Halalan 2010: the Election Campaign

State of the Nation Address by President Benigno S. Aquino III

2010-07-26T18:23:00.000-07:00

State of the Nation Address of His Excellency Benigno S. Aquino III, President of the Philippines to the Congress of the Philippines at the Session Hall of the House of Representatives on July 26, 2010
[Batasan Pambansa Complex, Quezon City]

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte; Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile; Vice President Jejomar Binay; Chief Justice Renato Corona; Former Presidents Fidel Valdez Ramos and Joseph Ejercito Estrada; members of the House of Representatives and the Senate; distinguished members of the diplomatic corps; my fellow workers in government;

Mga minamahal kong kababayan:

Sa bawat sandali po ng pamamahala ay nahaharap tayo sa isang sangandaan.

Sa isang banda po ay ang pagpili para sa ikabubuti ng taumbayan. Ang pagtanaw sa interes ng nakakarami; ang pagkapit sa prinsipyo; at ang pagiging tapat sa sinumpaan nating tungkulin bilang lingkod-bayan. Ito po ang tuwid na daan.

Sa kabilang banda ay ang pag-una sa pansariling interes. Ang pagpapaalipin sa pulitikal na konsiderasyon, at pagsasakripisyo ng kapakanan ng taumbayan. Ito po ang baluktot na daan.

Matagal pong naligaw ang pamahalaan sa daang baluktot. Araw-araw po, lalong lumilinaw sa akin ang lawak ng problemang ating namana. Damang-dama ko ang bigat ng aking responsibilidad.

Sa unang tatlong linggo ng aming panunungkulan, marami po kaming natuklasan. Nais ko pong ipahayag sa inyo ang iilan lamang sa mga namana nating suliranin at ang ginagawa naming hakbang para lutasin ang mga ito.

Sulyap lamang po ito; hindi pa ito ang lahat ng problemang haharapin natin. Inilihim at sadyang iniligaw ang sambayanan sa totoong kalagayan ng ating bansa.

Sa unang anim na buwan ng taon, mas malaki ang ginastos ng gobyerno kaysa sa pumasok na kita. Lalong lumaki ang deficit natin, na umakyat na sa 196.7 billion pesos. Sa target na kuleksyon, kinapos tayo ng 23.8 billion pesos; ang tinataya namang gastos, nalagpasan natin ng 45.1 billion pesos.

Ang budget po sa 2010 ay 1.54 trillion pesos.

Nasa isandaang bilyong piso o anim at kalahating porsyento na lang ng kabuuan ang malaya nating magagamit para sa nalalabing anim na buwan ng taong ito.

Halos isang porsyento na lang po ng kabuuang budget ang natitira para sa bawat buwan.

Saan naman po dinala ang pera?

Naglaan ng dalawang bilyong piso na Calamity Fund bilang paghahanda para sa mga kalamidad na hindi pa nangyayari. Napakaliit na nga po ng pondong ito, ngunit kapapasok pa lang natin sa panahon ng baha at bagyo, 1.4 billion pesos o sitenta porsyento na ang nagastos.

Sa kabuuan ng 108 million pesos para sa lalawigan ng Pampanga, 105 million pesos nito ay napunta sa iisang distrito lamang. Samantala, ang lalawigan ng Pangasinan na sinalanta ng Pepeng ay nakatanggap ng limang milyong piso lamang para sa pinsalang idinulot ng bagyong Cosme, na nangyari noong 2008 pa.

Ibinigay po ang pondo ng Pampanga sa buwan ng eleksyon, pitong buwan pagkatapos ng Ondoy at Pepeng. Paano kung bumagyo bukas? Inubos na ang pondo nito para sa bagyong nangyari noong isang taon pa. Pagbabayaran ng kinabukasan ang kasakiman ng nakaraan.

Ganyan din po ang nangyari sa pondo ng MWSS. Kamakailan lamang, pumipila ang mga tao para lang makakuha ng tubig. Sa kabila nito, minabuti pa ng liderato ng MWSS na magbigay ng gantimpala sa sarili kahit hindi pa nababayaran ang pensyon ng mga retiradong empleyado.

Noong 2009, ang buong payroll ng MWSS ay 51.4 million pesos. Pero hindi lang naman po ito ang sahod nila; may mga additional allowances at benefits pa sila na aabot sa 160.1 million pesos. Sa madaling sabi, nakatanggap sila ng 211.5 million pesos noong nakaraang taon. Beinte-kuwatro porsyento lang nito ang normal na sahod, at sitenta’y sais porsyento ang dagdag.

Ang karaniwang manggagawa hanggang 13th month pay plus cash gift lang ang nakukuha. Sa MWSS, aabot sa katumbas ng mahigit sa tatlumpung buwan ang sahod kasama na ang lahat ng mga bonuses at allowances na nakuha nila.

Mas matindi po ang natuklasan natin sa pasahod ng kanilang Board of Trustees. Tingnan po natin ang mga allowances na tinatanggap nila:

Umupo ka lang sa Board of Trustees at Board Committee meeting, katorse mil na. Aabot ng nobenta’y otso mil ito kada buwan. May grocery incentive pa sila na otsenta mil kada taon.

Hindi lang iyon: may mid-year bonus, productivity bonus, anniversary bonus, year-end bonus, at Financial Assistance. May Christmas bonus na, may Additional Christmas Package pa. Kada isa sa mga ito, nobenta’y otso mil.

Sa suma total po, aabot ang lahat ng dalawa’t kalahating milyong piso kada taon sa bawat miyembro ng Board maliban sa pakotse, technical assistance, at pautang. Uulitin ko po. Lahat ng ito ay ibinibigay nila sa kanilang mga sarili habang hindi pa nababayaran ang mga pensyon ng kanilang mga retirees.

Pati po ang La Mesa Watershed ay hindi nila pinatawad. Para magkaroon ng tamang supply ng tubig, kailangang alagaan ang mga watershed. Sa watershed, puno ang kailangan. Pati po iyon na dapat puno ang nakatayo, tinayuan nila ng bahay para sa matataas na opisyal ng MWSS.

Hindi naman sila agad maaalis sa puwesto dahil kabilang sila sa mga Midnight Appointees ni dating Pangulong Arroyo. Iniimbestigahan na natin ang lahat nang ito. Kung mayroon pa silang kahit kaunting hiya na natitira – sana kusa na lang silang magbitiw sa puwesto.

Pag-usapan naman po natin ang pondo para sa imprastruktura. Tumukoy ang DPWH ng dalawandaan apatnapu’t anim na priority safety projects na popondohan ng Motor Vehicle Users Charge. Mangangailangan po ito ng budget na 425 million pesos.

Ang pinondohan po, dalawampu’t walong proyekto lang. Kinalimutan po ang dalawandaan at labing walong proyekto at pinalitan ng pitumpung proyekto na wala naman sa plano. Ang hininging 425 million pesos, naging 480 million pesos pa, lumaki lalo dahil sa mga proyektong sa piling-piling mga benepisyaryo lang napunta.

Mga proyekto po itong walang saysay, hindi pinag-aralan at hindi pinaghandaan, kaya parang kabuteng sumusulpot.

Tapos na po ang panahon para dito. Sa administrasyon po natin, walang kota-kota, walang tongpats, ang pera ng taumbayan ay gagastusin para sa taumbayan lamang.

Meron pa po tayong natuklasan. Limang araw bago matapos ang termino ng nakaraang administrasyon, nagpautos silang maglabas ng 3.5 billion pesos para sa rehabilitasyon ng mga nasalanta nina Ondoy at Pepeng.

Walumpu’t anim na proyekto ang paglalaanan dapat nito na hindi na sana idadaan sa public bidding. Labingsiyam sa mga ito na nagkakahalaga ng 981 million pesos ang muntik nang makalusot. Hindi pa nailalabas ang Special Allotment Release Order ay pirmado na ang mga kontrata.

Buti na lang po ay natuklasan at pinigilan ito ni Secretary Rogelio Singson ng DPWH. Ngayon po ay dadaan na ang kabuuan ng 3.5 billion pesos sa tapat na bidding, at magagamit na ang pondo na ito sa pagbibigay ng lingap sa mga nawalan ng tahanan dahil kina Ondoy at Pepeng.

Pag-usapan naman natin ang nangyari sa NAPOCOR. Noong 2001 hanggang 2004, pinilit ng gobyerno ang NAPOCOR na magbenta ng kuryente nang palugi para hindi tumaas ang presyo. Tila ang dahilan: pinaghahandaan na nila ang eleksyon.

Dahil dito, noong 2004, sumagad ang pagkakabaon sa utang ng NAPOCOR. Napilitan ang pambansang gobyerno na sagutin ang dalawandaang bilyong pisong utang nito.

Ang inakala ng taumbayan na natipid nila sa kuryente ay binabayaran din natin mula sa kaban ng bayan. May gastos na tayo sa kuryente, binabayaran pa natin ang dagdag na pagkakautang ng gobyerno.

Kung naging matino ang pag-utang, sana’y nadagdagan ang ating kasiguruhan sa supply ng kuryente. Pero ang desisyon ay ibinatay sa maling pulitika, at hindi sa pangangailangan ng taumbayan. Ang taumbayan, matapos pinagsakripisyo ay lalo pang pinahirapan.

Ganito rin po ang nangyari sa MRT. Sinubukan na namang bilhin ang ating pagmamahal. Pinilit ang operator na panatilihing mababa ang pamasahe.

Hindi tuloy nagampanan ang garantiyang ibinigay sa operator na mababawi nila ang kanilang puhunan. Dahil dito, inutusan ang Landbank at Development Bank of the Philippines na bilhin ang MRT.

Ang pera ng taumbayan, ipinagpalit sa isang naluluging operasyon.

Dumako naman po tayo sa pondo ng NFA.

Noong 2004: 117,000 metric tons ang pagkukulang ng supply ng Pilipinas. Ang binili nila, 900,000 metric tons. Kahit ulitin mo pa ng mahigit pitong beses ang pagkukulang, sobra pa rin ang binili nila.

Noong 2007: 589,000 metric tons ang pagkukulang ng supply sa Pilipinas. Ang binili nila, 1.827 million metric tons. Kahit ulitin mo pa ng mahigit tatlong beses ang pagkukulang, sobra na naman ang binili nila.

Ang masakit nito, dahil sobra-sobra ang binibili nila taun-taon, nabubulok lang pala sa mga kamalig ang bigas, kagaya ng nangyari noong 2008.

Hindi po ba krimen ito, na hinahayaan nilang mabulok ang bigas, sa kabila ng apat na milyong Pilipinong hindi kumakain ng tatlong beses sa isang araw?

Ang resulta nito, umabot na sa 171.6 billion pesos ang utang ng NFA noong Mayo ng taong ito.

Ang tinapon na ito, halos puwede na sanang pondohan ang mga sumusunod:

Ang budget ng buong Hudikatura, na 12.7 billion pesos sa taong ito.

Ang Conditional Cash Transfers para sa susunod na taon, na nagkakahalaga ng 29.6 billion pesos.

Ang lahat ng classroom na kailangan ng ating bansa, na nagkakahalaga ng 130 billion pesos.

Kasuklam-suklam ang kalakarang ito. Pera na, naging bato pa.

Narinig po ninyo kung paano nilustay ang kaban ng bayan. Ang malinaw po sa ngayon: ang anumang pagbabago ay magmumula sa pagsiguro natin na magwawakas na ang pagiging maluho at pagwawaldas.

Kaya nga po mula ngayon: ititigil na natin ang paglulustay sa salapi ng bayan. Tatanggalin natin ang mga proyektong mali.

Ito po ang punto ng tinatawag nating zero-based approach sa ating budget. Ang naging kalakaran po, taun-taon ay inuulit lamang ang budget na puno ng tagas. Dadagdagan lang nang konti, puwede na.

Sa susunod na buwan ay maghahain tayo ng budget na kumikilala nang tama sa mga problema, at magtutuon din ng pansin sa tamang solusyon.

Ilan lang ito sa mga natuklasan nating problema. Heto naman po ang ilang halimbawa ng mga hakbang na ginagawa natin.

Nandiyan po ang kaso ng isang may-ari ng sanglaan. Bumili siya ng sasakyang tinatayang nasa dalawampu’t anim na milyong piso ang halaga.

Kung kaya mong bumili ng Lamborghini, bakit hindi mo kayang magbayad ng buwis?

Nasampahan na po ito ng kaso. Sa pangunguna nina Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Justice Secretary Leila de Lima, BIR Commissioner Kim Henares at Customs Commissioner Lito Alvarez, bawat linggo po ay may bago tayong kasong isinasampa kontra sa mga smuggler at sa mga hindi nagbabayad ng tamang buwis.

Natukoy na rin po ang salarin sa mga kaso nina Francisco Baldomero, Jose Daguio at Miguel Belen, tatlo sa anim na insidente ng extralegal killings mula nang umupo tayo.

Singkuwenta porsyento po ng mga insidente ng extralegal killings ang patungo na sa kanilang resolusyon.

Ang natitira pong kalahati ay hindi natin tatantanan ang pag-usig hanggang makamit ang katarungan.

Pananagutin natin ang mga mamamatay-tao. Pananagutin din natin ang mga corrupt sa gobyerno.

Nagsimula nang mabuo ang ating Truth Commission, sa pangunguna ni dating Chief Justice Hilario Davide. Hahanapin natin ang katotohanan sa mga nangyari diumanong katiwalian noong nakaraang siyam na taon.

Sa loob ng linggong ito, pipirmahan ko ang kauna-unahang Executive Order na nagtatalaga sa pagbuo nitong Truth Commission.

Kung ang sagot sa kawalan ng katarungan ay pananagutan, ang sagot naman sa kakulangan natin sa pondo ay mga makabago at malikhaing paraan para tugunan ang mga pagkatagal-tagal nang problema.

Napakarami po ng ating pangangailangan: mula sa edukasyon, imprastruktura, pangkalusugan, pangangailangan ng militar at kapulisan, at marami pang iba. Hindi kakasya ang pondo para mapunan ang lahat ng ito.

Kahit gaano po kalaki ang kakulangan para mapunan ang mga listahan ng ating pangangailangan, ganado pa rin ako dahil marami nang nagpakita ng panibagong interes at kumpyansa sa Pilipinas.

Ito ang magiging solusyon: mga Public-Private Partnerships. Kahit wala pa pong pirmahang nangyayari dito, masasabi kong maganda ang magiging bunga ng maraming usapin ukol dito.

May mga nagpakita na po ng interes, gustong magtayo ng expressway na mula Maynila, tatahak ng Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Nueva Vizcaya, hanggang sa dulo ng Cagayan Valley nang hindi gugugol ang estado kahit na po piso.

Sa larangan ng ating Sandatahang Lakas:

Mayroon po tayong 36,000 nautical miles ng baybayin. Ang mayroon lamang tayo: tatlumpu’t dalawang barko. Itong mga barkong ito, panahon pa ni MacArthur.

May nagmungkahi sa atin, ito ang proposisyon: uupahan po nila ang headquarters ng Navy sa Roxas Boulevard at ang Naval Station sa Fort Bonifacio.

Sagot po nila ang paglipat ng Navy Headquarters sa Camp Aguinaldo. Agaran, bibigyan tayo ng isandaang milyong dolyar. At dagdag pa sa lahat nang iyan, magsusubi pa sila sa atin ng kita mula sa mga negosyong itatayo nila sa uupahan nilang lupa.

Sa madali pong sabi: Makukuha natin ang kailangan natin, hindi tatayo gagastos, kikita pa tayo.

Marami na pong nag-alok at nagmungkahi sa atin, mula lokal hanggang dayuhang negosyante, na magpuno ng iba’t ibang pangangailangan.

Mula sa mga public-private partnerships na ito, lalago ang ating ekonomiya, at bawat Pilipino makikinabang. Napakaraming sektor na matutulungan nito.

Maipapatayo na po ang imprastrukturang kailangan natin para palaguin ang turismo.

Sa agrikultura, makapagtatayo na tayo ng mga grains terminals, refrigeration facilities, maayos na road networks at post-harvest facilities.

Kung maisasaayos natin ang ating food supply chain sa tulong ng pribadong sektor, sa halip na mag-angkat tayo ay maari na sana tayong mangarap na mag-supply sa pandaigdigang merkado.

Kung maitatayo ang minumungkahi sa ating railway system, bababa ang presyo ng bilihin. Mas mura, mas mabilis, mas maginhawa, at makakaiwas pa sa kotong cops at mga kumokotong na rebelde ang mga bumibiyahe.

Paalala lang po: una sa ating plataporma ang paglikha ng mga trabaho, at nanggagaling ang trabaho sa paglago ng industriya. Lalago lamang ang industriya kung gagawin nating mas malinis, mas mabilis, at mas maginhawa ang proseso para sa mga gustong magnegosyo.

Pabibilisin natin ang proseso ng mga proyektong sumasailalim sa Build-Operate- Transfer. Sa tulong ng lahat ng sangay ng gobyerno at ng mga mamamayan, pabababain natin sa anim na buwan ang proseso na noon ay inaabot ng taon kung hindi dekada.

May mga hakbang na rin pong sinisimulan ang DTI, sa pamumuno ni Secretary Gregory Domingo:

Ang walang-katapusang pabalik-balik sa proseso ng pagrehistro ng pangalan ng kumpanya, na kada dalaw ay umaabot ng apat hanggang walong oras, ibababa na natin sa labinlimang minuto.

Ang dating listahan ng tatlumpu’t anim na dokumento, ibababa natin sa anim. Ang dating walong pahinang application form, ibababa natin sa isang pahina.

Nananawagan ako sa ating mga LGUs. Habang naghahanap tayo ng paraan para gawing mas mabilis ang pagbubukas ng mga negosyo, pag-aralan din sana nila ang kanilang mga proseso. Kailangan itong gawing mas mabilis, at kailangan itong itugma sa mga sinisumulan nating reporma.

Negosyante, sundalo, rebelde, at karaniwang Pilipino, lahat po makikinabang dito. Basta po hindi dehado ang Pilipino, papasukin po natin lahat iyan. Kailangan na po nating simulan ang pagtutulungan para makamit ito. Huwag nating pahirapan ang isa’t isa.

Parating na po ang panahon na hindi na natin kailangang mamili sa pagitan ng seguridad ng ating mamamayan o sa kinabukasan ng inyong mga anak.

Oras na maipatupad ang public-private partnerships na ito, mapopondohan ang mga serbisyong panlipunan, alinsunod sa ating plataporma.

Magkakapondo na po para maipatupad ang mga plano natin sa edukasyon.

Mapapalawak natin ang basic education cycle mula sa napakaikling sampung taon tungo sa global standard na labindalawang taon.

Madadagdagan natin ang mga classroom. Mapopondohan natin ang service contracting sa ilalim ng GASTPE.

Pati ang conditional cash transfers, na magbabawas ng pabigat sa bulsa ng mga pamilya, madadagdan na rin ng pondo.

Maipapatupad ang plano natin sa PhilHealth.

Una, tutukuyin natin ang tunay na bilang ng mga nangangailangan nito. Sa ngayon, hindi magkakatugma ang datos. Sabi ng PhilHealth sa isang bibig, walumpu’t pitong porsyento na raw ang merong coverage. Sa kabilang bibig naman, singkuwenta’y tres porsyento naman. Ayon naman sa National Statistics Office, tatlumpu’t walong porsyento ang may coverage.

Ngayon pa lang, kumikilos na si Secretary Dinky Soliman at ang DSWD upang ipatupad ang National Household Targetting System, na magtutukoy sa mga pamilyang higit na nagangailangan ng tulong. Tinatayang siyam na bilyon ang kailangan para mabigyan ng PhilHealth ang limang milyong pinakamaralitang pamilyang Pilipino.

Napakaganda po ng hinaharap natin. Kasama na po natin ang pribadong sektor, at kasama na rin natin ang League of Provinces, sa pangunguna nina Governor Alfonso Umali kasama sina Governor L-Ray Villafuerte at Governor Icot Petilla. Handa na pong makipagtulungan para makibahagi sa pagtustos ng mga gastusin. Alam ko rin pong hindi magpapahuli ang League of Cities sa pangunguna ni Mayor Oscar Rodriguez.

Kung ang mga gobyernong lokal ay nakikiramay na sa ating mga adhikain, ang Kongreso namang pinanggalingan ko, siguro naman maasahan ko din.

Nagpakitang- gilas na po ang gabinete sa pagtukoy ng ating mga problema at sa paglulunsad ng mga solusyon sa loob lamang ng tatlong linggo.

Nang bagyo pong Basyang, ang sabi sa atin ng mga may prangkisa sa kuryente, apat na araw na walang kuryente. Dahil sa mabilis na pagkilos ni Secretary Rene Almendras at ng Department of Energy, naibalik ang kuryente sa halos lahat sa loob lamang ng beinte-kwatro oras.

Ito pong sinasabing kakulangan sa tubig sa Metro Manila, kinilusan agad ni Secretary Rogelio Singson at ng DPWH. Hindi na siya naghintay ng utos, kaya nabawasan ang perwisyo.

Nakita na rin natin ang gilas ng mga hinirang nating makatulong sa Gabinete. Makatuwiran naman po sigurong umasa na hindi na sila padadaanin sa butas ng karayom para makumpirma ng Commission on Appointments. Kung mangyayari po ito, marami pa sa mga mahuhusay na Pilipino ang maeengganyong magsilbi sa gobyerno.

Sa lalong madaling panahon po, uupo na tayo sa LEDAC at pag-uusapan ang mga mahahalagang batas na kailangan nating ipasa. Makakaasa kayo na mananatiling bukas ang aking isipan, at ang ating ugnayan ay mananatiling tapat.

Isinusulong po natin ang Fiscal Responsibility Bill, kung saan hindi tayo magpapasa ng batas na mangangailangan ng pondo kung hindi pa natukoy ang panggagalingan nito. May 104.1 billion pesos tayong kailangan para pondohan ang mga batas na naipasa na, ngunit hindi maipatupad.

Kailangan din nating isaayos ang mga insentibong piskal na ibinigay noong nakaraan. Ngayong naghihigpit tayo ng sinturon, kailangang balikan kung alin sa mga ito ang dapat manatili at kung ano ang dapat nang itigil.

Huwag po tayong pumayag na magkaroon ng isa pang NBN-ZTE. Sa lokal man o dayuhan manggagaling ang pondo, dapat dumaan ito sa tamang proseso. Hinihingi ko po ang tulong ninyo upang amiyendahan ang ating Procurement Law.

Ayon po sa Saligang Batas, tungkulin ng estado ang siguruhing walang lamangan sa merkado. Bawal ang monopolya, bawal ang mga cartel na sasakal sa kumpetisyon. Kailangan po natin ng isang Anti-Trust Law na magbibigay-buhay sa mga prinsipyong ito. Ito ang magbibigay ng pagkakataon sa mga Small- at Medium-scale Enterprises na makilahok at tumulong sa paglago ng ating ekonomiya.

Ipasa na po natin ang National Land Use Bill.

Una rin pong naging batas ng Commonwealth ang National Defense Act, na ipinasa noon pang 1935. Kailangan nang palitan ito ng batas na tutugon sa pangangailangan ng pambansang seguridad sa kasalukuyan.

Nakikiusap po akong isulong ang Whistleblower’ s Bill upang patuloy nang iwaksi ang kultura ng takot at pananahimik.

Palalakasin pa lalo ang Witness Protection Program. Alalahanin po natin na noong taong 2009 hanggang 2010, may nahatulan sa 95% ng mga kaso kung saan may witness na sumailalim sa programang ito.

Kailangang repasuhin ang ating mga batas. Nanawagan po akong umpisahan na ang rekodipikasyon ng ating mga batas, upang siguruhing magkakatugma sila at hindi salu-salungat.

Ito pong mga batas na ito ang batayan ng kaayusan, ngunit ang pundasyon ng lahat ng ginagawa natin ay ang prinsipyong wala tayong mararating kung walang kapayapaan at katahimikan.

Dalawa ang hinaharap nating suliranin sa usapin ng kapayapaan: ang situwasyon sa Mindanao, at ang patuloy na pag-aaklas ng CPP-NPA-NDF.

Tungkol sa situwasyon sa Mindanao: Hindi po nagbabago ang ating pananaw. Mararating lamang ang kapayapaan at katahimikan kung mag-uusap ang lahat ng apektado: Moro, Lumad, at Kristiyano. Inatasan na natin si Dean Marvic Leonen na mangasiwa sa ginagawa nating pakikipag-usap sa MILF.

Iiwasan natin ang mga pagkakamaling nangyari sa nakaraang administrasyon, kung saan binulaga na lang ang mga mamamayan ng Mindanao. Hindi tayo puwedeng magbulag-bulagan sa mga dudang may kulay ng pulitika ang proseso, at hindi ang kapakanan ng taumbayan ang tanging interes.

Kinikilala natin ang mga hakbang na ginagawa ng MILF sa pamamagitan ng pagdidisplina sa kanilang hanay. Inaasahan natin na muling magsisimula ang negosasyon pagkatapos ng Ramadan.

Tungkol naman po sa CPP-NPA-NDF: handa na ba kayong maglaan ng kongkretong mungkahi, sa halip na pawang batikos lamang?

Kung kapayapaan din ang hangad ninyo, handa po kami sa malawakang tigil-putukan. Mag-usap tayo.

Mahirap magsimula ang usapan habang mayroon pang amoy ng pulbura sa hangin. Nananawagan ako: huwag po natin hayaang masayang ang napakagandang pagkakataong ito upang magtipon sa ilalim ng iisang adhikain.

Kapayapaan at katahimikan po ang pundasyon ng kaunlaran. Habang nagpapatuloy ang barilan, patuloy din ang pagkakagapos natin sa kahirapan.

Dapat din po nating mabatid: ito ay panahon ng sakripisyo. At ang sakripisyong ito ay magiging puhunan para sa ating kinabukasan. Kaakibat ng ating mga karapatan at kalayaan ay ang tungkulin natin sa kapwa at sa bayan.

Inaasahan ko po ang ating mga kaibigan sa media, lalo na sa radyo at sa print, sa mga nagbablock-time, at sa community newspapers, kayo na po mismo ang magbantay sa inyong hanay.

Mabigyang-buhay sana ang mga batayang prinsipyo ng inyong bokasyon: ang magbigay-linaw sa mahahalagang isyu; ang maging patas at makatotohanan, at ang itaas ang antas ng pampublikong diskurso.

Tungkulin po ng bawat Pilipino na tutukan ang mga pinunong tayo rin naman ang nagluklok sa puwesto. Humakbang mula sa pakikialam tungo sa pakikilahok. Dahil ang nakikialam, walang-hanggan ang reklamo. Ang nakikilahok, nakikibahagi sa solusyon.

Napakatagal na pong namamayani ang pananaw na ang susi sa asenso ay ang intindihin ang sarili kaysa intindihin ang kapwa. Malinaw po sa akin: paano tayo aasenso habang nilalamangan ang kapwa?

Ang hindi nabigyan ng pagkakataong mag-aral, paanong makakakuha ng trabaho? Kung walang trabaho, paanong magiging konsumer? Paanong mag-iimpok sa bangko?

Ngunit kung babaliktarin natin ang pananaw—kung iisipin nating “Dadagdagan ko ang kakayahan ng aking kapwa"—magbubunga po ito, at ang lahat ay magkakaroon ng pagkakataon.

Maganda na po ang nasimulan natin. At mas lalong maganda po ang mararating natin. Ngunit huwag nating kalimutan na mayroong mga nagnanasang hindi tayo magtagumpay. Dahil kapag hindi tayo nagtagumpay, makakabalik na naman sila sa kapangyarihan, at sa pagsasamantala sa taumbayan.

Akin pong paniwala na Diyos at taumbayan ang nagdala sa ating kinalalagyan ngayon. Habang nakatutok tayo sa kapakanan ng ating kapwa, bendisyon at patnubay ay tiyak na maaasahan natin sa Poong Maykapal. At kapag nanalig tayo na ang kasangga natin ay ang Diyos, mayroon ba tayong hindi kakayanin?

Ang mandato nating nakuha sa huling eleksyon ay patunay na umaasa pa rin ang Pilipino sa pagbabago. Iba na talaga ang situwasyon. Puwede na muling mangarap. Tayo nang tumungo sa katuparan ng ating mga pinangarap.

Maraming salamat po.

Gloria true to shameless form in filing Cha-cha — JV

2010-07-03T18:42:00.000-07:00

07/04/2010

Original Story: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100704hed4.html

Former President and now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Arroyo’s bid to revive moves to tinker with the Constitution by filing a bill for Charter change (Cha-cha) was a shameless move, San Juan City Rep. Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito said yesterday.

“It is as if her reign for nine years was not enough. GMA’s shameless move for Charter change only validates her real intention of seeking a House seat,” Ejercito said.

