PHILIPPINE GENERAL ELECTION, 2004

'Presidential elections', 'legislative elections' and 'local elections' were held in the Philippines on May 10, 2004. In the presidential election, incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo successfully won a full six-year term as President, with a margin of just over one million votes over her leading opponent, highly popular movie actor Fernando Poe, Jr..
The elections were notable for several reasons. This election first saw the implementation of the Overseas Absentee Voting Act of 2003 ''(see )'', which enabled Filipinos in over 70 countries to vote. This is also the first election since the 1986 EDSA Revolution where an incumbent President ran for election. Under the 1987 Constitution, an elected president cannot run for another term. However, Arroyo was not elected president, but instead succeeded ousted President Joseph Estrada, who was impeached with charges of plunder and corruption in 2000 (His trial in the SandiganBayan court is still being heard).
Moreover, this was the first time since 1986 that both president and vice president were under the same party/coalition. This election was also held at a period in modern Philippines marked by serious political polarization. This resulted in lesser candidates for the Presidential and Vice-Presidential elections compared to the 1992 and 1998 elections.

Contents

Background

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's candidacy

Fernando Poe, Jr.'s candidacy

Eddie Gil's candidacy

The LDP split

COMELEC's move for an automated elections

Timeline

Parties and coalitions

Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan sa Kinabukasan (K-4)

Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP)

Alyansa ng Pag-asa

Bangon Pilipinas'' Movement (BPM)

Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) (Aquino Wing)

Partido Isang Bansa, Isang Diwa

Election results

President

Breakdown

Vice-President

Legislative and local elections

Senators

Representatives

Exit polls

Official Congressional canvass

Election scandal

See also

External links

General sites

Media sites and articles

Others

Background

The political climate leading up to the 2004 elections was one of the most emotional in the country's history since the 1986 elections that resulted in the exile of Ferdinand Marcos. Philippine society has become polarized between the followers of former president Joseph Estrada who have thrown their support for Estrada's close associate Fernando Poe, Jr. and those who support incumbent Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, or at best oppose Estrada.
The several months leading to the May elections saw several presidential scandals, Arroyo reversing her earlier decision not to run for president, the sudden but not unexpected candidacy of Fernando Poe, Jr., defection of key political figures from the Arroyo camp to the opposition, the controversial automated elections initiative of the COMELEC, and the split of the dominant opposition party, ''Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino'', between Poe and Panfilo Lacson.

Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo's candidacy

On a speech given on Rizal Day, December 30, 2002, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo declared that she would not run in the 2004 elections. Arroyo claimed that withdrawing from the race would relieve her of the burden of politics and allow her administration to devote the last year and half to the following:
First, strengthening the economy to create more jobs and to encourage business activities that are unhampered by corruption and red tape in government.
Second, healing the deep divisions within Philippine society.
Third, working for clean and honest elections in 2004.
This was hailed as a welcome development by many people, especially those in the business and economic sectors.
Nine months later, on October 4, 2003, Arroyo completely changed her mind. Arroyo stated that her change of heart was for a higher cause and that she cannot ignore the call to further serve the country. Many people, especially those who held on to her commitment, were dismayed by her turnabout, though most were unsurprised since there had been clues months before that she would probably not stand by her earlier decision. Others welcomed this development, saying that she needs more time to implement her projects, and that she would be the strongest contender against a likely candidacy by Fernando Poe, Jr.

