PALACE URGES OPPOSITION TO INVITE FOREIGN POLL OBSERVERS
MANILA, May 5, 2004 (STAR) By Marvin Sy - In another move to promote unity amid the mudslinging and black propaganda, the administration is urging the opposition to invite international observers to monitor the conduct of Monday’s elections.
In an interview over government radio dzRB, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye urged the political opposition to join the administration in welcoming the "neutral" observers.
"These are the international observers. These are neutral observers," he said.
Bunye said that there will be around 100 foreign observers who will participate in the elections, with the bulk coming from the National Democratic Institute.
Even leading opposition candidate Fernando Poe Jr. appears supportive of recent administration moves to reach out to the opposition.
On Monday, administration stalwart Speaker Jose de Venecia and Poe’s chief of security, Sen. Gregorio Honasan, forged a pact for clean and peaceful elections at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan.
"Oo, dapat lang, kailangan ’yun. ’Yun naman ang gusto nating lahat, na maging united tayo (Yes, that should be the case. That’s what everybody wants, that we be united)," Poe was quoted as saying.
Poe promised to "unite with everybody" after the elections.
"Well, like the other candidates, we know that the elections are about to be held, and after the elections are held, let’s unite and be friends again," he said.
But Vice President Teofisto Guingona, who has allied himself with Poe, expressed his concern over signs of possible large-scale fraud.
In a statement, Guingona cited a report that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) supposedly admitted that it printed one million extra ballots for the exclusive use of public school teachers.
"Just how will the extra ballots be accounted for? How can the Comelec guarantee that these will not be stuffed into ballot boxes to favor certain local and even national candidates?" he said.
Guingona feared that "such action by the Comelec, along with the earlier sub-contracting and possibly over-printing of the crucial certificates of canvass and certificates of election returns" could pave the way for fraud of "a magnitude we have never before seen."
But administration campaign spokesman Michael Defensor disputed Guingona’s speculations.
Defensor said that the administration lacked the "motivation to cheat" because President Arroyo’s lead over her closest rival is already very wide in recent surveys.
"Definitely we have no motivation to cheat in this election," he said.
He said that Mrs. Arroyo’s reported endorsement by some religious groups, coupled with its bandwagon effect, will provide her with an insurmountable lead over any opposition candidate.
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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