THE Armed Forces yesterday dared those behind
renewed allegations that outgoing military chief Gen. Hermogenes
Esperon Jr. was involved in cheating in the May 2004
presidential elections to prove their charges.
"Anybody can just say that a certain officer
did this or that," said Lt. Col. Bartolome Bacarro, chief of the
AFP public information office.
An article titled "Sins of the Cavaliers" is
posted at the sun-dalo.bravehost.com, a website supposedly of
military rebels. The article linked several other officers to
the alleged electoral cheating.
The article said that during the canvassing
of the votes inside a military camp in Jolo, Sulu, watchers from
the opposition and administration parties were given "wads of
cash" by military officers for them to leave the canvassing
area.
"The money was brought by Maj. Gen.
Hermogenes Esperon in large black backpacks and distributed to
concerned commanders," the document said.
Esperon was then AFP deputy chief of staff
for operations and concurrent deputy chief of the AFP's Task
Force Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections.
The article also alleged that during the
canvassing of the votes in Tawi-Tawi, Esperon asked then Navy
Capt. Feliciano Angue "to tamper with the election results in
Tawi-Tawi so that GMA gets additional votes in Tawi-Tawi."
Angue was then head of a Navy task force
operating in the area.
The article said Angue informed Marine Col.
Ariel Querubin, who is now facing court martial for involvement
in a supposed overthrow attempt in February 2006, of his disgust
over Esperon's instructions.
"Angue told Querubin that instead of
complying, he appealed to Esperon that the 'special operations'
be done elsewhere since Tawi-Tawi does not have a big voter
population to play with. Because of his non-cooperation, Angue
was immediately relieved of his post. However, since he kept
quiet about this incident, he was eventually promoted to
commodore," it said.
Bacarro said it is easy to make sweeping
statements against anyone but the matter of proving it is
different.
Bacarro also said there is an "underlying
interest" in coming out with the "rehashed" allegations.
Esperon was linked to the alleged electoral
fraud through the "Hello Garci" wiretapped recordings in which
President Arroyo was heard talking to then elections
commissioner Virgilio Garcillano about a lead of one million
votes over rival Fernando Poe Jr.
Garcillano named Esperon and two other
generals as involved in the cheating. A fourth general he named
was supposedly helping the Poe camp.
Esperon has denied involvement in the cheating and even went
as far as saying the results of the controversial elections were
credible. He was later supposedly cleared by a military
fact-finding body. - Victor Reyes