“She is hitting two birds with one stone with that resolution, to try and perpetuate herself in power as prime minister and to avoid prosecution from alleged corruption crimes,” he explained.

Nevertheless, Ejercito said Arroyo’s move did not come as a surprise.

“What can we expect from someone who has been avoiding conviction from corruption for nine years? GMA has shown once again how discontented and hungry for power she is,” the lone district representative added.

Instead of using her position in the House for Cha-cha, Ejercito said Arroyo should divert focus on explaining her involvement in anomalies during her term.

“She cannot hide for long behind Constitutional protection. I challenge her to face bravely her involvement in corruption issues,” he said.

Arroyo’s Cha-cha bill also came under fire from Catholic prelates.

“It is beyond common sense that on the first day of her incumbency she would file a resolution before the House of Representatives for a Charter change,” this was according to Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Emeritus Oscar Cruz.

The prelate, in an article posted on the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Web site also said, “The only

conclusion that can be logically drawn from this audacity par excellence is that the lady simply cannot let go of power and cannot be either calmed or cooled.”

The staunch critic of Arroyo, however, noted that he was no longer surprised with the move since there were talks before that Arroyo is eyeing the prime minister post once country will have a parliamentary form of government.

“The truth of the matter is that this plan is not actually new and only strange that it would be her first act supported even by a son before the legislature,” he said.

For Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo said the filing of the resolution to amend the constitution is very untimely.

“This is not yet the time to talk about that. There is a need to bolster the trust of the people in the government first before we can talk about Cha-cha,” he said, in an interview over RadioVeritas 846.

On the other hand, constitutionalist Fr. Joaquin Bernas supported Pabillo’s statement saying that any move for charter change should be done in 2011.

“I would say that the earliest should be 2011 because involving getting a constitutional convention would mean another national election and we just had an election recently. It can be very expensive process plus people are still distracted,” he said.

On Thursday, a day after her inauguration as Pampanga Representative (2nd District), Arroyo filed a resolution seeking to amend the constitution by Cha-Cha.

Arroyo also showed her funny side when she filed the Cha-cha bill, Bernas said.

Bernas said it’s “humorous” that Arroyo herself is seeking Cha-cha just a day after she began her first day as Pampanga’s 2nd District Representative.

While he has nothing against amending the Charter, Bernas said Arroyo’s move is “too early” as process for it should not be initiated until next year.

Arroyo and her son, Camarines Sur Rep. Diosdado Arroyo, co-authored House Resolution 8 which calls for Cha-cha through a constitutional convention (Con-con).

“Not for now. Eventually, I think, we will have Charter Change. I hope it’s a Con-Con not earlier than 2011,” said Bernas.

The Jesuit priest, who is also the Dean Emeritus of the Ateneo Law School, is one of the authors of the 1987 Constitution.

According to him, amending the Charter should not be made yet especially since President Benigno Aquino III has just been sworn recently.

Bernas noted that Filipinos are still euphoric over the entry of a new administration after Arroyo’s nine-year term and thus making it impractical to hold another election.

“Getting a Con-con would mean another national election and we just had an election recently. It can be a very expensive process plus people are still distracted,” Bernas said.

“It is still a little early… I doubt very much it will prosper this year. If at all, it might get going again next year. I doubt it will get going this year,” he added.

Original Story: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100704hed4.html

Congress final count: It’s Aquino-Binay (Proclamation set Wednesday at Batasan)

2010-06-08T17:48:00.000-07:00

By Norman Bordadora, Leila B. Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:25:00 06/09/2010

Filed Under: Inquirer Politics, Eleksyon 2010, Elections, Benigno Aquino III, Jejomar Binay, Mar Roxas

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100609-274628/Congress-final-count-Its-Aquino-Binay

MANILA, Philippines—It’s official. It’s final.

As widely expected, Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III of the Liberal Party won the presidential election by a landslide, results of the final tabulation by Congress show. (See tally)

Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay of PDP-Laban defeated Sen. Manuel Roxas II, ending the cliffhanger in the vice presidential race.

Aquino and Binay are scheduled to be proclaimed Wednesday at the Batasang Pambansa complex in Quezon City.

A 50-year-old bachelor and economics graduate, Aquino will officially become the country’s 15th president on June 30. He will replace President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who ran and won a House seat after a turbulent nine-year rule.

Aquino’s victory reflected the public’s longing to fill a moral vacuum in a country plagued by corruption, poverty and violence. For many voters, it’s been nearly a quarter century of disappointment since his mother President Cory Aquino helped restore democracy in the country in 1986.

Aquino’s father, Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr., was shot to death in 1983 while in military custody on the tarmac of Manila’s airport as he returned from US exile to challenge the dictator Ferdinand Marcos. The killing sparked the massive protests that led to Marcos’ downfall.

With little legislative record to speak of, Aquino has emphasized his clean public image.

His campaign was replete with poignant symbols of the 1986 revolt—yellow ribbons, pro-democracy anthems and raised hands flashing the L-sign for “Laban,” or fight in Tagalog, drawing huge crowds everywhere he barnstormed.

Campaign against corruption

Aquino has said he’ll make prosecuting corrupt officials a priority, in what would be a marked departure from the Arroyo administration, which is widely accused of turning a blind eye to graft to shield her political allies.

Ms Arroyo herself has been linked to massive corruption but has denied any wrongdoing.

“The problems I will be inheriting are still growing to this very day and, perhaps, to the last day,” Aquino told reporters on Monday, adding his incoming administration has to produce results in the first two years to meet the public’s high expectations.
For the Filipinos

The final tally on Tuesday came almost a month after the country’s first automated elections on May 10 and 12 days after the joint congressional committee started canvassing the votes manually for the top two elective posts.

“We have done this ... for the Filipino people,” Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile told a jubilant crowd before he and House Speaker Prospero Nograles banged the gavel to conclude the canvassing.

The committee did not bother to canvass the electronic results that were available on the first day it started the canvassing on May 27.

Lead of 5.7 million votes

With all the 278 certificates of canvass (CoCs) tallied, Aquino received 15,208,678 votes, a lead of more than 5.7 million over his closest rival. Former President Joseph Estrada got 9,487,837 votes.

More than 36.3 million votes for president were counted and about 35.2 million votes for vice president.

Binay was ahead of Roxas by more than 727,000 votes. Binay, running-mate of Estrada, received 14,645,574 votes, while Roxas, running-mate of Aquino, got 13,918,490 votes. (See tally)

Last COC

Binay won overwhelmingly in Lanao del Sur province, the last CoC to be canvassed. He got 144,203 votes, while Roxas garnered only 29,074 votes.

After the committee tabulated the last CoC from Lanao del Sur, Speaker Prospero Nograles said: “With the permission of the Senate, the secretariat of both the Senate and the House are directed to prepare the written report to be submitted for ratification (today) when the joint session reconvenes and resumes session.”

Nograles asked members of the canvassing panel to make themselves available to sign the committee report that will be the basis of the sponsorship speech.

Lapses, failings

Just before he and Nograles wrapped up the proceedings, Enrile said: “We thank you for your forbearance with our lapses, with our failings if we have any failings.”

Deputy Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said the committee report and resolution to proclaim the winners would be voted on through “viva voce” in which lawmakers say “aye” or “nay.”

“(Individual members), however, can explain their votes,” Gonzales said.

He said Aquino and Binay had been advised to be in the vicinity of the Batasang Pambansa, where the House of Representatives is located, to wait for their proclamation while the joint session was tackling the committee report and the resolution.

Praise for Congress, Comelec

With their clients’ victories out there for all to see, lawyers of Aquino and Binay provided a happy note to the last day of the canvassing as they showered praise on lawmakers and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for their roles in choosing the country’s next leaders.

Jose Anselmo Cadiz, who represented Aquino, praised Enrile and Nograles for the “discipline, authority and fairness” they showed as lawmakers canvassed votes.

Cadiz, speaking before the canvassing panels, also expressed his gratitude to the Comelec for the “fair, honest and orderly elections,” and to Smartmatic for its role in providing the technology for the automated polls.

Cadiz also noted that the system was not flawless, but Aquino was nevertheless left satisfied.

Binay’s lawyer Manuel Sanchez also lavished praise on Enrile and Nograles.

Sanchez noted that there were a lot of objections raised during the canvassing, as well as disagreements, conjectures and assumptions.

“But at the end of the day, when everything is said and done there was fair play, reason was allowed to prevail, and due process was observed,” he said.

Contrast

By contrast, the lawyer of Roxas painted a dismal picture of the polls, with several million Filipinos supposedly not having their votes counted.

Ronald Solis said Roxas had instructed his legal team to gather evidence and prepare a study on the filing of an electoral protest, which would be submitted to Roxas for consideration.

Villar

Placing third in the presidential race was Sen. Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista Party. He was followed by former Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro of the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD.

Eddie Villanueva of Bangon Pilipinas and Sen. Richard Gordon of the Bagumbayan party placed fifth and sixth, respectively.

They were followed by environmentalist Nicanor Perlas, Sen. Ana Consuelo “Jamby” Madrigal and Olongapo Councilor JC de los Reyes of Ang Kapatiran Party.

Legarda

In the vice presidential contest, Sen. Loren Legarda of the Nacionalista Party placed third, followed by former Metro Manila Development Authority Chair Bayani Fernando of Bagumbayan.

TV host Edu Manzano of Lakas-Kampi-CMD came in fifth and former Securities and Exchange Commission Chair Perfecto Yasay, sixth. They were followed by broadcaster Jay Sonza and Dominador Chipeco of Ang Kapatiran Party.

Even before the canvassing of votes was officially over, political parties from all over Asia had already recognized the impending victories of Aquino and Binay.

Congratulations

In a statement dated June 7, the International Conference of Asian Political Parties congratulated Aquino and Binay and wished for a stronger democracy for the Philippines.

The statement was signed by outgoing Pangasinan Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr., the group’s founding chair, and Chung Eui-yong, the co-chair and secretary general.

Aquino’s historic rise to power has been largely attributed to his family name and strong anticorruption campaign.

His late parents are deeply revered figures for their opposition to the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was ousted in a 1986 Edsa People Power Revolution. With a report from Associated Press

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100609-274628/Congress-final-count-Its-Aquino-Binay

Comelec proclaims 28 winning party-list groups

2010-05-31T15:36:00.000-07:00

KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/192285/comelec-proclaims-28-winning-party-list-groups

(Update 6:16 PM) The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Monday proclaimed the 28 winning party-list organizations in the 2010 automated polls.

Comelec chairman Jose Melo, reading an en banc resolution, announced on Monday afternoon that the following party-list organizations will be awarded seats in the 15th House of Representatives:

* Coalition of Association of Senior Citizens in the Philippines — 1,292,182 votes (2 seats)
Nominees:
Godofredo V. Arquiza
David L. Kho
Francisco G. Datol Jr.
Remedios D. Arquiza
Linda G. David
Nelso A. Sin

* Akbayan Citizen's Action Party — 1,058,691 votes (2 seats)
Nominees:
Walden F. Bello
Arlene J. Bag-ao
Tomasita S. Villarin
Ellene A. Sana
Francis Q. Isaac
Ruperto B. Aleroza

* Gabriela Women's Party — 1,001,421 votes (2 seats)
Nominees:
Luzviminda C. Ilagan
Emerenciana A. De Jesus
Sheila A. Ferrer
Nenita L. Cherniguin
Leona M. Entena

* Cooperative Natcco Network Party — 943,529 votes (2 seats)
Nominees:
Jose R. Ping-Ay
Cresente C. Paez
Luis D. Carillo
Divina C. Quemi
Emmanuel L. Solis, Jr.

* ABONO — 766,615 votes (2 seats)
Nominees:
Robert Raymund M. Estrella
Francisco Emmanuel R. Ortega III
Jacky Rowena T. Lomibao
Ronald Allan Q. So
Ponciano V. Oria, Jr.

* Bayan Muna — 746,019 votes (2 seats)
Nominees:
Teodoro A. Casino
Neri J. Colmenares
Joven G. Laura
Carlos Isagani T. Zarate
Leovigildo A. Molon

* An Waray — 711,631 votes (2 seats)
Nominees:
Florencio G. Noel
Neil Benedict A. Montejo
Jude A. Acidre
Victoria Isabel G. Noel
Joi Bernaditt A. De Paz

* Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines, Inc. (AGAP) — 515,501 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Nicanor M. Briones
Rico Geron
Albert Roque T. Lim Jr.
Victorino Michael I. Lescano
Benjamin A. Jaro

* Alliance for Barangay Concerns Party (ABC) — 469,093 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Arnulfo A. Molero
Gerardo A. Panghulan
James Marty L. Lim
Fredelino O. Tudio
Alfredito E. Forteza

* Anakpawis — 445,628 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Rafael V. Mariano
Joel B. Manglunsod
Randall B. Echanis
George F. San Mateo
Verleen H. Trinidad
Gloria G. Arellano
Roy G. Velez
Felix M. Paz
Jaime S. Paglinawan
Edwin B. Batac
Fernando L. Hicap
Franchiquita D. Buhayan

* Kabataan Party-list — 417,923 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Raymond V. Palatino
Mark Louie T. Aquino
Kathrina R. Castillo
Renil B. Oliva
Ken Leonard B. Ramos

* Abante Mindanao, Inc. (ABAMIN) — 376,011 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Maximo B. Rodriguez, Jr.
Virginia T. Sering
Sergio C. Pascual
Raynor T. Fulgencio
Irenetta C. Montinola

* Act Teachers — 369,564 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Antonio L. Tinio
Francisca L. Castro
Efleda K. Bautista
Jocelyn A. Bisuna
Mae Fe G. Ancheta-Templa
Gregorio T. Fabros

* You Against Corruption and Poverty (YACAP) — 335,635 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Carol Jayne B. Lopez
Arnel N. Arbinson
Allen S. Ponsaran Jr.
Kyrie Dea Maia TG Montemayor
Vianney D. Garol

* Ang Kasangga sa Kaunlaran, Inc. (Ang Kasangga) — 296,368 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Teodorico T. Haresco
Eugenio Jose V. Lacson
Anna Maria G. Nava
Enrique V. Martin
Segundo M. Gaston

* Bagong Henerasyon (BH) — 292,875 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Bernadette R. Herrera-Dy
Edgar Allan D. Dy
Dan Stephen C. Palami
Alexandrea R. Cruz-Herrera
Druscella L. Medici

* Ang Galing Pinoy (AGP) — 269,009 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Juan Miguel M. Arroyo
Dennis G. Pineda
Romeo A. Dungca Jr.
Jerold Domonick S. David
Ryan M. Caladiao

* Agbiag! Timpuyog Ilocano, Inc. (AGBIAG) — 262,298 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Patricio T. Antonio
Erika Caitlin T. Dy Hansel
Joseph Michael L. Tillmann
Visitacion A. Ordoveza
Jorge A. Sales

* Puwersa ng Bayaning Atleta (PBA) — 238,675 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Mark Aeron H. Sambar
Miles Andrew M. Roces
Mark L. Daya
Alberto D. Pacquiao
Ernanie M. Calica

* Arts Business and Science Professionals — 257,301 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Catalina G. Leonen-Pizarro
Eugene Michael B. De Vera
Mary. T. Jazul
Catalina O. Lanting
Carlito B. Buentipo

* Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) — 244,623 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Raymond Democrito C. Mendoza
Anthony B. Sasin
Ruben D. Torres
Roland C Dela Cruz
Cecilio R. Seno Jr.
Milagros D. Ogalinda

* Alyansa ng mga Grupong Haligi ng Agham at Teknolohiya Para sa Mamayan, Inc. (AGHAM) — 241,898 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Angelo Palmones
Anselmo G. Adriano
Florentino O. Tesoro
Ruby Ephraim M. Rubiano
Cleotilde B. Elmedolan

* Democratic Independent Workers Association (DIWA) — 238,675 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Emeline Y. Aglipay
Ramon D. Bergado
Pepito M. Pico
Leopoldo A. Blanco Jr.
Federico A. Balang

* Kapatiran ng mga Nakulong na Walang Sala — 234,717 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Ranulfo P. Canonigo
Ma. Jesusa A. Sespene
Omar A. Rivera
Carmelito D. Tunguia
Fernando G. Mangungas Jr.

* Kalinga Advocacy for Social Empowermennt and Nation Building Through Easing Poverty, Inc. (Kalinga) — 229,198 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Abigail Faye C. Ferriol
Uzziel F. Caponpon
Osinando V. Quillao Jr.
Irene Gay S. Ferriol
Michael M. Cruz

* Alagad Party-list — 227,116 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Rodante D. Marcoleta
Diogenes S. Osabel
Ric O. Domingo
Sergio G. Manzana
Rodrigo M. Olarte Sr.
Miguel C. Malvar III
Allan M. Maasir

* 1 Ang Pamilya — 217,032 votes (1 seat)
Nominees:
Reena Concepcion G. Obillo
Protasio C. Asadon Jr.
Alex B. Billedo
Virgilio M. Rosete
David N. Ramos

* Alliance of Volunteer Educators — 214,760 (1 seat)
Nominees:
Eulogio R. Masaysay
Iris Marie D. Montes
Adelaida R. Magsaysay
Nicolas A. Brana Sr.
Alicia M. Diel

Melo has deferred the proclamation of 11 party-list groups which have pending disqualification cases filed against them or their nominees.

Following are those facing petitions for cancellation of registration:

* Ako Bicol Political Party (Ako Bicol)
* Buhay Hayaan Yumabong Party-list (Buhay)
* 1st Consumers Alliance for Rural Energy (1-CARE)
* Citizens' Battle Against Corruption (CIBAC)
* LPG Marketers Association, Inc. (LPGMA)
* Ang Asosasyon Sang Manguguma Nga Bisaya-Ow Mangunguma, Inc. (MBIS-OWA)
* Association of Philippine Electric Cooperatives (APEC)
* Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy (ANAD)

Those facing petitions for disqualification of party-list nominee:

* 1-UTAK
* Advocacy for Teacher Empowerment Through Action Cooperation and Harmony Towards Educational Reforms (A Teacher)
* Butil Farmer Party (BUTIL)

The proclamation was based on 121 certificates of canvass or 29,441,706 votes.

The Party-list System Act (Republic Act 7941) says that those who received at least two percent of the total votes cast for the party-list system shall be entitled to one congressional seat each while those who received more than two percent of the votes shall be entitled to additional seats in proportion to their total number of votes.

However, each party-list organization shall not be awarded more than three seats in Congress.

The Comelec has yet to receive all the votes cast for the party-list system, specifically from areas where failure of elections took place.

Included in these areas are seven municipalities of Lanao del Sur, two municipalities of Basilan, and one municipality of Sarangani — where special polls have been scheduled on June 3.

The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides that 20 percent of the seats in Congress or 57 seats be allotted for the sectoral representatives.

Melo admitted, however, that there are many things that must be "revisited" about the party-list system.

He said he hopes the new party-list representatives will tackle these during their term. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/192285/comelec-proclaims-28-winning-party-list-groups

Aquino rejects uncle’s bid to legalize ‘jueteng’

2010-05-23T16:13:00.000-07:00

By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:23:00 05/24/2010

Filed Under: Benigno Aquino III, Casinos & Gambling, Graft & Corruption, Crime

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100524-271729/Aquino-rejects-uncles-bid-to-legalize-jueteng

MANILA, Philippines—Presumptive president-elect Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III has thumbed down a proposal by his uncle to legalize “jueteng,” a numbers racket that brings in millions of pesos in cash to operators and their protectors.

“Jueteng is against the law and we will enforce the law,” Aquino told reporters.

In a radio interview, former Tarlac Rep. Jose “Peping” Cojuangco said he was all for the legalization of jueteng because his poor constituents had been complaining about the lack of a pastime unlike more affluent individuals who have cockfighting and horse racing.

Cojuangco was accused of being a big-time jueteng lord after his sister, the late President Corazon Aquino, took power in 1986.

He has denied the charges along with allegations that he and his relatives belonged to “Kamag-anak Inc.,” which benefited from corrupt deals during the Aquino years.

Cojuangco noted that no formal charges had been filed in court against him or his kin.

Instead of legalizing jueteng, Aquino said he would allocate government resources to provide job opportunities in provinces where jueteng was popular.

He said he implemented various livelihood programs in Tarlac, his home province.

“Each barangay was given quotas for the livelihood projects that it ran for five days and this meant little time for drinking or gambling,” Aquino said.

“Instead of punitive (actions against jueteng), we should provide other amusement as a long-lasting solution,” he added.

While jueteng is on the list of vices that he wants to eradicate, Aquino is seeking to prioritize the campaign against other crimes.

“We can go after jueteng but we will divert resources that could have been used to go after drugs, kidnapping and other crimes. I think the drug problem is serious. I also want to give justice to the victims of private armies,” he said.

He reckoned that gambling was a vice that forces people to sacrifice their money meant to pay electric bills and other needs of their families, leading to low productivity.

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100524-271729/Aquino-rejects-uncles-bid-to-legalize-jueteng

DFA submits poll returns from OFW voters

2010-05-22T06:34:00.000-07:00

JERRIE M. ABELLA, GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/191553/dfa-submits-poll-returns-from-ofw-voters

Save for four Embassies, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) submitted Thursday the certificates of canvass (COC) and election returns (ER) for over 150,000 Filipinos worldwide who cast their ballots for the overseas absentee voting (OAV).

In a release posted on its Web site, the DFA-OAV Secretariat said tallies from 89 foreign service posts for 153,300 Filipinos who participated in the OAV have been turned over to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

“The tallies from the four remaining Embassies which are being verified will not have an effect on the outcome of the elections," the release added.

The number of votes tallied represents only 26 percent of the 589,830 registered Filipinos overseas.

While this is higher than the 16 percent or 81,732 overseas Filipinos who cast their ballots in the 2007 elections, this year’s OAV turnout is still very low compared to the 65 percent or 233,092 votes cast in the 2004 presidential elections.

According to the release, partial and unofficial results of the OAV as of May 19 show Sen. Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III still leading the presidential race with 68,281 votes, followed by Bro. Eddie Villanueva with 17,702 votes, and Sen. Villar with 14,974 votes.

Trailing them are Gilberto Teodoro (11,505), Joseph Estrada (6,653), Richard Gordon (5,496), John Carlos delos Reyes and Sen. Jamby Madrigal (196), Nicanor Perlas (178) and Vetellano Acosta (128).

For vice president, Sen. Manuel Roxas likewise leads with 67,395 votes, followed by Sen. Loren Legarda with 17,136 votes and Jejomar Binay with 16,395 votes.

Following them are Perfecto Yasay (12,011), Bayani Fernando (7,933), Edu Manzano (2,462), Jay Sonza (645) and Dominador Chipeco Jr. (183).

Meanwhile, the top 12 senators are: Franklin Drilon (72,319); Miriam Defensor-Santiago (70,404); Ramon Revilla Jr. (59,606); Pilar Juliana Cayetano (55,206); Ralph Recto (54,741); Jinggoy Estrada (53,477); Juan Ponce Enrile (52,317); Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (48,038); Teofisto Guingona III (45,245); Vicente Sotto III (43,820); Sergio Osmena III (43,576); and Sonia Roco (37,801).

DFA-OAVS vice chairperson Nestor N. Padalhin personally delivered the COCs and ERs to the COMELEC’s National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) for President and Vice President.

The month-long OAV ended on May 10.

Except for Hong Kong and Singapore which used the automated election system, all other Philippine diplomatic posts employed either personal or postal voting. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/191553/dfa-submits-poll-returns-from-ofw-voters

Last 3 senators may be proclaimed today

2010-05-17T06:22:00.000-07:00

By Mayen Jaymalin
The Philippine Star
Updated May 17, 2010 12:00 AM

Original Story: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=575973&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) may proclaim today the last three winning candidates to complete the 12 slots in the Senate.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body will reconvene today as the National Board of Canvassers to complete the counting and proclamation of the last three winning senatorial candidates.

Jimenez said there are still about three million uncanvassed votes, which will determine who will be the other three Senate members.

Jimenez, however, said it may not be necessary to wait for all the three million uncanvassed votes before they can proclaim the last three winners.

“If the remaining uncanvassed votes would no longer be significant to affect the final count, then we will start proclaiming... probably by afternoon since the canvassing is continuing throughout the day,” he said.

Only seven out of the 103 provincial Certificates of Canvass or 6.8 percent remained uncanvassed as of Saturday night.

Although the National Board of Canvassers did not convene yesterday, Jimenez said the Comelec still received transmission results from the field.

“So hopefully, we can get enough numbers to proclaim senators-elect by Monday afternoon,” Jimenez said.

Based on the last updated tally of the canvassing board, those occupying the last three slots were former senator Sergio Osmeña III (independent) with 10,996,061 votes; Sen. Lito Lapid (Lakas-Kampi) with 10,327,121 votes, and Rep. Teofisto Guingona III (Liberal Party) with 9,686,352 votes.

In the 13th slot is sectoral Rep. Risa Hontiveros (LP) with 8,581,125 votes, while in 14th is Rep. Ruffy Biazon (LP) with 8,148,685 votes.

Last Saturday, the National Board of Canvassers proclaimed the first nine winning senators who will serve until 2016 after gaining an insurmountable number of votes in the first four days of canvassing.

Officially declared winners in the senatorial race were Sen. Ramon Revilla Jr. (Lakas-Kampi), Sen. Jinggoy Estrada (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino), Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile (PMP), Sen. Pia Cayetano (Nacionalista Party), Sen. Ralph Recto (LP) and Sen. Vicente Sotto III (Nationalist People’s Coalition).

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago (People’s Reform Party), Sen. Franklin Drilon (LP) and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (NP) were also proclaimed but did not show up.

Original Story: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=575973&publicationSubCategoryId=63

Comelec proclaims 9 senators-elect

2010-05-15T08:07:00.000-07:00

By Kristine L. Alave,
Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net,
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 15:26:00 05/15/2010

Filed Under: Elections, Inquirer Politics, Politics, Eleksyon 2010

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100515-270134/Comelec-proclaims-9-senators-elect

MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATE) The Commission on Elections proclaimed on Saturday the first nine of 12 winners in the senatorial polls last May 10.

But only Senators Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., Jose “Jinggoy” Estrada, Juan Ponce-Enrile, Pia Cayetano, and Vicente Sotto III were present before the Comelec, sitting en banc as the National Board of Canvassers at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City.

Ralph Recto arrived late, while Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Franklin Drilon, and Ferdinand Marcos Jr. were absent.

The top nine senators were either re-electionists or returnees to the Senate. Only Marcos is a neophyte.

The first batch of newly-elected officers was proclaimed by members of the Comelec en banc at 3:20 p.m. at the Comelec Command Center.

At the start of the ceremonies, Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said the proclamation was the fruit of the hardwork and struggles Comelec underwent during the first national automated elections in the country.

“After the Comelec’s long struggle to automate the country’s election, then after a peaceful campaign of the candidates…we’re here today to celebrate the results of our hard work and dedication,” Melo said.

“For the senators-elect, this proclamation ceremony represents the clear vox populi, speaking with the transcendent authority of vox dei, you are now our representatives. You are our champions. Do not let us down,” he said.

“To all the senators-elect therefore and on behalf of the Commission en banc, I extend our congratulations and, in doing so, hand over the expectations of the Filipino people to you,” Melo said.

The National Board of Canvassers (NBOC) has processed 115 of 274 certificates of canvass as it reconvened on Saturday morning. Locally, 96 of the 103 certificates of canvass have been tallied, according to Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.

Only Regions III, VI, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and the Cordillera Autonomous Region have yet to complete the transmission of provincial COCs.

Jimenez, during the program, said that the three senators who would complete the 12 senatorial positions would be proclaimed once all CoCs have been processed by the NBOC.

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100515-270134/Comelec-proclaims-9-senators-elect

Comelec partial, official tally of partylist groups (AS OF 11:19 a.m., MAY 15)

2010-05-15T01:20:00.000-07:00

By Katherine Evangelista
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 13:17:00 05/15/2010

Filed Under: Eleksyon 2010, Politics, Elections

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100515-270125/Comelec-partial-official-tally-of-partylist-groups

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections, acting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), has released the partial and official tally for the partylist groups.

As of 11:19 a.m., 115 out of 275 CoCs have been canvassed.

