"Benjamin Abalos"

Yan ang isasagot ni Gloria Macapagal Arroyo sa tanong na ayaw pa niyang sagutin for now:

Who's the COMELEC official Arroyo admitted talking to during the last election in her "apology"?

Here's a clue:

Enrile, Abalos confirm conversation in 2004 polls
Estrada son, Madrigal also called, says Abalos

First posted 02:04pm (Mla time) July 05, 2005
By Veronica Uy
INQ7.net

(2ND UPDATE) SENATOR Juan Ponce Enrile has admitted to calling Chairman Benjamin Abalos of the Commission on Elections during the canvassing of votes after the May 2004 polls when his candidacy was in danger.

“Sinabi ko sa kanya na bilangin ang boto nang tama...[I told him to count my votes correctly] when I was in 11th during the canvassing and I was receiving reports that there were manipulations in the field and I didn't want to be cheated again,” he said.

Enrile said he did nothing wrong by making the phone call, noting that he was a private citizen at the time and did not ask Abalos to do anything "immoral."

Abalos confirmed Enrile's disclosure and added that there were others who had called him, including Senators Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada and Ana Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal.

Madrigal refused to comment while Estrada said he could not remember when INQ7.net tried to get their reactions to Abalos' statement.

In a phone interview with INQ7.net, Abalos said, “Hindi lang siya. Marami sila [It wasn't only him. There were others]. I cannot remember them all. Maaaring hindi sila, maaaring mga tao nila [It's possible that it's not them, it could have been their people], asking that their votes be counted properly."

"Look, bakit hindi umiimik sina Senator Jinggoy and Senator Madrigal. Tumawag din sila pero walang masama sa tumatawag, wala namang hiningi [Look why are Senator Jinggoy and Senator Madrigal not saying anything. They also called but there is nothing wrong with calling. They did not ask for anything].”

He also said President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo called him up right after he was brought to the hospital on May 9.
“Tumawag din ang Presidente sa akin [The President also called me] to show concern for my health,” he said.

Abalos said the calls to him were not improper. “Siyempre iba naman yung mga phone calls na bilihan ng boto, kung totoo nga ang mga ito [Of course phone calls involving vote-buying are different, if these are true],” he added.

She'll admit to this because others in the opposition like Enrile have talked to Abalos too about their own problems and inquiries with the counting of the votes.

But she'll never admit to the public that she talked to Garcillano about their plans to steal the presidential elections for her.