Did GMA Cheat in the 2004 Elections? The Hello Garci Scandal

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Former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo stunned the nation in 3 words: I am sorry.

For our third instalment of the Secrets and Scandals in the 7107 Islands Philippines, we bring you the Hello Garci scandal which was the onset of the disturbing truth about the 2004 elections.

If you happen to listen to GMA's video "I am sorry," and Susan Roces' strong words that the president not only cheated once but twice, you know that the scandal behind the presidential elections did not end at that.

It started with the Hello Garci wiretapped conversations involving a woman instructing a man to rig the elections predominantly in the Mindanao locations. The woman was said to be the voice of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, and the man was then COMELEC commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, hence the name of the tape, Hello Garci. The former deputy director of NBI Samuel Ong that he has the original recordings of the said conversation.

In Shiela Coronel's blog (Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, July 13, 2005), she said:
"The conversations, after all, provide damning proof that Garcillano was, in the words of a Comelec official, “the plotter for electoral fraud, the overall supervisor and commander in chief” of the manipulation of the count in favor of the administration. The recording points to systemic and institutional fraud perpetrated by the Comelec. Does this mean that the President, by confirming her phone calls to the commissioner, also provided, albeit indirectly, a virtual confirmation of the fraud?"

The scandal nearly toppled the Arroyo administration, with protests left and right and calls from schools and private organizations for the president to resign. Still, GMA held firm on her presidency and reluctant to be ousted, even when people gathered again at EDSA to oust the president.

There were investigations done by the Senate, and Garci resurfaced to clear his name. However, despite all these hearings, the presidency of GMA was not toppled, thanks to Manny Pacquiao's boxing victories and other news that replaced the newspaper headlines.

Years later, there was an initiative to replace history books proclaiming Fernando Poe, Jr. as the president instead of GMA. And today, GMA is under arrest for the allegations of electoral fraud.

What was she sorry about? Did she really cheat in the presidential elections? What was the true elections results? 

This is one of the Secrets and Scandals in once 7107 Islands, Philippines.