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Observers charge fraud in Filipino polls
MANILA May 15 : As results of the presidential election continued to trickle In Friday, Fidel Ramos edged ahead of Miriam defensor Santiago, who has called for protests against wholesale election fraud', reports AFP
With about 12 per cent of the ballots counted from Monday's voting. Media Citizens Quick Count said Ramos, the candidate supported by President Corazon Aquino, was leading with 6,33,435 voles to 6.04, 562 for Mrs. Santiago
Mrs. Santiago had been the frontrunner until the latest tally, which Included votes from Ramos' home province.
Businessman Eduardo Cqju-angco, a close associate of former President Ferdinand Marcos, trailed the presiden Hal tallying In third place and Marcos' widow, Imelda, was sixth.
Mrs Santiago on Friday
charged that the excruciatingly slow ballot counting was to allow time to rig tallies in favour of 'the losing candidate,' apparently Ramos
She caUed on Filipinos to maintain round-the-clock vigils at tabulation centers to guard against cheating.
Meanwhile, additional troops were deployed around counting centers In Manila Friday evening after intelligence reports Indicated dissi dents might try to storm the buildings and burn ballots.
Charges of cheating have been mounting because of the painfully slow vote count In the race for president and more than 17,000 other positions. Four days after the election, only about 10 per cent of the vote has been tabulated.
Quick Count officials In southeastern Luzon said they had suspended their count after discovering the number
of votes tabulated so far had exceeded the number of ballots cast in the region.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said someone apparently infiltrated their operation and padded the result*. They said an investigation was underway.
A 19-member international observer delegation echoed the charges of fraud and other Irregularities In the election. Including vote-buying and intimidation.
Although relatively peaceful, the group said in a statement Friday, the election "cannot be considered clean and honest "
They said observers saw election officials so drunk they couldn't perform their duties, ballot boxes opened by unau thorized people, death threats against candidate* and payment* of dlr* 4 apiece to prospective voters
"We observed Incidents of
electoral manipulation and intimidation as well as Inadequate implementation of electoral safeguards." the group said after visiting polling sta tion* in Luzon. Cebu and Mindanao islands.
They declined to provide details until the group submits its report to the government Election Commission.
Meanwhile. Mrs. Santiago vowed to launch a "serie* of demonstrations to denounce wholesale political fraud ... I will personally lead a mass demonstration to defend democracy."
Her fighting tone was remi nlscent of Mr*. Aquino's civil disobedience campaign after the 1986 election*. That led to a political crisis, triggering a military revolt followed by the mat* uprising that ousted Marcos and Installed Mr*.
Aquino.