There is a chance that we might yet see the full Mayuga Report, which former Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga pledged he would “bring to his grave”.

President Aquino said that before his inauguration, someone sent him a ten-page report of the Mayuga Commission which investigated the  involvement of military officials in the rigging of the 2004 elections in favor of Gloria Arroyo.

The military, then under AFP Chief Efren Abu initiated the investigation after the “Hello Garci” tapes surfaced and names of military officials were mentioned as having participated in the tampering of election results in the precincts in the Autonomous Region for Muslim to make Arroyo overcome the lead of Fernando Poe Jr.

Some 70 witnesses were questioned in the six-month investigation. Only a summary of the report was released in April 2006 which cleared the officers mentioned by then Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano in his conversation with Gloria Arroyo, who appeared to be the brains behind the cheating operations.

Those mentioned by Garcillano and eventually cleared were Former Armed Forces Chief Hermogenes Esperon Jr., former Southern Command chiefs Gabriel Habacon and Lt. Gen. Roy Kyamko.

Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani, then the marine Commander in charge of the Lanao provinces, was also mentioned by Garcillano but as a stumbling block to their operations because he said the general was for Poe.

Part of the highlights of the summary report read, “As to the four senior officers mentioned in the alleged wiretapped conversations, not one witness testified of any direct knowledge whether or not they participated in any election fraud.”

The rest of the summary report was just general description of the participation of the military in the 2004 elections.

The bland conclusion was understandable because at the outset, Mayuga’s team said, “Ours is not to pass judgment on culpability… but based on findings, to make recommendations on the future role of the AFP in the electoral exercise.”

But it is still worth reading the full report for all its worth.

Aquino said the Truth Commission that he is forming to be headed by former Chief Justice Hilario Davide would have access to the Mayuga report.

I hope the Truth Commission would go beyond the report and look into the participation of  officials mentioned in the white paper released by the Young Officers Union immediately after the 2004 elections. A number of these officers have retired after having been promoted.

The list was circulated in 2005 and their ranks  were at the time the paper was prepared: Brig. Gen. Nehemias Pajarito, then colonel and commander of the 104th Brigade assigned to Sulu’s first district; Brig. Gen. Nelson Allaga, then colonel and commander of the 3rd Marine Brigade assigned to Sulu’s second district (he was promoted to lieutenant general and his last position before retirement was commander of the Western Mindanao Command); Navy Capt. Feliciano Angue, then head of Naval Task Force 62 operating in Tawi-tawi and now Navy operations chief (now Rear Admiral and commander of the National Capital Region command);  Marine Lieutenant Colonel Fred Pelonia, commanding officer of the 1st Marine Battalion based in Tawi-tawi;  Marine Lieutenant Colonel Elmer Estopin, commanding officer of the 10th Marine Battalion based in Sulu; Army Colonel Rey Arde; · Army Colonel Aminkadra Undog;  Col. Gominto Pirino; Maj. Cristobal JP “Tiny” Perez,  administrative officer of Esperon.


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