The Truth behind the Philippine Presidency and the

2004 Elections
by Jesusa Bernardo
(First published at Newsvine on 21 Feb. 2008 HKT)

Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is seen by the Filipino masses as a bogus, evil leader who has "stolen
the Presidency not once, but twice." The first time has to do with her role in unconstitutionally
unseating the majority elected Philippine President Joseph "Erap" Estrada in the 2001 EDSA 2, a
power grab disguised as a "People Power" uprising.

The second time Arroyo stole the presidency of the Southeast Asian nation was during the 2004
Presidential elections wherein she was supposed to have beaten opposition standard bearer and
Estrada's friend, Fernando Poe Jr. The "victory" that led to the highly irregular 'break-of-dawn'
inauguration of Arroyo was heavily tainted with allegations of systematic cheating that involved
the Commissions on Elections, the military, business leaders who headed the NAMFREL
"citizen's arm" electoral watchdog and administration Congressmen and Senators who covered
up the electoral fraud during the congressional canvassing.

2004 Poll Fraud and 'Hello Garci'

The opposition's charges of poll cheating would be later be backed up by the so-called "Hello
Garci" tapes that reveal the wiretapped conversations between Arroyo and an elections
commissioner assigned to the contested region of Mindanao. Despite convincing proofs,
however, the big businesses, the Catholic Church and the Philippine media helped sustain the
cover-up of the fraudulent win of Arroyo in the 2004 polls.

The recent falling out between Gloria Arroyo and a protracted staunch ally, deposed House
Speaker Jose de Venecia, over the anomalous NBN-ZTE telecommunications contract could just
spell hope for the unraveling of the unholy conspiracy to cheat the Filipinos of their electoral
choice for president. De Venecia has recently announced his plan to seek the reopening of the
House investigations into the "Hello Garci" electoral controversy. As the Speaker and former
Arroyo ally during the periods of the electoral canvassing and during the initial "Hello Garci"
tapes investigation, De Venecia could certainly shed light on the mechanics of the conspiracy to
rig the 2004 Presidential elections and cover up that trampling of the democratic process.

Hopes to Unravel and Rectify the Presidential Fraud

For seven years, the Philippines has been mired in the evil created by the hypocritical and
undemocratic designs of the conspirators who simply preferred Arroyo over the choice of the
majority class of society, the masses. It's about time that some truth is unraveled and perhaps,
that the 2004 electoral cheating be officially rectified somehow.