1. Ako Bicol Partylist 1,507,103
2. Buhay Hayaan Yumabong 1,217,323
3. Coalition of Association of Senior Citizens Philippines Inc.
1,209,348
4. Akbayan 1,004,043
5. Gabriela Women's Party 960,819
6. Cooperative NATCCO Network Party 896,458
7. ABONO 745,549
8. An-waray 710,464
9. Bayan Muna 702,042
10. 1st Consumers Alliance for Rural Energy 669,531
11. Citizens Battle Against Corruption 627,099
12. Advocacy for Teachers' Empowerment 579,211
13. Agricultural Sector Alliance of the Philippines 506,723
14. Alliance for Barangay Concern's Party 451,689
15. Butil Farmers Party 423,229
16. Anakpawis 419,832
17. LPG Marketers Association Inc. 409,176
18. Kabataan Partylist 396,137
19. Act Teachers 343,306
20. Abante Mindanao Inc. 340,398

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100515-270125/Comelec-partial-official-tally-of-partylist-groups

Grace Padaca weeps for Isabela; Among Ed goes back to priesthood

2010-05-15T01:16:00.000-07:00

By Villamor Visaya Jr.,
Inquirer Northern Luzon,
Tonette Orejas,
Inquirer Central Luzon
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:45:00 05/15/2010

Filed Under: Eleksyon 2010, Elections, Politics, Inquirer Politics, Local authorities

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100515-270065/Grace-Padaca-weeps-for-Isabela-Among-Ed-goes-back-to-priesthood

ILAGAN, ISABELA, Philippines—One wept for her province as she questioned her defeat. The other, also refusing to concede defeat, vowed to pursue his fight for his people—this time, hopefully, as a priest—again.

Isabela Gov. Maria Gracia Cielo “Grace” Padaca and Pampanga Gov. Eddie “Among Ed” Panlilio—who both had to contend with politically entrenched families—were among the casualties in the country’s first automated national elections.

Questioning her loss to Rep. Faustino Dy III in the gubernatorial race, Padaca on Friday said: “I weep for Isabela … More than my sadness, I wish the Isabelinos well. I wish them success. I wish (for) them good governance.”

Speaking at the Governor’s Palace, Padaca, a Liberal Party candidate, said she planned to ask the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to investigate reports of vote-buying and the black propaganda that was used against her during the campaign.

“The Dys and the Albanos outdid themselves a hundred times over sa pagsalaula sa eleksiyon (in making a mockery of the elections),” she said.

Dy, an administration candidate, was proclaimed gubernatorial winner on Thursday night, along with running mate Rodolfo Albano III.

Black and white

Padaca lost by 3,438 votes. She garnered 271,319 votes while Dy got 274,757.

In 2004, Padaca burst into national headlines when she defeated Dy’s brother, former Gov. Faustino Dy Jr., in the gubernatorial fight, ending the clan’s 34-year hold on the provincial capitol.

In 2007, she defeated former Gov. Benjamin Dy, but her victory was overturned by the Comelec last December after a recount. She later filed an appeal.

Winner Dy brushed off Padaca’s charges. “If we bought and harassed voters, I could have won by a landslide,” he said. He offered to reconcile with Padaca and other rivals.

“How can you reconcile black and white?” Padaca told reporters.

Padaca was ahead by at least 3,000 votes on Thursday afternoon before votes from Angadanan and Palanan towns allowed Dy to slip past her.

Asked if Aquino had a Cabinet position for her, she said: “It’s too early to tell… I do not have plans now. I’ll cross the bridge … when I get there.”

‘Positive force’

Padaca and Panlilio have a few things in common: They are both leaders of Kaya Natin, a movement advocating moral leadership and good governance. Like Padaca, Panlilio was ousted as provincial governor weeks before the election campaign began when the Comelec, after a recount, upheld his 2007 opponent Lilia Pineda as winner of the gubernatorial race that year. Final ruling on the case was still pending at the time of Monday’s elections.

The priest-activist said he would still be around as a “positive force”—outside of electoral politics.

“I would love to return to active priesthood and I believe (my three bishops) will accept me back,” Panlilio, 57, said. “I just hope that when I’m accepted, I will be given the freedom to be engaged in a positive way by helping civil society attain social transformation.”

He said he was taking that track because the “Church should be at the service of the people.”

Reform constituency

Pineda was proclaimed newly elected Pampanga governor on Wednesday night. She captured 488,521 votes or 65.98 percent of the total. Panlilio got 242,367.

As a priest, Panlilio ministered to poor communities and headed the Archdiocese of San Fernando’s Social Action Center of Pampanga for 27 years before he ran for governor in 2007.

He was thrust into politics when no alternative candidate wanted to challenge then reelectionist Gov. Mark Lapid and Pineda.

Panlilio, the LP provincial chair, said he was not thinking of any position in the administration of president-apparent Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

“I’m not close to Noynoy,” he said.

He said the 242,367 votes he got on Monday were a “sign that there is a reform constituency” in Pampanga.

“I see a bright future in those numbers. I hope they become a critical mass in the years ahead,” he said.

Massive vote-buying

What Panlilio found strange was that 408,495 of 1,211,162 registered voters in Pampanga did not vote.

Panlilio said while he respected Pineda’s proclamation, he was not ready to concede.

“I can only accept a candidate’s win if it was a clean election. I don’t think it was because of the reported massive direct and indirect vote-buying weeks before and during the election,” he said.

He saw several reasons for his defeat, some his own doing, including decisions he made that alienated some supporters and his inability to negotiate.

But the one factor that weighed him down was the “orchestration of efforts to immobilize me,” he said. He was referring to the “recall” campaign by Pineda’s allies, the recount case filed by Pineda, a provincial board that criticized him at every turn or withheld budgets, and the use of media to portray him negatively.

He said: “I was guided by Gospel values like justice and patriotism.”

“He is leaving the capitol without any stain of corruption. He started radical reforms ... His moral armor is strong,” said Harvey Keh of the Ateneo de Manila University School of Government.

Other fights

Also proclaimed in Isabela were Representatives Rodolfo Albano Jr. (first district), Ana Cristina Go (second district) and Napoleon Dy (third district).

No winner has been proclaimed in Isabela’s fourth district because the returns from Santiago City have yet to be transmitted to the provincial board of canvassers. Reelectionist Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao nurses a slim margin over his rival, Danilo Tan.

In Abra, election officials proclaimed Joy Valera-Bernos winner of the fight for the lone congressional seat, ending a tense contest that had prompted the police and military to put their forces on high alert.

Bernos got 48,212 votes from 27 towns to beat incumbent Rep. Cecilia Luna, who chalked up 46,880 votes.

Bernos is the daughter of detained Bangued Mayor Dominic Valera, who was accused of killing the driver of Luna’s son, Ryan, in an April 29 encounter. The young Luna defeated Valera in the Bangued mayoral race.

Pangasinan winners

In Pangasinan, incumbent Gov. Amado Espino Jr. and Mapandan Mayor Ferdie Calimlim were proclaimed winners of the gubernatorial and vice gubernatorial races.

The tally from 46 of 47 Pangasinan towns and cities showed Espino with 822,325 votes while his opponent, Rep. Victor Agbayani, got 296,177 votes. Only the votes from Agno have not been canvassed. With reports from Vincent Cabreza and Gabriel Cardinoza, Inquirer Northern Luzon

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100515-270065/Grace-Padaca-weeps-for-Isabela-Among-Ed-goes-back-to-priesthood

Gov. Recto and Leviste confirmed

2010-05-14T07:08:00.000-07:00

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2010/may/14/news7.isx&d=2010/may/14

BATANGAS CITY—Re-electionist and Liberal Party gubernatorial candidate Vilma Santos-Recto and her running-mate Marc Leviste were proclaimed here Thursday night as the winners in the May 10 elections.

Recto had faced Santo Tomas Mayor Edna Sanchez, who replaced her husband ex-Gov. Armando Sanchez, who had died in hospital after suffering from stroke while campaigning in Lipa City.

Recto received 602,397 votes, giving her a margin of 211,717 votes over the 390,680 votes received by Sanchez.

Leviste received 629,584 votes, 387,881 more than the 241,703 received by Edwin Ermita, the only son of former Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, who had also lost in the First District.

Recto vowed to improve the delivery of basic services to Batangas and to boost health, education, agriculture, tourism, transportation, public safety and security.

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2010/may/14/news7.isx&d=2010/may/14

It’s still toss-up between Binay, Roxas for veep

2010-05-14T05:44:00.000-07:00

By Jocelyn Uy, Tarra Quismundo, Leila Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:42:00 05/14/2010

Filed Under: Inquirer Politics, Eleksyon 2010, Elections, Jejomar Binay, Mar Roxas

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100514-269839/Its-still-toss-up-between-Binay-Roxas-for-veep

MANILA, Philippines—The vice presidential race is still a toss-up between Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and Sen. Manuel Roxas II because some five million votes from more than 8,000 precincts—the largest of which are in the presumed bailiwicks of Binay and Roxas, have yet to be counted.

As small increments of votes slowly raised the tallies, Binay got 13,448,673 votes (40.77 percent of the votes counted so far), giving him a lead of 793,358 votes over Roxas as of the 8:09 p.m. count Thursday by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV). Roxas had 12,655,315 votes (38.37 percent).

The figures represent the consolidated results from 68,711 precincts, or 89.85 percent of the 76,475 precincts nationwide.

The close fight has fueled an exchange of charges between the two candidates, with Binay accusing Roxas’ camp of planning to rig results and Roxas contending that the fight has yet to be won.

In the presidential race, Liberal Party standard-bearer Benigno Aquino III was still enjoying a comfortable lead of more than 5 million over nearest rival former President Joseph Estrada.

The next President

Aquino got 13,805,154 votes, or 41.85 of total votes counted so far, while Estrada garnered 8,730,387.

Manuel Villar, the first presidential candidate to concede to Aquino, received 4,996,923 votes, while administration candidate Gilbert Teodoro Jr. got 3,667,441 votes.

Aquino and Roxas continued to lead the count from votes cast by overseas Filipinos in 28 embassies and consulates general.

At a press conference, Foreign Secretary Alberto Romulo, who called Aquino “our next president,” said he did so because the senator was leading the count by a wide margin over his closest rival, Estrada, in the Commission on Elections (Comelec) tally.

ARMM ballots

Based on the 11:09 a.m. update of the PPCRV, ballots from 995 precincts in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) had yet to be counted.

Perennially problematic ARMM, where Binay was leading, recorded the largest number of precincts that have yet to “transmit” election returns to the PPCRV server at the Pope Pius XII Catholic Center in Manila.

In Basilan, 41 precincts have yet to transmit returns; Lanao del Sur, 488; Maguindanao, 190; Sulu, 195 and Tawi-Tawi, 81—representing 29.45 percent of all the precincts in the region.

“Let me just qualify that when we say ‘still to transmit’ it doesn’t mean that these precincts have not transmitted at all,” said Ana de Villa-Singson, PPCRV media and communications director in an interview with reporters.

But not downloaded

“It is possible that election returns have been transmitted to the Comelec server but have not yet been downloaded into the Pius server that we’re all dependent on,” Singson added.

Updates on the tallies came in trickles Thursday as the files being transmitted to the PPCRV, the citizen’s arm of the Comelec, were getting as big as 90 million lines. “That’s why it’s getting very difficult to download,” Singson said.

The bulk of votes coming from Central Visayas—which early on had been labeled as a Roxas country for giving him the largest votes over Binay—have also yet to be included in the latest tallies in the presidential, vice presidential and senatorial races.

Central Visayas accounted for 949 precincts or 17 percent of the total precincts in the region, where votes have yet to be tallied: Bohol, 213; Negros Oriental, 213; Siquijor, 12.

Vote-rich Cebu pro-Noy

The largest number of poll precincts (511) whose election returns have yet to be tallied was traced to vote-rich Cebu, which also gave most of the votes to Aquino.

Votes from 746 precincts or 8.01 percent of the precincts in Southern Tagalog, where Binay was leading, have yet to be counted, too.

The PPCRV was also still waiting for the transmission of election returns from 263 precincts in the Cordillera Administrative Region; 215 from Caraga; 596 from Ilocos; 251 from Cagayan Valley; 701 from Central Luzon and 257 from Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan).

Votes from 314 precincts in the Zamboanga Peninsula (Region 9) have yet to be included in the latest count, according to the Comelec’s citizen’s arm.

Election returns from Bicol region, which was split in terms of delivering votes to Binay and Roxas, have also yet to be counted.

Only ballots from nine precincts in Metro Manila have yet to be processed. These precincts were in Taguig-Pateros, noted Singson. With a report from Cynthia D. Balana

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100514-269839/Its-still-toss-up-between-Binay-Roxas-for-veep

Velarde keeps party-list hopes alive

2010-05-13T12:01:00.000-07:00

by Joel Zurbano

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNation.htm?f=2010/may/13/nation1.isx&d=2010/may/13

Five groups including Buhay of El Shaddai Movement’s Bro. Mariano “Mike” Velarde and the all-female Gabriela have the upperhand in the race for party-list seats in the House of Representatives.

Buhay, which topped the party-list polls in 2007 and clinched three House seats, came second to Ako Bikol Political Party. Ako Bikol, an obscure group, gave the following as its nominees Christopher S. Co, Rodel M. Batocabe, Alfredo a. Garbin, Ronald S. Ang, and Carlo Paolo M. Pangilinan.

Among the nominees of Buhay are Velarde’s son Michael, Solar Entertainment’s big boss William Irwin C. Tieng, businessman Ignacio B. Gimenez and Bulacan Rep. Wilfrido Buyson Villarama.

Completing the top five are Abono and the Coalition of Association of Senior Citizens.

Abono’s nominees are Robert Raymund Estrella, Francisco Emmanuel Ortega, Jacky Rowena Lomibao, Ronald Allan So and Ponciano Onia.

Three of the nominees of the Senior Citizens group are incumbent Rep. Godofredo Arquiza, David Kho and Francisco Datol Jr.

Gabriela Women’s Party has Luzviminda Ilagan, Emerencia de Jesus and Shiela Ferrer.

The leftist Akbayan has incumbent Rep. Walden Bello, Arlene Bag-Ao and Tomasito Villarin.

A total of 187 organizations have submitted their nominees for the 55 seats in the House. Each party list is entitled to a seat after clinching at least 2% of total votes cast in the May 10 elections.

The more notable groups in the top 30 include Cooperative Natcco; Citizens Battle against Corruption; Bayan Muna; Anakpawis; Butil Farmers Party; An Waray; Kabataan; and, Act Teachers.

Among the prominent names in politics, business and entertainment sectors, who are trying their luck in the party-list race are Anna Marie Ablan, Honorary Consul in Belarus and daughter of former Ilocor Norte Rep. Roque Ablan for Alliance of People’s Organization; celebrity Juan Miguel “Onemig” Bondoc for Bandila; celebrity doctor Manny Calayan, broadcaster Rolly Gonzalo and actor Leo Martinez for Alyansa ng Media at Showbiz; and presidential son Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo for Ang Galing Pinoy.

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNation.htm?f=2010/may/13/nation1.isx&d=2010/may/13

Cayetano’s win declared over Tiñga’s protest

2010-05-13T11:57:00.000-07:00

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideMetro.htm?f=2010/may/13/metro1.isx&d=2010/may/13

A tear gas canister went off accidentally at the proclamation of Rep. Lani Cayetano who won over retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Dante Tiñga in Taguig City’s mayoral race.

She was delivering her speech around 4 p.m. Wednesday on the second floor of the city hall when the canister of a police security escort inadvertently dropped, causing a commotion.

“There was a loud bang and a flash. We were immediately covered by smoke,” said Mario Evangelista, a staff assistant of the Cayetanos.

Husband Senator Allan Peter, sister-in-law Senator Pia and supporters were with her at the time.

Senior Supt. Camilo Cascolan, police chief, ruled out any foul play.

He said the jostling in the overcrowded place somewhat loosened the safety pin of the tear gas canister issued to the police detail of Cayetano.

“The security was right behind the mayor-elect,” he said. “This was not a deliberate act.”

Tiñga’s election lawyer, Sixto Brillantes Jr. said he would file before the Commission on Elections a motion to annul the proclamation over the questionable results of the polls in Taguig.

He said canvassing showed Tiñga’s ticket, Kilusang Diwa ng Taguig, swept the dsitrict representative post, the vice mayor down to the councilors.

Figures showed that Tiñga obtained 93,445 votes versus Cayetano’s 95,865 tally.

Exiting Mayor Freddie Tiñga, Vice Mayor George Elias and 1st District congressional bet Arnel Cerafica all had wide margins against their opponents, said Brillantes, noting discrepancies that would be taken up with the Comelec en banc.

On Tuesday, Cayetano and Tiñga supporters massed at the canvassing center, requiring police to post an anti-riot squad for good measure.

Cascolin said the police escort assigned to the Cayetanos came from the Regional Mobile Group of the National Capital Regional Police Office.

He said several people were given first aid for smoke inhalation.

But Evangelista said the Cayetanos would have the incident investigated.

“We simply don’t believe in Colonel Cascolan’s story. Those (canisters) should be properly secured (and) shouldn’t fall off that easily,” he said. Ferdinand Fabella

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideMetro.htm?f=2010/may/13/metro1.isx&d=2010/may/13

PPCRV says some BEIs refuse to give 4th copy of ERs

2010-05-13T00:57:00.000-07:00

05/13/2010 | 02:36 PM
NIKKA CORSINO, GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/190874/ppcrv-says-some-beis-refuse-to-give-4th-copy-of-ers

An official of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting said Thursday they are having difficulty obtaining some copies of the election returns (ERs), supposedly for PPCRV, from several areas in the Visayas and Mindanao.

PPCRV communications director Anna de Villa-Singson said the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) of the areas mentioned refuse to give them the fourth copy of the ERs.

"Some BEIs are refusing to give to our volunteers the fourth copy of the ERs even with a letter from Chairman Jose Melo saying that under the law, we are entitled to it," she said

The group is the only accredited citizen poll watchdog of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and is thus entitled to the fourth and 27th copies of the ERs printed by poll counting machines.

These would be delivered via courier to the PPCRV Command Center in Manila for encoding and comparison with post-transmission results.

"The teachers don't want to give it because they said it is not in the General Instructions [provided by the Comelec]. Nananawagan kami sa mga teachers, please make sure PPCRV gets the ERs. Ayaw nilang maniwala even with a letter signed by the Comelec Chair himself," Singson said, albeit not identifying the specific areas.

Singson feared the refusal of some BEIs would further stall the encoding of the ERs, 12 percent (about 9,200) of which have already been delivered from various provinces as of 5 p.m. Wednesday.

Singson also said earlier that the extension of voting on May 10 also delayed the delivery of the ERs through couriers.

Most of the ERs came Thursday morning and more are still on transit, Singson added.

The PPCRV earlier said it could encode 19,000 ERs in a day with over 100 volunteer students.

"We are doing this for public service. I think we have already made clear that PPCRV is non-partisan. Please don't hold [the ERs from us]," Singson said. — LBG, GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/190874/ppcrv-says-some-beis-refuse-to-give-4th-copy-of-ers

Only less than four percent of poll results have yet to be transmitted

2010-05-12T23:24:00.000-07:00

05/12/2010 | 09:34 PM
KIMBERLY JANE T. TAN, GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/190828/only-less-than-four-percent-of-poll-results-have-yet-to-be-transmitted

Only less than four percent of election results from precincts all across the Philippines have yet to be transmitted, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said on Wednesday.

The results, which represent less than 1.5 million voters, were not immediately transmitted to the Comelec’s main servers in Manila, among other recipients, because of issues with transmission hardware, a poll official said.

The Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) in these areas are still waiting for replacements of either malfunctioning precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines (equipment used to count and transmit votes) or defective compact flash cards (which contain instructions for PCOS machines to read ballots).

"Imbis na nagtransmit, naghihintay pa ng replacement... nagkakaroon ng delay (Instead of transmitting, the Board of Election Inspectors are still waiting for replacements and that causes a delay)," Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told reporters on Wednesday.

Adding to the delay was the refusal of some BEIs to manually count the votes after having discovered that the machines or their CF cards were malfunctioning, Smartmatic Asia president Cesar Flores said.

Smartmatic-TIM was chosen as the Comelec’s poll machine supplier.

Teachers usually opted to keep the ballots inside the ballot box until the replacement PCOS units or CF cards arrived, Flores said.

"It shows that the teachers really embrace automation, they don't want to go manual again," he told GMA News.

As of 6 a.m. Wednesday, the Comelec has received 96.31 percent of the election returns from the 76,347 clustered precincts nationwide, Jimenez said.

"That represents less than 1.5 million voters... malamang tapos na yan (but that's probably over by now)," he told reporters in an interview.

However, he could not immediately identify the areas where these results have yet to be transmitted.

The Comelec, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBOC), will consolidate the votes and declare the winners both for the senatorial and the party-list races.

On the other hand, Congress, also sitting as the NBOC, will proclaim the president and vice president. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/190828/only-less-than-four-percent-of-poll-results-have-yet-to-be-transmitted

Metro winners known, proclaimed early after first automated polls

2010-05-12T20:22:00.000-07:00

By THE MANILA BULLETIN STAFF
May 11, 2010, 6:17pm

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/256921/metro-winners-known-proclaimed-early-after-first-automated-polls

The first automated polls in the country saw winners being proclaimed early in Metro Manila.

Binays win big in Makati

Makati City Councilor Erwin "Jun-Jun" Binay has succeeded his father, United Opposition vice presidential bet Jejomar Binay, as mayor of the Makati City, the country's central business district.

Binay was proclaimed winner by officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) city board of canvassers at the Makati Coliseum where the canvassing of votes was held.

Witnessing the proclamation rites were Binay's family, including his father and mother, and supporters near dawn Tuesday.

Binay garnered 125,664 votes over five candidates in the mayoralty race. Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado placed in second with 80,151, Erwin Genuino, son of Philippine Gaming Corporation (Pagcor) chairman Ephraim Genuino, landed in third place with 61,203 votes. Former senator Butch Aquino got 4,394 votes while Edmundo Tagalog received 253 votes, both are independent candidates.

Binay vowed to continue the programs and services that his father started.

The Comelec also proclaimed Romulo Peña Jr., running mate of Mercado as vice mayor with 105,949 votes. Peña won against Rico Puno who received 93429 votes, Jobelle Salvador who got 35,469 votes, Mace Yabut with 23,600 votes and Manny Ballelos, 1507 votes.

Abigail Binay, daughter of Jejomar, dominated the congressional race in the second district with 84,152. Monique Yasmin Lagdameo, under Binay’s ticket, emerged winner as member of the House of Representatives for the first district.

New members of the city council for the first district are Ferdie Eusebio (PDP-Laban), Maria Concepcion Yabut (Nationalista Party), Tosca Puno-Ramos (PDP-Laban), Virgilio Hilario Sr. (NP), Marie Casal-Uy (PDP-Laban), Monsour Del Rosario (NP), Arnold Magpantay (PDP-Laban), and Romeo Medina (PDP-Laban).

New members of the city council for the second district are Vincent Sese (NP), King Yabut (NP), Nelson Pacia (PDP-Laban), Salvador Pangilinan (NP), Leonardo Magpantay (NP), Ma. Theresa De Lara (NP), Mary Ruth Tolentino (NP), Henry Jacome (NP).

It’s now Mayor Bautista

After hours of tense and anxious moments, the local office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Quezon City proclaimed Herbert Bautista and Josefina Belmonte as mayor and vice-mayor respectively winning by landslide margin over their highly touted rivals.

At exactly 11 a.m. Tuesday, the local Comelec office also proclaimed all the city’s winning bets several hours after most of them demanded that they be declared as winners even in the wee hours of the morning.

Bautista obtained a vote of 497, 965 while his closest rival Mike Defensor garnered a vote of 126,246.

District two congresswoman Annie Rosa Susano got 68, 035 while former three-term mayor Mel Mathay garnered 22, 117 votes.

In the vice-mayoral race, Belmonte got 501, 129 defeating actress Aiko Melendez who got 121,941 votes.

Incumbent district one congressman Vincent “Bingbong’’ Crisologo garnered 78, 610 Lucio Tan daughter and heiress Vivienne Tan.

In district two councilor Winston “Winnie’’ Castelo brother of outgoing representative Nanette Castelo-Daza gained 129, 660 beating former representatives Chuck Mathay, Dante Liban and three-term councilors Allan Butch Francisco and Godofredo Voltaire Liban.

Two term councilor Jorge “Bolet’’ Banal Jr. obtained a vote of 37, 408 votes beating incumbent district congressman Matias Defensor who got only 30, 887 in his bid for a third term in congress.

Outgoing mayor Feliciano “Sonny’’ Belmonte Jr. reclaimed his old post as congressman of the fourth district garnering 99, 474 votes winning by landslide over unheralded opponents.

Abalos dominates Mandaluyong

The Commission on Elections in Mandaluyong proclaimed Benjamin "Benhur" Abalos Jr. winner of the mayoral race at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday at the City Gymnasium where the local canvassing of votes took place.

Abalos garnered 102,705 votes to rival Erbert Domingo-Buan’s 24,271 votes.

Also proclaimed was Mandaluyong City vice mayor elect Danny De Guzman who defeated incumbent Vice Mayor Rene Sta. Maria 63,756 votes to 57,438.

Election officials in Malabon proclaimed incumbent Mayor Tito Oreta, re-electionist Rep. Josephine Veronique Lacson, and Councilor Len-len Oreta as the vice-mayor elect.

Oreta garnered 104,245 votes while running unopposed for reelection, Lacson got 52,815 votes in a win over incumbent vice mayor Arnold Vicencio.

The proclamation was held at the Session Hall located at the 6th floor of the City Hall right after the canvassing of votes was completed, Malabon Comelec officer Frances Aguindadao said.

San Pedro cruises to victory

Muntinlupa Mayor Aldrin San Pedro won in the mayoralty race in the city, cruising to a second term victory with a margin of more than 30,000 votes over his nearest rival.

Mayor San Pedro beat former mayor Jaime Fresnedi and Oscar Marmeto in the race.

“I thank the people of Muntinlupa for giving me again their trust and confidence. I and my family are overwhelmed by their support,” the mayor told the Manila Bulletin.

Mayor San Pedro was scheduled to be proclaimed by the Comelec Tuesday afternoon along with other winners in the local elections in Muntinlupa.

The mayor’s party mates also won in the election.

Senator Rodolfo Biazon beat REGALAbroadcaster Ricardo “Dong” Puno Jr. and five other candidates in the congressional race in Muntinlupa. Biazon will replace his son Ruffy, who completed three terms as Muntinlupa’s congressman and ran for senator in the elections under the Liberal Party.

Incumbent Vice Mayor Artemio Simundac edged out Councilor Marissa Cole-Rongavilla in the vice mayoralty race to win a second term.

Mayor San Pedro’s candidates for councilor also won 75 percent of the seats in Muntinlupa’s two legislative districts.

Lim defeats Atienza anew

Manila Mayor Alfredo S. Lim’s margin against his closest rivals widened by garnering 387,048 votes after 95.21 percent election returns were already transmitted to the Manila Board of Canvassers (BOC) last night.

The Manila Board of Canvassers said Lim was leading with 387,048 votes from 1,372 clustered precincts. His closest rivals - former city mayor and former Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) Secretary Jose "Lito" Atienza got 176,786 votes and former Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Avelino Razon got 82,910 votes.

Lim expressed gratitude to Manila residents who have voted for him and his running mate Isko Moreno.

"Salamat sa lahat ng bumoto at naniwala sa amin at sa mga di pumayag na umiral ang kasinungalan (Thanks to those who voted us and believed in us. Thank your for letting that truth to prevail over lies), he said.

After the Manila Board of Canvassers announced the partial and unofficial tally from the election returns, supporters began cheering.

Prior to that, the Comelec announced that it would likely proclaim the winners the moment the board reaches the 90 percent mark.

Legal counsels of Lim approached the Board of Canvassers (BOC) to inquire why it has yet to proclaim Lim and Moreno as winners because it was statistically improbable for his closest rivals Atienza and Razon to win over Lim.

They said the remaining six percent would not affect the result of the elections.

However, BOC chairman lawyer Jovencio Balanquit explained that they could not proclaim until they print out the entire results of the transmittal. He also explained that they cannot proceed with the printout because the remaining six percent is still material for the other elective posts- both national and local post.

Lim decided to go home as the BOC still decided not to proceed with the proclamation despite getting the 95% plus election returns.

Bernabe-Tambunting reelected

In Parañaque City Mayor Florencio Bernabe, Jr. and running mate Vice-Mayor Gus Tambunting were both re-elected.

The running mates, along with other winners in local elections in Paranaque were expected to be proclaimed at 3 p.m. Tuesday.

In a final but unofficial Comelec tally, Bernabe garnered 87,1276 votes compared Rep. Ed Zialcita’s 70,372, and Joey Marquez’s 39,459.

Representative Roilo Golez run unopposed in the city’s second district, while Edwin Olivarez was ahead of Roland Bernabe in the Comelec tally for the city’s first district.

Winning councilors in the first district are Rufino Allanigue, Eric Baes, Raquel Gabriel-Velasco, Alma Moreno-Salic, Jason Webb, Eric Olivarez, Boc Inciong and Roselle Nava.

Councilor Rico Golez led other winning candidates in the second district which included Edwin Benzon, Florencia Amurao, Conchita Bustamante, Benjo Bernabe, Carlito Antipuesto, Valmar Sotto, and Ryan Yllana.

