Action should be taken against those found guilty of cheating in the 2004 presidential elections to put fear in the hearts of those who may attempt to repeat it in the future, Senate President Franklin Drilon said yesterday.

The Department of Justice and the Commission on Elections are investigating the revelations of Senior Superintendent Rafael Santiago that his team staged a series of break-ins at the Batasan Pambansa from January to February 2005 to switch election returns and ensure the victory of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo over Fernando Poe Jr.

Santiago and his men yesterday apologized to the Filipino people and to actress Susan Roces, widow of Poe, for what they did.

Drilon, at a press conference in EB Magalona town in Negros Occidental yesterday, said he supports the investigation of the DOJ and COMELEC , which he called a “cleansing process.”

I am confident that it will not be just another investigation with no conclusion as experienced in the past, Drilon said.

“In the past we did not have the environment that would lead to a successful prosecution. We easily forget that the past administration issued EO 464 that effectively prevented the legislature from exercising its oversight functions,” he said.

EO 464 issued by Arroyo on Sept. 26, 2005 prevented Cabinet members, police and military generals, senior national security officials, and "such other officers as may be determined by the President" to attend congressional hearings unless granted permission.

The investigations into poll fraud are necessary even if some people are pessimistic about their outcome, Drilon said.

“I am confident in the country's new ombudsman that she will really perform her constitutional mandate of cleaning up our government of all of these shenanigans,” he added.

Drilon, who was Senate president when Arroyo was proclaimed president in 2005, said their role as the national canvassing board was only to report out the election returns submitted to them.

He had no knowledge about the switching of elections returns then, Drilon said.*CPG

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