Isabela politics and Hello, Garci

As of Dec. 10, Isabela Governor Grace Padaca, now with the Liberal Party, her lawyers and supporters were going through the 12,000 (twelve thousand!) page decision of Comelec's second division headed by Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, nullifying her victory over Benjamin Dy of the Nationalist People's Coalition. Padaca said they have five days since last Dec. 8 to file a motion for reconsideration. That would be on Monday, Dec. 14. Padaca said she feels that the preposterous length of the decision was probably a strategy to prevent her from filing a motion for reconsideration so that they can execute the order for Dy to take over the reins of the Isabela provincial government. The shocking reversal of the results of the 2007 gubernatorial election in Isabela makes us recall the previous case of thwarting the will of the people in the national which was in the 2004 elections. Remember in July 2005, immediately after the “Hello Garci” tapes were made public, there was talk that Faustino “Jun” Dy, Jr, brother of Benjamin, who was defeated by Padaca, was going to spill the beans on Arroyo's manipulation of the 2004 elections. The Dys were defeated in what was considered a political upset since they belonged to a well-entrenched dynasty. At that time, Jun Dy was in Los Angeles because there were reportedly threats to his life. Our sources then said the threats were coming from people who had no permanent address. A source, who had met with Dy in L.A., also said that the former governor was sulking for having been abandoned by Malacañang. The source told me that Jun Dy had told former senator Tito Sotto, who was his golfing partner in LA, of what transpired in Arroyo's meeting with Comelec regional directors in her La Vista home. In the 2004 elections, the NPC made a policy that members could make their own individual decisions on whom to support in the presidential race. Although Dy had pledged support for Arroyo, a source said Arroyo was not sure of his loyalty. FPJ won in Isabela. "At least Dy, didn't do some hard-selling of GMA. Probably because he was also protecting himself. He didn't want to turn off voters," a source said. GMA's distrust of Dy made her keep him close to her throughout the campaign. "That is called 'protective surveillance,'" a retired military official said. That was how Dy became a witness to a number of meetings of Arroyo with different groups in connection with the 2004 elections. One of those meetings was with Comelec regional directors and provincial election supervisors at the Arroyos' La Vista home. [Former Office of the President staffer] Michael Angelo Zuce said that in that meeting, Lilia Pineda, wife of alleged jueteng lord Rodolfo "Bong" Pineda gave envelopes containing P30,000 each to the Comelec officials. I wrote about the “Roof of Dy's” discontent on August 11, 2005. Here's part of that column: “A source who had talked with Dy said there were two cases in the last election where the former governor felt betrayed by Arroyo: his defeat to radio announcer Grace Padaca and the startling loss of Angelo Roncal Montilla, gubernatorial candidate of the Nationalist People's Coalition in Sultan Kudarat. “Dy, whose family has controlled Isabela politics for decades, believes that GMA's husband, Mike Arroyo, operated against him with the help of Isabela Rep. Edwin Uy (Lakas-2nd district). Padaca was the gubernatorial candidate of Raul Roco's Aksyon Demokratiko. “As NPC chairman, Dy took up the cudgels for Montilla who found himself in the losing end after posting what was seemingly a formidable lead of more than 28,000 over Lakas candidate Pax Mangudadatu. “Yvonne Chua of the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, in her article on Lintang Bedol, provincial election supervisor for Sultan Kudarat in the last election, said "There was problem (too) at the canvassing for the gubernatorial election. Opposition candidate Angelo Roncal Montilla was leading Pax Mangudadatu until the votes from the last three of the province's 12 towns came in. Mangudadatu had gotten nearly all the votes cast in Palimbang, Lutayan and Lambayong Mariano Marcos towns. Montilla at first filed a poll protest with the Bedol-led board of canvassers, but later elevated his case to the Comelec office in Manila (SPC No. 04-132) after the board dismissed it outright." “In the 'Hello, Garci' tapes, there was a conversation between former Comelec Chairman Virgilio Garcillano and someone believed to be Dy. In their talk, Dy said not to bother about his own case and all that he was asking was to help Montilla. But there was something intriguing about Garcillano's replies. “Excerpts of the Garcillano-Dy conversation (May 28, 2004, 12:58): Dy: Hello, hi Commissioner, si Dy 'to. Ito ang kwan Gil… Garcillano: Sultan Kudarat? Dy: Oo, si…Montilla.. tulungan natin yan. Garcillano: Pro-forma lang yan, kung ano ang posisyon. Kasi nag-usap din kami ni Ma'am diyan, tinawagan niya ako pero di yan. Dy: Tinawagan ka ni Presidente tungkol dyan? Garcillano: Hindi naman tungkol dyan pero kakausapin ko din siya tungkol dyan. Dy: Sabihin mo, yan lang naman ang hihilingin ko naman eh, yan lang ang hihilingin ko sa 'yo, alam mo naman hindi ako humihiling sa 'yo. Garcillano: Hindi. Naipit na nga ako dun sa kaso... Dy: Yung tungkol dun sa 'kin pabayaan mo na yan. Ok lang ako. “The above conversation shows that Montilla's case was so important as to be discussed by the Comelec commissioner with the President. Garcillano said that he was being caught in the middle. “A source said Montilla, confident that he won overwhelmingly over Mangudadatu, moved heaven and earth to prevent his opponent from stealing the election from him. Aside from Dy, he contacted his uncle in Negros Occidental who was one of the campaign leaders of Rep. Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo, brother of Mike. Montilla's uncle advised him to forget about his protest. He was told that Malacañang was offering him a government position. Montilla didn't bite the government job offer. Instead he found a connection to Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos. His wife happens to be related to Abalos' wife. Through their wives, Abalos sent a message to Montilla: Don't pursue your protest. At that time, Montilla and Dy were perplexed about Abalos' advice. They got their answers in the "Hello Garci" tapes. Montilla's protest, if pushed through, would have revealed the vote-padding done in favor of Arroyo. That's why Garcillano, even if he was sympathetic to Dy's request, had to clear the request with "Ma'am". In the same PCIJ article, Chua said, "According to the congressional tally, President Arroyo beat Fernando Poe Jr. in Sultan Kudarat, 126,622 to 40,714. Congressional records showed that opposition senators Aquilino Pimentel, Tessie Aquino-Oreta, and Sergio Osmeña III objected to the certificates of canvass (COCs) and demanded a return to the election returns (ERs) amid charges that massive "dagdag bawas" (vote padding and shaving) took place in the province. "The minority said in a report that the President got an additional 53,158 votes in eight towns, while Poe's votes were reduced by 60,014. The "dagdag-bawas" in the towns involved a swing of 113,172 votes, it said. The eight towns: Palimbang, Kalamansig, Lambayong, Lebak, Bagumbayan, Esperanza, Sen. Ninoy Aquino and President Quirino." “As shown in a conversation between Arroyo and Garcillano (May 26, 2004, 11:04) on the threat of Sen. Biazon to have ballot boxes in Tawi-Tawi opened, she didn't care if her partymates were adversely affected. What was important to her was, her padded votes wouldn't be reversed.” As we see here, every crime and anomaly happening today leads back to the “Hello Garci”, Arroyo's original sin.