Drilon asks Malacañang , AFP brass: Release Mayuga
report on role of generals in alleged poll fraud

Senate President and Liberal Party head Franklin Drilon today asked Malacañang to furnish Congress with a copy of a report submitted by a military fact-finding team that investigated the alleged involvement of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) generals in election fraud in the last presidential elections.

Drilon reminded Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, AFP Chief of Staff General Generoso Senga and then AFP Inspector General now Navy Chief Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga of their commitment to the senators that they would recommend to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo that the Senate be given a copy of the report.

Mayuga, who prepared the report, said that he submitted his findings to Senga last Friday, Jan. 13, and the AFP chief was expected to forward the same to Malacañang .

"In the interests of government transparency and the search for the truth regarding the legitimacy of the last elections, I urged Malacañang and the AFP leadership to provide the Senate with a copy of the Mayuga report," Drilon said, noting that the Senate Committee on National Defense under Sen. Rodolfo Biazon was conducting a congressional investigation on the matter.

"The records of the Senate will show that during the budget hearings last Nov. 22, Secretary Cruz, General Senga and Admiral Mayuga himself declared that they would furnish the Senate with a copy of the investigation on the involvement of at least four generals in allegations of election fraud," Drilon said.

The Senate President warned that Malacañang s refusal to release a copy of the report to the public would only exacerbate the already restive situation within the ranks of the Philippine military.

"I strongly suggest that Malacañang adopt a policy of outmost transparency in handling this matter. Any attempt to sweep this issue under the rug would only cause more agitation and restiveness among the countrys professional officers and soldiers. I hope Malacañang will not fan the flames by suppressing or by tinkering with this Mayuga report," Drilon said.

Mayuga started investigating the involvement of the military in alleged fraud in the May 2004 national elections in late July, when he was still Armed Forces Inspector General.

In June, wiretapped tapes purportedly caught President Arroyo talking to a Commission on Elections (Comelec) official who was later identified as Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano about plans to rig the 2004 election.

Four generals stationed in Mindanao during the election were also mentioned in the tapes. They were identified as Army Chief Lieutenant General Hermogenes Esperon, Southern Command Chief Major General Gabriel Habacon, retired Lieutenant General Roy Kyamko, and retired Brigadier General Francisco Gudani. Despite having been linked to poll fraud, Esperon and Habacon were promoted to plum posts.

Gudani who testified at the Senate on electoral fraud without permission from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo will be tried by a court martial. Gudani allegedly violated Arroyo's Executive Order 464, which prohibits executive, military, and police officials from testifying in legislative inquiries without permission from the President. Kyamko retired from the service shortly after the 2004 election before the wiretapping scandal broke.