The Philippine Online Chronicles

One of the 15-member Special Action Force which reportedly covered up fraudulent proceedings during the 2004 elections has apologized to Susan Roces, widow of then presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. who ran against Gloria Macpagal Arroyo in 2004.

Senior Superintendent Rafael Santiago and his men stepped forward to surrender to Department of Justice (DOJ) secretary Leila De Lima 38 election returns (ERs) which would supposedly prove that cheating occurred in favor of Arroyo.

The police officer admitted to being part of the group who allegedly broke into the Batasan Pambansa complex in 2005 to steal the original ERs and replace them with fake ones to ensure that Arroyo would have 1.1 million votes more than her rival Poe, should there be a re-count of votes.

Santiago said he came out because "Ngayon lang namin mararamdaman na mabibigyan ng parehas na laban, lalo na na naidulog namin sa DOJ ang aming problema na ito."

Santiago was accompanied by fellow police officers PO2 Alan Layugan, PO2 Trifon Laxamana, PO1 Norman Duco, and PO2 Rodel Tabangin, who were all receiving death threats.

"We would like to extend our apology to Madame Susan Roces for the error. At this point, we are trying to rectify. We know that our lives are at risk here, our families. We know we are facing powerful people but there will be no turning back. The truth shall set us free," Santiago said.

He added, “We would like to make some points of clarifications that we were not in any way party to the scheme of cheating during the 2004 elections. We were just made to provide access and security to those who operated in order to cover up their trail or in order to jive the tampered COC (Certificate of Canvass) that were made in Mindanao with those authentic election returns that were deposited at the House of Representatives that we found out only later.”

De Lima said the police officers are expected to submit their sworn statements by next week.

Santiago also called on the other participants in the poll cheating “to be gentleman enough to accept their participation.”

The justice secretary earlier said that Santiago had implicated Arroyo's husband, Mike Arroyo, as the one who financed the operation.