MANILA, July 19, 2011— A Church-based organization known for providing sanctuary to whistleblowers has closed its doors to dismissed Maguindanao election official Lintang Bedol.
The head of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP) said Bedol has a pending criminal case and they do not want their organization to be politicized.
“We give protection to selected people. We only help those with integrity,†said AMRSP co-chairperson Sr. Mary John Mananzan.
She said it would be better if the government would just be the one to give him protection for Bedol if he is qualified.
“We don’t want to be politicized. Anyway, the DOJ (Department of Justice) is capable of giving them protection,†said Mananzan.
Among those who took refuge with the ARMSP include NBN-ZTE whistleblower Jun Lozada in 2008 and Lt. Senior Grade Mary Nancy Gadian who exposed alleged corruption in the military in 2009.
Bedol reportedly surrendered himself to the Department of Interior and Local Government last Friday but was turned over only to the Commission on Elections today because of security reasons.
The former Comelec official had been hiding for around four years after he was summoned by the poll body on alleged anomalies in the 2007 senatorial elections.
Last week, Bedol and former Governor Zaldy Ampatuan of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao linked former President Gloria Arroyo to the supposed poll fraud in 2004 and 2007. [CBCPNews]
