MANILA, 29 September 2005 — A Marine general and colonel were relieved of their positions yesterday after they defied a ban by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and appeared before a Senate hearing on electoral fraud during the May 2004 presidential election.
Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani, the assistant superintendent of the Philippine Military Academy, told the Senate that when he was commander of the 1st Marine Brigade in the southern province of Lanao del Sur, he saw vote-buying and other irregularities aimed at securing Arroyo’s election victory in May 2004.
“This is the only place where I saw cheating from start to end,” he said of the province of Lanao del Sur where Arroyo won heavily over the immensely popular actor Fernando Poe Jr.
“They were herding voters from other towns,” to polling centers while politicians handed out money to buy votes, said Gudani, who was relieved of his command during the election period allegedly for refusing to cooperate with the administration.
Gudani was among the military and police officials mentioned in the wiretapped conversations between President Arroyo and elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, copies of which have been circulated among Filipinos all over the world.
In the conversation in the so-called “Hello Garci” tapes, Garcillano could be heard mentioning that Gudani was sympathetic Poe.
The opposition said Poe won heavily in Muslim provinces but lost in the counting in an operation supposedly led by Garcillano with backing from the military, police and local officials.
Bundles of Money
Also sacked yesterday for testifying in the Senate was Col. Alexander Balutan, assistant commandant of the PMA corps of cadets.
Balutan said Gudani’s replacement as brigade commander ordered him to support administration candidates. He said his specific order was to “slacken security in canvassing centers.”
Balutan was then a battalion commander under the 1st Marine Brigade.
Upon the motion of Sen. Panfilo Lacson yesterday, the two were placed under the legal custody of the Senate lest they be declared absent without leave (AWOL).
Gudani also told the Senate that he received information that first gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo used a helicopter to transport “bundles of money” amounting to millions to Iligan City during the elections. He, however, said he did not know what the money was for.
Lawyer Jesus Santos, a spokesman for Arroyo’s husband, who is overseas, denied the general’s accusations and hit back at Gudani in a statement, saying the general was spreading falsehood and “black propaganda.” He accused Gudani of being a longtime supporter of opposition figures and of resorting to hearsay.
Hearsay
Commission on Elections chair Benjamin Abalos Sr. questioned why Gudani was exposing alleged fraud committed during the May 2004 presidential elections only now.
“If he were present when the fraud was committed, if he had seen it happen, what did he do as an officer of the military? Did he arrest anybody?” Abalos asked.
He also faulted Gudani for the “hearsay” and “second-hand information” he divulged during the hearing.
Armed Forces of the Philippines chief Gen. Generoso Senga, army chief Lt. Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga, deputy chief of staff for intelligence Rear Admiral Tirso Danga and Intelligence Service of the AFP (ISAFP) chief Brig. Gen. Marlu Quevedo did not show up during the hearing.
In a letter to the Senate on Tuesday, Senga said they were attending to some operational matters.
In a second letter, given yesterday, Senga said they have not been granted written authority by the president to appear before the hearing.
Virtual Martial Law
Arroyo’s order that officials — including military and police officers — should get her consent before testifying in congressional investigations further angered her critics in Congress.
“It’s a gag order,” said opposition Sen. Jamby Madrigal. “The Philippines is now under a virtual martial rule by a president who will do anything to survive in power.”
The executive order also said officials’ testimonies before any congressional probe should be given behind closed doors if the president states in writing that a public hearing would endanger national security or the public interest.
Illegal Order?
The order was signed yesterday and made public just hours after Gudani and Balutan were fired and ordered to face court martial for testifying in the Senate without the president’s permission.
Senate President Franklin Drilon, who had earlier urged Arroyo to resign, said he has asked the Senate legal counsel to study the executive order’s constitutionality.
Drilon also deplored the sacking and court martial of the two officers, saying Gudani “will go down in the annals of history as the only Filipino general who was subjected to court martial for telling the truth.”
The order was based on the separation of powers of the executive and legislative branches, as well as confidentiality and executive privilege, said Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, a senior Cabinet member.
Opposition Sen. Rodolfo Biazon, who headed the Senate probe, said he considers the president’s order “an interference by one co-equal department (in) the functions of the other.”
Arroyo has apologized for a “lapse in judgment” in talking with an election official, believed to be Garcillano, before the results were announced. But she has denied influencing the poll’s outcome.
Arroyo’s congressional allies last month defeated an opposition move to impeach her, based largely on the wiretaps.
The opposition subsequently vowed to hold street protests pushing for Arroyo’s ouster. Input from The Associated Press & Inquirer News Service
