The tale of two certificates of convass

Let us begin the discussion of the Maguindanao electoral anomalies with the provincial certificates of canvass (PCoCs).
During the 2007 senatorial elections, Maguindanao was the only province that had two provincial certificates of canvass (PCoCs).
The provincial certificate of canvass is the final document or certificate that is executed by the provincial election officers, which would be the basis for canvassing (counting) by the national board of canvassers, which is composed of the commissioners of the Comelec.
So lets put some human faces. Lintang Bedol is the provincial election supervisor. He is called "PES Bedol."
Of course the head of the national board of canvassers is Benjamin Abalos, the chair of the Comelec.
While there is normally only one provinicial certificate of canvass, there are, of course other documents that are the basis for putting the figures in the PCoCs.
The supporting documents would of course be the certificates of canvass from the municipalities (MCoCs) of the province.
But these certificates of canvass---MCoCs and PCoC--- are backed by documents called Summary of Statement of Votes (SSOVs).
This is the primitivate nature of our paper-based elections.
So many documents. So vulnerable to fraud, tampering, intercalations, erasures, mis-additions, pre-fixing, suffixing, and yes, generally called dagdag-bawas.
In the case of Maguindanao it is very anomalous, and irregular to have two provincial certificates of canvass (PCoCs).
The first PCoC was that one submitted and tabulated by the Bedol-led provincial election supervisors.
When this was submitted to the Comelec in Manila for canvassing, it was noted that there were nineteen senatorial candidates who got zero votes, including the winning ones like Panfilo Lacson, Noynoy Aquino, and Allan Cayetano.
In this Bedol PCoC, the topnotcher was Chavit Singson.
Because this PCoC was touted to be statistically improbable, Comelec chair Abalos and the national board of canvassers set this aside.
The reasons given by Abalos himself was that, the candidates and their representatives were not allowed to view the canvassing.
Second, Abalos said documents supporting the canvass were not given to the parties and other groups entitled to copies.
And third, Abalos said "statistical improbability" (Refer to the TSN Page 3 of the June 4, 2007 session of the NBoC).
Initially, this could have paved the way for a declaration of a failure of election.
This was the original intention or direction of Abalos.
But suddenly, Governor Ampatuan through his counsel Atty. Pete Cuadra, went to the Comelec and submitted a manifestation that there cannot be a failure of elections in Maguindanao because there was an election and local candidates have even been proclaimed.
Along with Atty Cuadra's manifestation were the minutes of the canvassing of votes by the provinical canvassers led by Lintang Bedol himself.
These "minutes of the provinicial canvass" submitted by Atty. Cuadra becomes very crucial evidence of fraud because it listed down the actual number of voters per municipality who actually voted.
Because of this evidence submitted by Atty. Cuadra, Abalos made a complete 360-degree about face.
Abalos then said, there cannot be a declaration of failure of elections.
Subsequently, Lintang Bedol suddenly claimed the election documents were "lost."
This paved the way for Abalos to direct the Task Force Mindanao to conduct a "fact finding mission" in Maguindanao and retrieve "accountable documents" that can be salvaged and which may be used to determine the "true will" of the people of Maguindanao.
Therafter, as many now know, what surfaced were single, lonesome copies of municipal certificates of canvass that were supposedly used for posting for the public.
These lonesome municipal certificates of canvass became the basis for the re-canvassing of the votes, by the special board of canvassers led by Emilio A. Santos (Santos-board).
It was the Santos-board that submitted a second provincial certififcate of canvass.
This second certificate of canvass eventually became the basis for canvassing by the national board of canvassers in Manila.
In this second PCoC by the Santos-board, Miguel Zubiri now is the topnother.
The number of voteers who voted for the province was increased.
Antonio Trillanes, who had zero votes in the Bedol-PCoC, now had thousands of votes.
Please take note that at this time, the election returns from the town of Pagalungan (where Musa Dimasidsing was schools district supervisor) did not yet surface.
This is a general narration of the important events after the May 14, 2007 elections.
We shall provide the other documents to prove these allegations.
But for now, please take a look at the two provincial certifictes of cavass.
I don't want to overwhelm with so many documents. So let us content ourselves at this time with these unusual two PCoCs--so anomalous by themselves.
The first is the Bedol-board PCoC. Please take note of the serial number of this Bedol-canvassed PCoC: No. 0000095
The second is the Santos-board PCoC. Please also take note of the serial number of this Santos-canvassed PCoC: No. 0000122.