Comelec chief keen to testify on 2004 polls

MANILA, Philippines - Revelations of alleged fraud in the 2004 elections are a welcome development for Senator Loren Legarda, who's convinced she was cheated in the vice-presidential race.

Her former counsel, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes, said he is ready to tell what he knows in the proper forum.

Brillantes was an opposition lawyer in the 2004 and 2007 elections.

He said he knew what happened during the polls, and he is willing to testify before a proper forum.

Brillantes said actor Fernando Poe Jr. and Legarda were the real winners in the 2004 elections.

"Sa puso ko, alam ko si FPJ ang nanalong presidente at si Loren ang nanalong vice-president," he said.

However, because he was a lawyer of Poe and Legarda, the Comelec chairman is now in a difficult position to become a witness.

He admitted that he is trying his best to restrain himself from narrating these events since he is already chairman of the poll body and no longer a lawyer of the opposition.

Brillantes said he is also ready to inhibit from a possible Comelec investigation into the claims of poll anomalies.

Legarda, meanwhile, welcomed the latest developments into the issue. 

She said she fought for her election protest for 3 years after she lost the vice-presidential race to Noli de Castro.

"I presented the evidence. The truth has been staring us in the face since 2004. While there is no redress for this, I welcome the fact that the truth and historical reality will prevail," Legarda said.

However, de Castro's lawyer, Romulo Macalintal, said the Supreme Court itself declared that Legarda did not have sufficient evidence against his client.

"Mismong Supreme court na ang nagsabi na walang ebidensya si Loren, at nagsabi siyang naniniwala siya sa Korte Suprema. Pati sa recount, ang nanalo si de Castro," he said.

Brillantes said that at this point, it no longer matters who won, but who cheated in the elections. - Report from Henry Omaga-Diaz, ABS-CBN News