Fernando Poe, Jr.'s candidacy

Months before the elections, members of the opposition have been encouraging Fernando Poe, Jr., a close friend of former president Joseph Estrada to run for president. Poe was very popular with the masses and it was widely believed that he would be a sure winner if he ran for President.
On November 27, 2003, Poe ended months of speculation by announcing that he will run for president during a press conference held at the Manila Hotel.
However, on January 9, 2004, Victorino X. Fornier (a private citizen) filed a case against Poe and the COMELEC, saying that Poe wasn't eligible to run for he is not a natural born Filipino before the COMELEC. On the 23rd of January, the COMELEC dismissed the petition for lack of merit. On February 10, Fornier finally filed the case to the Supreme Court, seeking Poe to be disqualified from the race. His case was later merged with cases filed by Maria Jeanette C. Tecson, and Felix B. Desiderio, Jr., and by Zoilo Antonio G. Velez.
On March 3, the Supreme Court, said on its decision, that for lack of jurisdiction and prematurity, and ruling that Poe's father, Allan F. Poe would have been a Filipino citizen by virtue of the ''en masse'' Filipinization enacted by the Philippine Bill of 1902. Also, even if Poe wasn't a natural-born Filipino citizen, he cannot be held guilty of having made a material misrepresentation in his certificate of candidacy.
:''See also: The Supreme Court's decision.''

Eddie Gil's candidacy

The Commission on Elections originally affirmed the candidacies of six people for the president. The sixth person running for president was Eduardo "Eddie" Gil, a known Marcos loyalist. The party of Eduardo Villanueva filed a petition with the COMELEC seeking to disqualify Eddie Gil on the basis of him being a nuisance candidate, his incapacity to mount a nationwide campaign, and that because he was running with the aim to confuse voters because of their similar names.
Eddie Gil claims to be an international banker having a net worth of billions of dollars. His platform for presidency promised to make every Filipino a millionaire within his first 100 days of being elected. He also promised to pay off the Philippines' debt, worth trillions of pesos, from his own pocket. This was widely ridiculed, especially after a recent incident in which a check he had issued to pay his hotel bills during a campaign sortie, bounced.

The LDP split

The ''Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino'' party (LDP) would form the core of the main opposition party, the ''Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino'' (KNP). However, members of the party disagreed on which person to support for president. Panfilo Lacson, a member of the party, advanced his candidacy for president but was not considered by Edgardo Angara, the president of the party. Angara supported Fernando Poe, Jr. Together with the party's secretary-general Agapito "Butz" Aquino, Lacson gathered the support of some members of the party and went ahead with his candidacy. The LDP was subsequently polarized between those supporting Angara and Poe, and those for Lacson and Aquino.
By then, Poe and Lacson have both filed their certificates of candidacies. According to the rules of candidacy, every presidential candidate must have a political party to back him or her. With the obvious split within the ranks of the LDP, and with no signs that the two factions would come to an agreement, the COMELEC decided to informally split the party into the Aquino and the Angara wings. Lacson then ran under the LDP - Aquino Wing, and Poe under the LDP - Angara Wing, which would later become the KNP.
During the campaign period, there had been numerous unification talks between the two factions. The opposition saw the need to become united under one banner to boost their chances of winning the presidential election against the organized political machinery of Arroyo. The plans of unification did not materialize due to the stubbornness of both Poe and Lacson. Lacson wanted Poe to concede to him and run as his vice-presidential candidate while the supporters of Poe wanted Lacson to back-out from his candidacy and instead support Poe, citing his low performance in the surveys.

COMELEC's move for an automated elections

Elections in the Philippines has always been a manual-process with the results for national positions often being announced more than a month after election day. An attempt to rectify this was done by the Commission on Elections by automating the process of counting the votes. More than 30 billion pesos were spent in acquiring counting machines that were never used in this elections because of numerous controversies and political opposition.

Timeline

'2002'

★ December 30 - President Arroyo declares that she will not run for President in 2004.
'2003'

★ October 4 - President Arroyo announces her intention to run for President.

★ November 26 - Fernando Poe, Jr. declares his intention to run for President.

★ December 29 - Raul Roco, together with Herminio Aquino filed their candidacies for the position of President and Vice President. Senator Panfilo Lacson filed his candidacy as President without a running mate.

★ December 30 - Fernando, Poe, Jr. together with running mate Senator Loren Legarda filed their candidacies for the position of President and Vice President.
'2004'

★ January 5 - President Gloria Arroyo and Senator Noli de Castro filed their candidacies for the position of President and Vice President.

