The protests that have shaken Iran’s theocratic government stemmed from accusations that the June 12 election was a result of "massive and systematic fraud" perpetrated by the winning re-electionist President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

A government council tasked to investigate the complaints admitted that in some 50 constituencies there were more votes cast than there were registered voters.

The government has clamped down on street and internet protests. The two-week unrest has injured hundreds of people tear -gassed and pummeled by policemen.

Opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, described by western media as a "popular reformist" has enjoined the people to assert their right saying "protesting lies and fraud is your right."

New reports said at least 17 people have been killed including a 27-year old woman identified as Neda Agha Soltan, who was hit by a bullet during a rally. Neda has become a rallying figure in the Iranian people’s struggle for democracy, which they hoped to achieve through elections.

I marvel at the Iranian’s fervor for democracy even as they adhere to the rigid rule of the ayatollahs. I can’t help but compare the Iranians’ reaction to allegations of electoral fraud to ours when confronted with proofs of Gloria Arroyo’s cheating in the 2004 elections.

More votes than voters? That’s what happens in many provinces in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao as Arroyo frantically moved to offset the lead of her rival, Fernando Poe Jr.

One glaring case was in the town of Panguntaran in Sulu where the number of registered voters was 11,080. But the total number of votes cast was 11,468.

In the Panguntaran municipal certificate of canvass, Arroyo had 716 votes while FPJ had 4,252. But in the statement of votes Arroyo’s numbers became 8,716 while that of FPJ was reduced to 2,252.

This irregularity and many more were raised by the opposition during the congressional canvassing but presiding officers Sen. Francis Pangilinan and then Rep. Raul Gonzalez just relegated them to their infamous "Noted."

The ‘Hello Garci" tapes showed that Arroyo had a direct hand in the cheating in Panguntaran. In her call to then Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano on May 29, 2004, Arroyo asked about reports that the opposition had affidavits of teachers and Board of Canvassers that they were forced to tamper with election results.

Garcillano confirmed the fraud: "It’s true na yung nag-appear doon, nabaligtad si FPJ."

Three days after, Arroyo and Garcillano talked again and he reported, "Kinausap ko na yung chairman of the board sa Sulu. Ang sa akin, pataguin ko na muna yung EO (election officer) ng Panguntaran para hindi sya makatestigo."

It was in the Panguntaran operations that Garcillano complained to Arroyo that the figures in the certificate of canvass and the statement of votes didn’t match because Maj. Gen. Gabriel Habacon, then the commanding general of the First Infantry Division, did the cheating crudely. "Kasi sila Gen. Habacon ba, hindi masyadong marunong pa dyan. Nag-explain sa akin ang election officer ng Panguntaran," Garcillano told Arroyo, who merely said, "Uhhm..."

The Hello Garci tapes were made public in June 2005 and people believed what they heard. Surveys show that majority of Filipinos believe that Arroyo’s presidency was acquired through fraud. A few rallies here and there were held but no outrage in level of February 1986 and Jan. 2001 that resulted in the overthrow of governments.

Emboldened by lack of warm bodies in the streets which Malacañang interprets as apathy, Arroyo now wants to tamper with the Constitution for her to stay in power beyond June 2010.

It seems that people in power are hard put to resist its corruptive lure and they forget lessons in history.

Thirty years ago, in January 1979, Iranians stunned the world when they drove away the powerful Shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi.

They were responding to the call of the Imam Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, sent though cassette tapes from Paris where he was living in exile, asking them to rise against the extravagant, oppressive and Islam-irreverent regime of the Shah.

Ten months after, on Nov. 4, 1979, angry Iranian students seized the US embassy and held hostage 53 American personnel for more than two years.

Now, the streets of Iran are ablaze again.

As we try to rise from our lethargy, numbed by Arroyo’s destruction of our democratic institutions, we watch Iran sizzle.