's why I cast my vote for him and his entire PMP slate.
__________
References Biography. Joseph Ejercito Estrada Site. http://erap.ph/409/about-erap/
Enrile, Juan Ponce. Enrile defends Estrada. 22 September 2009. Ellen Tordesillas Blog. http://www.ellentordesillas.com/?p=7336
Erap's Famous Speech on U.S. Bases Philippines. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXXw_cRzhYo
Transnational Criminals – Part 4: SGS, Pakistan, and the "Pre-Shipment Inspection" Racket. Submerging Markets Site. http://www.submergingmarkets.com/submerging_markets/first_world/
The selection of Sarah Palin as the running mate of Republican standard-bearer John McCain for the November 2008 presidential elections generated such a phenomenal reaction that it is credited for the surprising come-from-behind lead of McCain over Barack Obama in the various election surveys. How Palin spelled magic for a discredited party identified with a much discredited incumbent president is significantly explained by two broiling feminist issues that have come of age in patriarchal America. Just what are these? Well, within the context of a 250-or-so year-old nation never having known what it's like to have a woman president or VP, it's the Alaskan governor's gender, and the sexism that derailed the democratic nomination of the first viable female presidential hopeful.
Judging from what the media has published, Palin's candidacy took the American nation by storm. Right after McCain's announcement of his vice-presidential choice, the liberal pro-Obama media largely went on a frenzied attack of Palin. Even social networking sites were not spared: a columnist of MSNBC's Newsvine lamented the "absolutely hysterical reaction" of his "lefty" colleagues over the choice of Palin. Under normal circumstances, the selection of an obscure governor from a far-off state (a woman at that, perhaps some will say) as the running mate of an underdog Republican presidentiable would have only meted a shrug in the shoulders from commentaries and at worse, ignoring scorn from the largely liberal media. In spite of, or perhaps, because of the rather perplexing media outcry against the choice of Palin, public opinion switched to the side of the Republican tandem as the election surveys saw Obama slipping to trail McCain again.
Why the huge media pounce on a national political unknown? Could it have been that the media forgot that Gov. Palin is a virtual unknown? Or is the furor derived from the realization that the McCain camp has wisely capitalized on the intense but glossed-over disenchantment of women/pro-women voters over Hillary's loss? Does the media, seen to have favored Barack Obama over Hillary during the contentious Democratic nomination campaign, fear a women's backlash against their candidate of choice?
Historic first female and first black bids
What transpired during the last couple of months since the nomination campaign period began for the Republican and Democratic parties were far from ordinary. The final contenders during the Democratic primaries each presented a historic bid to be the party's standard bearer for the coming presidential elections--a (white) woman and a black man. That bid was of course won by Barack Obama, the first ever African-American man to become a presidential nominee in American history. Worth noting is that the historic democratic primaries race won by a black man has been one of the most colorful, contentious and divisive in recent US history. Amidst the pronounced support for Obama by a liberal press practically mesmerized by his mantra of change, often muted but persisting voices have charged how the Hillary campaign suffered under the bashing of sexism and misogyny.
Thus, Palin's candidacy came on the heels of the historically prominent bid of Hillary Clinton to become the first viable US female presidential candidate ever--all 250 or so years after the original 13 colonies broke away from British stranglehold to revolt and form the Union. The Republican Party is well aware of this, as Palin echoed Hillary's words during her acceptance speech. Palin bellowed how "Hillary made 18 million cracks in the highest, hardest glass ceiling in America. But it turns out the women of American aren't finished yet, and we can shatter that glass ceiling once and for all."
Republicans capitalize on the patriarchy issue
The surprising choice of Palin as the running mate of the Republican standard bearer McCain reflects just how much the feminist voice has impacted on US politics. Palin's selection and the earlier Hillary spurn are a puzzling development in how the Republican and Democratic parties deal with the feminist issue of breaking the White House glass ceiling. The Democratic Party has long been seen in America as the party that champions the advancement of women's rights. Yet, with the results of the recent presidential nomination campaign, the party miserably failed to field history's first viable U.S. female presidential hopeful as its standard-beare--and not even as VP bet.
