LP: MOA did not cause Roxas loss in ARMM

Unusually high voter turnout favored only Binay

The Liberal Party today debunked claims that Senator Mar Roxas lost the vice-presidential race in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) because of his consistent position against the Memorandum of Agreement-Ancestral Domain (MOA-AD) between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

LP Director General Chito Gascon reiterated Roxas could have been a victim of the same notorious ‘dagdag bawas’ (vote shaving and padding) scheme which made numerous candidates in past national elections win.

“The opposition of Roxas to the dismemberment of Mindanao is not the reason for the questionable results reported from Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur and other parts of the ARMM,” Gascon insisted. He pointed out that had this theory been true, Roxas would not have won in Tawi Tawi, Sulu and in at least 2 towns in Maguindanao.

“It was a very close contest in Sulu where Roxas won by a wide margin in the town of Hadji Panglima Tahil. He also won even in the towns of Upi and the capital city of Shariff Aguak in Maguindanao. Roxas clearly had strong support among our Muslim brothers and sisters clearly supported Roxas,” he stressed.

Gascon insisted it was not Roxas’ resistance to the MOA-AD that caused him the ARMM votes but a possible illegal manipulation scheme that saw the senator’s votes shaved and his rival’s votes padded. “We see today the same disturbing trends in 2004 in the same places in ARMM,” he stressed.

He pointed out the following facts:

• A turnout of almost 98% in 578 of 2,558 PCOS machines in ARMM
• A turnout of over 97% in 180 of 881 machines in Lanao Del Sur where the provincial turnout is only 76.26%.
• A 100% turnout in clustered precincts in Tagoloan II, Lanao Del Sur with all the voters voting for Binay.
• A turnout of over 98% in 186 of 769 machines in Maguindanao where the provincial turnout is only 69.51%.
• A 99% turnout in clustered precincts in Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao with all votes going for Binay.
• An election return from a clustered precinct in Maguindanao clearly showed that polls closed at 6 in the morning on Election Day.
• Reports indicating that elections did not happen in entire towns in Lanao Del Sur but the PCOS machines in such places still transmitted supposed election results.

At the same time, Gascon vehemently denied claims that the Roxas camp engaged in election manipulation through vote-buying. “Roxas campaigned on a platform of good governance and never resorted to any act to manipulate the results,” he said.

He added: “The fact remains that the disturbing trends in the questionable election results are found in ARMM where Binay won by a wide margin with unusually high turnouts. They know what truly happened in these areas. We can sleep soundly with our clean conscience.”