DND chief calls for review of Mayuga report on alleged poll fraud

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin on Friday formed a panel to review the results of the military fact-finding investigation that cleared the so-called "Hello Garci" generals, who were linked to the alleged rigging of the results of the 2004 presidential elections. National Defense spokesman and concurrent DND senior military assistant Col. Hernando Iriberri said the committee will look into the soundness of the report of the Mayuga Board headed by then-Navy chief Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga. Undersecretary for Defense Affairs Honorio Azcueta will head the committee with Undersecretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs Pio Batino, acting assistant secretary for personnel Ann Marie Sta. Ana, AFP Judge Advocate General Brig. Gen. Gilberto Jose Roa and Armed Forces Inspector General Vice Adm. Mario Catacutan as members. "The instruction is to review... whether the conclusion of the Mayuga panel is valid, logical and relevant," said Iriberri, adding that the result of the review will be submitted to the President. According to him, President Benigno Aquino III had ordered the revisiting of the Mayuga Board report as new witnesses have claimed the results of the 2004 and of the 2007 elections were tampered. The "Hello Garci" tapes – a wiretapped phone conversation allegedly between former Commission on Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano with several personalities concerning a supposed plan to rig poll results – implied that three military generals led by former AFP chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon took part in the 2004 poll cheating to ensure the victory of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. A fourth general, Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani, reportedly supported Mrs. Arroyo's rival, the late Fernando Poe Jr. Gudani later appeared before the Senate where he narrated how Mrs. Arroyo's allies rigged the results of the elections in Lanao del Sur. Shortly after the Hello Garci tapes came out in the public in 2005, the military formed the Mayuga board to investigate the supposed involvement of the officers in elections cheating. The board, however, cleared the officers for lack of witnesses and evidence. Meanwhile, Iriberri said the review committee will not be summoning witnesses. “They [members of the review committee] will focus on the report. Its not a re-investigation. It’s a review of the (Mayuga) report… [The panel] will make recommendations to the President," he said. “Last August 3, the President said that something seemed not right in the process… so he ordered the DND to look into the Mayuga report," Iriberri said. Asked whether a fresh probe will be conducted if the committee finds the Mayuga report "not valid, not relevant and not logical," Iriberri said: “That depends on the recommendation of the review committee." — LBG, GMA News