Arroyo did not cheat, Garcillano says

Arroyo did not cheat, Garcillano says

THE PHILIPPINES: A fugitive former election official emerged briefly from hiding on Sunday to deny charges he helped Philippines' leader Gloria Arroyo cheat to win last year's presidential elections.

Virgilo Garcillano has been in hiding for almost six months after the opposition released audio tapes in June allegedly showing him and a woman who sounds like Arroyo conspiring to rig the elections.

"I swear there was no such thing as rigging in the last elections," said Garcillano in an interview at an unknown location conducted by ABS-CBN television.

Arroyo has apologized for a "lapse in judgment," in speaking to an unnamed elections official before the votes were tallied but she has denied any cheating to win the May 2004 polls.

Her qualified apology sparked resignations of key cabinet members in July and a number of key allies including ex-president Corazon Aquino and some business leaders urged her to step down.

Opposition legislators summoned Garcillano to testify against Arroyo in an impeachment case which she survived in September, but the former election official disappeared, possibly abroad, as soon as the tapes surfaced. His whereabouts are still unknown. -- AFP