★ January 13 - The Supreme Court nullified a contract for the computerization of the ballot-counting process, effectively forcing the Commission on Elections to revert to the manual counting of votes.

★ February 10 - Start of the official campaign period for national positions

★ March 3 - Poe was deemed as a natural born Filipino by the Supreme Court, thereby blocking any legal obstacles for his candidacy.

★ March 25 - Start of the official campaign period for local positions

★ 'May 10 - Election day'

★ May 10 - NAMFREL starts its quickcount tally.

★ May 14 - Panfilo Lacson resigns from his party, the ''Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino'' (LDP).

★ May 14 - Grenade explodes at the General Santos City Hall where canvassing was taking place. No one was hurt.

★ May 17 - Opposition groups stage protest at the PICC, site of the official COMELEC canvass for senators and party-list representatives.

★ May 17 - Raul Roco concedes to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

★ May 19 - Fernando Poe, Jr., proclaims himself winner in Zamboanga City.

★ May 25 - COMELEC proclaims the top 11 senators in its official canvass.

★ May 28 - Congress approves the rules for the canvassing of the Certificates of Canvass for the Presidential and Vice-Presidential positions.

★ June 2 - The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines issued a statement saying that the elections were generally peaceful and that there was no sign of massive electoral fraud on a nationwide scale.

★ June 3 - The 12th senator, Rodolfo Biazon, was proclaimed by the COMELEC.

★ June 4 - Congress, through the Joint Committee, starts canvassing the votes for the President and Vice-president.

★ June 8 - Supreme Court votes 14-0 against the KNP petition to declare the Congressional Joint Committee as the National Board of Canvassers unconstitutional.

★ June 20 - The Congressional Joint Committee finishes the canvassing of votes for the President and Vice-president; Arroyo is declared the winner.

★ June 24 - The Congress approves the report of the Joint Committee officially proclaiming Arroyo the winner.

★ June 30 - Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is inaugurated in Cebu City.

Parties and coalitions

This election has seen strong shifts of alliances and new parties as candidates switched allegiances. The two major coalitions seen in this elections were the K-4 (''Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan sa Kinabukasan''), of the administration, and the KNP (''Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino''), the united opposition.

Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan sa Kinabukasan (K-4)

The Koalisyon ng Katapatan at Karanasan sa Kinabukasan (Coalition of Truth and Experience for Tomorrow) or K-4, is the remnant of the People Power Coalition that was formed following the ascendancy of president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to power. Arroyo is seeking a complete term under this coalition with Sen. Noli de Castro, an independent, yet popular, politician, as her running mate. The leading party in this coalition is the ruling Lakas-CMD, of which Arroyo is a member. Other parties under this coalition are the Liberal Party, the Nacionalista Party, the Nationalist People's Coalition and the People's Reform Party.

Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (KNP)

The Koalisyon ng Nagkakaisang Pilipino (Coalition of United Filipinos), or KNP, is the coalition of the united opposition. Its standard bearers are Fernando Poe, Jr. for president and Sen. Loren Legarda-Leviste for vice-president. The leading parties of this coalition is the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP-Angara Wing), the PDP-Laban and the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino. the LDP split is caused by stubbornes between FPJ and Ping Lacson. especially with the support of the former president Joseph Estrada and former first lady Imelda Marcos. The other major party under this coalition is Estrada's ''Partido ng Masang Pilipino'' (PMP, Party of the Filipino Masses).

Alyansa ng Pag-asa

The third major coalition running in this election is the ''Alyansa ng Pag-asa'' (Alliance of Hope), This coalition fielded Raul Roco for president and Herminio Aquino for vice-president. The three major parties supporting this coalition are Roco's ''Aksyon Demokratiko'' (Democratic Action), former Defense Sec. Renato de Villa's Reporma Party, and Lito Osmeña's Promdi (''Probinsya Muna'' [Provinces First] Development Party). The three parties were the ones that bolted out of the People Power Coalition.