Yllana is the lone winning councilor from Zialcita’s camp. (With reports from Anna Liza T. Villas, Carlo Suerte Felipe, Ed Mahilum, James I. Catapusan, Willie Catapat, Jonathan Hicap, Jeamma E. Sabate, Chito Chavez)

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/256921/metro-winners-known-proclaimed-early-after-first-automated-polls

Vote-map: Aquino takes even Estrada country

2010-05-12T19:38:00.000-07:00

By Tarra Quismundo,
Jocelyn R. Uy
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:08:00 05/13/2010

Filed Under: Inquirer Politics, Eleksyon 2010, Elections, Benigno Aquino III, Joseph Estrada

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20100513-269658/Vote-map-Aquino-takes-even-Estrada-country

MANILA, Philippines—President-elect most likely Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III continues to lead in most provinces across the country, taking vote-rich areas and even the bailiwick of reluctant runner-up, deposed President Joseph “Erap” Estrada.

A parallel tally by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) as of 8:01 p.m. Wednesday placed the votes for Aquino at 13,673,897 out of results from 89.03 percent of precincts counted so far.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) stopped updating the tallies for the presidential and vice presidential races on Tuesday after lawyers of losing candidates accused it of preempting the function of Congress to canvass tabulations for the two top posts.

The poll body’s tabulation covered 78.5 percent of the electronically transmitted election returns.

Leads in vote-rich provinces

Of the nine presidential candidates, only Aquino, Estrada, Manuel Villar and Gilbert Teodoro led in certain provinces, with the front-runner capturing most of the vote-rich areas.

“It’s who’s leading at that particular time. We’re not saying who won in any particular area. So we’re not trending and it doesn’t mean that the other candidates didn’t get any votes,” said Ana de Villa-Singson, PPCRV media and communications director.

A vote-mapping by the PPCRV showed that Aquino was still leading in most provinces, getting solid votes so far from Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), provinces in the Caraga region and most of the Bicol region.

Up north, Aquino was also leading in Batanes, Benguet, Ifugao and Mountain Province and remained ahead in parts of Central Luzon, including the provinces of Bataan, Bulacan, Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales.

Precincts from vote-rich Cebu, Pangasinan, provinces in Eastern Visayas as well as Maguindanao, which transmitted results, also gave most of the votes to Aquino. He is also ahead in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

San Juan for Aquino

Most of Metro Manila has so far gone to Aquino, including Estrada’s hometown of San Juan City and that (Makati City) of his running mate.

Estrada was leading in Navotas while Villar, who already accepted defeat, won in his bailiwick, Las Piñas City.

The former actor is also ahead in Abra, Apayao, Kalinga, La Union and provinces in the Cagayan Valley. Estrada was also leading in Nueva Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Occidental Mindoro, Palawan and Catanduanes.

In Mindanao, Estrada was also leading in Zamboanga Sibugay, Bukidnon, Lanao del Norte, Misamis Oriental, Northern Cotabato, Sarangani and South Cotabato. Davao has so far given the plunder convict a solid vote.

Villar was leading only in Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and Biliran while Teodoro was ahead in Guimaras and Camiguin.

The stiff vice presidential contest between Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay split votes from seven regions.

Ilocos split

As of the 10:55 a.m. regional updates provided by the PPCRV, Ilocos was split in terms of delivering votes, with Roxas dominating in Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan and Binay leading in Ilocos Norte and La Union.

Roxas and Binay were also in a tug-of-war in Central Luzon as majority of the votes in Pampanga, Tarlac and Zambales went to the senator.

But Binay continued to be No. 1 in the “vote-rich” provinces of Bataan, Bulacan and Nueva Ecija as well as in Aurora, according to Singson.

Bicol mixed

In the Bicol Region, Binay dominated in Camarines Norte, Catanduanes and Sorsogon while Roxas led in Albay, Camarines Sur and Masbate.

Eastern Visayas was also torn between the two vice presidential candidates, but Binay got the largest share of votes from Biliran, Eastern Samar, Leyte and Western Samar. Roxas dominated only in Northern Samar and Southern Leyte.

Although Zamboanga Peninsula was turning into a Binay country, garnering votes from a larger portion of the region, Roxas dominated in Zamboanga del Norte.

Binay led Roxas in Lanao del Sur and Misamis Oriental while Roxas was leading in Bukidnon and Misamis Occidental—all in Northern Mindanao.

Solid brown

The Cordillera Administrative Region was also “evenly split” with Binay leading in Abra, Apayao and Kalinga and Roxas in Benguet, Ifugao and Mountain Province.

Aside from the concrete jungle of Makati, Binay also dominated in the restive jungles of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and Soccksargen, where a color-coded map of the Philippines showed a solid brown, representing Binay’s votes, in these two regions.

Roxas won in the provinces at the country’s northern and southern tips, garnering the majority of the votes in Batanes and Tawi-Tawi.

But Singson said the PPCRV had yet to tally election returns from 3,379 precincts in the ARMM, which registered the lowest transmission rate of 68.9 percent.

Metro Manila mostly for Binay

Metro Manila, which registered the highest transmission rate of 95.98 percent, was surprisingly a “Binay country,” except for Marikina City where Roxas dominated. Only 304 precincts have yet to transmit election returns to the PPCRV server at the Pius Center.

Binay also continued to be No.1 in the race in Cagayan Valley, Southern Tagalog and Davao regions.

Roxas continued to win in Western Visayas, Central Visayas, the Caraga region, Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, and Palawan), except in Occidental Mindoro and Palawan, where Binay took the lead.

Erap behind by 5M votes

In the count by the Comelec-accredited PPCRV, Estrada got 8,652,783, still behind by 5 million with just 11 percent of the total votes yet to be counted. Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manuel Villar was a far third at 4,943,689.

Administration candidate Gilbert Teodoro Jr. received 3,642,048 votes.

In the vice presidential race, Roxas was barely catching up with Binay, who got 13,327,990 votes.

Binay was leading by 786,768 votes, garnering 40.78 percent of the total votes from 68,083 polling precincts based on the partial unofficial Comelec transmission of election returns.

Roxas was nailed to the second spot with 12,541,222 votes (38.37 percent) followed far behind by Sen. Loren Legarda with 3,747,705 votes.

Transmission slowing down

With almost 10 percent of election returns yet to be tallied, results came in trickles for the parallel count by the PPCRV as transmission from voting machines and the Comelec central server slowed down.

Singson told reporters that the parallel count would not cover 100 percent of the country’s 76,475 clustered precincts as elections failed in several Mindanao towns.

“We probably won’t be able to give a 100-percent count because there was already a failure of elections in Lanao del Sur. So it will probably be a 98- to 99-percent count,” she said.

She could not say how soon the accredited citizen’s arm could finish consolidating the expected results because of the current transmission rate.

Officers of automation contractor Smartmatic-TIM had told Singson on a visit to the PPCRV Wednesday that the last few results would come in quite slow.

“It’s really slowing down because some of the things we’re getting are no longer coming straight from the PCOS (precinct count optical scan) machines. Some of them are transmitted through canvassing offices,” Singson said.

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/regions/view/20100513-269658/Vote-map-Aquino-takes-even-Estrada-country

Across nation: Arroyo son wins in Bicol; other Palace men fall

2010-05-12T19:18:00.000-07:00

By Inquirer Visayas, Inquirer Northern Luzon, Inquirer Mindanao
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 04:01:00 05/13/2010

Filed Under: Inquirer Politics, Eleksyon 2010, Elections

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100513-269660/Across-nation-Arroyo-son-wins-in-Bicol-other-Palace-men-fall

MANILA, Philippines—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s son was among the winners in Monday’s elections, but some of her allies and erstwhile Cabinet members were not as fortunate in the congressional and gubernatorial races.

The President was expected to be proclaimed Wednesday night as representative of Pampanga’s second district. She garnered 169,109 votes, swamping Filipinas Sampang (7,150), Feliciano Serrano (3,586) and Adonis Simpao (20,922), a final tally of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) showed.

The President’s son, Rep. Diosdado Ignacio “Dato” Arroyo, won overwhelmingly in his reelection bid against Fermin Mabulo, incumbent mayor of San Fernando town in Camarines Sur province.

Dato Arroyo garnered 69,104 votes while Mabulo had 26,133. The seven-town second district has a total number of 148,451 voters.

In 2007, Arroyo beat Mabulo’s older brother in the congressional race in the first district before a legislative reapportionment added a fifth district in the province.

Andaya win, Devanadera loss

Other winners in the congressional races in Camarines Sur were Ms Arroyo’s former Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya (first district) and House allies, Luis Villafuerte (third district) and Arnulfo Fuentebella (fourth district).

But the President’s erstwhile Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera of Lakas-Kampi-CMD appeared headed for a resounding defeat in the congressional race in Quezon’s first district.

Based on a partial tally of the Comelec, reelectionist Rep. Mark Enverga (Nacionalista Party) got 84,857 votes while Devanadera received only 67,083.

Enverga is the son of three-term Gov. Wilfrido Enverga, who had also served as representative of the first district for nine years.

In Bacolod City’s mayoral race, Ms Arroyo’s close ally, Rep. Monico Puentevella (Lakas-Kampi-CMD), lost by more than 7,000 votes to the incumbent, Evelio Leonardia (Nationalist People’s Coalition).

Imelda’s brod loses

While the Marcoses in Ilocos Norte are celebrating their victory, the same mood could not be said of their kin in Tacloban City in Leyte province.

Alfredo “Bejo” Romualdez, younger brother of former first lady and now an elected congresswoman, Imelda Marcos, was trounced by his lone rival for the position of city vice mayor.

Based on the official count of the city board of canvassers, the 76-year-old Bejo (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino) obtained only 35,321 votes against reelectionist Vice Mayor Jose Arvin Antoni (Liberal Party), who received 38,731 or a difference of 3,410 votes.

However, Bejo’s son, Alfred, reelectionist city mayor, and daughter-in-law, Cristina, were proclaimed winners on Tuesday night. Alfred won by a landslide over his rival while Cristina landed No. 2 out of 38 candidates who sought council seats.

Osmeña party sweep

In Cebu City, Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) dominated the elections when all of its candidates from representative for two districts, mayor, vice mayor, the city council won handily over their opponents.

Vice Mayor Michael Rama of the BOPK-LP beat former Mayor Alvin Garcia of Kugi Uswag Sugbo, which was affiliated with the Nacionalista Party (NP) in the mayoral race. Rama had 210,520 votes while Garcia had 120,327.

In Mandaue City, Mayor Jonas Cortes won his reelection bid against Rep. Nerissa Soon Ruiz of the sixth district. Cortes got 77,082 votes against Ruiz’s 59,815.

In the gubernatorial race, incumbent Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia was leading her closest opponent, Hilario Davide III, son of retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr.

But Davide gave Garcia a good fight, winning in some of her bailiwicks.

Ampatuans leading?

Jailed Ampatuan patriarch Andal Sr. was slightly ahead in the vice gubernatorial race in Maguindanao with 122,561 votes against Ismael “Dustin” Mastura, who had 122,324, based on figures from the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV). Reports from Carla Gomez, Joey Gabieta, Jhunnex Napallacan, Felipe Celino, Elvie Roa, David Sinay, Nestor Burgos Jr. and Rachel Arnaiz, Inquirer Visayas; Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Juan Escandor Jr., Mar S. Arguelles and Jonas Cabiles Soltes, Inquirer Southern Luzon; and Frinston Lim, Orlando Dinoy, Richel Umel, Carlo Agamon, Tito Fiel, Ryan Rosauro, Julie Alipala, Cai Panlilio, JB Deveza, Grace Cantal-Albasin, Franklin Caliguid, Rosa May de Guzman, Edwin Fernandez and Charlie Señase, Inquirer Mindanao

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100513-269660/Across-nation-Arroyo-son-wins-in-Bicol-other-Palace-men-fall

Villar’s next campaign: leadership of Senate

2010-05-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

by Fel V. Maragay

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2010/may/12/news2.isx&d=2010/may/12

DESPITE the Liberal Party’s gains in this week’s elections, the Nacionalista Party is likely to have the upper hand in gaining control of the Senate when the 15th Congress opens its regular session in July.

After losing the presidential race, Nacionalista standard bearer Senator Manuel Villar Jr. may try to reclaim the Senate presidency. The Liberals, on the other hand, are expected to field former Senate president Frank Drilon.

The numbers are likely to favor Villar, who still has three years in his term as senator, just like his running mate Senator Loren Legarda, who lost the vice presidential race.

Three other candidates who ran under the Nacionalista banner—Senators Miriam Defensor-Santiago and Pia Cayetano and Ilocos Norte Rep. Ferdinand Marcos Jr.—look likely to win a place in the new Senate.

Alan Peter Cayetano, a sitting senator, is also a Nacionalista Party member.

In a Senate leadership fight, the Nacionalistas may rely on the support of Senator Joker Arroyo, a known ally and defender of Villar and Senator Edgardo Angara, president of the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, who backed Legarda in the vice presidential race.

On the other side of the fence, the Liberals have three or possibly four incoming senators: Drilon, former Senators Ralph Recto and Sergio Osmeña III, and Teofisto Guingona III.

Among the four Liberal senators in the 14th Congress, only one, Francis Pangilinan, will be left when the next Congress convenes.

At least three independent senators may be counted as Liberal allies—Francis Escudero, Panfilo Lacson and Antonio Trillanes, who all openly supported Aquino in the presidential contest.

But Lacson and Trillanes might not be able to vote in the election of the incoming Senate president. Lacson has gone into hiding abroad to evade arrest for his alleged involvement in the Dacer-Corbito murder case. Trillanes remains in jail for his involvement in the 2003 Oakwood mutiny.

Between Villar and Drilon, Villar is in a better position to forge a tactical alliance with Lakas-Kampi-CMD Senators Juan Miguel Zubiri, Ramon Revilla Jr. and Lito Lapid. He may also court the support of Vicente Sotto III of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, who is identified with the Arroyo administration.

With the new alignment of forces, political watchers say Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile will have little or no chance of retaining his position.

Enrile may only rely on his colleague in the Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino, Senator Jinggoy Estrada, and independent Senator Gregorio Honasan for support.

Enrile is unlikely to support Villar, whom he attacked as a corrupt politician during the last campaign, and is more likely to lean towards Drilon, a former law partner.

In the House of Representatives, the Lakas-Kampi-CMD expects to retain its dominance. The administration party fielded 169 candidates for congressmen, of whom about l06 have already been proclaimed or are about to be proclaimed winners, says party executive director Ray Roquero.

President Gloria Arroyo, who is running for Congress in the Second District of Pampanga, is far ahead of her opponents there, and wants to be speaker. The administration party’s control over the House is crucial to that bid.

Among the Lakas congressional bets who have either been proclaimed or are about to be proclaimed are:

Mitz Cahayon, Caloocan City; Magtanggol Guiniguindo, Valenzuela City; Ma. Theresa Bonoan-David, Manila; Roman Romulo, Pasig City; Bernardo Vergara, Baguio City; Victor Ortega, La Union; Rachel Arenas, Pangasinan; Rodolfo Albano Jr., Isabela; Janet Garin, Iloilo; Sergio Apostol, Leyte; Roger Mercado, Southern Leyte; Pedro Romualdo, Camiguin; Imelda Dimaporo; Lanao del Norte; Thelma Almario, Davao Oriental; Francisco Matugas, Surigao del Norte; Philip Pichay,

Surigao del Sur; Simeon Datumanong, Maguindanao; Tupay Loong, Sulu; Rodolfo Antonino, Nueva Ecija; Carina Umali, Nueva Ecija; Pedro Pancho, Bulacan; Albert Garcia, Bataan; Lani Revilla, Cavite; Elpidio Barzaga, Cavite, Edcel Lagman, Albay; and Rolando Andaya and Dato Arroyo, Camarines Sur.

A question mark is Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte, who seems open to becoming speaker again after winning election to the Fourth District of Quezon City.

He was noncommittal about going head to head against Mrs. Arroyo, with whom he was allied until the last election, when he bolted to the Liberals.

In a text message to Manila Standard, Belmonte said, “I will cross the bridge when I get there.’’ With Roy Pelovello

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2010/may/12/news2.isx&d=2010/may/12

Comelec pushing Congress to rely on automated count, not manual CoCs

2010-05-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

By Marie A. Surbano
05/13/2010

Original Story: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100513hed2.html

A president-elect proclaimed by Congress on the basis of electronically transmitted data appears to be the wish of the Commission on Elections, as the Comelec yesterday urged Congress to start counting the votes for president and vice president, despite the Senate not having received the manually prepared Certificates of Canvass (CoCs).

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez urged Congress to do the count by making use of the electronically transmitted CoCs as its basis in coming up with the results and for Congress to quickly proclaim a president-elect.

“Automation works. Automation is effective. All that is left is to see how many people can take advantage of it and its benefits, and, hopefully, Congress will also do that (rely on the automated count),” he said.

He stressed that Congress can start counting the votes for the two highest positions as almost all election returns are already transmitted and that it will not take long before the provincial board of canvassers (PBoCs) can complete the canvassing.

Senate sources, however told the Tribune yesterday that it is unlikely that the electronically transmitted data will be the basis of any presidential and vice presidential proclamation, as members of Congress prefer to wait for all the manually prepared CoCs before convening as a canvassing board, and use the manual CoCs as their basis for the proclamation of the president and vice president elect to ensure that the count is accurate and jibes with the electronically transmitted count.

“They (Congress) feel that this is the best way to check on the accuracy of the automated count. If they just go with the electronic count, then there won’t be any counter check on the electronically-transmitted count. It would be exactly the same (as the count Comelec has been doing the past days,” the sources said.

A senator who asked not to be named also told the Tribune that “perhaps the Comelec and others want to apply this pressure on the Congress, because they (Comelec) are afraid that the count will be different, if the manual CoC will be the basis of the congressional count, and not the electoronic count.”

The senator added that should the congressional count not match that of the Comelec’s electronically transmitted data, then this could reflect on the high inaccuracy of an automated count.”

On the part of Senate President Juan Ponce Ernile, he said the date of the national canvassing can be pushed ahead. “That can be discussed,” he said, adding that “Congress is the one that canvasses the votes cast for each candidate for president and vice president. It is the function of Congress to proclaim through proper resolution whoever is the winner for president as well as for vice president. No one else can do that,” Enrile said.

“Nobody will become president unless there is a proclamation of Congress. So any speculation, any tabulation or any summation of results of election will be meaningless. It is Congress, under the Constitution, that is authorized to do the formal canvassing and proclamation of winner for president and vice president,” he added.

Already, Speaker Prospero Nograles has instructed House Secretary General Marilyn Barua-Yap to lead the House special task force on canvassing in a series of consultative meetings with its Senate counterpart led by Senate Secretary Emma Lirio Reyes.

“We have agreed to propose to the joint session of Congress options on the rules of canvass that may be adopted to ensure efficient, transparent and credible canvass of votes,” Yap said in a press statement.

The canvassing is expected to be held at the Batasan Pambansa complex in Quezon City.

But Jimenez said that it is not yet clear when Congress will convene to canvass the votes for president and vice president.

According to, Section 16 of the Omnibus Election Code states that Congress should convene not later than 30 days after Election Day to open all the CoCs and count the votes for the positions of president and vice president.

“I see nothing that prevents them from doing it earlier so they should be able to do that if they are minded to,” he added.

Jimenez, however admitted that the Comelec cannot dictate on Congress when or how to count the votes.

“They formulate their own rules of canvass. Right now, we don’t know whether they will use our automated system or they will opt to use the CoCs that will be brought to them... if they want to do it slower, if they want to use different methods,, we are perfectly fine with that,” added Jimenez.

The Comelec en banc is sitting as the National Board of Canvassers (NBoC) that will canvass votes for senatorial and party-list votes.

Original Story: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100513hed2.html

Arroyo proclaimed in Pampanga

2010-05-12T18:44:00.000-07:00

BY REGINA BENGCO

Original Story: http://www.malaya.com.ph/05132010/news8.html

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga. — President Arroyo was proclaimed congresswoman of the second legislative district of Pampanga Wednesday night.

She will start her term as a lawmaker when she bows out as president on June 30.

Arroyo’s proclamation by Pampanga Provincial Election Supervisor lawyer Temie Lambino was greeted with cheers by more than 600 provincemates at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center here.

A large crowd gathered outside the building where the provincial canvassing of votes was held.

Arroyo got 77 percent or 169,109 of the 219,592 votes cast in the 22 towns and cities in Pampanga.

Her closest rival, Adonis Simpao of the Liberal Party, received only 20,922 votes.

Arroyo was accompanied by her "kumadre" Lilia Pineda, who defeated incumbent Gov. Ed Panlilio.

Pineda received 488,521 votes as against 242,367 votes of Panlilio, the candidate of the Liberal Party.

Arroyo replaced her elder son, Juan Miguel, in the second district. The younger Arroyo is gunning for a seat in the House of Representatives as a nominee of the party-list Ang Galing ng Pinoy.

Arroyo served as senator in the 9th and 10th Congress before she won as vice president in May 1998. She was then the running mate of Lakas-CMD candidate Jose de Venecia.

Aside from Arroyo, the winning congressmen were Carmelo Lazatin (first district); Aurelio Gonzales (third district); and Anna York Bondoc (fourth district).

Vice Gov. Joseller Guiao won his reelection bid.

Despite the administration party’s domination in Pampanga, the LP’s standard bearers took the province.

Sen. Benigno Aquino III got 327,666 votes as against 290,462 votes for Lakas-Kampi presidential bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr.

Original Story: http://www.malaya.com.ph/05132010/news8.html

Aquino took 8 regions in win

2010-05-12T18:39:00.000-07:00

BY EVANGELINE DE VERA

Original Story: http://www.malaya.com.ph/05132010/news5.html

BENIGNO Aquino III was the top choice for president in eight regions all over the country, including the Metro Manila, a regional scan of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting showed.

In the breakdown of votes, Aquino took Regions 4A, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13 (Calabarzon, Bicol, and the Western, Eastern and Central Visayas, and Caraga), the National Capital Region and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. His closest rival, Joseph Estrada took Regions 2, 10 and 12 (Cagayan Valley, Northern Mindanao and SOCCSKSARGEN.

Manny Villar got the most votes from Region 1 (Ilocos). Gilberto Teodoro took one province, Camiguin, in Region 10 (Northern Mindanao).

Several regions were split between the two top presidential candidates, such as Central Luzon, Cordillera Autonomous Region, Regions 4B (Mimaropa) and 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula).

In Central Luzon (Region 3), some provinces proved to be Aquino’s bailiwicks, such as Bataan, Bulacan, Zambales, his home province Tarlac, and President Arroyo’s province, Pampanga. Estrada took Nueva Ecija and Aurora provinces.

Vice presidential candidate Jejomar Binay, meanwhile, took majority of the votes in Region 2, 4a, 11 (Davao), 12 and NCR, while his closest rival Mar Roxas took Regions 6, 7 and 13 (Western and Central Visayas, and Caraga).

"All the other regions were split between Roxas and Binay, which reflects how close a race this is between the two," said PPCRV media and communications director Ana de Villa-Singson.

This was based on the 4:34 p.m. partial and unofficial tally of the PPCRV of 88.78 percent of the total clustered precincts.

Original Story: http://www.malaya.com.ph/05132010/news5.html

Garcia reelected as governor: Gwen wins by 90,000 votes

2010-05-12T18:31:00.000-07:00

By Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon
The Freeman
Updated May 13, 2010 12:00 AM

Original Story: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=574850&publicationSubCategoryId=107

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia was proclaimed winner of the gubernatorial race last night by the Provincial Board of Canvassers of the Commission on Elections at the Capitol Social Hall.

Garcia garnered a total of 639,587 votes against the 543,246 of her main rival Hilario Davide III.

Declared winner of the vice gubernatorial race was incumbent Gregorio Sanchez with 543,924 against the 517,687 of Glenn Soco, who was the runningmate of Garcia.

Garcia said that her margin of victory showed that it wasn’t a close fight.

“Having a margin of over 90,000 is not a close fight, I want to correct that mind-setting impression,” said Garcia before the proclamation.

She made this statement after several said that Davide, who was a two-term councilor of Cebu City before he threw his hat into the gubernatorial derby, gave the incumbent governor a run for her money.

Garcia said that her rivals tried to use a smear campaign against her, but she still prevailed.

The governor said that despite the black propaganda against her, the people of Cebu still gave her a new mandate.

“Bisan unsa kagrabe sa ilang pagbugal- bugal nako apan ang katawhan sa Sugbo mibarog kanako,” Garcia said.

Garcia presented to the media the propaganda materials containing caricatures maligning her that were distributed one day before the elections.

She also said that Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña even used the resources of the city to campaign for Davide by putting up billboards at the South Road Properties heckling her.

She also said that she will look into the results of the elections closely and try to figure out where they failed, but she is happy that most candidates of One Cebu Party won.

Garcia added that she will finish the projects that she started in her first two terms of office.

Congressional, Pb Races

In the First District, Rep. Eduardo Gullas was given an overwhelming fresh mandate having garnered 209,208 votes while his closest rival, Luna Sabalones, only got 10,527 votes.

Also given a fresh three-year term was Provincial Board Member Julian Daan for the 1st District. He will be joined by Dr. Sergio Restauro, a Councilor of Talisay City.

Daan, who is a popular radio personality, got a total of 156,341 votes while Restauro got 63,458 votes.

Rep. Pablo Garcia, the governor’s father, was also reelected to his post in the 2nd District while his son, Rep. Pablo John Garcia, also handily won in the 3rd District.

The elder Garcia got a total of 117,670 votes while his son garnered 127,730 votes.

The incumbent PB members of the 2nd District also got reelected. John Peter Calderon got 83,870 votes while Wilfredo Caminero got 77,783 votes.

In the 3rd District, PB member Ian Zambo was re-elected with 95,525 votes. He will be joined in the Provincial Board by Balamban Mayor Alex Binghay, who garnered 92,508 votes.

In the 4th District, incumbent Rep. Benhur Salimbangon handily won the race this time with a total of 137,324 votes against former Bogo Mayor Celestino “Tining” Martinez III, who only got 66,165.

The congressional race of this district was the most controversial in the 2007 elections. In fact, Martinez was declared winner by the Comelec weeks before the start of the campaign period, but never got the chance to take the seat as Salimbangon sought legal remedies.

Daanbantayan Mayor Sun Shimura got 90,548 votes to earn a seat in the PB for the 4th District joining reelected Joven Mondigo, who got 88,340 votes.

Rep. Ramon “Red” Durano VI was also reelected in the 5th District with a total of 163,874 votes against his cousin Jesus Durano, Jr. who got 24,441 votes.

Reelected as PB member for the 5th District was Agnes Magpale with 148,317 votes. She will be joined by nephew Jude Sybico, who got 103,099 votes in the board.

Former PB Member Gabriel Luis ‘Luigi’ Quisumbing was the runaway winner in the 6th District congressional race with an overwhelming 113,996 votes against rivals Ariston “Baludong” Cortes with 10,402 votes and Atty. Victor Biano with 5,504 votes.

Two former mayors also won seats for the provincial board representing the 6th District.

Former Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano made it with 81,575 votes while former Cordova Mayor Arleigh Sitoy got 66,746 votes. — with reports from Lesley Caminade and Jose Sollano/NLQ (FREEMAN NEWS)

Original Story: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=574850&publicationSubCategoryId=107

Bro. Eddie promises to help next President

2010-05-12T16:27:00.000-07:00

By BENG ANSULA
May 12, 2010, 5:09pm

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/node/257038/bro-eddie-promi

Bangon Pilipinas presidential candidate Eddie Villanueva vowed Wednesday to help in nation building as he appealed to the Filipino people to unite in the face of great adversities that beset the country.

"I already spoke with Senator Noynoy and told him I will be praying for his success and blessing," Villanueva said.

He said he would be supporting Aquino in his quest for good government and to regain the respect of the people for their leaders.

Even as he conceded defeat and congratulated the Liberal Party (LP) standard bearer, Villanueva praised the Filipino electorate for the successful outcome of Monday’s national and local elections.

He lauded the voters who endured the scorching heat of the sun and the long queues in the voting precincts to cast their votes.

Villanueva said he is elated that the Filipino people stood up to reclaim their power and authority to choose their leaders.

“Hindi tayo sumuko sa panandaliang hirap para sa pangmatagalang pakinabang ng bansa (We did not give up in the face of temporary hardship to advance the long-term interest of our country),” he said as he thanked all his supporters "who had been steadfast from the very beginning."

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/node/257038/bro-eddie-promi

Noynoy vows new era of clean rule

2010-05-12T16:17:00.000-07:00

May 12, 2010, 7:49pm

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/257064/noynoy-vows-new-era-clean-rule

"I want to lead by example. We talk about corruption. I did make a public vow, I will never steal," Aquino said in the interview, adding that this would give him the "moral authority" to make others conform.