On the other, the Republican Party is supposedly notorious for embracing the likes of Anna Coultier who prefers stripping the female sex of just about every human right possible. If the anti-feminist image of the Republican Party were true, what then explains the choice of Palin as McCain's running-mate? Perhaps the best explanation for the Palin pick is that the edgy, if not defensive, administration party--which suffers from the malaise brought about by George W. Bush's botched presidency--sensed that Hillary's failed bid fanned the smoldering clamor for a woman presidential or vice-presidential candidate among female voters.
The "18 million cracks" refers to the number of votes Hillary obtained during the primaries--seen to be largely disaffected by Obama's nomination victory, and his subsequent act of spurning Hillary as his running mate despite suggestions from Hillary's supporters and even feelers from the Clintons themselves. These are the Democratic votes the Republican seems to want to win over, among others. After it became evident that Palin has carried McCain's campaign towards public favor, Palin in an interview made a remark that apparently calls the attention of pro-female voters to the blunder of spurning Hillary. "I think he's regretting not picking her now," Palin said of Obama's VP choice. In choosing a woman--a fiery Palin--as his running mate, McCain perhaps wisely thought of how party loyalty would not probably matter to Democratic voters so long as the 2008 elections produce the first ever woman candidate to shatter the American VP glass ceiling.
No turning back to male monopoly of power
Very recently, the issue of unsound economic policies of the Republican Party that came following the collapse of Lehman Brothers and the crisis threatening AIG insurance seems to be overtaking Palin's phenomenal boost to McCain's campaign. The recent September Gallup polls results show Obama regaining a slim edge over McCain, as the Republican team tries hard to disassociate themselves from the Bush administration. At any rate, even if the McCain-Palin ticket does not actually win come November, so long as the final tally comes anywhere a close call, American society will never be the same again. More specifically, it will never be as patriarchal again. There's simply no turning back the gains obtained from the feminist push Hillary and Palin made during this electoral period. Of course, Sarah Palin is no Hillary Clinton, with feminist author Gloria Steinem noting that the only thing the former shares with the latter is the female gender. To those frustrated by generations after generations of male monopoly on power, though, any woman U.S. Vice-President would still carry the elusive message that the female can win the White House.
It is Sarah Palin's luck that half of the Democratic Party opted not to allow Hillary to break the "highest, hardest ceiling of them all" and that Obama subsequently spurned Hillary as his VP running mate. As well, it is Palin's good fortune that John McCain is either politically cunning or progressive enough to heed the clamor for a woman leader of America. In case the nearly impossible happens and the Republican Party wins the 2008 elections, thanks mostly to the Palin fever, history will credit Hillary Clinton for being the thwarted but first viable female presidential candidate who paved the way for the first successful female vice presidential nominee of America.
WHEN Gloria Macapagal Arroyo [delivered] her eighth State of the Nation Address at the Batasang Pambansa session hall [last July 28, 2008], she [stood] close to where, three years ago, police commandos say they replaced genuine election returns (ERs) with fake ones in ballot boxes that were being readied for a recount of the 2004 presidential election.
The ER switching at the Batasan had been talked about and reported on since 2005, when Arroyo apologized to the nation for talking to an election official while the votes were being counted, in what has since been known as the "Hello, Garci" scandal.
Recently, some of those who took part in that clandestine operation have sought legal refuge, executing affidavits and taped testimonies of their involvement. Others told friends in confidence, while a few boasted about it in drinking sessions.
They said they switched the ERs of several provinces on three occasions to reconcile these with the figures in the certificates of canvass (COCs) and statements of votes (SOVs) that were tampered with in the 2004 elections.
The stories told by some of the participants and their confidants in the Batasan operation constitute what could be grounds for another impeachment case against Arroyo.
They revive allegations that not only did the President cheat in the 2004 elections, but also tried to cover her tracks by switching the ERs that would have been scrutinized in 2005. At that time, the presidential electoral protest filed by Arroyo's opponent, Fernando Poe Jr., was still pending. Poe died of a heart attack in December 2004, but his widow, Susan Roces, pursued the protest.