Bangon Pilipinas'' Movement (BPM)

The 'Bangon Pilipinas' (Rise up, Philippines) Movement is the political party of Bro. Eddie Villanueva. It consists mostly of volunteers, a majority of whom came from Villanueva's Jesus Is Lord church (Villanueva resigned from the church before submitting his candidacy, to prevent questions on separation of church and state).

Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP) (Aquino Wing)

This was composed of Panfilo Lacson's supporters in the LDP Party.

Partido Isang Bansa, Isang Diwa

This was Eddie Gil's organization. Gil was deemed a nuisance candidate and was disqualified from the presidential race, however, the party qualified for other positions.

Election results

The official results of the election were released in staggered dates with most winners in local elective positions declared within two weeks from the May 10 election date. The winners in the Senatorial and Party-list Representative elections were declared on May 24, with the exception of the 12th senator which was announced on June 3. The results of the Presidential and Vice-Presidential races were finalized by the Congress on June 20, more than a month after the elections. Out of the 43,536,028 registered voters, about 35.4 million ballots were cast giving a voter turn-out of 81.4%.
Shown below are the official tallies of the Presidential, Vice-Presidential, and Senatorial races as well as the last tallies of the Quickcount conducted by the National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL), the citizens' arm of the COMELEC.

President

'Final Official Congressional Canvass'
'NAMFREL Quickcount'

(''Partial and Unofficial'')

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
'Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo'	K4'	'11,272,388'	'39.4%'
Fernando Poe, Jr.	KNP	10,456,243	36.6%
Panfilo Lacson	''independent''	3,140,494	11.0%
Raul Roco	Aksyon Demokratiko	1,942,921	6.8%
Eduardo Villanueva	Bangon Pilipinas Movement	1,782,547	6.2%
Total:		28,594,593	100.0%

