JOKER VS JOECON

As a steady observer in the past feud between former Executive Secretary Joker Arroyo and NAMFREL big cheese and former DTI Secretary Jose 'Joecon' Concepcion wherein Malacanang decided in favor of the latter, I had suspected then that Aquino officials feared that one simple statement from JoeCon could have blown the entire Aquino government to smithereens. It was also at this time when Joker launched his tirades against JoeCon and his alleged involvement in the PetroScam.

The statement? "President Marcos really won the elections."

The NAMFREL, then headed by JoeCon, suddenly stopped its tabulations when a deluge of Marcos votes began arriving from the Ilocos and Eastern Visayas regions. This raised a howl of protests from the Marcos camp and only the EDSA revolt rendered the controversy moot and academic. Unless of course JoeCon suddenly revives it.

Remember also that the controversial NAMFREL was boiling in a mess over charges that it had manipulated the tabulation of election returns in favor of President Corazon Aquino. These charges earned credence when, immediately after the Aquino victory, many of NAMFREL'S ranking officials were gifted with high government posts, enabling them to boost their political and economic fortunes. Hence, the new meaning of NAMFREL should be 'Never Again Manipulate Free Elections."

(Image from http://www.pcij.org/)