MANILA, May 12, 2010 (AFP) - Leading presidential candidate Benigno Simeon "Noynoy" Aquino III pledged a new era of clean government as he railed Wednesday against outgoing leader Gloria Arroyo and her corruption-tainted administration.

The son of late democracy heroine Corazon Aquino trounced his rivals by a landslide in national elections on Monday and has since unleashed a barrage of criticism of his longtime rival.

The latest flare-up came after Arroyo on Wednesday named a new chief justice to the Supreme Court, one of a string of appointments Aquino and other critics believe are intended maintaining influence once she steps down.

In an interview with AFP on Tuesday, Aquino vowed to probe Arroyo for allegedly trying to rig the 2004 presidential election and accused her of using her time in power to enrich herself.

"She could have brought significant changes to this country but she chose to advance her personal interests and those who were supporting her personal interests to the detriment of the country," he said.

Aquino, a 50-year-old senator who campaigned on a pledge of clean government and a pledge to wipe out corruption in the impoverished nation, sought to portray an opposite image to one many Filipinos have of Arroyo.

"I want to lead by example. We talk about corruption. I did make a public vow, I will never steal," Aquino said in the interview, adding that this would give him the "moral authority" to make others conform.

Arroyo's spokesman said Wednesday the 63-year-old incumbent was ready to face any investigation over the alleged vote rigging and confident she would be found innocent.

"This offers the president an opportunity to answer these accusations, to clear the air and submit herself to the judgement of history," Gary Olivar said.

Arroyo, who took office in 2001 when Estrada was deposed for corruption and then won her own election in 2004, will not be disappearing from public life as she won a seat in Congress, where she is expected to build a new power base.

And Aquino also lashed out at the latest judicial appointment by Arroyo, who is due to hand over the reins of power in the nation of 94 million people on June 30.

"We call upon her to recognise the new government's right to appoint the next chief justice," Aquino said in a statement.

"There is still time for Mrs Arroyo to reconsider her decision. We hope she will choose not to add another burden on top of everything else she will be leaving behind."

Aquino rode a wave of support from the "People Power" movement of his democracy hero parents in Monday's election after almost a decade of rule by the unpopular Arroyo.

Although counting is not yet complete, partial results show him securing about 40 percent of the estimated 37.5 million votes cast in the country's first automated polls.

His closest rival, former president Joseph Estrada, 73, was trailing on 25 percent of the vote, with Arroyo's chosen successor and former defence secretary Gilberto Teodoro running a distant fourth.

But a proclamation can only be made after 100 percent of the data arrives, which election officials hope will occur by the end of the week.

Aquino -- who only decided to run after the death of his mother last year -- said he was aiming to pick his cabinet members ahead of the handover of power "so that come July 1, everybody is performing what they are supposed to do"

His party spokesman, Lorenzo Tanada, said he would appoint a transition team on Wednesday or Thursday in order to coordinate with the Arroyo's outgoing administration.

Aquino's mother led the "People Power" revolution that overthrew the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos in 1986 and then served as president.

His father, Benigno "Ninoy" Aquino, was shot dead in 1983 as he attempted to return from US exile to lead the movement against Marcos.

More than 17,000 positions were at stake -- from president down to municipal council seats -- and a cast of colourful and controversial characters won posts.

Among them were world boxing champion Manny Pacquiao and Imelda Marcos, the shoe-loving widow of Ferdinand, who both won seats in the House of Representatives.

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/257064/noynoy-vows-new-era-clean-rule

Arroyo to run for speaker, says brother-in-law

2010-05-12T16:11:00.000-07:00

By Carla Gomez
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 20:40:00 05/12/2010

Filed Under: Elections, Eleksyon 2010, Politics, Inquirer Politics

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100512-269604/Arroyo-to-run-for-speaker-says-brother-in-law

BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines—Negros Occidental Representative Ignacio "Iggy" Arroyo Jr. (5th District) said on Tuesday night the allies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would have the numbers to elect her as Speaker of the House.

Asked if the President, who won her congressional bid in the 2nd district of Pampanga, would go for the speakership, the Negros solon said, "Yes, I think she would."

In Negros Occidental, three of the winners in the congressional race, Representative Arroyo of the 5th district, Julio Ledesma IV (1st district) and Alfredo Marañon III (2nd district) belong to the Lakas-Kampi-CMD while another winner, former presidential spokesman Anthony Golez belongs to the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) but is close to the President.

Golez won in the Bacolod City congressional lone district with 58,708 votes over Renecito Novero who got 45,083.

Three other congressional winners, Albee Benitez (3rd district), Jeffrey Ferrer (4th district) and Genaro Alvarez(6th district) belong to the NPC.

In Iloilo, incumbent 1st district Representative Janet Garin (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) runs unopposed while in the 2nd district, controversial Augusto Syjuco Jr. (Lakas-Kampi-CMD), who ran into graft and corruption complaints when he was the director-general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, is ahead by a wide margin over Ramon Arenas Jr. (NPC), son of socialite Rosemarie Baby Arenas.

Another Arroyo ally, Arthur Defensor Jr. (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) is also winning in the 3rd district over former Agrarian Reform Secretary Rene Villa (LP).

Incumbent 4th Representative Ferjenel Biron (Nacionalista Party) is winning over Iloilo Gov. Niel Tupas (LP).

The 5th district race is really for oppositionists to Arroyo: Representative Niel Tupas Jr. (LP) is winning over his cousin, Iloilo Vice Gov. Rolex Suplico (NP).

President Arroyo also has two allies in Bohol, Bohol Governor Erico Aumentado (Lakas-Kampi-CMD), who won in the 2nd district congressional race, and Arthur Yap, (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) who ran unopposed in the 3rd district. However, it is not yet known if Rene Relampagos (Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino) who won in the 1st congressional district would support the speakership bid of the President.

In Cebu, five of the winning candidates in the congressional race, Rep. Eduardo Gullas of Alayon-NP (1st district), Rep. Pablo Garcia of Lakas-Kampi (2nd district), Rep. Pablo John Garcia of Lakas-Kampi (3rd district), Rep. Benhur Salimbangon of Lakas Kampi (4th district), Rep. Ramon Durano VI of NPC (5th district) and Arturo Radaza of Lakas-Kampi (Lapu-Lapu lone district) were closely allied with the President Macapagal-Arroyo. Gullas and Radaza have been proclaimed winners.

In Capiz, Representative Antonio del Rosario (LP) won in the 1st congressional district while Jane Castro (Lakas-Kampi), wife of outgoing Representative Fredenil Castro won in the 2nd district.

But there are victories for the Liberal Party (LP): Television host Lucy Torres Gomez, who ran under the Liberal Party, was proclaimed 10:30 a.m. Wednesday as the duly elected congressional representative for Leyte's fourth district, edging out her closest rival by more than 24,000 votes. Gomez, 35, replaced her husband Richard, who was earlier disqualified on residency issues.

In Cebu City, the congressional candidates of the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan, which is affiliated with the Liberal Party, won handily over their opponents.

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña edged out Jonathan Guardo while Rachel Marguerite Del Mar, daughter of Representative Raul del Mar, also won over Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann de los Santos.

However, in the past, both Osmeña and Del Mar's father were allies of President Arroyo. With Reports filed by Rachel Arnaiz, Vicente Labro, Joey Gabieta, Elvie Roman-Roa, Jani Arnaiz, Jhunnex Napallacan, Nestor Burgos Jr., David Sinay and Felipe Celino, Inquirer Visayas

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100512-269604/Arroyo-to-run-for-speaker-says-brother-in-law

KSA OAV: 24,093 OFWs cast ballots

2010-05-12T05:22:00.000-07:00

By RODOLFO C. ESTIMO JR | ARAB NEWS
Published: May 11, 2010 00:47 Updated: May 11, 2010 00:47

RIYADH: Over 24,000 Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) in the Kingdom cast their ballots for the Fillipino elections, which drew to a close at 2 p.m. on Monday. The deadline for votes was extended by one hour following instructions from Manila where voting was also extended by an hour.

Filipino Ambassador Antonio P. Villamor thanked all who supported the Philippines Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV), including employers who provided transportation for their employees to visit polling stations.

Altogether 24,093 OFWs — or 22.37 percent of the 111,952 registered voters in the Kingdom — cast their ballots.

Vice Consul Roussel Reyes, in charge of the OAV at the Philippine Embassy, said a total of 11,827 OFWs — or 22.37 percent of Riyadh ’s 52,869 registered voters — participated in the elections. He added that the voter turnout was much larger than in 2007 when only around eight percent of voters exercised their democratic rights.

In Jeddah, Consul Leo Tito L. Ausan Jr. said 7,292 OFWs — or 19.7 percent of the city’s 37,083 registered voters — voted. Despite the low turnout, officials say the ballot was a success. It has been honest, credible, fair and very peaceful. “Considering the problems which the OFWs or overseas absentee voters faced, the number of registered OFWs who voted is satisfactory,” said Ausan.

Labor Attaché Des T. Dicang of the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in the Eastern region also expressed satisfaction at the turnout, which totaled 4,974 — or 21 percent of the region’s 22,000 registered voters.

“Voter turnout was low, but high compared to other GCC countries where there is a large concentration of OFWs," he said.

Asked why the number of voters was much smaller than the total number of registered OFW voters in the Kingdom, the diplomats pointed to several reasons, including distance or accessibility, lack of transportation, the limited number of polling stations and time constraints.

Ambassador Antonio P. Villamor earlier told Arab News that there were Fillipino nationals living and working across the Kingdom. “For this reason, there is a need for a mass transport system in which traveling would be fast and cheap,” he said. Requests for more polling stations were earlier rejected by the Commission on Elections (Comelec). There were four polling stations in the Kingdom — the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, the International Philippine School in Alkhobar (IPSA), the Philippine International School in Buraidah (PISB) and the Philippines' Consulate General in Jeddah

Tension between Tingas, Cayetanos at Taguig city hall

2010-05-11T16:16:00.000-07:00

By Miko Morelos
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 14:53:00 05/11/2010

Original Story: http://politics.inquirer.net/politics/view/20100511-269403/Tension-between-Tingas-Cayetanos-at-Taguig-city-hall

(UPDATE) Tension brewed in Taguig city as supporters of top contenders in the mayoral race—retired supreme court associate justice Dante Tinga and Taguig-Pateros Representative Laarni Cayetano—massed up at City Hall eagerly awaiting the results of the elections.

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) Tension brewed in Taguig city as supporters of top contenders in the mayoral race—retired supreme court associate justice Dante Tinga and Taguig-Pateros Representative Laarni Cayetano—massed up at City Hall eagerly awaiting the results of the elections.

Cayetano is not his running against incumbent Mayor Sigfrido "Freddie" Tinga, son of Dante, as earlier reported.

This as the processing of election returns by the city board of canvassers was proceeding at a snail’s pace because of glitches in the laptop computer, which had been switched on since Monday night when canvassing began.

In their pink shirts, supporters of Cayetano, wife of incumbent Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, dotted Gen. Luna street, occupying half of the two lane road as early as 9 a.m. while others stood at corridors of commercial buildings facing City Hall.

Blue-shirted Tinga supporters meanwhile trickled at City Hall’s compound, entering at its back door as the police sealed the office’s front gate. Later, a drum and lyre band played tunes seemingly to irritate their rivals outside the compound.

At around 4 p.m., the board of canvassers had processed 95 percent of returns, which showed that Cayetano had about a 2,600-margin against Tinga.

At least 11 compact flash cards, which election workers failed to transmit electronically, had yet to be processed as of press time, according to the board.

Two battalions of truncheon-carrying riot police have been deployed to prevent supporters of both camps from clashing.

The laptop computer which the election board used since canvassing began Monday night was slowing the process, according to Dr. Meleda Polita, secretary of the body.

“It was switched on since last night. That plus the heat in here could have caused the slowdown,” she said.

At about 5 p.m., the board decided to use a backup precinct count optical scan machine to transmit the results in the compact flash card electronically.

Original Story: http://politics.inquirer.net/politics/view/20100511-269403/Tension-between-Tingas-Cayetanos-at-Taguig-city-hall

Fast count stuns nation (Faster than you can say ‘Garci’)

2010-05-11T11:47:00.000-07:00

By Kristine L. Alave, Cathy C. Yamsuan, Tarra Quismundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:50:00 05/12/2010

Filed Under: Inquirer Politics, Eleksyon 2010, Computing & Information Technology

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100512-269508/Fast-count-stuns-nation

MANILA, Philippines—Shell-shocked.

Winners and losers did not know what hit them as a barrage of election tallies—first a trickle, then a torrent—confronted them with the reality that the poisoned political environment had nothing to do with Monday’s automated elections, officials said Tuesday.

“It was faster than you can say Garci,” said Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair Jose Melo, alluding to disgraced former commissioner Virgilio Garcillano, who was accused of colluding with President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to rig the 2004 presidential election, a charge she denies.

The first results came from satellite transmissions—the VSATs and BGANs—from mountainous regions in northern Luzon where there were no regular cell phone sites and the voting populations were small.

At 3 p.m. on Monday, as attention was riveted on TV coverage of the chaos and confusion in the heavily populated voting centers, the Comelec decided to convene as the National Board of Canvassers.

The first results were coming in from Mountain Province at that time.

From then on, the transmission turned swift and steady, said Henrietta de Villa, chair of the Church-led Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), the Comelec’s citizen’s arm.

“It was better than expected,” she said.

At around 7 p.m., officials of Smartmatic-TIM, the Comelec’s automation partner, announced that 10,000 precincts had already transmitted results and had printed 30 election returns. By midnight, 57 percent of the precincts had reported results.

Cesar Flores, the company spokesperson, said that 92 to 95 percent of the results should be in by Tuesday midnight.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said that defeated candidates were “a little shell-shocked” when they realized that they had lost the race in just a few hours.

“The candidates, all of them, were taken by surprise,” Jimenez said.

“In the past, they still had time to manipulate the outcome,” said Ramon Casiple of the Comelec advisory council.

“That is not the case now,” Casiple said, comparing the electronic vote with the previous manual exercise.

Doomsday scenarios

Before Monday’s elections, talk was rife that the President was on overdrive scheming to remain in power beyond her term ending next month, that glitches would reach such a scale that there would be a failure of elections, that an operation plan was in the works for a takeover by a military junta.

The political speculation made preparations for the balloting difficult, Flores conceded.

“Some people said we were going to cheat for somebody,” Flores said. But no politician even attempted to approach the company to rig the vote, he said.

“There was a lot of noise and a lot of wrong accusation. The job speaks for itself. All our projections came true. We never lied to the people. We never overpromised anything,” he added.

Flores said that in spite of the last minute glitches—the recall and replacement of the memory cards for the 76,300 counting machines at the eleventh hour last week—the event turned into a “great project.”

“I would say our work in this election would give us credibility,” said Melo at noon Tuesday with around 75 percent, or about 30 million, of ballots cast counted.

Lessons learned

Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said that the quick delivery of results was “a big step forward towards the restoration of the credibility.”

“By this election, we are learning. There are glitches we have to remedy in future elections. In other words, we know now where we were short,” said Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer.

Sarmiento said the complaints about long queues, problems with counting machines and alleged disenfranchisement would all be considered “raw data to improve and enhance our electoral process so that we can provide a robust democracy for the Philippines.”

Turning to recent history, Melo recalled many instances when local Comelec officials were racing to proclaim candidates, even without a sufficient partial count to make this conclusion.

“But here, under this system actually, there can be no proclamation unless there is a 100 percent count,” Melo said.

“The process in 2007 was quite tortuous and cumbersome,” Sarmiento said. “All ballot boxes have to be opened, to be examined carefully piece by piece. It was a very long process and objections were made by lawyers left and right.”

Birth pains

Under automated elections, Sarmiento said the Comelec would now proclaim winners based on electronically transmitted data in a process faster than the old manual system.

Ferrer said he still expected protests. “This is a free country.”

The automation technology worked, said PPCRV’s Clifford Sorita. “Some glitches had to be adjusted, but these are birth pains,” he said. “We are learning.”

At the morning session of the canvassing for senatorial and party-list candidates, Melo abruptly called off the proceedings amid grandstanding by some lawyers.

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal had suddenly approached the microphone and demanded the examination of the sealed envelopes opened with electronic user’s names and passwords.

“These proceedings are taking longer than the automation,” he said, banging the gavel and suspending the canvassing until the afternoon.

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100512-269508/Fast-count-stuns-nation

Roxas still confident of winning VP race

2010-05-11T10:10:00.000-07:00

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/eleksyon2010/story/news/190728/roxas-still-confident-of-winning-vp-race

For Sen. Manuel “Mar" Roxas II, the fight for the vice-presidency is not yet over despite the lead being enjoyed by Makati mayor Jejomar Binay.

“The race as between me and my closest competitor is indeed very tight. However, it is not for me, or anybody for that matter, to say if we’ve already lost," Roxas said in a statement.

Roxas noted that the partial and official tally of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as of 3:57 p.m. was based only on roughly 85 percent of all election returns.

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

“This means roughly five million voters in more than 11,000 precincts have yet to be taken into consideration," he said.

Roughly half of the 11,000 precincts are expected to come from regions considered as bailiwicks of the Liberal Party, Roxas’ political group where he is in tandem with Sen. Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III, the leading presidential candidate.

“This just underscores that the fight is not yet over, and we should remain vigilant," Roxas said.

A partial and unofficial tally of GMANews.TV as of 9:15 p.m. showed Binay maintaining his lead with 12,802,259 votes compared to Roxas’ 11,949,985. Coming in at far third was Sen. Loren Legarda with 3,563,758.

Legarda had already conceded defeat to Binay. —KBK, GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/eleksyon2010/story/news/190728/roxas-still-confident-of-winning-vp-race

134,000 participate in overseas absentee voting—Comelec

2010-05-11T04:56:00.000-07:00

By Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net First Posted 17:07:00 05/10/2010

Filed Under: Overseas Absentee Voting, Elections, Eleksyon 2010

Original Story: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20100510-269229/134000-participate-in-overseas-absentee-votingComelec

MANILA, Philippines—Over 130,000 overseas Filipino workers have cast their votes in the first automated presidential elections, the Commission on Elections said on Monday.

Comelec Commissioner Armando Velasco said that in Hong Kong, only 35,087 of the 95,000 registered voters cast their votes as of this time, or a 40 percent voter turnout.

In Singapore, voter turnout is low with just 8,611 of 35,000 registered voters having participated in the overseas absentee voting, Velasco said.

Worldwide, those who cast their votes through postal mail numbered 56,614, Comelec reported.

Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said that the low voter turnout could have been because some of the voters have transferred to another area.

“You have to also verify because the number of registered voters jumped. There is a possibility they are registered in Hong Kong or Singapore and they transferred to another area so that’s a possibility also why mababa yung (low) turnout,” he said.

Original Story: http://globalnation.inquirer.net/news/breakingnews/view/20100510-269229/134000-participate-in-overseas-absentee-votingComelec

2010 election surprise: Binay leading Roxas

2010-05-11T02:48:00.000-07:00

ROBERTO VERZOLA, Halalang Marangal (HALAL)

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/190631/2010-election-surprise-binay-leading-roxas

The most recent Comelec report as of this writing (May 10, 2010, 11:30 p.m., 57% of all election returns canvassed) suggests that the 2010 presidential election is an Aquino landslide.

Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III seems to be getting roughly three votes for every two votes for Joseph "Erap" Estrada and one vote for Manuel "Manny" Villar Jr., confirming late pre-election surveys that showed a widening lead by Aquino over his closest rivals, and a precipitate drop in Villar’s share of the votes.

The tight vice-presidential race is the surprise of the 2010 elections, with Jejomar "Jojo" Binay roughly getting 8-10% more votes than early survey front-runner Manuel "Mar" Roxas III. It also confirms late pre-election surveys of a come-from-behind surge by Binay and a collapse in Loren Legarda’s share.

The top ten in the senatorial race, based on the same Comelec partial report, are Ramon "Bong" Revilla Jr., Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Franklin Drilon, Juan Ponce Enrile, Pilar Juliana "Pia" Cayetano, Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., Ralph Recto, Vicente Sotto III, and Sergio Osmeña III.

Occupying the eleventh to the fourteenth slots – traditionally a very tight contest – are Manuel "Lito" Lapid, Teofisto "TG" Guingona III, Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel, and Rozzano "Ruffy" Biazon.

Without a breakdown of the election returns received per region or province, it is hard to put the above reports into context. Whether the rankings can still change significantly depends on those regions which are most incomplete in terms of submitted election returns.

Where cheating happens

It is in the low-completion regions where the cheating usually happened in the past. Some municipalities or even provinces would purposely delay reporting their returns, to allow candidates to estimate how many votes they needed to win. They would then bargain with local officials who control the uncanvassed ERs to swing the results in their favor.

The incoming flow of electronic ERs will slow down when all precinct clusters whose voting machines worked, were able to produce a vote count and transmit their results to central servers have completed their transmissions.

Then the results will start coming in more slowly, from voting machines whose memory cards are being physically transported to municipal canvassing centers. These memory cards will be inserted into card readers of the municipal canvassing servers, and their contents “imported," to be merged with the ERs that had been electronically transmitted.

Cheats and new technology

This is another danger area. Depending on how quickly cheats have mastered the new technology, some may have already acquired enough sophistication to configure false memory cards and attempt an operation to substitute memory cards, analogous to the old practice of ballot-box substitution.

Also, a still-to-be-determined percentage of precincts will still conduct a manual count, if no machine reached them in time, or the machine broke down and its replacement could not get there in time, or if the ballots or the replacement memory card did not get to the precinct in time.

Then manual methods of cheating can still occur. It is in fact much easier now to shade ovals than write names. Thousands can be marked without giving away the secret like handwriting would. Several million votes may still be at stake here.

In the past, the conclusion of precinct counting would just be the start of various cheating operations that occur at the municipal, provincial and national levels. It never mattered to cheats that their operations would create discrepancies between precinct-level data and higher-level data. As long as their candidate was proclaimed, the challenges, costs and delays that faced any post-proclamation protest was enough to deter all but the most determined victims of cheating. After all, they got away with it in 2004 and 2007.

Thus, cheats may still launch attempts at the municipal level and provincial levels, if they had already found ways to do so. One should not underestimate the creativity of cheats.

However, Aquino’s seeming landslide win will probably deter any attempt to cheat him in favor of the runner-up. Estrada’s huge lead in the 1998 presidential elections, and Obama’s huge lead in the U.S. elections in 2008, had made it extremely difficult for a cheating operation to succeed. Thus, the cheats did not even dare, even if the machinery to do so was already in place. Had they led by a much smaller margin, the outcomes might have been different.

If his landslide win insulates Aquino from any outcome-changing attempt at fraud, the same cannot be said in other contests.

The close vice-presidential contest may tempt one or both of the protagonists to tap operators to either strengthen one’s lead or overcome the opponent’s. Too many votes remain uncounted for either side to relax their guard. The drama of the 2010 elections remains to be played out over the vice-presidential contest.

The senatorial contest too has traditionally been marked by a very close contest between the 12th and the 13th placers. In 2007, Zubiri’s margin over Pimentel was only .07% of Pimentel’s votes and this was obtained through statistically impossible results from six municipalities in Maguindanao.

In such close contests, we will need the .005% or lower error rate from PCOS machines specified by the Comelec. Unfortunately, the accuracy rates of these machines remain a big question mark, especially after the fiasco just a few days before the elections.

Again, some of the protagonists in the senatorial contest may be tempted to mount an operation to ensure a 12th or higher position. Whether anyone actually will, remains to be seen.

Finally, given the recent fiasco of gross errors from the voting machines, will losers – especially local candidates – accept at face value the numbers reported by these machines, or will they question the results and demand a recount to double-check their accuracy?

Until these questions are settled, it is too early to declare the 2010 automated elections a complete success. - HS, GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/190631/2010-election-surprise-binay-leading-roxas

4 presidential bets concede defeat

2010-05-11T02:42:00.000-07:00

INQUIRER.net, Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 11:12:00 05/11/2010

Filed Under: Elections, Politics, Eleksyon 2010

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100511-269384/4-presidential-bets-concede-defeat

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE 2) A day after the election, four presidential candidates conceded to Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, currently the frontrunner in the political race that saw over 40 million Filipinos vote electronically for the first time for their leaders in the national and local levels.

Senators Manuel Villar and Richard Gordon, former defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro, and JC de los Reyes of Kapatiran Party issued separate statements giving notice that they were dropping out of the contest and expressed their support for Aquino who was expected to be proclaimed the next president.

Villar and Gordon said that “the people have spoken” and congratulated Aquino on his impending victory.

"Nagpasya na ang mga mamamayang Pilipino. Malinaw na sa kabila ng ating pagpupunyagi, hindi tayo nabiyayayaan ng tagumpay sa halalan noong Lunes [The Filipino people have decided. It is clear that despite our efforts, we were not blessed to win in Monday’s elections]," Villar said, reading a prepared statement before members of the media in his headquarters at the Starmall in Mandaluyong early Tuesday.

"Humaharap ako sa inyo ngayon upang tanggapin ang pasyang ito, upang igalang ang boses ng sambayanang Pilipino [I face you now to accept this decision, to respect the voice of the Filipino people]," said Villar who, before the elections, was considered Aquino’s closest rival for the highest post in the land.

"I fought a good fight…I congratulate Senator Noynoy Aquino on his victory. The challenges he and our country face are enormous and we should all work together," Villar, who was clad in white polo barong, said.

Meanwhile, Gordon asked his volunteers to “support the new government.”

De los Reyes said that while he conceded to the electoral count, he would not give up “the platform I was tasked to push, which is to finally enact the anti-dynasty law and abolish pork barrel.”

He also expressed support for Aquino in “efforts we have in common” but did not say what these were.

As for Teodoro, he said he might seek another position “if there would be a new system of government.”

Villar will remain a senator as he has yet to finish his six-year term while Gordon will return to private life and continue his volunteer work with the Philippine National Red Cross.

Villar lamented that he was the subject of lies during the campaign.

He said he believed that he would be given the chance to clear his name before the public.

"Ako ay naniniwala na sa darating na mga araw ako ay mabibigyan ng pagkakataon na linisin ang aking pangalan upang maliwanagan ang ating mga kababayan. Yan ang mahalaga sa akin higit sa anupamang bagay [I believe that someday I will be given the chance to clear my name before our countrymen. That is most important to me now]," he said.

Villar thanked his family, volunteers, supporters, and his party-mates for sticking it out with him in this election.

He said he would also remember the millions of Filipinos he met during the campaign trail, especially the poor.

"For the rest of my life, I will remain their champion. Bagamat ako ay hindi pinalad, ang aking pangarap na tapusin ang kahirapan ay hindi nagwawakas [Even though I wasn’t fortunate, my dream to end poverty is not finished]," he said.

Tuesday's public appearance capped Villar's aspiration for the highest office of the land which some said began as early as 2007 when he was re-elected senator.
Lira D. Fernandez and Veronica Uy, INQUIRER.net; Jerome Aning, Edson Tandoc Jr., and Robert Gonzaga, Inquirer

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100511-269384/4-presidential-bets-concede-defeat

HALALAN 2010: Latest Comelec official results (Updated: 00:50, May 11, 2010)

2010-05-10T11:10:00.000-07:00

abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 05/10/2010 11:26 PM | Updated as of 05/11/2010 1:46 AM

Original Story: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/halalan-2010/latest-comelec-official-results

The latest partial official results of the May 10, 2010 National Elections from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Updated: 00:50 Philippine Standard Time, May 11, 2010.

PRESIDENT	VOTES
AQUINO	10,137,173
ESTRADA	6,413,712
VILLAR	3,476,693
TEODORO	2,660,865
VILLANUEVA	767,615
GORDON	378,247
PERLAS	33,858
MADRIGAL	30,536
DELOS REYES	28,102

VICE PRESIDENT	VOTES
BINAY	10,072,980
ROXAS	9,239,205
LEGARDA	2,603,832
FERNANDO	720,791
MANZANO	455,325
YASAY	248,232
SONZA	41,774
CHIPECO	31,621

Updated: 23:11 Philippine Standard Time, May 10, 2010.

SENATORS	VOTES
REVILLA	11,622,707
ESTRADA	11,577,545
DEFENSOR-SANTIAGO	10,664,143
DRILON	9,777,874
ENRILE	9,673,563
CAYETANO	8,496,807
MARCOS	8,349,399
RECTO	7,588,912
SOTTO	7,435,186
OSMENA	7,055,021
LAPID	6,547,022
GUINGONA	6,349,249
HONTIVEROS-BARAQUEL	5,746,130
BIAZON	5,375,657
DE VENECIA	5,165,124
REMULLA	4,695,661
LIM	4,592,207
ROCO	4,154,386
QUERUBIN	4,088,669
PIMENTEL	3,778,893
ACOSTA	3,577,222
LACSON	3,117,843
TAMANO	2,474,286
MAZA	2,369,680

Data from the Commission on Elections

Original Story: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/halalan-2010/latest-comelec-official-results

HALALAN 2010: Latest Comelec official results (57% of precincts reporting)

2010-05-10T10:14:00.000-07:00

abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 05/10/2010 11:26 PM | Updated as of 05/11/2010 12:46 AM

Original Story: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/halalan-2010/latest-comelec-official-results

The latest partial official results of the May 10, 2010 National Elections from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Updated: 23:11 Philippine Standard Time, May 10, 2010; 57% of precincts reporting.

