Opposition Hallucinating About 2010 Poll Cheating

Helper Secretary Brian Raymund Yamsuan of the Department of the interior and Local govt yesterday scoffed at claims of government-staged cheating in the 2010 elections as'mere hysterics from delusional men' who predict the forthcoming electoral defeat of the main line opposition in the hands of the powerhouse'Gibo-Ronnie' tandem of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD.

Given the impending victory of the'Gibo-Ronnie' team of Defense Secretary Gilberto'Gibo' Teodoro and DILG Secretary Ronnie Puno in the 2010 polls, Yamsuan said these critics'are now seeing spooks where there are none and are pathetically making an attempt to condition the public's mind that the only real way Lakas-Kampi-CMD can win massive in 2010 is by rigging the balloting.'

Yamsuan said these critics are having nightmares while awake because they have obviously spotted that the Gibo-Ronnie team will win big-time next year on two counts :

( 1 ) it'll run on an effective and efficient campaign anchored on the sterling performance and achievements of the Arroyo administration as against mere proposed changes of the opposition ; and

( two ) the administration slate already has got a head start in the presidential race, owing to the built in 25% support base of President Arroyo in the crowded field of at least 4 or five major contenders.

'These doomsayers are worried sick of a Lakas-Kampi-CMD victory on the power of the Gibo-Ronnie tandem that they're beginning to hallucinate about wholesale cheating and have started peddling such delusions as the sole justification for the opposition's dismal loss in 2010,' Yamsuan expounded.

Worse, he said, they're having nightmares while awake about an even bigger bogey, which is that such poll fraud will be staged by Puno in his capacity as overseer of the Philippine National Police ( PNP ). The secretary is concurrent chairman of the national Police Commission ( Napolcom ).

'Reality does not support their doomsday scenario,' he said in indicating that a number of facts puncture this myth of administration-orchestrated poll cheating next year.



First, he claimed, these delusional men are forgetting that next year's elections will be fully automated, which will be an antidote to electoral fraud.

second, Puno hasn't ever been implicated in any sort of electoral fraud during the time that he helped run the presidential campaigns of former President Ramos in 1992, ex-President Estrada in 1998 and President Arroyo in 2004, he revealed.

although Ramos started as a long shot in the 1992 race, he finally won on the power of a campaign that targeted on optimising support from pro-administration voters while countless opposition rivals battled one another over the votes from anti-administration voters.

Estrada's landslide victory in 1998 spoke for itself, more so because he was running at that time on the opposition ticket, he revealed.

though there were allegations of cheating in 2004 in connection with the'Hello, Garci' discussion, such charges were never proven by the opposition, he revealed.

Moreover, Yamsuan added, these delusional men have forgotten that Puno never figured in that argument.

As for the charge that Puno would use the PNP to help rig the polls, Yamsuan declared the critics are also forgetting two things : ( 1 ) the PNP is a highly professional force that will not lend itself to electoral fraud, and ( two ) Puno will have no control over the PNP in the elections as he's going to leave the DILG at the proper time ahead of the official campaign period.

he clarified the national Executive committee of Lakas-Kampi-CMD merely reached a consensus in its Sept. 16 meeting that Teodoro and Puno were its'preferred' applicants for 2010.

thus, he said, Puno will have to step aside as DILG secretary by the time he and Teodoro are officially named the party's presidential and vice-presidential bets during a state convention which will be held in the period prescribed by the Commission on Elections..