Orders came from Ebdane and Franco
Among those who took part in the Batasan operation were members of the Special Action Force (SAF), an elite combat unit of the Philippine National Police
Some of them said they got their orders from Gen. Marcelino Franco, then commanding officer of the SAF. Both Franco and the then chief of the SAF Intelligence and Investigation Division, Supt. Rafael Santiago, were present at a briefing on the operation, SAF sources said.
The SAF sources refused to be named for fear of their safety and those of their families.
"Basta ang initial info po sa amin ay legal operation po ito pero hindi pa namin alam ang nature ng operation (The initial info we got was that it was a legal operation, but we didn't know the nature of the operation)," a SAF commando said. Franco, in turn, got his orders from the former PNP chief, Brig Gen. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., a trusted adviser of Arroyo, SAF sources said.
Ebdane had denied the allegations in previous reports. VERA Files tried getting his side of the story but has not received a reply.
Franco, who has since retired from the PNP and is assistant vice president of Security Bank, also declined to comment on his role in the ER switching operation. Santiago, now senior superintendent and head of the Northern Police District's Intelligence and Investigation Division, ignored requests for an interview.
How the switching happened
SAF sources said the first ER switching operation took place around midnight of Jan. 23, 2005, a Sunday.
Here's what happened based on interviews, taped testimonies, and documents obtained by VERA Files.
A van and three other vehicles arrived at the South Wing entrance of the Batasan complex. Two dozen people alighted from the vehicles, five of them non-commissioned officers, the rest civilians. Santiago was the team leader.
At that time, a makeshift storage room had been erected at the South Wing lobby for ballot boxes containing the returns of the 2004 elections. The boxes had been brought there for the national canvassing.
The go signal came from SAF officers, among them Inspectors Rafael Lero and Samson Kimayong. While some stood guard, others unloaded from the van some 20 to 30 cigarette cartons containing documents.
As a lock picker opened the ballot boxes, SAF commandos said, the others took out the contents of the ballot boxes and replaced them with the documents they brought with them.
After three hours, they packed up, loaded what they took from the ballot boxes into their vehicles and proceeded to the residence of election lawyer Roque Bello in Brookside Hills, Cainta, Rizal.
The operation was repeated six days later on Jan. 29 and on the first weekend of February.
Chief Inspector Ferdinand Ortega, chief of the SAF contingent assigned at the Batasan, was present in all three operations.
Today, Lero and Kimayong have been promoted to senior inspectors and are also assigned at the NPD.
Ortega became commandant of the SAF Training School in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, right after the Batasan operation. Now a superintendent, he heads the SAF operations office in Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig.
Ortega and Lero likewise ignored VERA Files' requests for an interview. Contacted by phone, Kimayong denied any knowledge of the 2005 operation.
Returns fabricated by election lawyer Bello
What the SAF brought to the Batasan South Wing were fake election returns allegedly fabricated under the supervision of Bello. They stuffed these into the ballot boxes after they took out the genuine election returns, which they took to Bello's place.
Contacted for his side, Bello said he had already denied involvement in the operation way back in March 2006 when pictures of the alleged manufacturing of ERs in his house appeared in Malaya and Newsbreak. "It's not true," he reiterated his denial.
Two weeks weeks before the Batasan ER switching operation, Poe's widow, Susan Roces, had petitioned the Presidential Electoral Tribunal to replace her husband in the electoral protest he had initiated.
Poe's running mate, Loren Legarda, had filed a similar protest, questioning the proclamation of her rival Noli de Castro and citing irregularities in the canvassing of votes in a number of provinces, many of them in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao.
Both Arroyo and De Castro had been proclaimed president and vice president after an administration-dominated Congress acting as National Board of Canvassers declared Arroyo the winner with 12,905,808 votes against closest rival Poe who got 11,782,232 votes. De Castro garnered 15,100,431 votes against Legarda's 14,218,709.
