by Jaime Pilapil, Manila Times - A WORD war erupted on Monday between senators Vicente “Tito” Sotto 3rd and Francis “Kiko” Pangilinan in connection with the allegedly tainted 2004 national elections.
Sotto said that Pangilinan should stop talking, saying he was “washing his hands” after his infamous “noted” answer to persistent motions of then-supporters of defeated candidate for president Fernando Poe Jr. to open at least one set of “election returns” during the 2004 canvassing of votes for president that would reveal that the “ERs” were fake.
He added that he was ready to lose his Senate post as Majority Floor Leader and even his “pork barrel” or priority development assistance fund as a consequence of his action in criticizing his fellow senator.
Pangilinan was the then-co-chairman of the Joint Congress Canvassing Board.
He would later escort Gloria Arroyo on her way to the podium for her official proclamation as winner of the 2004 balloting.
“They should stop talking. They are noisy. They are now washing their hands. They should be instead be investigated for their part in concealing the real outcome of the 2004 elections,” Sotto told a press conference at the Senate press office.
He, apparently, was not referring to anyone in particular among the then-allies of Mrs. Arroyo.
Sotto was the campaign manager of FPJ, as Poe was popularly called, in the 2004 elections.
He said that on request of Poe, he then went on to become the personal campaign manager of the opposition standard-bearer.
Pangilinan said that it was impossible to open the ERs since the joint canvassing board was mandated by the Constitution to just canvass the Certificates of Canvass, not the ERs, from the provinces.
“The rules said that going to the ERs can only be done as an exception and with sufficient evidence but they went ahead and insisted on asking that 80 percent of the ERs be opened anyway,” he added.
“If we agreed with their position and allowed the scrutiny of 25 million votes, we would in all likelihood still be canvassing the votes today. This is what the Constitution seeks to prohibit and what we simply complied with. We merely canvass the votes. It is the Presidential Electoral Tribunal, not the canvassing board, that hears and decides (on) cases of election fraud,” Pangilinan said.
But Sotto said that the canvassers are allowed by law, particularly by Article 7, Section 4 of the Omnibus Election Code, wherein the canvassers can “make their own rules,” a power that the Joint Congress Canvassing Board can freely exercise.
Party stalwart
Pangilinan said that it was impossible for him to grant the motions to open the ERs then, unlike recently when individuals and groups surfaced to present pieces of evidence that would prove that the 2004 polls were fraud-tainted.
He was defended by Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who said that Pangilinan had no reason or evidence that would compel him to stop the proclamation of Mrs. Arroyo.
Pangilinan is seen as a stalwart of the Liberal Party (LP), which counts President Benigno Aquino 3rd as its top member.
Other high-profile LP senators are Franklin Drilon, Ralph Recto and Teofisto Guingona 3rd.
During the 2004 canvassing, Panglinan was co-chairman of the joint Congress board, alongside then-Majority Floor Leader Raul Gonzalez of the House of Representatives.
Jose De Venecia was the then-House Speaker and Franklin Drilon, the then-Senate President.
The word war between Sotto and Pangilinan is expected to drag their wives into the fray.
Sotto’s wife, singer-actress Helen Gamboa, is an aunt of singer-actress Sharon Cuneta, the wife of Pangilinan.
“For me, this issue will not affect our relatives. This is a matter of principle,” Sotto said.
Pangilinan said that it was Sotto who made a turnaround when Sotto ran for senator in the 2007 elections under the administration ticket.
Sotto, however, lost, together with Tessie Aquino Oreta, an aunt of President Aquino.
During a separate press conference, Sen. Loren Legarda said that she had no regret or rancor toward Pangilinan, who also turned down her request to “just open one (set of) ERs.”
“I was there at the canvassing. I asked that (the set) be opened but I was turned down. He (Pangilinan) just said, ‘noted.’ That was it,” added Legarda, the running mate of Poe.
She lodged an electoral protest, but the Presidential Electoral Tribunal dismissed the protest, saying that it was moot since she ran and won in the 2007 race to the Senate and that she failed to deposit the P3.9 million needed to revisit the ballots.
To prove her allegations, Legarda said she was willing to turn over to the joint committee of the Department of Justice and the Commission on Elections that will probe the 2004 and 2007 elections voluminous documents in her possession, including transcripts of High Court hearings.
Poe died in December 2004.
Legarda won in the 2007 elections together with Pangilinan.
Mrs. Arroyo went on to finish her term in 2010 and in the same year won a seat in the House of Representatives representing her home province of Pampanga.