PRESIDENT	VOTES
AQUINO	8,958,396
ESTRADA	5,678,821
VILLAR	3,058,942
TEODORO	2,347,274
VILLANUEVA	684,722
GORDON	340,487
PERLAS	29,832
MADRIGAL	27,050
DELOS REYES	24,612

VICE PRESIDENT	VOTES
BINAY	8,935,188
ROXAS	8,153,093
LEGARDA	2,297,058
FERNANDO	641,839
MANZANO	394,308
YASAY	220,824
SONZA	37,182
CHIPECO	27,580

SENATORS	VOTES
REVILLA	11,622,707
ESTRADA	11,577,545
DEFENSOR-SANTIAGO	10,664,143
DRILON	9,777,874
ENRILE	9,673,563
CAYETANO	8,496,807
MARCOS	8,349,399
RECTO	7,588,912
SOTTO	7,435,186
OSMENA	7,055,021
LAPID	6,547,022
GUINGONA	6,349,249
HONTIVEROS-BARAQUEL	5,746,130
BIAZON	5,375,657
DE VENECIA	5,165,124
REMULLA	4,695,661
LIM	4,592,207
ROCO	4,154,386
QUERUBIN	4,088,669
PIMENTEL	3,778,893
ACOSTA	3,577,222
LACSON	3,117,843
TAMANO	2,474,286
MAZA	2,369,680

Data from the Commission on Elections

Original Story: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/halalan-2010/latest-comelec-official-results

President, vice president, senators likely known by Tuesday -- Smartmatic

2010-05-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:11:00 05/11/2010

Filed Under: Elections, Eleksyon 2010

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100511-269279/President-vice-president-senators-likely-known-by-Tuesday----Smartmatic

MANILA, Philippines -- The Filipino nation will know the next President, vice president and the 12 new senators of the republic by Tuesday, according to the Smartmatic TIM, the technology partner of the Commission on Elections in the country’s first ever automated elections.

Cesar Flores, spokesman of the Smartmatic TIM, projected on Monday night that 80 percent of the results would be in by Tuesday and that would show a clearer picture of the winners in the presidential, vice presidential and senatorial races.

"When you wake up tomorrow (Tuesday) about 80 percent of the results are transmitted. You will have a very clear trend on who will be the next president, vice president, and senators," he said in a joint press conference with the Commission on Elections.

Happy with the national conduct of the automated elections, Comelec Chairman Jose Melo, said "This seems to be the victory of the Filipino people with God's help."

The first automated elections have been marked by malfunctioning vote scanning and counting machines, rejected ballots and voters who backed out of voting, turned off by the long lines and the slow wait for their turn to vote, as only one board of election inspectors was tasked to take care of three to five precincts clustered into one.

But Melo said these cases did not lead to massive failure of elections. “I'm smiling again. It was successful. I will add the 'very part' later,” the poll chief said.

Melo placed the machine malfunction at only .05 percent of all the Precinct Count Optical Scan machines were replaced due to various technical glitches.

The number was less than the expected 2.5%-5% replacement rate the company prepared in its contingency plan.

Cesar Flores, Smartmatic TIM spokesman, said 10,000 precincts reported to have finished the voting and had printed 30 election returns as of 7 pm. The number, he said, was better than expected.

As to the snaking lines in the precincts, Melo admitted that the poll body would have to study the queue management in the future.

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100511-269279/President-vice-president-senators-likely-known-by-Tuesday----Smartmatic

HALALAN 2010: Latest Comelec official results

2010-05-10T09:03:00.000-07:00

abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 05/10/2010 11:26 PM | Updated as of 05/10/2010 11:31 PM

Original Story: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/halalan-2010/latest-comelec-official-results

The latest partial official results of the May 10, 2010 National Elections from the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Updated: 21:45 Philippine Standard Time, May 10, 2010

PRESIDENT	VOTES
AQUINO	5,853,537
ESTRADA	3,728,723
VILLAR	2,024,119
TEODORO	1,541,199
VILLANUEVA	453,016
GORDON	226,552
ACOSTA	61,704
PERLAS	19,196
MADRIGAL	17,556
DELOS REYES	15,842

VICE PRESIDENT	VOTES
BINAY	5,881,187
ROXAS	5,310,355
LEGARDA	1,542, 687
FERNANDO	422,607
MANZANO	249,025
YASAY	144,471
SONZA	24, 616
CHIPECO	17,971

SENATORS	VOTES
REVILLA	7,662,751
ESTRADA	7,626,985
DEFENSOR-SANTIAGO	7,019,693
DRILON	6,410,400
ENRILE	6,385,226
MARCOS	5,582,048
CAYETANO	5,574,951
RECTO	4,995,783
SOTTO	4,914,286
OSMENA	4,469,595
LAPID	4,345,674
GUINGONA	4,143,702
HONTIVEROS-BARAQUEL	3,755,855
BIAZON	3,521,513
DE VENECIA	3,402,227
REMULLA	3,078,411
LIM	3,020,232
QUERUBIN	2,688,673
ROCO	2,682,810
PIMENTEL	2,435,828
ACOSTA	2,313,805
LACSON	2,038,379
TAMANO	1,626,493
MAZA	1,542,485

Original Story: http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/halalan-2010/latest-comelec-official-results

Noynoy leads partial, unofficial tally of PPCRV

2010-05-10T05:50:00.000-07:00

May 10, 2010, 7:57pm

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/256784/noynoy-leads-partial-unofficial-tally-ppcrv

Liberal Party standard bearer Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino Monday made an early lead among his competitors in the presidential race, while Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay was leading among the vice presidential hopefuls in the partial and unofficial tally of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV).

Initial tally returns from 985 precincts as of 7:50 p.m. Monday showed that Aquino was leading the pack of presidential aspirants with a total of 111,191 votes.

Aquino was followed by Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) presidential candidate former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada with 85,756 votes and Nacionalista Party bet Manuel “Manny” Villar with 69,756 votes.

Tailing behind the three were Lakas-Kampi-CMD candidate Gilbert Teodoro Jr. (35,909) and Bangon Muna Presidential candidate Bro. Eddie Villanueva (9,809).

KBL bet Vitalano Acosta, who was disqualified recently by the Commission on Elections, surprisingly garnered 2,011 votes, edging out Bagong Bayan Candidate Dick Gordon with 1,303 votes, Nicanor “Nick” Perlas with 491 votes, Senator Jamby Madrigal with 418 votes, and JC De los Reyes with 385 votes.

In the vice presidential race, Binay pulled a surprise early lead against survey leader and LP vice president Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.

As of 7:75 p.m., Binay got 118, 092 votes to post a lead against Roxas who only got 91,991 votes.

Behind the two was Nacionalista Party vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda with 66,061 votes.

PPCRV partial and unofficial count as of 7:51 p.m.:

Aquino 111,191 votes
Estrada 85,756
Villar 69,756
Teodoro 35,909
Villanue 9,809
Acosta 2,011
Gordon 1,303
Perlas 491
Madrigal 418
De los Reyes 385

As of 7:55 p.m. -- Vice President

Binay 118,092
Roxas 91,991
Legarda 66,061
Manzano 10,490
Fernando 5,575
Yasay 2,602
Chipeco 591
Sonza 513

For senators:

Revilla 159,174
Estrada 135,785
Defensor Santiago 109,536
Enrile 104,286
Lapid 95,792
Drilon 92,635
Marcos 87,354
Cayetano 81,992
Recto 79,020
Sotto 68,562

(Leonard D. Postrado)

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/256784/noynoy-leads-partial-unofficial-tally-ppcrv

Initial Comelec results out at 9 p.m. (Transmission of votes ongoing)

2010-05-10T05:24:00.000-07:00

By Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 19:53:00 05/10/2010

Filed Under: Elections, Eleksyon 2010, Politics

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100510-269241/Initial-Comelec-results-out-at-9-pm

MANILA, Philippines—Transmission of votes has begun at 7 p.m. Monday and the Commission on Elections is expected to release the first official, consolidated results of the first ever automated presidential elections by 9 p.m., Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said.

Comelec officials also announced the website where the precinct results will be posted.

Interested individuals or groups can view election results at http://electionresults.ibanangayon.ph, according to Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.

Comelec officials said that results will be updated regularly as votes from various precincts come in.

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100510-269241/Initial-Comelec-results-out-at-9-pm

Aquino, Binay in early lead for president, vice president

2010-05-10T05:19:00.000-07:00

By Tetch Torres
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 19:25:00 05/10/2010

Filed Under: Elections, Politics, Eleksyon 2010

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100510-269236/Aquino-Binay-in-early-lead-for-president-vice-president

MANILA, Philippines – Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay are leading the presidential and vice presidential race respectively, according to the initial transmission of results from various precinct count optical scanning machines nationwide.

Aquino, standard-bearer of the Liberal Party, is ahead of his rivals with 86,990 votes while Binay, runningmate of former president Joseph Estrada, is on top of the vice presidential list with 104, 042.

Estrada is behind Aquino, with 67, 425 while Senator Manny Villar is in third, with 55, 639, according to the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, which started announcing the partial results immediately after the polling precincts closed at 7 p.m.

Other candidates for the presidency: Administration candidate Gilbert Teodoro: 27, 117; Brother Eddie Villanueva, Bangon Pilipinas, 7,947; Vitaliano Acosta, who was disqualified early in the race but whose name has remained in the ballot has 1,546;
Senator Richard Gordon, 1,088; Nicanor Perlas: 382; Senator Ana Consuelo “Jamby”, 332: and JC Delos Reyes of Kapatiran, 330.

In the vice presidential race, Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas II, runningmate of Aquino, is in second with 81, 116 while Senator Loren Legarda, Villar’s candidate, is in third with 58, 740.

The rest: Administration candidate Edu Manzano, 9, 122; Bayani Fernando, Gordon’s runningmate, 4,883; Perfecto Yasay, 2330; Dominador Chipeco Jr., 519; and broadcaster Jay Sonza, 464

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100510-269236/Aquino-Binay-in-early-lead-for-president-vice-president

DIGITAL DEMOCRACY DAWNS (50M to vote in first automated elections)

2010-05-10T03:52:00.000-07:00

Monday, 10 May 2010 00:00
BY BERNICE CAMILLE V. BAUZON REPORTER

Original Story: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/17030-digital-democracy-dawns

Some 50,723,734 registered voters are expected to cast their ballots in the first nationwide automated elections today, (Monday), making use of some 82,200 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines supplied by the joint venture of Smartmatic and Total Information Management (TIM). With the completion of the delivery of the PCOS machines, ballot boxes, pre-printed ballots and other election paraphernalia to some 76,000 clustered precincts of the country’s 7,106 islands on Sunday, the poll body was expecting a successful conduct of the historic computerized polls.

‘98 percent prepared’
Commissioner Rene Sarmiento of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) also on Sunday said that the poll body was almost “98-percent prepared” for conducting the automated elections.

“Based on assessment, we will be hitting 98-percent preparedness. The 2 percent that we will not meet, we will have contingency plan,” Sarmiento added.

Malacañang deputy spokesman Gary Olivar also on Sunday noted the significance of today’s elections, not only to the country, but also to Asia’s political history, saying that “digital democracy” will help ensure continuity of Philippine republican institutions and processes.

“The whole world is watching today, as too our young to whom we bequeath the future benefits of this innovation in suffrage,” Olivar added.

He assured that Monday’s political exercise will be credible despite earlier glitches in the PCOs machines—the heart of the automated balloting.

“The elections will be a success,” Olivar said, also noting that the police, military, public-school teachers and the whole machinery of the executive department under will do their share along with hundreds of thousands volunteers from the private sector.

Peaceful transition
Olivar reminded the people to vote only their conscience, saying that the truly wasted vote is the one that is sold for money or merely traded for the opinions of a handful of survey respondents.

He also assured Filipinos that after the elections, regardless of results, the Arroyo administration will put all of its resources behind a successful transition of power.

Projected areas that were seen to receive compact flash cards late, and thereby delay testing and sealing procedures of the PCOS machines, are one municipality in Northern Samar and one in Abra.

Sarmiento, however, said that these places were “historically problematic and inaccessible areas.”

He counted Nueva Vizcaya with the municipalities in Northern Samar and Abra as areas that might be in the 2-percent worst-case scenario although the problem with Nueva Vizcaya was on the i-buttons, not the flash cards.

Still, the commissioner said that “efforts are being made” to deliver the cards to Northern Samar and Abra.

He added that the 2-percent projected worst-case scenario will cover about one million, or fewer registered voters compared with the 5-percent scenario raised earlier by the commission.

Problems over
Comelec Chairman Jose Melo also on Sunday said that problems with the wrong configuration of the compact flash cards are over since all election paraphernalia have reached designated polling precincts.

“We have a reason to smile. Our big problem, which caused this big worry are the compact flash cards.
Now, all the machines, all the PCOS machines and all the ballots are in place. They are in voting places,” Melo told a press conference at the Philippine International Convention Center, where the national canvassing center is now located.

He reported that the entire Luzon area, except for Nueva Vizcaya, “is okay.”

Melo, though, said that the problem with the province is not with the delivery of the reconfigured flash cards, but with the i-buttons for the PCOS machines.

He added that the issue with the i-buttons was being remedied since new i-buttons are on their way to the province to replace computer chips that had malfunctioned.

A problem earlier arose in Nueva Vizcaya where some of the PCOS units’ buttons have conked out.

Smartmatic Southeast Asia President Cesar Flores said that the i-buttons will allow the members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) to access the menu of the PCOS machines.

“It [i-button] is a key to activate the menu. It will allow you to access the menu of the machines. If you cannot access, you cannot open, close or print,” he added.

Flores explained that i-buttons are mere computer chips that can be found in common elevators.

“We’re sending new buttons now,” he said.

“That does not affect the accuracy of the machines, but are needed to start the machines. We have lifted it already in Nueva Vizcaya. Tomorrow morning, there will be air assets to help distribute to precincts in Nueva Vizcaya,” Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, the head of the poll body’s steering committee, said.

Melo said that around 70 percent to 75 percent of the PCOS machines have undergone testing and sealing procedures. “This will go up probably by 6 p.m. today [Sunday]. There are places [that] will work even at night time. We are confident by tomorrow [Monday] there’ll be very few places where the [compact flash cards] will not be tested.”

He reiterated, however, that even without the testing and sealing of machines, registered voters can still go out and vote as ballots cast can be dropped into ballot boxes and counted later on.

Flash cards
But as soon as the cards have been tested and sealed together with the machines, the ballots will be counted and simultaneously transmitted to provincial, municipal and national canvassing centers, as well as to the servers of the accredited poll watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkasters ng Pilipinas (KBP) and the dominant majority and dominant minority parties.

The dominant majority status was earlier given to administration party Lakas-Kampi Christian Muslim Democrats and the dominant minority party status, to the Liberal Party.

A compact flash card sends instructions to the PCOS machines on how to read and count the ballots cast.

Voters are set to elect a president, vice president, 12 senators, 230 congressmen, 57 party-list seats in the House of Representatives, 80 governors, 80 vice governors, 766 members of provincial boards, 137 city mayors, 137 vice mayors, 1,524 city councilors, 1,497 municipal mayors, 1,497 municipal vice mayors and 11,980 municipal legislative positions or a total of 17,999 positions.

Joint venture
Smartmatic-TIM was awarded the P7.2-billion automation contract in May last year after submitting the lowest calculated bid that reached the technical, logistical and financial requirements of the poll body’s limited P11.2-billion budget for automating the 2010 polls.

Although Smartmatic and TIM has cleared hurdles in their partnership—with reports of administrative and financial misunderstandings between the two camps—Melo has managed to patch up issues between the Barbados-based Smartmatic and the Filipino-owned TIM.

With the contract signed and the agreement between the Comelec and the PCOS supplier cemented, the poll body immediately suited up for the first nationwide automated elections.

Smartmatic-TIM in February this year completed the delivery of some 82,200 PCOS machines after hurdling some shipping problems and after transferring the production of the machines from Taiwan to China.

It was also tapped by the Comelec to print more than 50 million official ballots, with a ratio of one ballot per voter.

Smartmatic-TIM decided to partner with the National Printing Office (NPO) in Quezon City to print the official ballots that would be 11 inches by 27 inches for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and 11 inches by 25 inches for the rest of the country.

Longer ballot
A longer ballot was needed to be printed for the ARMM because of the Arabic translation that the ballot required.

Names of national candidates were printed at the front while those of local candidates were printed at the back.

The ballots have a number of security measures including Comelec markings, bar codes, specialized papers and ultraviolet marks.

The PCOS machines will be able to scan Comelec markings and the bar codes.

But the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs), the overseer of election proceedings in precincts, would have to make use of ultraviolet lamps to scan the ultraviolet marks on the ballots.

Earlier, a glitch in schedule forced the poll body to forego the NPO ultraviolet marks.

The country’s first automated elections system will make use of the PCOS machines, a new generation Optical Mark Recognition (OMR).

Under this system, the machines were programmed to print copies of election returns and will also make use of paper ballots—a requirement under Republic Act 9369, or the poll automation law.

Voters would need to shade ovals placed at the corresponding candidates’ names, but Comelec spokesman James Jimenez earlier reminded voters not to overshade or undershade.

Jimenez said that the voters should not smudge the ballots nor can they fold or crumple them since the PCOS machines would not be able to read them once they are affected by many external factors.

There should be at least 50 percent of the ovals shaded, so the PCOS machines would be able to read the votes cast.

After shading the right number of ovals for national and local positions, each voter would need to feed the ballot to the PCOS machines, which would automatically count the ballots.

By 6 p.m., the members of the BEIs would start transmitting results of votes per precincts to municipal, provincial and national canvassing centers, as well as to the servers of the PPCRV, KBP and dominant majority party and the dominant minority party.

The Comelec expects the results of voting for all local candidates to be in at the end of Monday while national candidates would have to wait for 36 hours to 48 hours for the voting results.

Teachers ready
The Department of Education (DepEd) also on Sunday said that it was “all systems go” for the computerized elections and that its 229,020 teachers in the BEIs are ready to do their duty to ensure the success of the polls.

“Our teachers, our superintendents, our election task forces all over the country are all set for Monday’s polls. We have been preparing for this for a long time and I am confident of the readiness of our BEIs in the different clustered precincts across the country,” Education Secretary Mona Valisno said.

She added that the Education department does not foresee any disruptions to the polls except for technical problems that may delay the start of voting.

“Our teachers will not tolerate any delays on their part. Our BEIs have been trained by the Comelec and are certified by the Department of Science and Technology. They have been deployed and are now in place as we speak in the various precincts doing testing and sealing of the PCOS machines,” Valisno said.

“Should there be delay caused by technical problems with the PCOS machines, we ask our voters to be patient while Comelec and Smartmatic technicians resolve these,” she added.

Education spokesman and Assistant Secretary Jonathan Malaya said that the machines and replacement compact flash cards are now being delivered to schools but the Comelec itself expected delays in the delivery with some areas only receiving theirs on election day itself.

DepEd hotlines
The Comelec, according to Malaya, has committed to provide one technician per clustered precinct on election day “so we hope that they will be in place should technical problems arise.”

He said that the BEI members may also contact the DepEd Election Task Force (ETF) Operation Centers in Manila and in the various provinces for information and technical and legal assistance while performing their duties.

The various BEIs across the country can call the DepEd National Operations Center at hotlines: 02-6337259, 638-8636, 633-7247, 635-4933, 632-8491 and 636-4996 or thru e-mail address:
depedtaskforce@yahoo.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . They may also text the DepEd Action Center at 0919-4560027.

Malaya said that in the unlikely event that the BEI members sustain election-related injuries, the Comelec has set aside some P30 million as part of a teachers’ compensation arrangement.

Original Story: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/17030-digital-democracy-dawns

SWS: 86% of voters reject bandwagon, command voting

2010-05-10T03:28:00.000-07:00

05/10/2010

Original Story: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100510hed4.html

A recently posted Social Weather Station (SWS) survey, conducted from April 16-19, 2010, but just released by the polling firm yesterday, found that 86 percent of registered voters will vote according to social interest rather than self-interest by choosing the statement of “I will vote for a candidate if most will benefit from him/her, even if I myself will not” over “I will vote for a candidate if I will benefit personally from him/her, even if most will not”.

The survey also found that majorities will decide for themselves rather than be told whom to vote for, believe popular support rather than political machinery wins the election for a candidate, and will follow their conscience rather than go with the bandwagons.

The SWS release said that in the question comparing social interest and self-interest, 86 percent chose to say that “I will vote for a

candidate if most will benefit from him/her, even if I myself will not,” and only 14 percent chose to say that “I will vote for a candidate if I will benefit personally from him/her, even if most will not”.

The latest percentage of social-interest answers is higher compared to 79 percent in April 2007.

In the question comparing independent-minded voting over command voting, 84 percent chose to say that “Most people here decide for themselves whom to vote for”, and only 16 percent chose to say that “Many people here are just told by the leaders who to vote for.”

The new proportion of voters believing that people would vote independently is similar to 81-85 percent in the pre-election surveys of 2001 and 2004. It is higher than 79-80 percent in the pre-election surveys of 2007, but not as high as 89 percent in the pre-election survey of 1998, the release said.

In a choice between the statements, “A candidate wins due to true popular support, with or without political machinery,” and “The political machinery of a candidate wins the election for him/her,” 78 percent chose popular support and 21 percent chose political machinery.

The latest percentage of popular-support answers is higher than 63-66 percent in the SWS pre-election surveys of 2004 and 2007, but not as high as 85 percent in the pre-election survey of 1992.

Given the introductory statement: “There are those who say that one should vote according to one’s conscience, whether or not the candidate would win. There are others who say that a vote for a losing candidate would be wasted, therefore, one should vote for a candidate who leads and would probably win,” 77 percent chose the conscience vote by saying “Vote according to one’s conscience” and 23 percent chose the bandwagon vote by saying “Vote for the one you think will win”.

The conscience-vote answers have ranged between 77 percent and 87 percent in 10 SWS national pre-election surveys from 1992 to the present.

The April 2010 survey found that while most voters across all major study areas believe in social interest, independent-minded voting, popular support, and conscience-voting, the proportion of those who belief in self-interest voting, command voting, and political machinery tend to rise the farther away from the capital.

Voting to benefit self-interest over social interest is 20 percent in Mindanao and 15 percent in the Visayas, slightly higher compared to 11 percent in Balance Luzon and 8 percent in Metro Manila.

Command votes tend to be more visible in areas farther away from the capital. It is 22 percent in Mindanao, compared to 17 percent in the Visayas, 14 percent in Balance Luzon, and 12 percent in Metro Manila.

Original Story: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100510hed4.html

50 million voters all set for first Asia automated polls (Comelec says full results may be known by Wednesday)

2010-05-10T01:51:00.000-07:00

BY GERARD NAVAL

Original Story: http://www.malaya.com.ph/05102010/news1.html

AT least 50 million Filipinos are set to face the controversial precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines today as the country holds its first-ever nationwide automated elections.

Veering away from the decades-old, fraud-filled manual system, Filipinos are set to elect their next leaders, including the successor of President Arroyo, by simply shading an oval next to the name of their candidates of choice and feeding their ballots to the counting machine.

According to the Commission on Elections, this election will be historic because it will be the first time an automated system will be used not only in the country but in the whole Asia.

"We are finally moving away from the known flaws and weaknesses of the old ways of doing things and toward an automated election system that promises a speedy and accurate count, a highly efficient reporting mechanism that democratizes the count and canvass of election results, and most importantly, the extinction of dagdag-bawas (vote padding and vote shaving)," said Comelec Chairman Jose Melo.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said they expect this election to be one of the most-watched in history as it would determine if a third-world country like the Philippines is capable of conducting an automated election.

"Whatever happens, they will learn from us so we are really expecting the 2010 election to be the country’s most watched electoral process," he said.

In the past elections, Filipinos had to wait for more than a month before knowing the winners.

The Comelec’s automation partner, Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp., said results can now be made available as early as two days after the elections.

The voting remains manual, albeit simpler, but the counting, transmission and canvassing are all set to go automated, making the process more accurate and faster.

Under the automated elections system, the electronic results of voting in each of the more than 76,000 clustered precincts are set to go directly and simultaneously to the municipal, provincial, and national board of canvassers as well as to the servers of the accredited citizens’ arm and the dominant majority and minority parties.

The Comelec described this "redundancy" as not only a compliance with the law but also as an additional security feature of the automated polling system, because this would assure that all stakeholders mandated to receive copies of the election returns will get them on time.

VOTER TURNOUT

Melo, in a press conference at the National Canvassing Center at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, declined to give an estimate of the voter-turnout but noted that the interest is at a heightened level.

He said they would be satisfied if half of the 50,850,938 would come out and vote.

"We cannot really put a finger on it but, you know, the interest here is heightened because it is the presidential elections and like what happened in the ARMM (Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao) polls, people are curious about the machines. They would like to see how the machines will work," said Melo.

Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento is hoping voter turnout will surpass previous polls.

"In the past, we would hit 70-80 percent. Now considering two factors mentioned, it could hit even 85 percent," he said.

Still, Melo urged the public to go out and vote and help ensure that the elections would be clean, honest and peaceful.

"Go to the polling places early, prepared with your list of candidates. And huwag kayong magpapatakot. Huwag kayong magpapabili. Let us keep these elections as clean as possible," he said.

DOUBTS

The Comelec has spent at least P7.2 billion in acquiring the services of Smartmatic-TIM and some 82,200 PCOS machines in June 2009 in a bid to speed up the electoral system.

However, critics continue to doubt whether the Comelec is capable of handling such a huge project given the lack of time, the poll body’s lack of credibility, and the vulnerability of the electronic results to automated fraud.

Just last week, the PCOS machines suffered a major glitch when they wrongly read several votes in the local positions in the final testing and sealing process in some precincts.

This prompted the Comelec to move the deadline of the final test of the machines from Friday to yesterday.

This has also caused a massive logistical effort from the Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM in a bid to recover all the "misconfigured" compact flash cards from all the regional hubs where the PCOS machines have already been deployed.

The machine glitch last week was aside from the previous problems encountered by the system such as when the PCOS machines failed to transmit the results of the field tests and mock polls.

These glitches have prompted critics of the Comelec to take a step backward and think of postponing the elections for at least two weeks, but to no avail.

PROVING IT

The Comelec has insisted it is fully capable of handling the automated polls.

"We want to stop talking already… we decided that the best way to prove our critics wrong is by simply doing it and prove that we can," said Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, who chairs the steering committee on automation.

The road towards Election Day was also not spared from the usual problems of illegal campaigning, negative propaganda among candidates, election-related violence, and efforts to undermine the party list system.

Several presidential candidates have been accused of exceeding the time limit of political advertisements allowed by the Comelec, which is only for 120 minutes per TV station and 180 minutes per radio station for the entire 90-day campaign period that began February 9.

CLEAR WINNER

Campaigning ended on Saturday, with Sen. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino the favorite to become president after two main opinion polls showed he had a lead of about 20 points over his nearest rivals.

Analysts said Aquino might not win by as much as the polls suggested, and could still potentially be overtaken as he lacked the national party organization of his rivals, who are better able to get their supporters out to vote.

Former president Joseph Estrada has gained late momentum to catch up with Sen. Manny Villar.

Gilberto Teodoro is placed fourth with single-digit levels of support in opinion polls, while five other candidates registered minimal support.

A clear and accepted winner would be the most favorable outcome for investors, unless it was Estrada, while a disputed or inconclusive outcome would be expected to weaken markets.

PROBLEM AREAS

Election-related violence also continues to hound the country as at least seven areas are unofficially declared as under Comelec control, including perennial problem areas like Abra, Nueva Ecija and Maguindanao.

The party list system was also again placed in a bad light after presidential son Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo and former energy secretary Angelo Reyes decided to run as their representatives.

Critics have raised hell over the possibility of Arroyo and Reyes getting House seats, saying this is a bastardization of the party list system which is intended to give underrepresented sectors representation in Congress. – With Reuters

Original Story: http://www.malaya.com.ph/05102010/news1.html

17,888 posts up for grabs (CBCP urges Filipinos to pray for peaceful, clean elections)

2010-05-10T01:47:00.000-07:00

By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO
May 9, 2010, 5:13pm

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/256656/17888-posts-grabs

A total of 50.8-million voters are expected to troop to 76,340 polling precincts Monday to elect government leaders, including the successor of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, in the country’s first automated national and local elections.