The minority members of the Joint Committee of Congress did not sign the NBC's final report and instead issued "The True Report," which was their own version of the results of the 2004 elections that showed Poe winning over Arroyo by 511,981 votes and Legarda over De Castro by 702,311 votes.
Citing several cases of manufactured election returns, tampered statement of votes and certificates of votes, the minority challenged the joint committee and Congress "to show that the numbers on those questioned certificates of canvass match their corresponding statements of votes and election returns."
"The truth is in those election returns," the minority said.
ERs are documents prepared by boards of election inspectors at the precinct level.
For president and vice president, the ERs are sent to the provincial and city boards of canvassers who then prepare certificates of canvass (COC) supported by statements of votes (SOV). The votes garnered by the candidates in the ER, SOV and COC are supposed to match.
'Hello, Garci'
This, in fact, seemed to be a concern uppermost in Arroyo's mind shortly after the 2004 elections. A portion of the "Hello, Garci" tapes records her voicing her worry to then Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano.
Following are excerpts from a late evening conversation between Arroyo and Garcillano on June 2, 2004:
GMA: Hello. Dun sa Lanao del Sur tsaka sa Basilan, di raw nagma-match ang SOV sa COC?
Garcillano: Hindi nagma-match? May posibilidad na hindi mag-match kung hindi nila sinunod 'yung individual SOV ng mga munisipyo...
GMA: So, nagma-match?
Garcillano: Oho. Sa Basilan, alam nyo naman ang mga military dun eh, hindi masyadong marunong kasi silang gumawa eh. Katulad ho dun sa Sulu sina General Habacon.
During the congressional canvassing, minority members called the NBC's attention to the disparity in figures reflected in the COCs, which was the basis of the proclamation, and in their copies of SOVs and ERs.
The then presiding officers, Sen. Francis Pangilinan and then Rep. Raul Gonzalez, now justice secretary, brushed aside the minority's concern, and merely responded by saying, "Noted."
Rasalan: Money to tamper returns came from Arroyo
In July 2006, Artemio Rasalan, a self-confessed election operator, executed an affidavit and videotaped confession of his role in what he described as a "grand clandestine operation to head off a looming crisis."
This crisis was expected to erupt once the PET discovered the tampered ERs and the unmatching SOVs and COCs.
Rasalan said Bello had asked him sometime in July 2004 to undertake an operation that would "produce at least 10,000 new election returns duly accompanied by the appropriate Comelec envelopes: officially numbered envelope seals and the official Comelec inks for thumb marking."
He identified nine provinces the ERs of which had to be replaced. These are Sulu, Basilan, Tawi-Tawi, Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Sultan Kudarat and Saranggani in Mindanao and Isabela in Luzon.
Rasalan quoted the election lawyer as saying that it was Ebdane who engaged Bello's services on orders of Arroyo. Two months later, Rasalan said, Roque told him he was coordinating closely with Garcillano.
"He (Roque) said the money for this special operation will be provided by PGMA [Arroyo's initials]. As a matter of fact, a few days thereafter, I was told by Attorney Bello that Commissioner Garcillano met with PGMA at her La Vista home to receive the money," Rasalan said.
They started making the fake ERs in mid-October 2004, Rasalan stated. It took them two months to finish the work. He then delivered the 10,000 fabricated ERs to Bello's home in Brookside Hills Subdivision, Cainta, Rizal for the printing of the correct original serial numbers.
With the 10,000 fake ERs ready, the last step was to put them inside the ballot boxes guarded by the SAF at the Batasan building so that when the PET started opening the ballot boxes, the figures there would match those in the tampered COCs and SOVs.
Special Action Force of the Philippines
IT WAS NO accident that it was the Special Action Force of the Philippine National Police that penetrated the Batasan Pambansa and stuffed the ballot boxes with fake election returns to make it look like Gloria Arroyo won the 2004 elections.
Established in 1983 initially to help combat insurgency and later to "destroy enemy forces that undermine the nation's stability," the police commandos are trained as a rapid deployment force and to "noiselessly operate in the shadows."