Breakdown

Based on the official canvass of the Congress of the Philippines

Province	Arroyo	Poe	Lacson	Roco	Villanueva
Abra	32,644	'50,866'	11,256	2,251	3,741
Agusan del Norte	'138,402'	66,125	12,585	7,152	18,680
Agusan del Sur	'100,998'	61,949	10,905	4,643	15,649
Aklan	'87,197'	84,080	11,247	8,830	10,158
Albay	172,777	74,711	23,079	'197,345'	11,802
Antique	'92,992'	63,650	10,586	12,024	9,260
Apayao	15,018	'15,789'	4,195	787	2,992
Aurora	16,755	'42,282'	7,492	1,911	4,754
Basilan	'79,702'	48,685	4,796	2,290	824
Bataan	65,955	'171,070'	28,646	12,447	16,970
Batanes	'4,198'	2,166	442	426	197
Batangas	264,007	'377,915'	141,122	46,520	66,540
Benguet     •  Baguio City	'56,894 32,546'	19,996 17,809	20,336 23,928	8,806 8,017	19,434 12,577
Biliran	'27,865'	27,133	2,909	1,771	3,675
Bohol	'337,336'	94,380	17,175	26,660	20,166
Bukidnon	'191,409'	149,987	24,333	11,107	28,003
Bulacan	237,080	'505,164'	131,759	69,139	106,065
Cagayan	142,653	'166,209'	49,141	11,065	17,953
Camarines Norte	46,641	'70,566'	13,240	37,846	6,462
Camarines Sur	117,427	89,080	16,894	'351,868'	13,979
Camiguin	'21,760'	15,093	1,959	1,058	1,606
Capiz	'149,832'	86,023	12,040	12,828	13,129
Catanduanes	17,358	'39,342'	4,657	32,635	4,399
Cavite	183,719	239,749	'347,539'	46,925	76,213
Cebu     •  Cebu City	'965,630 220,060'	123,099 58,591	46,056 22,055	42,213 15,251	31,812 11,715
Compostela Valley	'94,867'	80,544	17,673	5,911	14,935
Cotabato	131,749	'171,950'	72,417	9,115	19,037
Davao del Norte	131,537	'133,018'	32,253	8,391	15,658
Davao del Sur     •  Davao City	115,728 '193,880'	'154,144' 192,074	20,667 49,400	7,037 18,434	13,055 29,803
Davao Oriental	'82,098'	67,006	7,607	3,964	10,581
Eastern Samar	'75,049'	73,439	6,377	3,779	7,232
Guimaras	'44,987'	6,528	2,215	4,011	2,814
Ifugao	'29,404'	13,941	10,023	2,283	13,558
Ilocos Norte	42,488	'104,695'	80,077	4,941	15,091
Ilocos Sur	'140,736'	76,040	41,524	10,493	12,570
Iloilo     •  Iloilo City	'512,812 105,597'	82,244 35,251	34,470 10,477	44,229 10,930	26,773 12,071
Isabela	153,791	'250,988'	74,992	12,491	23,712
Kalinga	'33,261'	18,461	12,688	3,110	11,769
La Union	56,902	'169,415'	53,595	9,771	15,194
Laguna	195,340	'477,630'	121,600	68,296	87,757
Lanao del Norte	130,485	'137,597'	25,308	8,667	12,520
Lanao del Sur	'158,748'	50,107	9,987	11,156	2,012
Leyte	'332,715'	250,831	43,755	24,167	21,407
Maguindanao     •  Cotabato City	'199,431' 8,510	63,313 '29,417'	15,199 10,925	7,222 2,107	2,183 1,847
Marinduque	24,676	'43,861'	13,242	3,240	4,730
Masbate	'112,711'	94,741	6,139	25,452	12,896
''Metro Manila''     •  Caloocan City     •  Las Piñas City     •  Makati City     •  Malabon-Navotas     •  Mandaluyong City     •  Manila     •  Marikina     •  Muntinlupa City     •  Parañaque City     •  Pasay City     •  Pasig City     •  Quezon City     •  San Juan     •  Taguig-Pateros     •  Valenzuela City	86,016 '60,117' 65,750 43,952 34,163 186,704 43,084 40,337 53,549 39,888 61,385 223,768 13,647 53,445 42,211	'151,281' 58,241 '81,306 106,919 42,116 269,114 50,178 60,735 54,417 63,529 91,432 258,382 16,534 74,672 73,533'	69,774 34,080 51,194 33,474 21,428 140,039 25,275 29,193 35,366 35,814 41,527 161,053 13,596 41,065 32,002	30,998 16,856 19,133 11,999 9,165 38,960 12,423 15,486 17,493 13,249 22,629 61,169 3,340 18,700 15,499	34,275 20,474 26,035 16,178 12,746 61,214 16,812 18,872 19,531 14,940 26,012 78,195 6,042 18,696 17,877
Misamis Occidental	'125,300'	69,481	8,566	6,714	15,882
Misamis Oriental     •  Cagayan de Oro City	111,401 62,133	'180,123 77,778'	13,276 13,013	8,695 8,077	16,944 14,139
Mountain Province	'24,919'	11,564	9,765	4,416	9,378
Negros Occidental     •  Bacolod City	'479,211 105,712'	283,926 51,044	31,994 12,040	35,838 11,024	48,651 21,925
Negros Oriental	'260,291'	119,588	12,134	11,686	23,829
Northern Samar	57,306	'122,485'	7,837	3,490	6,807
Nueva Ecija	160,438	'476,220'	90,426	20,710	34,696
Nueva Vizcaya	40,721	'57,151'	35,670	4,726	12,103
Occidental Mindoro	34,267	'78,668'	15,670	4,302	9,270
Oriental Mindoro	81,691	'124,258'	26,188	9,075	21,987
Palawan	54,645	'185,538'	18,557	12,847	19,932
Pampanga	'642,712'	84,720	19,881	16,173	35,779
Pangasinan	445,230	'487,463'	62,397	30,770	52,474
Quezon	170,853	'336,488'	69,261	33,747	35,475
Quirino	21,185	'24,574'	6,746	1,896	6,077
Rizal	156,356	'324,703'	106,063	52,203	61,043
Romblon	41,562	'45,909'	8,649	2,611	9,645
Samar	84,754	'167,974'	11,441	4,909	8,967
Sarangani	46,893	'66,718'	17,258	3,461	8,231
Siquijor	'27,629'	10,174	1,773	981	1,715
Sorsogon	73,724	'97,040'	10,277	87,025	8,119
South Cotabato	91,508	'188,143'	105,410	15,423	29,912
Southern Leyte	'125,096'	28,138	6,258	3,365	5,824
Sultan Kudarat	'126,622'	40,714	60,189	3,214	6,029
Sulu	'78,429'	60,807	5,095	1,903	418
Surigao del Norte	'123,986'	70,440	17,158	3,179	12,030
Surigao del Sur	'114,075'	68,192	10,481	4,863	16,924
Tarlac	'210,171'	166,248	40,833	17,847	29,461
Tawi-Tawi	33,634	'49,803'	2,379	1,383	321
Zambales	75,085	'146,974'	34,540	12,846	14,669
Zamboanga del Norte	'207,175'	107,330	8,750	11,086	13,467
Zamboanga del Sur     •  Zamboanga City	'203,122' 61,705	96,556 '142,236'	9,654 29,422	5,632 7,472	20,213 8,311
Zamboanga Sibugay	65,836	'95,677'	3,913	2,707	14,077
Absentee voters	'106,058'	46,254	29,254	26,355	27,635
'Total'	'12,905,808'	11,782,232	3,510,080	2,082,762	1,988,218

