SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 11, 2008) – The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has uncovered thousands of spurious names from the list of those who signed the recall petition against Sulu Gov. Sakur Tan.
Tan’s political opponents have filed a petition with the COMELEC to unseat him, citing the loss of confidence in his leadership.
Lawyer Vidzfar Julie, the COMELEC’S deputy regional chief, said they will have to carefully verify the signatures in the recall petition to ensure they are authentic and had voted in last year’s elections in Sulu after they have uncovered 6,800 spurious names in the recall petition.
“These names and signatures in the recall petition are not even registered in Sulu,” Julie told the Mindanao Examiner.
He said the names had been stricken out of the petition papers. “The COMELEC will have to verify all the signatures in the recall petition to determine whether they are authentic or not or whether all those who signed the petition are really registered voters of Sulu,” Julie said.
Ali Judah, a resident of Lugus, an island town off Sulu, accused Tan of failing to improve the peace and order situation in the province.
He blamed Tan for the kidnapping of ABS-CBN television reporter Ces Dillon and three others early this year. The trio secretly went to the Abu Sayyaf to interview one of its leaders, Radulan Sahiron, but were eventually held and released weeks later after paying huge ransom.
Judah, in his 26-page petition, said that Tan failed to deliver basic government services to residents and accused the politician of terminating livelihood programs of past administration under defeated governor Benjamin Loong.
It was unknown who funded Jilah's petition, but the local poll office said 62,631 alleged voters from Sulu's 19 towns had signed the recall papers on August 29.
Little was known about Judah, but he was able to hire the services of a battery of prominent lawyers in Manila to pursue the petition. Judah is believed being used by Tan’s political detractors.
Jose Melo, the COMELEC Chairman, earlier said that it has no more funding to finance any recall petitions and that those who are pursuing it should put up the money or ask the government to release the fund.
Julie said at least P50 million are needed by the COMELEC to proceed with the recall petition in Sulu.
Money is overflowing in Sulu allegedly to bribe local officials in supporting the recall petition against Tan. Even journalists were reportedly being paid to destroy Tan’s political reputation, but others rejected the bribe, according to sources in Sulu, but this could not be independently confirmed.
The petition against Tan started after he and provincial lawmakers rejected last year a proposal by some politicians, who are now in their last term, to divide Sulu into two provinces so they can again run in 2010 elections.
Political dynasties are rampant in Sulu province, where many politicians win by either by fraud or cheating and vote-buying. The petition also is believed connected with Tan's order to the police and military authorities to disband private armies of politicians who are known warlords in Sulu.
Tan, who won by a landslide against Loong and former rebel leader Nur Misuari, last year, also ordered authorities to put a stop to the smuggling of contraband and illegal weapons into the province, many of which fall into the hands of rebels and armed goons of politicians.
He also introduced drastic reforms to fight corruption and ordered the Commission on Audit to regularly examine records or financial accounts of government projects to check their accuracy.
Muslim and Christian religious organizations and various civil society groups, including the business groups and chambers in Sulu have thrown their support behind Tan. They also signed petitions and manifestos supporting Tan’s administration.
Professor Fred Concepcion, one of Tan’s executive assistant, earlier said the governor is not disturb by the recall petition because it was all without basis and that Sulu's peace and order and economic stability have drastically improved under the new administration.
He said since Tan assumed office last year he has already completed many infrastructure and housing projects and various community and sustainable livelihood and agricultural programs.
“These are continuing projects aimed at sustaining our gains for the benefit of the people of Sulu,” Concepcion said.
Tan’s detractors accused him of terminating Loong's “Arms to Farms” program, which provides farmers in Sulu various agricultural support. But the program was not of Loong and had been developed by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to assist former Muslim rebels’ transition into peaceful, civilian lives.
However, the program was used as campaign propaganda in the past elections.Besides Tan, a recall petition was also started by political opponents of Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio, who is also fighting corruption and illegal gambling activities in his province. (Mindanao Examiner)
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