Former Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos
Former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Benjamin Abalos finds himself in a frustrating situation facing a paradoxical problem on whether or not he is innocent or guilty, credible or unbelievable, accuser or the accused.
Abalos’ dashing move to submit himself as a prosecution witness, after former South Cotabato election supervisor Lilian Radam and former North Cotabato poll supervisor Yogie Martirizar tagged him as the alleged instigator in the 2007 senatorial poll fraud by ordering them to rig poll operations in their respective provinces, smacks of a man trying desperately to cleanse himself of guilt and pin the blame on the innocent and unsung heroes of the electoral event.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) opposed the bid of Abalos to become a state witness, even as Senator Aquilino Pimentel III belittled Abalos’ move saying, “Abalos is too late the hero. He wants to be a witness after he was named as mastermind (of poll fraud).”
Justice Secretary Leila De Lima, on her part, believes the move could just be a ploy to “escape possible indictment,” adding that Abalos is still considered a “probable respondent” in the joint DOJ and Comelec investigation into the 2007 poll anomalies.
“Their (Radam’s and Martirizar’s) pointing to former chairman Abalos, a big fish at that, as the instigator of the rigging of the 2007 senatorial results, is a serious and crucial allegation that deserves utmost consideration,” De Lima added. .
While Abalos insists that it was during his incumbency as chairman of the Comelec that Radam was charged for election sabotage and relieved of her post, Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes, however, emphasized that the action of Abalos might have already been overtaken by events as the Comelec is considering the withdrawal of the charges against Radam, who is being considered as a state witness in the election sabotage cases.
Radam and Martirizar have since been placed in protective custody under the Witness Protection Program (WPP).
