Ex-Arroyo’s defense chief now defending Noynoy’s votes

By Philip Tubeza – Philippine Daily Inquirer

Cruz has been tapped to head the legal team that would help protect the votes of Liberal Party standard bearer Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, Aquino campaign manager Butch Abad said in an interview.

He would also oversee the training of 500,000 volunteers that the Liberal Party has been working to mobilize on election day, said Abad.

“Right now, Nonong Cruz is heading our vote protection team, our army of lawyers who will also train our volunteers,” Abad said.

“Our target is to have half a million volunteers so that by election day, we can cover almost all of the precincts, starting with the most fraud-ridden provinces,” he added.

Cruz was once one of President Macapagal-Arroyo’s trusted advisers but he left the Cabinet after differences over administration moves to overhaul the Constitution and over an alleged aborted plan of Ms. Arroyo to declare martial law in 2005. In July 2009, he urged soldiers to “defy illegal orders” that would allow the present administration to perpetuate itself in power beyond what the Constitution allows.

Lacierda said that Cruz’s team has been training election watchers and volunteer lawyers about the intricacies of the new election technology and on how to spot cheating and prevent it from succeeding.

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