JdV tells PNoy: Probe alleged massive cheating in polls
2004, 2007 ELECTIONS
MANGALDAN—Former Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. has proposed to Malacanang and Congress the creation of a body or committee to investigate allegations of cheating in the 2004 and 2007 elections.
De Venecia said Filipinos needs to put closure to these issues that have long hounded and divided the country.
The body, he suggested, should be composed of representatives of the government and private sector and civil society.
The former five-time speaker, who retired from politics last year, said an alternative to a truth commission would be a full investigation to be conducted separately or jointly by the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Without a detailed and sustained investigation, De Venecia said “we will always be living in a cloud, or our democracy will always be in the cloud”.
Noting declarations of former Maguindanao election officer Lintang Bedol has finally surfaced and that former Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Zaldy Ampatuan of their willingness to testify on the issue, De Venecia said it is now time to find out what really happened in the 2004 and 2007 elections.
“There are too many allegations and so many charges about the 2004 and 2007 elections. We must know the facts, the whole truth and nothing but the truth,” said De Venecia, now the active founding chairman of the Asian Political Parties.
De Venecia was a close political ally of former President Gloria Arroyo but the two had a falling out after he was ousted from his seat as speaker, shortly after his son and namesake Jose de Venecia III exposed anomalies in the controversial ZTE deal and pointed to the involvement the president and her husband.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
