Sun.Star: Comelec exec in S. Cotabato linked to poll fraud

At least five election officers and provincial government employees in South Cotabato have agreed to testify against a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official for allegedly masterminding vote-padding and shaving operations in the province. Sun.Star General Santos reported Monday that South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes said the five witnesses have already executed their affidavits. Fuentes said the five pointed to relieved South Cotabato election supervisor Lilian Radam and two other unidentified Comelec employees as the ones who manipulated the votes. They said Radam and the two others manipulated figures in the province's statement of votes (SOV) and certificate of canvass (COC) to favor six senatorial candidates of the administration-backed Team Unity (TU). Fuentes said Genuine Opposition (GO) senatorial bet Aquilino "Koko" Pimentel III will use the affidavits to back the 12 counts of election sabotage charges he filed last week. She said among those who agreed to back Pimentel's case are Provincial Budget Officer Bernardita Vallar and South Cotabato Schools Division Superintendent Adelfa Espartero. Pimentel earlier said they found discrepancies between the figures of the provincial COC and SOV submitted by Radam to the national board of canvassers and the copy of the election returns issued by the Comelec to the opposition party. He said Zubiri's votes ballooned to 217,000 votes and propelled him to third place behind Loren Legarda and topnotcher Panfilo Lacson of the GO. He said the areas where the votes were padded are General Santos City, Koronadal City, Banga, Lake Sebu, Norala, Polomok, Sto. Niño, Surallah, Tampakan, Tantangan, T'boli and Tupi. Fuentes said Radam, who was relieved from his post by Comelec Chair Benjamin Abalos last week, allegedly made the manipulation of the election results after convincing the two other members of the provincial board of canvassers to sign a blank certificate of canvass before she left for Manila to submit them to the national board of canvassers. "Now it's time for the Comelec to make a more tangible move by locating Radam's whereabouts," she said. Radam went missing after the alleged tampering came out in the open last week. The local media had tried but failed to contact Radam through her mobile phone. - GMANews.TV