Vice President Jejomar Binay said that he is hoping that the poll fraud revelations would lead to the vindication of the late Fernando Poe Jr. who lost in 2004 to then president and now Pampanga representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
"Matagal na nating sinasabi yan, na dinaya si FPJ. Sana ngayon maresolba na yan para mabigyan ng hustisya si FPJ at ang mga bumoto sa kanya. Kung automated ang eleksyon noong 2004, sana hindi nangyari ang pandaraya (I have said it before that FPJ was cheated. I hope this case will be resolved to give justice to FPJ and to those who voted for him. If the elections were already automated in 2004, the fraud would have not happened)," Binay said as quoted in the press statement released by the Office of the Vice President.
Zaldy Ampatuan, a suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao governor and key suspect in the Maguindanao massacre case, has linked Arroyo to the supposed poll fraud.
Lintang Bedol, election supervisor in Maguindanao in 2007, affirmed Ampatuan’s claims by accusing Arroyo of being the brains behind the scheme that resulted in a 12-0 landslide win of administration senatorial candidates in the region.
With these revelations, Binay also looked forward to the resolution of partymate Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III’s protest against his loss during the 2007 elections.
Pimentel, who ran for Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan, was defeated by Miguel Zubiri for the last slot in the Senate.
He contested that the votes in Maguindanao, where he lost heavily to Zubiri, were tainted.
"As I fight for justice in my protest, which concerns the 2007, let us not forget the victim of the fraud in the 2004 elections, the late FPJ, and pursue this issue to give justice to FPJ," Pimentel said as quoted in Binay’s press statement.
Pimentel also urged the investigation of election fraud beyond Maguindanao.