Vice-President

'Final Official Congressional Canvass'

'NAMFREL Quickcount'

(''Partial and Unofficial'')

Candidate	Party	Votes	%
'Noli de Castro'	'Lakas-CMD' / K4'	'13,342,530'	'49.6%'
Loren Legarda	KNP	12,505,777	46.5%
Herminio Aquino	Aksyon Demokratiko / Alyansa ng Pag-Asa	920,316	3.4%
Rodolfo Pajo	Partido Isang Bansa Isang Diwa	22,244	0.1%
Total:		26,908,172	100.00%

Legislative and local elections

In the legislative elections, voters elected twelve Senators (half the members of the Senate), who are elected at large with the whole country voting as one constituency, and all 208 members of the House of Representatives, who are elected from single-member districts.
In the local elections, voters elected governors, vice-governors, and board members of the country's 79 provinces, and the mayor, vice-mayor and councilors of the nation's more than 1,600 cities and municipalities.

Senators

The COMELEC sits as the National Board of Canvassers for the 12 senatorial positions.

Representatives

Exit polls

During and immediately after the elections, exit polls were conducted by various organizations including the Social Weather Stations. An exit poll conducted by the SWS in Metro Manila showed that Arroyo won by a wide margin. SWS later admitted that it made a huge error in its Metro Manila exit poll.
The SWS exit poll said Mrs Arroyo won 34 percent of the vote in Metro Manila against Poe's 25 percent. The official count showed Poe winning Metro Manila by 37 percent against the President's 26 percent.
A nationwide exit poll conducted by a research group called Proberz, on the other had, showed that Poe won the elections with 38% of the total 4,010 respondents against Arroyo's 34%. The poll showed Poe leading in Regions II, III, IV-A, IV-B, VIII, IX, XII, Metro Manila, and the ARMM. GMA thriumphed over Poe in the rest of the regions. In the vice-presidential race, the exit poll indicates that Legarda won with 51% or the votes, followed by De Castro with 46%.

