MANILA, Philippines ? Malacañang does not seem bothered by lingering reports of massive cheating that threaten to destroy the credibility of the country?s first-ever nationwide automated elections last May 10.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?s political adviser was convinced that Senator Benigno ?Noynoy? Aquino III of the Liberal Party was the real winner of the presidential derby, even if Congress has yet to officially begin the canvassing process.

?We recognize that the people have spoken and they have chosen Senator Noynoy Aquino as President, so we have to move on,? Prospero Pichay said in a media briefing at the Palace. ?It?s not the end of the world. This country has to move on. We have a democratic process. We exercised it. It was very successful.?

Appearing in the same briefing, Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza agreed, saying the administration is now focused on a ?smooth transition? of government.

?We should have a new leader already,? he said.

Mendoza maintained that the May 10 elections were ?very successful unless proven otherwise.?

?It?s very credible. As a matter of fact, we commended profusely the institutions of government that participated in the successful conduct of the elections. Let?s just wait for the results of the investigation of Congress,? he said.

Pichay said cheating would have been possible only with the participation of the Commission on Elections.

?It?s really difficult to contemplate on cheating in this election unless, of course, you have the participation of every one, including the chairman of the Commission on Elections,? he said.

Pichay also did not buy the claim by a so-called whistleblower that millions of votes had been shaved from candidates like administration standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro and added to Aquino.

Teodoro supposedly lost five to six million votes while Brother Eddie Villanueva of Bangon Pilipinas allegedly lost two to three million.

Pichay said the more than three millions votes Teodoro got based on unofficial tallies was ?not inconsistent? with the ratings he registered in pre-election surveys.

And if indeed some eight million votes had been added to Aquino?s vote count, the senator would have reached the 60-percent mark ? not the current 40 percent ? in the current unofficial canvassing, he argued.

?It does not tally,? he said.

?The problem with a lot of people is they cannot really accept defeat and those who cannot, they try to discredit the elections,? he said.

?I do not believe that cheating in the last elections was that rampant. [The results were] very consistent with the surveys.?