SEN. Francis Escudero on Wednesday moved to create a fact-finding commission to determine the real winner in the 2004 presidential elections.

Escudero filed Joint Resolution 11 asking both chambers of Congress to order an inquiry into the allegedly fraud-marred 2004 presidential derby amid renewed allegations of election cheating during the Arroyo administration.

In a statement, Escudero recalled that suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan and former Maguindanao election supervisor Lintang Bedol last week came out to reveal the allegedly orchestrated rigging of election results that favored former President Gloria Arroyo and her fellow bets.

Escudero, who served as spokesman for then-opposition presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. (FPJ), said “the move will help bring closure to allegations of massive poll fraud that benefited Arroyo.”

“The ghost of 2004 has continuously haunted our democratic system and electoral processes,” he said. “We need to establish a fact-finding commission, define its powers and functions to enable it to make recommendations on who to recognize as the true fifteenth president of the republic.”

Escudero explained that unlike any other elections, the 2004 election has remained unsettled and can no longer be resolved given that the acts or omissions of electoral fraud have already become academic, if not dismissed or mooted.

He added that the controversies surrounding the 2004 presidential elections could have been resolved by the Presidential Electoral Tribunal were it not for the untimely demise of FPJ.

“This move is geared toward setting the record and correcting history. It is not about prosecuting or persecuting former President Arroyo; this is about uncovering the truth and to serve and give corresponding recognition to FPJ if indeed it can be given by that commission,” he added.

Escudero is moving for the creation of the fact-finding commission to be composed of a retired justice from the Supreme Court, who will be appointed by the President and will serve as chairman; the Secretary of Justice; a commissioner of the Commission on Elections to be chosen by the head of the poll body; the Ombudsman; and a senator and a representative to be named by the Senate President and the Speaker, respectively, as ex-officio members.

The commission, he said, shall have the following powers: to issue subpoena; compel the attendance of witnesses and production of evidence; cite in contempt any person who shall disobey any of its issuances, orders or resolutions; issue orders and resolutions necessary or incidental to its functions as a fact finding body; and, issue rules and regulations on the receipt, evaluation, admission and custody of evidence in accordance with the policy set forth in the joint resolution.