In its 25-year history, the elite unit has not been impervious to the country's political upheavals. The SAF joined the February 1986 people power revolution that followed the defection of its founder, then Armed Forces vice chief of staff and Philippine Constabulary-Integrated National Police chief Fidel V. Ramos, and toppled President Ferdinand Marcos.
But in early 2005, some of the SAF's own members said they undermined democracy when the unit switched the election returns on orders of former PNP chief Hermogenes Ebdane Jr.
Ebdane knew fully well and harnessed the unit's commando skills. After all, he had served as SAF commander from August 1989 to February 1991.
It also helped that the SAF was one of the units securing the House.
Had no one talked, the operation that took place on Jan. 23 and 29 and the first weekend of February 2005 would have been SAF's secret.
Franco 'principled,' but 'pragmatic' too
His colleagues describe Chief Supt. Marcelino Franco, who approved the operation as SAF commander at the time, as a "very serious, principled and highly professional" officer. But they also said that as a leader, he can be "very pragmatic."
Franco would later be implicated in the alleged plan of the Marines and Army Scout Rangers in February 2006 to withdraw support from Arroyo.
In his affidavit, former Armed Forces chief Hermogenes Esperon, then the commanding general of the Philippine Army, said that his two classmates in the Philippine Military Academy (Class '74)-Franco and Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda, then commandant of the Philippine Marines-had asked him to join them in their plan to withdraw support from Arroyo.
Esperon said this happened in a late-night meeting on Feb. 23 at the residence of then AFP chief Generoso Senga. He said Franco confirmed that "most of the elements of SAF-PNP will sympathize with those who will march and withdraw support from PGMA."
Military officers accused of planning the February 2006 protest activity said Franco knew first-hand that Arroyo cheated in the elections. Unlike those who are detained and being tried in court martial for mutiny, no charges were ever filed against Franco.
SAF sources said prior to the Batasan ER switching operation, Franco met with Ebdane and Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. He then entrusted the task to Supt. Rafael Santiago, the commanding officer of SAF's Intelligence and Investigation Division.
Santiago, in turn, brought in young police officers, including Inspectors Rafael Lero and Samson Kimayong.
Santiago is said to be the quintessential intelligence agent. "Now you see him, now you don't," a police officer said.
Chief Inspector Ferdinand Ortega, who headed the SAF unit in the Batasan during the ER switching operation, appears to be well-liked in police circles. A colleague finds him "nakakatawang mayabang (amusing and a braggart)." He is affectionately called "Bungo" or skull, after the famous Baguio City police officer, Bobby Ortega, who was portrayed in two movies by the late actor Rudy Fernandez.
About 6,000 genuine election returns were replaced with manufactured returns in the January to February 2005 operations, a SAF source said.
A fourth operation was planned, but Chief Inspector Jimmy Laguyo, who by then had replaced Ortega at the SAF's unit at the Batasan, refused to cooperate, the source said. Franco had Laguyo transferred to Abra.
The fourth operation never materialized. The unit was kept preoccupied by a failed jailbreak at the SAF headquarters on March 14, 2005 in which suspected Abu Sayyaf members were killed. The Commission on Human Rights had ordered an investigation of the SAF shortly after the incident.
Reward for Batasan operators
The efforts of the SAF commandos who participated in the Batasan operation did not go unrewarded. The enlisted personnel were each given P10,000 one month after the operation.
"May natanggap kaming sobre na ibinigay sa amin na patago na sabi nila, 'Ito panggastos niyo. Ito 'yung reward natin sa operation natin sa Batasan (We were each secretly handed an envelope and told, 'This is for your expenses; this is our reward for the Batasan operation),'" one of them said.
He added, "Nung binuksan ko po 'yung envelope, naglalaman po ng P10,000. Hindi ko alam kung matuwa ako doon o matakot na gastusi 'yun kasi 'yun nga sa operation na 'yun (When I opened the envelope, it contained P10,000. I didn't know if I should be happy or be afraid to spend it because it was for that operation)."
Another enlisted policeman said they were summoned to the SAF office for the "good news." He said the higher-up who handed them the envelopes advised them, "Huwag na lang kayo maingay. Sa atin-atin lang ito (Don't talk about this. Let's keep this among ourselves)."