Up for grabs are a total of 17,888 elective positions – one president, one vice president, 12 senators, 222 members of the House of Representatives, 80 governors, 80 governors, 762 provincial board members, 120 city mayors, 120 city vice mayors, 1,514 municipal mayors, 1,514 vice mayors, 1,346 city councilors, and 12,116 municipal councilors.

Also to be contested by 187 partylist groups are some 45 available seats in the Lower House.

The electorate, however, may need to go to their assigned voting precinct before 7 a.m. since some of the precincts will have 1,000 voters due to the clustering of precincts.

Aside from having to contend with the big number of voters, the electorate may also need some time to familiarize themselves with the new system of voting given the automation of the elections.

Unlike in the manual polls, wherein the voter need to write the name of the candidate on the ballot, under the Automated Election System (AES), a voter simply has to shade the oval next to the name of the candidate of their choice and feed their ballot to the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines.

Comelec Spokesman James Jimenez, however, explained that voting is still manual while the counting, transmission and canvassing are automated for quick results.

Under the AES, the electronic results of voting in each of the more than 76,000 clustered precincts are set to go directly and simultaneously to the municipal, provincial and national board of canvassers as well as to the servers of the accredited citizens’ arm and the dominant majority and minority parties.
Jimenez, meantime, issued the following reminders to voters:

First, go out and vote.

Second, vote early.

Third, bring “kodigo” where the names of your preferred candidates are listed.

Lastly, don’t use cellphone inside the precinct.

Voting period will be from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

CBCP calls for peaceful polls

As this developed, Bishop Nereo P. Odchimar, head of the Diocese of Tandag City and concurrent president of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), called on all Filipino faithful to “deeply” pray for a peaceful, credible, and orderly conduct of the country’s historic and first automated elections.

“We must deeply pray for the success of this election,” said Odchimar.

He stressed, “I am deeply praying for peaceful, honest and reliable polls.”

The CBCP head repeatedly asked Filipinos to pray for guidance from God.On the other hand, former CBCP president and also head of the Diocese of Butuan City Bishop Juan de Dios Pueblos asked the voters to follow their “conscience” and help this poll “meaningful” and honest”.

“Everybody must pray and everybody has a vital role to play to make this election a successful one,” added Bishop Pueblos, on Sunday.

The prelate also asked the Commission on Election (Comelec), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and Philippine National Police to “seriously” do their job in the name of God so that this election will be successful and meaningful.

Meanwhile, around 80,000 college students from the Catholic schools will be deployed to all the clustered polling precincts across the country in order to secure the country’s first automated May 10 polls, it was learned Sunday.

According to Msgr. Gerry Santos, president of the Catholic Educational Association of the Philippines (CEAP), the volunteers ranging from 18 years old and above are already given assignments at various polling places as watchers.

He said majority of the students from the CEAP’s 1,200 member schools, colleges, and universities are computer savvy.

“They are IT (information technology) savvy, they are IT literate and they can do some (computer) troubleshooting,” said Msgr. Santos.

He added that the group of Catholic educators with the Coordinating Council of Private Educational Associations entered into a memorandum of agreement with the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV).

The PPCRV is accredited by the Commission on Election (Comelec) as its official citizens’ arm.

PPCRV has also about one million volunteer poll watchers across the country, it was gathered. (With a report from Mike U. Crismundo)

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/256656/17888-posts-grabs

Poll hours extended to 7 p.m.—Comelec

2010-05-10T01:20:00.000-07:00

By Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 11:57:00 05/10/2010

Filed Under: Eleksyon 2010, Elections

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100510-269169/Poll-hours-extended-to-7-pmComelec

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) Long queues and problematic PCOS (precinct count optical scan) machines have prompted the Commission on Elections to extend voting hours from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m. Monday, Chairman Jose Melo announced in a press conference.

“We would like to inform everybody, especially those out there still voting, and the BEIs (board of election inspectors) doing their job very well, that it seems that at the start, the voting process was not as fast as we would have expected or desired. So we are hereby extending the voting hours from 6 p.m. to 7 p.m., by one hour to accommodate as many voters as possible,” Melo said.

Long lines in some precincts have prompted voters to go home.

Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said that long queues were caused by the slow verification of voters’ identity.

“What’s happening is that in some precincts, only one person verifies the identity and gives the ballot,” Larrazabal said.

But, he stressed that in a clustered precinct, there are at least three members of a support staff. They should work together to assist in voters’ identification.

“The purpose of having a support staff is to assist the chairman and the other members in verifying the name and giving the ballots to the voters. In some cases you have 20 seats in one clustered precincts; utilize the seats. Make the most of it. Allow the voters to vote as fast as possible. The teachers are doing their best but we’d like to remind everyone to utilize those seats and let the voters vote as fast and as many as possible,” Larrazabal added.

Another cause of delay is the reported defective PCOS machines nationwide. Smartmatic-TIM has reported 328 problematic PCOS machines early into election day.

Smartmatic Asia president Cesar Flores said that of these defective PCOS machines, 239 have already been replaced. Among those problematic PCOS machines was that in the precinct where Liberal Party standard-bearer Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III voted in Tarlac.

Flores said that problems with the PCOS machines were mostly “hardware,” such as power failure, printer failure, and the compact flash cards.

Despite of the problematic machines, Comelec and Smartmatic stressed that voting should not be delayed.

“While waiting for a replacement machine, and this is something that needs to be stressed, voting should not stop. Voters should still cast their votes and put it in the ballot while the BEI is waiting for the replacement machine,” Flores said.

Despite of the problems, Melo said that the turnout was “very, very encouraging.”

“We still have seven hours to go and it seems that the turnout is very, very encouraging. The lines are very long. But unfortunately, in some or most areas probably, the voters are under the sun,” Melo said.

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100510-269169/Poll-hours-extended-to-7-pmComelec

Another survey gives Manny, Loren high hopes

2010-05-08T17:54:00.000-07:00

By Michael Lim Ubac
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 01:29:00 05/09/2010

Filed Under: Opinion surveys, Elections

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100509-268879/Another-survey-gives-Manny-Loren-high-hopes

RUNNING THIRD IN THE SURveys of the two leading pollsters, the Nacionalista Party tandem of Senators Manny Villar and Loren Legarda are turning to a third survey outfit for hope on the eve of Monday’s elections.

Giving them a glimmer of hope is the Issues and Advocacy Center (Center), whose latest survey showed the NP running mates in a tight race with their Liberal Party rivals—fellow senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Mar Roxas II.

According to the Center, the nationwide voters’ preference, “Pulso ng Pilipino,” conducted from April 26 to May 2 involving 2,400 respondents showed Villar in a neck-and-neck race with Aquino, who leads by a “mere three percentage points.”

Aquino had 28 percent, Villar 25, Gilbert Teodoro of the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD third at 20 percent and ousted President Joseph Estrada of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino fourth at 18 percent.

In a press statement, NP spokesperson Gilbert Remulla said the figures are a “very good indication.”

“It just goes to show that Senator Villar is not as far behind as being projected by other polling firms. Given NP’s extensive machinery and highly organized ground troops, our opponents may just be in for a big surprise,” Remulla said.

The results of the Center surveys differ from those earlier released by both Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia, both of which showed that Villar had fallen to third place behind Aquino and ousted President Estrada and Legarda also dropping to third behind Roxas and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay.

Remulla quoted reports circulating in the Internet and other media which alleged Aquino’s apparent influence on both firms—with stockholders and founders of SWS and Pulse Asia being close relatives of Aquino.

Remulla said that Villar’s nationwide grassroots organization would deliver the votes for their candidate and would assure them of victory come Election Day. It added that they have the command votes from their huge national and local network.

Tight VP race

In the vice presidential race, the Center had Roxas maintaining his lead over closest rival Legarda.

Roxas got 34 percent against Legarda’s 29 percent, or a difference of 5 points. As in its previous survey, Binay was in third place at 25 percent, the Center said.

Ed Malay, the Center’s director, explained at a press briefing in Quezon City that the vice presidential race remained “close” with only 5 percent separating Roxas and Legarda.

Malay said that the Center, after analyzing the results of the latest survey, viewed Legarda as “fast emerging as an alternative vice presidential candidate of political leaders nationwide who do not want to support Roxas, Edu Manzano or Binay.”

Malay said local political leaders would always look for a “winnable candidate” to support.

“And Legarda provides these political leaders with that opportunity, especially those who do not like Roxas,” said the pollster, noting that Legarda had topped the senatorial elections in 1998 and 2007.

Malay also said the race for the presidency has been reduced to four candidates—Aquino, Villar, Teodoro and Estrada.

“It’s statistically impossible for other presidential aspirants to even get close to the race leaders as the voters may have already decided on their choices,” said Malay, referring to other presidential candidates Richard Gordon, Jamby Madrigal, Nicanor Perlas, Eddie Villanueva and JC de los Reyes.

“Villar keeps Noynoy in sight with strong political support on the ground,” said Malay.

“(Villar) is in a good position to unleash the potential of his nationwide organization to generate the needed votes that will assure him of victory,” said Malay.

Malay also said that as far as “command votes” were concerned, Villar was leading considering the huge national and local network of NP, which Malay considered as the most organized party.

On the vice presidential race, Malay said that what this pre-poll survey of the Center “shows is that Legarda who lacks the resources available to Roxas was able to keep pace with the vice presidential race leader by launching a spirited campaign nationwide which saw her go on the campaign trail almost on a daily basis.”

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100509-268879/Another-survey-gives-Manny-Loren-high-hopes

El Shaddai leader opts not to endorse a bet

2010-05-08T17:51:00.000-07:00

By Juliet Labog-Javellana, Leila B. Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:48:00 05/09/2010

Filed Under: Politics, Churches (organisations), Eleksyon 2010, Elections

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100509-268901/El-Shaddai-leader-opts-not-to-endorse-a-bet

IN AN UNEXPECTED TURN, EL SHADDAI leader Bro. Mike Velarde has decided to stay “neutral” in Monday’s presidential elections and has asked his followers to “vote according to their conscience.”

“He will not endorse anybody,” Light Rail Transit Authority Administrator Mel Robles, president of El Shaddai’s party-list group Buhay and Velarde’s former spokesperson, told the Inquirer last night.

Velarde, leader of the Catholic charismatic group which counts around five million members, has opted to allow his followers to follow their conscience when they vote, Robles said shortly before Velarde presided over El Shaddai’s last prayer rally before the elections.
Asked why Velarde suddenly declined to make an endorsement, Robles said the El Shaddai leader wanted to be in a position to help in case something went wrong in Monday’s automated polls.

Hope nothing happens

“He would like to reach out to everybody if something bad happens,” Robles said.

Asked if the group expected a failure of elections, Robles said, “Whatever it is, we hope nothing untoward happens. But if something happens then he can reach out to all sectors to help.”

He said Velarde decided on his stand last week.

Velarde attended a national security meeting in Malacañang on Friday, which was presided over by President Arroyo for whom he serves as a religious adviser.

But a sample ballot being given out at the prayer rally in Parañaque City showed that the ovals beside the names of 12 senatorial candidates, mostly from the Nacionalista Party, had been shaded, indicating the probable choices of Velarde.

The candidates are Bong Revilla, Pia Cayetano, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Juan Ponce Enrile, Lito Lapid, Tito Sotto, Francisco Tatad, Ramon Mitra, Susan Ople, Gilbert Remulla, Joey de Venecia III, and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

No LP candidates chosen

No candidate from the Liberal Party was chosen and no ovals in the president and vice president categories had been shaded.

Velarde had been expected to endorse Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar, whom he invited to an El Shaddai gathering in Hong Kong earlier during the campaign.

During an Easter Mass attended by the other presidential candidates, Velarde also gave indications of favoring Villar, a long-time friend and business associate.

Villar endorsement

His endorsement of Villar was expected in last night’s prayer rally but, according to Robles, the El Shaddai leader opted not to endorse any presidential candidate this time around.

This was a departure from past presidential elections, when Velarde endorsed the candidacies of Fidel Ramos, Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the 1992, 1998 and 2004 elections, respectively. (See what went before)

A Velarde endorsement had seemed likely, especially after the bloc-voting Iglesia ni Cristo endorsed the LP ticket of Senators Benigno Aquino III and Manuel Roxas II.

Showing that he still retained an El Shaddai following, Estrada topped a mock election held among over 2,000 members of the sect last week.

Estrada wins mock poll

Robles said Estrada led the pack, followed by Villar, Aquino and administration candidate Gilbert Teodoro.

Estrada’s running mate Jejomar Binay also won the mock polls, followed by Roxas and NP vice presidential candidate Sen. Loren Legarda.

In the El Shaddai mock elections, Robles said, about 40 percent of the votes for the national positions were “invalid” because the members “over-voted.”

He said this indicated that voters still needed further training on how to use the automated system. He added that El Shaddai had been training members on the voting the last three months.

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100509-268901/El-Shaddai-leader-opts-not-to-endorse-a-bet

Comelec rules Arroyo son can represent guards, drivers

2010-05-08T15:13:00.000-07:00

By Leila B. Salaverria
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:02:00 05/09/2010

Filed Under: Politics, Elections, Eleksyon 2010

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100509-268910/Comelec-rules-Arroyo-son-can-represent-guards-drivers

THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS (COMelec) has paved the way for Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, the son of President Macapagal-Arroyo, to represent security guards and drivers in Congress, citing his work in supporting and advancing projects intended to benefit the marginalized.

The Comelec’s Second Division Saturday dismissed two petitions filed by the Bayan Muna and Gabriela party-list groups seeking to disqualify Arroyo from the party-list race.

Arroyo is one of the nominees of Ang Galing Pinoy, a party-list group representing security guards and drivers.

The petitioners contended that Arroyo could not be considered as belonging to the marginalized sector for whom the party-list system was devised.

In its decision, the Second Division noted the requirements for nominees set forth in the party-list law, which includes the nominee being a member of the organization three months before the polls.

It said the party-list group can have different kinds of members for as long as majority of them belong to the marginalized sector which the group seeks to represent.

“Any member of the party-list group of good standing, whether belonging to the majority or not, is entitled to be nominated by the party, for the law merely requires that the party-list nominee must be a ‘bona fide member of the party or organization which he seeks to represent for at least ninety (90) days preceding the day of the election,’” it said.

The division noted that Arroyo became a member of Ang Galing Pinoy on Nov. 20, 2009, six months before the elections.

It said that Arroyo had “actively supported and advanced the projects and programs of the party by regularly attending its meetings, livelihood and skills program and farmers’ day activities.”

This gives him the right to be one of the group’s nominees, the commissioners said.

“Evidently, respondent had clearly immersed himself with the hopes and aspirations of the party and the sector it represents. He has as much right to be a nominee as any other member of the party,” the ruling said.

With the Second Division ruling in favor of Arroyo, the petitioners warned that there would be a flood of rich, privileged, powerful people attempting to represent the marginalized.

“Allowing an incumbent district congressman from the ruling party, who is the multimillionaire son of a sitting President, to run as a party-list representative removes any and all obstacles for wealthy, powerful and influential politicians to steal the party-list system from the truly marginalized and under-represented,” said Bayan Muna member Teodoro Casiño in a statement.

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100509-268910/Comelec-rules-Arroyo-son-can-represent-guards-drivers

Comelec names LP as dominant minority party

2010-05-08T09:58:00.000-07:00

By LESLIE ANN G. AQUINO
May 7, 2010, 10:55pm

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/node/256453/comelec-name

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has declared the Liberal Party (LP) as the dominant minority party in the May polls.

The poll body also declared the Lakas-Kampi-CMD as the dominant majority party.

Based on the resolution, both the dominant majority and dominant minority parties will get the much coveted copies of the election returns (ERs) as soon as they are available on election day.

The Nacionalista-Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) was earlier in the running for the dominant minority status after a merger of the two parties was recognized by the Comelec.

The Liberals earlier questioned the merger, saying that the coalition was only a ploy to meet the Comelec’s requirement that the dominant minority party field the most number of candidates in the national and local elections.

Based on Comelec records, the LP will be fielding 5,934 candidates while NP is set to field 5,565, NPC has 2,373.

The same resolution also named accredited major political parties as the Nacionalista Party (NP), Bangon Pilipinas Movement, Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), and PDP-LABAN, which will authorize the groups to deploy poll watchers in various precincts and canvassing centers nationwide.

Aside from the LP and the NP-NPC Coalition, the Partido ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) also sought accreditation for dominant minority status.

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/node/256453/comelec-name

Erap tops El Shaddai ‘polls’

2010-05-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

By RIO ROSE RIBAYA, BRENDA PIQUERO
May 8, 2010, 9:49pm

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/256584/erap-tops-el-shaddai-polls

Former President Joseph Ejercito “Erap” Estrada, standard-bearer of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), emerged winner in the mock presidential elections conducted among members of the influential religious group El Shaddai, boosting his chances of winning the May 10, 2010 elections.

Mel Robles, former spokesman of Bro. Mike Velarde, released last night the results of the group’s mock polls held last May 1.

Robles said that in the vice presidential race, Estrada’s running mate, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, was the runaway winner in the same mock polls.

Robles, the current chairman of El-Shaddai-affiliated Buhay party-list, disclosed that 520 of the 2,105 respondents cast their votes for Estrada. At second was Nacionalista Party (NP) presidential candidate Sen. Manny Villar, who got 453 votes.

Running third was Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III, who got 263 votes while Lakas-Kampi-CMD candidate former Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro garnered 65 votes.

In the vice presidential race, Binay got 858 votes. He was followed by LP rival Mar Roxas with 284 votes, and Villar’s running mate, Sen. Loren Legarda, who got 204 votes.

Estrada and Binay’s victory in the El Shaddai mock elections is expected to carry a huge bandwagon effect among voters from the D and E economic classes, estimated to be 70 to 75 percent of the nation’s population.

Political analysts claimed that the El Shaddai mock elections carry very significant and serious implications, coming just a few hours to the May 10 elections. The religious group enjoys a following of up to 5 million voters.

“The homestretch battle for the presidency is now clearly defined to be waged between Estrada and Aquino, with Erap having a slight edge because of his massive support from the D, and E economic classes against the A and B elite groups of Aquino,” a respected political analyst told the Manila Bulletin.

Estrada thanked El Shaddai for their confidence in him.

“I am most humbled by your decision to support me and Jojo Binay, and as you have never abandoned me, I will never turn my back on you and the great number of people living below the poverty line for whom I have struggled to lead a better future all throughout my public career,” Estrada said.

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/256584/erap-tops-el-shaddai-polls

Noynoy not sure winner—Erap camp

2010-05-08T06:31:00.000-07:00

05/08/2010

Original Story: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100508hed4.html

The Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) yesterday said that any attempt to project Liberal Party (LP) presidential candidate Sen. Noynoy Aquino as unbeatable, simply based on the recently-released Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia surveys would fail as their results are way off the mark based on “realities on the ground.”

Although Aquino still maintained a lead over his opponents, PMP spokesman Ralph Calinisan said it was not with a wide margin and has even become questionable when ranged against the enormous turnout of supporters at every one of PMP standard bearer former President Joseph Estrada’s campaign sorties and rallies.

“Two or three thousand respondents in Pulse Asia and SWS surveys as against the tens of thousands who welcome President Estrada in his visits around the country? Which is more realistic, and more reflective of what is actually happening at the grassroots level?” Calinisan stressed.

Even the LP’s own internal survey, which Calinisan claimed party officials refuse to publicly divulge, belied SWS’ numbers and clearly showed Aquino leading Estrada by a margin of only 5 percent.

“Interestingly, the PMP’s own survey showed Noynoy at 34-percent, and Estrada at 29-

percent, a margin of only 5 percent,” Calinisan revealed.

“Interestingly, the PMP’s own survey showed Noynoy at 34-percent, and Estrada at 29-percent, a margin of only 5 percent,” Calinisan revealed.

The SWS survey, which should have been embargoed, as the newspaper BusinessWorld has exclusive printing rights, was leaked to the Aquinos, with Noynoy’s sister, Kris Aquino, blaring out these results in her official Twitter account.

In that survey, which Estrada and his camp found “incredible” and not reflective of the electorate’s real sentiment, showed Estrada in second place, but with Noynoy Aquino lead widening to 22 percent.

SWS has a history of coming out with survey numbers that do not jibe with the actual vote count, as well as predicted poll winners. Neither is SWS known for its accuracy in its percentages count, when compared to actual and official poll results.

It was PMP senatorial bet Francisco “Kit” Tatad who recently revealed that members of the Aquino clan and former associates of the late president Corazon Aquino hold prominent positions in SWS and Pulse Asia either as directors or stockholders.

The list includes Aquino relatives Rafael Cojuangco Lopa, Pulse Asia director and former president; Antonio “Tonyboy” Cojuangco, who initially financed its operations; and Jose de Jesus, former DPWH secretary of the Aquino presidency and incorporator/director of both Pulse Asia and SWS.

Meanwhile, Calinisan said they remain optimistic that Estrada would emerge victorious in the presidential elections despite the decision of the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) to endorse Aquino.

“It is Erap who is the anointed of the masses,” Calinisan remarked.

Despite falling to third place in the popularity surveys, Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. of the Nacionalista Party expressed confidence in winning the presidency on Monday, saying an organized political machinery will spell his victory.

But he also admitted that he is leaving everything to God’s will and if he loses the race, he can move on easily.

“It is not to say that I will win but whatever it is, whether I will win or not, that’s something that I can easily accept. And in fact, I will move on,” he stressed.

In his speech before religious ministers and pastors who prayed over him, Villar criticized Noynoy Aquino for portraying himself as a deeply religious man, and for Aquino’s admitted inability to govern the country, as Aquino himself publicly announced that he and his running mate will share presidential power, with Roxas getting some 80 percent of the share of presidential powers.

Said Villar : Noynoy claims to be religious, but I know that he was making fun of his mother as she keeps on praying and going to church,” although Villar stressed that which he said was just between him and the pastors in attendance.

Aquino’s lifestyle, he stressed is hardly worth emulating. He smokes three packs a day, Villar said and his favorite pastime is playing games, unlike his and family’s lifestyle, free from drug use and cigarettes.

There are questions on Nonoy’s use of drugs and marijuana.

But he also stressed that he is all set and ready: “Right now, the NP organization and our allies are complete. In every district, city, municipality and province, we have candidates,” Villar said.

“We are organized, We are all set, and we believe that come May 10, this would be proved,” he added.

Sources from political camps, however, said that Villar isn’t showing it publicly, but he knows he won’t win the polls, as even some of his allies have left him, having realized his freefall in the presidential race which can no longer be arrested. With Jason Faustino and Tribune wires

Original Story: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100508hed4.html

Overseas vote turnout still at 20% as voting ends in 3 days

2010-05-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

JERRIE M. ABELLA, GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/190370/overseas-vote-turnout-still-at-20-as-voting-ends-in-3-days

Three days before the month-long overseas absentee voting (OAV) ends, turnout remains at a low 20% of almost 600,000 voters as of morning of Friday.

Of the registered 589,830 overseas Filipino voters, only 118,053 have cast their votes as of 9:00 am of May 7, according to a release posted on the Web site of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

While the figure has surpassed the 16% overseas voter turnout in 2007, which did not involve a presidential contest, it is still a far cry from the 65% turnout recorded in the 2004 presidential elections, which was a tightly-contested race between incumbent President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the late King of Filipino Movies, Fernando Poe Jr.

The DFA-OAV Secretariat reported the Philippine Consulate General (PCG) in Hong Kong still has the highest number of voters at 33,619, followed by the Philippine Embassies in Riyadh (8,969) and Singapore (7,384).

Other foreign service posts with the highest turnout are the PCG in Jeddah (5,714); the Philippine Overseas Labor Office in Al Khobar (4,069); the Embassy in Kuwait (3,963); the PCG in in Los Angeles (3,148); the Embassy in Abu Dhabi (2,703); the PCG in Dubai (2,527); and the PCG in New York (2,392).

Only Hong Kong and Singapore are using the automated election system, to be used throughout the Philippines for the first time on May 10, while voting for the rest of the Philippine diplomatic posts across the world employs postal and personal voting.

Despite the low turnout, Philippine officials remain hopeful that the remaining days will see a surge in the number of Filipinos who will cast their votes until May 10, when overseas voting will officially end.

“We are expecting more voters to come in or mail their ballots in the next three days. Our Embassies and Consulates General are well-prepared to receive the expected large number of voters who will cast their votes, even at the last minute," DFA undersecretary and OAV Secretariat chair Rafael Seguis said in a statement.

He said efforts were made in the various Philippine posts to encourage more voters to participate in the OAV.

Seguis cited the Philippine Embassy in Washington and the Consulate General in New York, which came out with statements urging registered voters to go out and vote.

The Embassies in Tel Aviv and Pretoria meanwhile are coordinating with the members of the Filipino communities there to encourage their members to cast their ballots.

In San Francisco, Consul General Mariano Paynor has appeared in media-sponsored forums to encourage Filipinos there to go out and vote.

The Embassy in Kuala Lumpur likewise conducted information drives on how to fill out their ballots.

Embassies and Consulates General are open over the weekend and on election day on Monday, May 10, to accept voters and mailed-in ballots.

The deadline for receipt of mailed ballots for postal voting and casting of ballots for personal and automated modes of voting is on May 10 at 6:00 p.m. Philippine time.

Low turnout in HK

As this developed, a Filipino group in Hong Kong scored the Consulate there and the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) for the alleged irregularities and the hundreds of voters who were unable to vote as their names were missing on the voters’ list.

In another statement, Gabriela Women Party-HK said there was a lack of voter education for this year’s polls, resulting in the low turnout in the Chinese special administrative region.

While it continues to be the highest among the Philippine posts, turnout in Hong Kong is only at 35% of the 95,355 registered Filipino voters there.

In the 2004 presidential elections, about 65,000 Filipinos or about 66% of the registered voters voted in Hong Kong.

“Similar inactions characterized the 2004 and 2007 OAV and it was only through the efforts of migrants’ organizations that the turnout was raised. There was not enough budget allocated for education and information and insufficient effort to encourage OFWs to vote," said Gabriela chair Cynthia Abdon-Tellez.

She also cited cases of hundreds of overseas Filipino workers whose names were missing even as they were able to vote in the 2004 and 2007 elections.

“With only a few days left for the OAV, all signs say that less than 50% of registered voters in Hong Kong will be able to vote. Thousands of OFWs have again been disenfranchised in this election no matter how many times the COMELEC tries to deny it and cover up its irresponsibility," Tellez declared.

In a separate interview, Vice Consul Val Roque said they are nevertheless hoping to reach the turnout recorded in 2004 when the OAV ends on May 10.

He also confirmed there are about 500 voters who went to the polling centers but were unable to find their names.

“We wrote to COMELEC about these voters’ concerns, and we were given proof that these voters did not participate in the 2004 and 2007 elections," Roque told GMANew.TV.

He, however, confirmed there are cases where voters registered in Hong Kong but were listed as voters in other countries.

“There’s more that needs to be done with the voters’ list," Roque added.—JV, GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/190370/overseas-vote-turnout-still-at-20-as-voting-ends-in-3-days

Villar goes personal on Aquino

2010-05-08T06:19:00.000-07:00

by Fel V. Maragay

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2010/may/8/news1.isx&d=2010/may/8

WITH only three days to Election Day and 23 points behind in the latest polls, Manuel Villar Jr. launched an attack against presidential front-runner Benigno Aquino III, questioning his religiosity and highlighting his lack of experience and bad habits.

Speaking to supporters at the Laurel House in Mandaluyong City Thursday night, Villar said Aquino, who claimed to be a religious man, used to laugh at his mother, the late President Corazon Aquino, for going to church too often.

Villar also said Aquino’s image of being “clean” was the result of his having done nothing during his three terms as congressman and his three years as a senator.

Aquino’s favorite pastime, the Nacionalista party standard bearer said, was playing games on the Sony PSP in addition to smoking three packs of cigarettes a day.

“What we are witnessing is the last gasp of an oligarchy,” Villar told supporters.

But one analyst said Villar’s personal attack on Aquino might be too little, too late. “With three days remaining, it will be difficult already for Villar or [deposed President Joseph] Estrada to catch up,” said Bobby Tuazon, director of the Center for People Empowerment in Governance. Tuazon said Aquino’s 22- and 23-point lead over Estrada and Villar in the last Social Weather Stations survey was “a safe margin.”

During the campaign period, which drew to a close on Friday, Aquino claimed that Villar, who ran as a poor boy turned real estate tycoon, used political influence to benefit some of his property projects.

“As a political message it looks to be having an impact,” Tuazon said. Villar “has been consistently defending himself; he should have been more offensive, hitting Aquino on performance and leadership.”

