Arroyo did not cheat, Garcillano says<\/p>\n
THE PHILIPPINES: A fugitive former election official emerged
\nbriefly from hiding on Sunday to deny charges he helped
\nPhilippines' leader Gloria Arroyo cheat to win last year's
\npresidential elections.<\/p>\n
Virgilo Garcillano has been in hiding for almost six months
\nafter the opposition released audio tapes in June allegedly
\nshowing him and a woman who sounds like Arroyo conspiring to rig
\nthe elections.<\/p>\n
"I swear there was no such thing as rigging in the last
\nelections," said Garcillano in an interview at an unknown
\nlocation conducted by ABS-CBN television.<\/p>\n
Arroyo has apologized for a "lapse in judgment," in speaking
\nto an unnamed elections official before the votes were tallied
\nbut she has denied any cheating to win the May 2004 polls.<\/p>\n
Her qualified apology sparked resignations of key cabinet
\nmembers in July and a number of key allies including ex-president
\nCorazon Aquino and some business leaders urged her to step down.<\/p>\n
Opposition legislators summoned Garcillano to testify against
\nArroyo in an impeachment case which she survived in September,
\nbut the former election official disappeared, possibly abroad, as
\nsoon as the tapes surfaced. His whereabouts are still unknown. --
\nAFP<\/p>",
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