'Souvenirs' of election returns switching
The switching of the election returns at the Batasan was caught on video through a mobile phone camera. ABS-CBN had shown the video, but it went largely unnoticed.
But a SAF member who took part in the operation also has in his possession evidence-he calls it "souvenir"- of the operation: copies of the genuine election returns.
He said he removed five envelopes containing the returns from the van he was riding after the team left the Batasan compound in February 2005 and brought them home with him. Some of his colleagues did likewise.
The SAF member said he got curious and decided to inspect the contents of the boxes that had not been sealed with masking tape. "Yun 'yung election returns. Dahil po ako isang botante, alam ko po ang style ng election return (They were election returns. I'm a voter, so I know the style of an election return)," he said.
VERA Files was shown the envelopes containing the returns.
After the recordings of the wiretapped conversations between Arroyo and Garcillano on the cheating in the 2004 elections became public, the police commandos involved in the Batasan operation realized the value of the video and election returns in their hands.
Some of them said they all wanted to make public the evidence they had but feared this would endanger their lives and those of their families. They then thought of relocating abroad but they needed money to do that.
Sen. Loren Legarda, who was then protesting Noli de Castro's proclamation as vice president, said in an interview she met with Joel Pinawin, a first lieutenant in the Army Reserve Corps who acted as liaison for the SAF personnel. She was shown a video of ballot boxes being moved at the Batasan but said the video was rather dark.
"But they were selling it to me," she said.
Legarda does not remember the amount that was asked, but a source close to the SAF personnel said the group had hoped to raise P200 million, or P10 million each for the 20 people involved in the operation.
Said Legarda: "Where will I get the money? Kakatalo ko lang. Dinaya ako, malungkot, walang trabaho. Wala akong pera (I just lost. I was cheated, sad, jobless and penniless). I told them to do it for the country."
Election returns now with Comelec
The tampering and swapping of the election returns became evident when the Supreme Court, acting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal hearing Legarda's election protest, opened the ballot boxes for Nalindong and Taraka towns in Lanao del Sur.
The copies of the returns that were given to the Commission on Elections, National Citizens Movement for Free Elections and the dominant and minority parties showed opposition standard-bearer Fernando Poe Jr. and Legarda leading Arroyo and De Castro. But the returns in the ballot boxes retrieved from the Batasan showed the opposite.
Despite the discrepancies, the Supreme Court dismissed last January Legarda's petition, citing insufficient evidence of fraud.
Poe's suit against Arroyo before the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) was dismissed on March 29, 2005. The tribunal said his widow, actress Susan Roces, could not replace him as petitioner because "she would not immediately and directly benefit from the outcome should it be determined that the declared president did not truly get the highest number of votes."
The returns from the 2004 elections, including the fabricated ones, are no longer at the House of Representatives. Last February, shortly after he became speaker of the House, Rep. Prospero Nograles ordered the ballot boxes containing the returns moved from the South Wing to the Commission on Elections. The makeshift room where they were once stored has been dismantled.
Last March, former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. called for an investigation of the 2005 switching of election returns at the Batasan.
***Note: All additional photos of Gloria Arroyo, Fernando Poe Jr., Noli de Castro, Loren Legarda, Susan Roces and Virgilio Garcillano have been added by Jesusa Bernardo. Additional ER tampering photos were directly taken from the Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism website.
SPECIAL NOTE: When using the CiteMAT citation generator for this reprint article, you need to manually input/replace the author's name as "Ellen Tordesillas".
As President, Estrada was able to increase the Gross National Product up to 3.6% while raising agricultural growth rate to 6.6% from virtual 0% growth. He was also able to lessen inflation rate, registered at 12% around the time he first occupied Malacanang, by some 3%. All these happened within only 2 1/2 years--and despite the fact that the Ramos administration exited with ZERO savings in the national treasury. AND also despite the fact that Erap took over during the time that the Philippines and practically rest of countries in Asia were still reeling from the Asian crisis.