Official Congressional canvass

Under the constitution, the Congress is mandated to become the National Board of Canvassers for the top two positions, the President and the Vice-President. Tallying in the 216,382 precincts nationwide are submitted in ''Election Returns'' that are forwarded to the municipal and city board of canvassers. These are then tabulated and forwarded to the provincial board of canvassers which prepare the 176 ''Certificates of Canvass'' (CoC). These CoCs were forwarded to the joint session of the Congress at the ''Batasang Pambansa'' in Quezon City on May 25, 2004.
Senators and representatives from the administration and opposition have debated heatedly on the procedure of counting the CoCs. The traditional way of counting the certificates, as used in the 1992 and 1998 elections, was to appoint a joint committee consisting of seven senators and seven representatives. Many opposition legislators, notably, Cong. Didagen Dilangalen of Maguindanao, opposed this traditional method as unconstitutional saying that it should be the whole Congress, not a committee, who should count the votes. Part of the argument was that "power delegated cannot be further delegated", referring to the delegation of counting to a committee. The proposal of some legislators was for the whole Congress to sit in a joint session counting each and every single Certificate of Canvass.
The debates and deliberations for the rules of canvassing were finished by the Congressional joint session on May 28. The rules decided were very similar to the ones used in the 1992 and 1998 elections, which called for a joint committee to act as the National Board of Canvassers. The notable difference is the increase of the number of committee members from 14 to 22, this time consisting of 11 senators and 11 representatives. The composition of the committee was also announced by the Senate President, Franklin Drilon, and the Speaker of the House, Jose de Venecia. The composition was immediately lambasted by the Opposition; the House portion of the committee consisted of 9 administration representatives and 2 opposition. The Poe camp called for a more equal representation for all the involved political parties in the committee, despite the appointed commission mirroring the current composition of the House: there are 190 administration representatives in a 220-seat House.
The official canvassing by the Congressional Joint Committee started on June 4, a little less than one month after election day. Canvassing was done in a slow pace, averaging about 12 Certificates of Canvass per day, as the Opposition accused Administration politicians of railroading the canvass. The Opposition lawyers wanted to question the validity of 25 CoCs, especially in those areas where Arroyo posted a wide margin over Poe. They wanted the Committee to examine the Statement of Votes at the municipal level and even down to the Election Returns at the precinct level to prove their claim that the Certificates of Canvass have been tampered with in favor of Arroyo. Administration lawyers contend that the Committee is not the proper place to lodge complaints of fraud and that the Opposition should go to the Presidential Election Tribunal (the Supreme Court) after the winner has been proclaimed.

Election scandal

Main articles: Hello Garci scandal

On the night of December 11, 2004, Poe was admitted into Saint Luke's Medical Center in Quezon City, after complaining of dizziness at a gathering in his production studio premise. He suffered from a stroke and slipped into a coma while being treated for a brain clot. On December 14, Poe died due to a massive stroke. By this time, allegations were rife that Arroyo cheated in the elections, although no evidence was put out.
On June 10, 2005, Samuel Ong, a former deputy director of the country's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said that he is a source of a set of original audio tapes of a wiretapped conversation between President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and an official of the Commission on Elections, allegedly Virgilio Garcillano.
The contents of the tape allegedly proves, according to Ong, that the 2004 national election was rigged by Arroyo and that she is not the real winner of the said election. If the Supreme Court declares that Arroyo cheated and rigged the 2004 elections, Vice President De Castro would become President, that is if he is found to be innocent of poll fraud charges brought by Poe's running mate Loren Legarda.

See also

★ Commission on Elections

★ Politics of the Philippines

★ Philippine elections

★ President of the Philippines

★ 13th Congress of the Philippines

External links

General sites

★ Philippine Presidency Project

★ Philippine Commission on Elections

★ National Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL)

Media sites and articles

★ Eleksyon 2004 (Media website)

★ 4 exit polls have 3 different winners - Philippine Daily Inquirer

★ Proberz exit polls: FPJ winner

★ Congress approves canvassing rules - Philippine Daily Inquirer

★ SWS admits it made errors in exit poll - Philippine Daily Inquirer

Others

★ On Election Polls: Part IV WHO DID BETTER - SWS OR PULSE ASIA? - Dr. Romula A. Virola

★ Dec. 30, 2002 Arroyo speech declaring her intention not to run