The Philippine Online Chronicles

Former Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol may be put under the Witness Protection Program (WPP) after his revelations on the possible 2004 and 2007 election fraud.

"Wala pa, wala pang nakakarating sa akin kung humihingi siya na maging state witness and protection. Although I can anticipate that he will definitely ask for protection under the WPP and why not?" De Lima said.

Bedol recently surfaced and affirmed former Maguindanao governor Zaldy Ampatuan's allegations that former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and husband Mike Arroyo masterminded cheating during the 2007 midterm elections in Maguindanao.

The then election supervisor and election canvasser of Sultan Kudarat also earlier exposed that there was also election rigging during the 2004 presidential elections.

Bedol said that the probe into the 2004 election fraud should look at the possible ballot-switching in the House of Representatives as Arroyo recorded a landslide win over presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. in Sultan Kudarat in the Congress tally.

"Importante masyado iyun to find out whether or not nagkaroon nga tayo ng totoong presidente o hindi," Bedol said.

He added, "Kasi doon, meron movement of ballot boxes. Sa tingin, ko baka switching 'yan. 'Pag switching 'yan, fake naman ... ngayon kung mga peke ang dokumento e siguro may pekeng presidente ... 'yan ang gusto kong patunayan."

Malacanang Palace also brushed off allegations that it has something to do with Bedol's surfacing.

Bedol posted bail following his arrest in 2007 for failure to appear in Comelec's investigation on the alleged fraud. He said he went into hiding because people involved in the fraud might kill him. The former election officer said that as he surfaced, “Bahala na kung ano ang mangyayari, sa pangalan ng katotohanan.”

"We are not Rip Van Winkles that are just waking up now, clueless. Wake up to reality and face the court cases that for now are not even coming from us," said Presidential Communications Operations Office Secretary Herminio Coloma.

Arroyo's lawyer Raul Lambino previously denied the allegations of fraud and said that these are all “pure hearsay.”

"Timing is very bad. It would have been believable even after three years kung nung popular pa si PNoy at siya lumantad voluntarily. Bakit ngayon kung kailan pababa ang trust rating ni PNoy saka ngayon naglalabasan ito...weeks before the State of the Nation Address," Lambino earlier noted.