Despite Aquino’s lead in the Social Weather Stations poll, both Villar and Estrada said they were hopeful they would prevail. “I am now sneaking up on Senator Noynoy Aquino,” Estrada said, claiming that his internal survey showed him just “five points” away from the front-runner.

Villar said the Nacionalista Party, of which he is president, was the most organized with candidates for almost all elective positions in practically all provinces.

“I am convinced that come May l0, we will emerge victorious,” he told reporters at the Laurel House in Mandaluyong City Thursday night. Nacionalista spokesman and senatorial bet Gilbert Remulla said the party’s organizational strength and vote-generating capability would deliver victory to Villar.

Villar said he was unhappy about the sharp drop in his survey ratings and blamed it on the “most vicious black propaganda during the campaign.”

Towards the end of the campaign period, Estrada had accused Villar of using his position when he was Senate president to pressure Stock Exchange officials into approving the listing of his real estate company. Villar denied the allegations, but the allegations apparently took their toll on his standing.

“You saw how little issues against me were blown out of proportion in the newspapers and television. We tried to answer them, but it was not prominently reported,” Villar said.

He said he received the most number of negative stories among all presidential candidates in the last two months.

Estrada said his failure to get the endorsement of the leaders of two major religious congregations was a huge setback in his bid for a presidential comeback.

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2010/may/8/news1.isx&d=2010/may/8

Erap tied with Villar in new Pulse Asia survey

2010-05-06T05:34:00.000-07:00

04/29/2010 | 09:19 AM
SOPHIA M. DEDACE, GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/189664/erap-tied-with-villar-in-new-pulse-asia-survey

The race to the presidency has taken a new twist as former President Joseph Estrada caught up with Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., who both ranked second in the latest survey conducted by Pulse Asia this month.

Estrada’s voting preference picked up 2 percentage points, while Villar’s rating fell by 5 percentage points — giving them a score of 20 percentage points each.

Sen. Benigno Aquino III of the Liberal Party maintained his lead at 39 percent, 2 percent higher than the survey Pulse Asia conducted last March.

Administration bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr. maintained his score of 7 percent, while religious leader Eddie Villanueva gained a point to score 3 percent. Sen. Richard Gordon’s rating remained at 2 percent.

Gordon has assailed pre-election surveys, describing them as tending "to create a bandwagon effect on the voters and effectively strips off voters of their right to select their candidates based on their platform and credentials." [See: Gordon sues SWS, Pulse Asia over election-related surveys]

In the latest Pulse Asia survey, those who received 1 percentage point or less were disqualified bet Vetellano Acosta (1 percent), Nicanor Perlas (0.3 percent), Olongapo City Councilor John Carlos de los Reyes (0.2 percent), and Sen. Jamby Madrigal (0.1 percent). Ironically, Acosta posted a higher score than the qualified bets.

Binay highest gainer

As Estrada’s rating soared, so did that of his running mate, Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay, who zoomed past erstwhile second placer Sen. Loren Legarda.

Binay gained nine points to score 28 percent, while Legarda lost three points and scored 20 percent.

Days before the survey was conducted, Sen. Francis Escudero announced he was endorsing Aquino and Binay, instead of Legarda, his former party-mate at the Nationalist People’s Coalition. [See: No problem with Escudero endorsing Noynoy-Binay, LP bets say]

Sen. Manuel Roxas II remained on top with 37 percentage points, although the rating was six points lower than his previous score.

Former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chair Bayani Fernando and television personality Edu Manzano got 3 percent each, while former Securities and Exchange Commission chair Perfecto Yasay Jr. got 1 percent, former broadcaster Jay Sonza got 0.3 percent, and Ang Kapatiran’s Dominador Chipeco Jr. got 0.05 percent.

Nine percent of the respondents gave no answer or were undecided.

Pulse Asia conducted the survey from April 23 to 25 on 1,800 respondents. The pre-election poll had a ± 2 percent error margin.

Pulse Asia’s latest survey is different from the newest survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations, where Aquino scored 38 percent, Villar posted 26 percent, and Estrada ranked third with 17 percent. [see: Noynoy gets 2-digit lead in new SWS survey] — LBG/RSJ, GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/189664/erap-tied-with-villar-in-new-pulse-asia-survey

Binay ties Roxas; Noynoy widens lead in new SWS survey

2010-05-06T05:26:00.000-07:00

05/06/2010 | 04:36 PM
SOPHIA M. DEDACE, GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/190239/binay-ties-roxas-noynoy-widens-lead-in-new-sws-survey

The vice presidential race continued to heat up as the elections draw nearer, with Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay tying Senator Manuel Roxas II, who previously dominated pre-election surveys.

In the latest survey conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) last May 2 to 3, Binay and Roxas received a voting preference of 37 percent each. The results were posted on Thursday by television personality Kris Aquino-Yap on her official Twitter account.

Kris is the youngest sister of presidential front runner Sen. Benigno Aquino III.

The survey was supposedly commissioned by BusinessWorld. The results are expected to be made public on Friday. BusinessWorld refused to comment on the matter, even as sources from the Aquino camp confirmed the results.

Roxas’ rating was two points lower, while Binay picked up 12 points from the poll conducted last April. [See: Roxas rating drops as Binay's picks up]

Sen. Loren Legarda, who previously ranked second, dropped by 12 points to score 12 percent.

In the presidential derby, meanwhile, Aquino has widened further his lead, getting 42 percent.

Former President Joseph Estrada, who obtained 20 percent, zoomed past former second placer Senator Manuel Villar Jr., who received a 19-percent voting preference.

Administration bet Gilberto Teodoro Jr. scored 9 points. — LBG, GMANews.TV

Original Story: http://www.gmanews.tv/story/190239/binay-ties-roxas-noynoy-widens-lead-in-new-sws-survey

Voting machines fail (76,000 memory cards to be replaced)

2010-05-05T06:00:00.000-07:00

By Michael Lim Ubac, Tarra Quismundo, Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 00:38:00 05/05/2010

Filed Under: Computing & Information Technology, Elections, Eleksyon 2010

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100505-268133/Voting-machines-fail

MANILA, Philippines—Now, it can be told officially. The tests produced weird results.

This sent embarrassed officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and its partner, Smartmatic-TIM, scrambling to save the historic computerized balloting on May 10 by recalling 76,000 compact flash (CF) cards that are in the heart of the counting machines.

“We didn’t expect this to come out, but we are responding on time,” Cesar Flores, spokesperson for Smartmatic-TIM, at a nationally televised news conference said.

Flores blamed the glitches, which first surfaced in two precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines last month at the start of advance overseas voting in Hong Kong, on “human error.”

“We are taking all measures to remedy this,” Flores said, just five days before the May 10 national and local elections.

“We are optimistic that there will be no failure of elections,” said Commissioner Rene Sarmiento. “We are taking all measures to remedy this.”

“I will not be honest if I will say that my confidence has not been diminished because, as I said, what will happen next?” said Henrietta de Villa, chair of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), the Comelec’s citizen’s arm.

In mock elections on Monday conducted by the Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM in six towns in Occidental Mindoro, votes for presidential candidates Manny Villar and Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III were counted for Gilberto Teodoro Jr. of the administration party, according to the Nacionalista Party (NP).

This prompted supporters of Villar led by his NP spokesperson and senatorial candidate Gilbert Remulla to rush to the Comelec office in Manila to file a complaint.

Automated cheating?

Remulla showed to reporters a tally sheet from the PCOS and a manual count.

“There were five votes for Villar, five votes for Aquino, but when it came out (in the machine), there were no votes for Villar, no votes for Noynoy and 10 votes for Teodoro,” Remulla said.

“Is this automated cheating?” he asked, adding that the inability of the machines to properly count the votes in the mock elections proved persistent talk of a failure of elections.

Comelec officials reported that in tests in three far-flung towns of Cuyo, Magsaysay and Brooke’s Point in Palawan province, the machines only read portions of the ballots containing the names of candidates for national races, according to the Inquirer’s Southern Luzon Bureau.

Similar problems occurred in tests in the provinces of Bataan and Pampanga.

Flores said that the eleventh-hour glitch surfaced Monday during testing and sealing of machines in 50 to 100 precincts to show that the automated election system is working and has no malicious data.

Cards to be replaced

He said the problem was in the flash cards, equivalent to the SIM card in cell phones.

Although the company has no final numbers on defective compact flash cards, it is moving to replace the memory cards for all the 76,000 PCOS machines already sent to regional hubs for field distribution, according to Flores.

Present at the news conference were representatives from the Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) and its technical evaluation committee, and Makati City Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., one of the co-chairs of the Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automated Elections.

The wrong tallies stemmed from the memory cards, Flores said.

He noted that the cards contained wrong “instruction” regarding the local ballot face that caused the PCOS machines to give “contradictory” readings of the names and the votes for the local contests.

Officials said the PCOS machine read the races for the national posts correctly.

Precinct-specific cards

Each PCOS machine contains a compact flash card which has the details on the specific precinct. It has the number of voters per precinct and the names of the candidates vying for local posts, among others.

For the ballots, which are precinct specific, to be read and recorded correctly, the program inside the card and the software inside the PCOS machine must work together.

During the printing of the ballots, the spacing of the local ballot face was adjusted to double space from single space, the formatting used for the national contests.

This change was not included in the compact flash card, Flores said. As such, the PCOS machine read the local ballot face as if it had a single-space format, causing the machine to wrongly allot votes to certain candidates or skip other names.

“The flash cards inside the PCOS were not able to locate certain candidates to positions,” Flores explained.

“For some reason, the configuration was telling the machine that the second row visually is actually the third row,” he said. The next row was read as a “blank space,” he said.

Who’s to blame?

Although there had been several mock elections and the PCOS machines were tested before they were dispatched, the problem was not discovered until Monday, Flores said.

He said that the ballots used in the mock elections and in the warehouse testing had different faces from the ballots that would be used on May 10.

Flores blamed the Comelec for the snafu, saying the poll body did not want to use real ballots to test the PCOS machines. The Comelec was authorized to print no more than 50.7 million ballots, the number of registered voters.

Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said Smartmatic-TIM had 20,000 flash cards on hand, which they had started to configure with the right instructions.

The company has also ordered more memory cards from local and overseas suppliers, he added.

Flores said the problem was “surmountable.” Correcting the instruction on the memory cards is “easy,” he said, adding that the challenge the company and the Comelec face is on the delivery of these cards to the precincts.

‘It will be done’

Although the schedule was “tight,” Flores said the company would be able to change the compact flash cards starting Wednesday night.

“It is a tight schedule but it can be done and it will be done,” he said.

As of Tuesday, the Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM had yet to finalize the delivery of the replacement cards.

Larrazabal said the Comelec was devising a procedure for the orderly recall of the flash cards to allow for an inventory. He said the Comelec would probably destroy the defective cards recalled.

Pending the replacement, the Comelec and Smartmatic canceled the testing and sealing of the PCOS machines.

Flores said the operation would resume on Thursday and Friday. Machines that will not pass the testing and sealing will not be used on May 10, he said.

New round of tests

Under the law, the testing and sealing operation of the PCOS machines is scheduled three to seven days before the elections.

“The machines from Tuesday will be tested again on Thursday. Some on May 7. All machines will be tested before Election Day,” Larrazabal said.

CAC chair Ray Roxas Chua said he did not expect defective memory cards to cause delays in the last-minute election preparations.

“We are not sugarcoating this. This is definitely a setback, but one that is not insurmountable,” said Chua, who is also information and communications technology secretary.

De Villa said she had received several calls and text messages from volunteers reporting problems with the PCOS machines in Pasay, Parañaque, Makati, Pasig and Las Piñas, and Batangas and Mindoro.

“Most of the complaints were PCOS failure, PCOS did not count, PCOS counted national (votes for national candidates) but could not read the local, all candidates for mayor except one,” De Villa said.

Problem can be fixed

She said that the Comelec had vowed to fix the problems. She expressed confidence in the automated polls and disagreed to proposals to hold a total manual count of election results. “It will just be confusing,” she said.

“And how can you validate a system with a process that is also corrupted? We wanted to automate because we were so unhappy with the manual system that has been corrupted, so why are we validating a new system with a corrupted system?” De Villa told reporters.

In the provinces, officials said unexpected problems arose during the testing and sealing of the vote-counting machines, prompting the suspension of their distribution. They said the Comelec office in Manila had sent instructions that technicians would be sent instead to fix the problems.

In San Jose, Occidental Mindoro, acting election officer Perlita Villanca told local radio dzVT that the testing and sealing of the PCOS machines had been deferred. PPCRV volunteers reported that in Magsaysay, Sta. Cruz and Sablayan towns, the machines did not count votes for a congressional candidate.

In San Fernando, the Comelec recalled PCOS machines in Central Luzon after 95 percent of some 700 units used in tests in Pampanga and Bataan failed to count votes for local candidates.

Officials said the distribution of machines in Cebu, Negros Occidental, Zamboanga del Sur, in Region IV, composed of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Quezon, Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon and Palawan had been ordered suspended.

Comelec Director Juanito Icaro said the advice from the Comelec national office was only “to stay put” and technicians would be sent instead. With reports from Redempto D. Anda, Marrah Erika Lesaba, Maricar P. Cinco, Fernan Gianan, Mar Arguelles and Madonna T. Virola, Inquirer Southern Luzon; Carla Gomez and Nestor Burgos Jr. and Jhunnex Napallacan, Inquirer Visayas; Ryan D. Rosauro and Julie S. Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao; Tonette Orejas, Charlene Cayabyab, Carmela Reyes-Estrope and Anselmo Roque, Inquirer Central Luzon; and Delmar Cariño and Charles Keith, Inquirer Northern Luzon

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100505-268133/Voting-machines-fail

INC anoints Noynoy

2010-05-05T05:41:00.000-07:00

By BEN R. ROSARIO , ROY C. MABASA
May 5, 2010, 5:46pm

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/256140/inc-anoints-noynoy

The Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC), the biggest religious sect in the country that observes bloc voting, has chosen Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino and Manuel “Mar” Roxas III of the Liberal Party (LP) as presidential and vice presidential candidates, respectively, of its more than two million voting members.

Included in the INC-backed senatorial line-up is a mix of candidates from five contending political parties – the LP, Lakas-Kampi-CMD, Nacionalista Party (NP); Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), and the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).

They are re-electionists Senators Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Lito Lapid, Miriam Defensor-Santiago, Juan Ponce Enrile, Jinggoy Estrada, and Pia Cayetano; former senators Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, Franklin Drilon, and Ralph Recto; and Reps. Rozzano Biazon, Teofisto Guingona III, and Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

Selected during a long deliberation that ended Friday, the list of INC-backed candidates, from the president down to councilor, was announced to members during the first religious service scheduled in several chapels throughout the country.

The broadcast will continue in services Thursday while the list of candidates will be distributed to the residences of followers to guarantee their compliance.

The announcement came five days after the Kingdom of Jesus Christ headed by Pastor Apollo Quiboloy enjoined the more than two million believers of his church to vote for Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential bet Gilbert Teodoro Jr. and Roxas for vice president.

“Many important factors were taken into consideration in making our decision. After careful and prayerful deliberation, the Church believes that this is the best for our country,’ the statement released by Bro. Bienvenido C. Santiago, INC spokesman, said.

The statement added: “This does not mean to say that the other candidates are not worth of the said positions. We know they have the capability, the experience and the welfare of our nation at heart.”

Now headed by Executive Minister Bro. Eduardo Manalo, the religious sect said it joins the nation “in aspiring for clean, honest and peaceful” elections.

Stressing the importance of Holy Bible readings enjoining the faithful to unite under the leadership of the church, a circular distributed by Bro. Manalo and read in all worship scheduled worship services starting Wednesday, enjoined all followers to vote for the candidates included in the list, vote early and leave the polling center as soon as their votes have been cast.

At the worship service held at the Luzon Avenue chapel in Quezon City, the ministers cited various passages in the Bible warning of severe punishment for acts considered to be inimical to the unity of the INC.

Non-compliance to the voting preference of the leadership is considered a sin that is punishable by expulsion.

The Luzon Avenue minister said INC members are enjoined to “momentarily forget” friends and relatives who are running for elective positions but are not included in the list.

“Most of them are our friends who have been with us in times of celebration and sorrowand they have respected our right and freedom to exercise our religion,” the INC statement said, referring to candidates who failed to make it on the list.

One good example is the preference of the INC for QC Vice Mayor Herbert Bautista who is running against former Arroyo adviser, Michael Defensor.

Defensor has been known to be a close friend of the late Executive Minister Bro. Eraño Manalo, the current head’s father. Nevertheless, Defensor’s father, incumbent Rep. Matias Defensor won the support of the INC as its congressional candidate in QC’s third district.

Vice mayoral endorsement went to Joy Belmonte, daughter of incumbent Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr.

The councilors for QC’s third district are Don De Leon, barangay captain Beda Torrecampo, Councilor Jaime Borres, Albert Dichaves, barangay captain Mar de Guzman, and Allan Reyes. Alagad partylist, represented by INC member Rep. Rodante Marcoleta, also won the INC backing.

In Manila, former Mayor Lito Atienza and Vice Mayor Isko Moreno have been included in the INC list as its mayoralty and vice mayoralty choices. Incumbent Rep. Bienvenido Abante was also endorsed.

Parañaque Mayor Florencio Bernabe Jr. was included anew in the Iglesia list for his third term as the city’s chief executive. His LKC runningmate, Gus Tambunting, was preferred as vice mayor over his rival, actor Anjo Yllana.

Veteran lawmaker Rep. Roilo Golez also won another INC backing for his second re-election bid. In Marikina City, Rep. Del de Guzman, another Liberal Party stalwart, will be the INC mayoral bet, with Councilor Bolok Santos as the choice vice mayor. Re-electionist Rep. Marcelino Teodoro won another INC backing for congressman of the first district.

Incumbent Rep. Jay Lacson Noel was anointed by the INC for a second term against closest rival, former Rep. Federico Sandoval in Malabon. Incumbent Mayor Canuto Oreta and nephew, Lenlen Oreta, were the choices for mayor and vice mayor, respectively.

Facing a tough challenge from former Rep. Luis “Baby” Asistio, Caloocan City Mayor Enrico Echiverri campaign for re-election took a much-needed shot in the arm from the INC. His runningmate, former Rep. Edgar Erice, was likewise selected for vice mayor.

The religious group also endorsed third-termer Rep.Oscar Malapitan for first district congressman. Neophyte Nani Almeda, a member of the Nacionalista Party, snatched the congressional endorsement from incumbent Rep. Mitch Cajayon in the second district race.

NP respects INC decision With this development, the camp of NP standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. said it sees no problem over the formal endorsement of the influential INC on the candidacies of Aquino and Roxas.

“Nothing has changed. Neither has our relationship with the INC, cultivated over years of trust, friendship, and cooperation, nor our party's commitment to the nation, diminished or wavered with the INC's endorsement of other candidates,” the NP said.

NP senatorial bet and spokesperson Adel Tamano said regardless of religious affiliations, all entities should pray for a peaceful and orderly election on Monday.

“As a member of a religious minority, as a Muslim, I respect the INC’s right to endorse candidates. It is part of both the constitutionally enshrined freedom of religion and the freedom of association,” Tamano said.

“Although the NP candidates for president and vice president were not endorsed, my respect for the INC is in no way diminished. I wish all candidates the best and whatever our religion, let’s pray for a peaceful and honest election,” Tamano said.

Earlier, Villar, and running mate Sen. Loren Legarda, got the informal endorsement of El Shaddai leader Bro. Mike Velarde during the latter’s anniversary celebration in Hong Kong.

Despite the endorsement, the NP said it is unfazed in its mission to rally for a more competent leader and one who has more ability to help the poor. “We are undaunted in our mission to provide our countrymen with leadership that is competent and pro-poor,” the NP said.

“We continue to lead the ground battle at the grassroots level. We are confident of the days that lie ahead,” they added.

Endorsement saddens Erap However, former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada expressed deep sadness over the INC endorsement Aquino but hopes that despite the development he would still win the presidency in the May 10, 2010 polls.

“Naku, nakakalungkot. Lungkot na lungkot ako pero ginagalang ko ang kanilang desisyon. Wala akong sama ng loob sa kanila,” Estrada said in an interview. (“I’m really saddened but I respect their decision.”)

Estrada said he is saddened because the development means that “he would have to work doubly hard to win the elections” without the support of the politically influential religious organization which is known for "bloc voting" during elections.

“It’s a big loss,” Estrada said of the support of the INC noting that when he handily won the 1998 presidential race, INC was on his side. (With reports from Hannah L. Torregoza, Rio Rose Ribaya, and Leonard D. Postrado)

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/256140/inc-anoints-noynoy

Pastor Quiboloy anoints Teodoro

2010-05-02T18:28:00.000-07:00

By Jeffrey M. Tupas
Inquirer Mindanao
First Posted 03:05:00 05/03/2010

Filed Under: Inquirer Politics, Eleksyon 2010, Elections, Cults & sects

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100503-267767/Pastor-Quiboloy-anoints-Teodoro

DAVAO CITY—The waiting is over—the “anointed one” is administration presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro Jr.

Televangelist Pastor Apollo Quiboloy—who claims to be the “Appointed Son of God”—Sunday night ended speculation on whom he would endorse to his followers for president in next week’s elections.

Quiboloy’s sect, called “Kingdom of Jesus Christ, The Name Above Every Name,” claims to have four million followers in the Philippines and abroad.

“Tonight let it be known to all Filipinos that the Almighty Father has appointed the president of this nation. He is no other than Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro,” Quiboloy told thousands of cheering followers.

Quiboloy’s endorsement had been avidly sought by all of the major presidential candidates. He made the announcement at the headquarters of the sect in Davao City.

Speaking to Quiboloy’s followers, Teodoro described the evangelist as “not just a great spiritual leader but also a man with an intense patriotism and love for the country.”

Teodoro lags far behind the Liberal Party’s Benigno Aquino III, Nacionalista Party’s Manuel Villar and Pwersa ng Masa’s Joseph Estrada in opinion surveys.

Before announcing Teodoro’s name, Quiboloy said he was “grateful and humbled by the deep trust you have bestowed upon me to be your guide in making a very crucial decision that will chart the course of our nation.”

“Eight days from now, 50 million of us Filipinos will be casting our votes. And as it is in the heart of every Filipino, we all have been asking for guidance in choosing the right leader that will lead our nation,” he said.

He added: “This night, I come before you to proclaim the country’s next president.” A little later, he announced Teodoro’s name.

Lawyer Edwin Lacierda, spokesperson of Aquino, said Quiboloy’s choice was a “disappointment” but he added there were other big groups set to endorse Aquino. With Philip Tubeza and TJ Burgonio

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100503-267767/Pastor-Quiboloy-anoints-Teodoro

Filipinos abroad urged to vote

2010-05-01T13:47:00.000-07:00

By MADEL R. SABATER
May 1, 2010, 9:52pm

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/255568/absentee-voter-turnout-low

The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) has instructed all 93 Philippine embassies and consulates-general to tap all Filipino communities abroad to ensure that those who are registered for the overseas absentee voting (OAV) will exercise their right to vote as only more than 80,000 have cast their votes out of 589,830 registrants.

“The cooperation, assistance, and support of all Filipino community leaders and organizations are keys to ensuring the success of the OAV exercise. It is one’s civic responsibility to cast his vote during elections,” Rafael Seguis, DFA Undersecretary for Special Concerns and OAV Secretariat (OAVS) chairman, said.

Seguis said he remains optimistic the voter-turnout figure will continue to increase in the last week of the month-long overseas absentee voting, which ends on May 10.

“The DFA instructed all embassies and consulates-general to exhaust all efforts in the interest of encouraging our countrymen abroad to go out and exercise their right to vote their country’s next set of leaders,” Seguis said.

As of 4 p.m. Friday, there were only 80,129 overseas absentee voters who had cast their votes.

Topping the list are the Filipinos based in Hong Kong with 22,607 voters, followed by those in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, 6,182 ballots, and Singapore, 4,928 voters. Both Hong Kong and Singapore are having automated elections.

Other foreign service posts with the highest number of voters are those in Jeddah and Al Khobar, both in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Los Angeles, California, USA; Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; and London, United Kingdom.

Seguis said most embassies and consulates-general are open to the public seven days a week from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. until 6 p.m. of May 10 (Philippine time).

The overseas absentee voters have the opportunity to elect the next President, Vice President, 12 senators, and one party-list representative.

There are three modes of voting used in the OAV exercise – automated voting using Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines in Hong Kong and Singapore, and personal voting and postal voting in other embassies and consulates-general.

There are 589,830 OFWs registered for this year’s OAV. Out of these voters, 568,733 are land-based and 21,097 are seafarers. The biggest bulk comes from the Middle East and Africas, comprising of 225,148 voters, followed by countries in Asia-Pacific at 215,546, and North and South America at 66,745.

In Singapore and Hong Kong, where an automated mode of voting is being conducted, 95,355 are registered overseas absentee voters in Hong Kong while 31,851 are in Singapore.

Meanwhile, the DFA belied reports that indelible ink has not been used in the process of overseas absentee voting (OAV) in some parts of Saudi Arabia.

“The DFA-Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat (OAVS) and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) stated that the polling precincts in the Philippine Embassy in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the Philippine Labor Office (POLO) in Al Khobar, Saudi Arabia have used indelible ink in the voting process, and the Comelec is rushing additional supplies to said places, amid a report that the inks may have run out,” DFA spokesman Ed Malaya said.

International migrant organization Migrante International has been claiming that indelible ink has not been used in some polling precincts in the said areas.

“After consulting with Comelec Commissioner Armando Velasco, OAV Vice Chair Nestor Padalhin stated that there has been no reported ‘flying voter’ incident in any overseas precinct,” he added.

“This is due to the fact that there are relatively few precincts in a place [like Riyadh and Al Khobar],” Malaya explained.

Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/255568/absentee-voter-turnout-low

Villar blasts Erap on ratings drop

2010-05-01T05:25:00.001-07:00

by Fel V. Maragay

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNation.htm?f=2010/may/1/nation1.isx&d=2010/may/1

Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Senator Manuel Villar on Thursday blamed former President Joseph Estrada’s attack on him over the alleged irregularity in the stock trading of his real estate firm for the setback he suffered in the presidential survey of Pulse Asia last month.

Villar maintained that there was nothing anomalous about the initial public offering of the Vista Land and Lifescapes owned by his family.

But Villar said the allegation by Estrada and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile that there was manipulation in the stock trading of Vista Land was obviously timed with the Pulse Asia’s field survey in a bid to discredit him.

Estrada and Enrile held a press conference on the Vista Land scandal on April 22, or a day before Pulse Asia conducted actual field interviews of respondents on April 23 to 25.

“They seemed to know when the field survey would be conducted. And that explains why this issue has surfaced. Why did they have to resort to this trick?” Villar asked newsmen after addressing a campaign rally at the provincial sports complex in Malolos, Bulacan.

Estrada however said that it was farthest from his mind to besmirch the reputation of a political rival or to engage in black propaganda when he raised the issue of Vista Land public offering. He said he agreed to expose the alleged scam only after Enrile was able to gather adequate documentary evidence.

Villar said survey results can either be acceptable or not to him depending on certain factors or circumstances. But with respect to this particular Pulse Asia poll, he said he found the results unacceptable.

Villar said this is because the survey respondents must have been influenced by the Estrada-Enrile expose on Vista Land deal.

Earlier, he vehemently denied the allegation that he exerted pressure on the board of directors of the Philippine Stocks Exchange to secure approval of the public offering of Vista Land stocks, including the lifting of the “lock-up” rule to allow majority stockholders to sell their personal shares within a prescribed period. PSE officials assured that the deal was approved in conformity with rules. But Estrada countered that Villar was “lying.”

With l,800 respondents, the Pulse Asia survey showed Estrada tying with Villar in the number two slot as they were credited with a similar score of 20 percent.

Liberal Party standard bearer Benigno Aquino III garnered 39 percent, for a l9 point lead over Estrada and Villar.

In the vice presidential race, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay has overtaken Senator Loren Legarda with a significant lead of 9 percentage points. Binay obtained 28 percent compared to Legada’s 20 points.

Legarda, Villar’s runningmate, branded the survey results as “inaccurate” and intended to be used for “trending and mind-conditioning of voters.

“We should not allow ourselves to be affected by surveys because we are strong on the ground, and that is what matters,” told the same press conference.

Pulse Asia chief research fellow Ana Maria Tabunda said it is a common practice for certain candidates to step up their propaganda campaign against their opponents to coincide field interviews of pollsters.

But Pulse Asia president Richard Homes said they see to it that the date of their field surveys are kept secret. Besides, he said the April survey was an independent undertaking and had not been commissioned by any group or individual.

Legarda railed that their political enemies “have mastered the art of black propaganda, lies and slander.”

She also questioned the credibility of the pre-election surveys of Pulse Asia, pointing out that one of the owners of the research outfit is the cousin of one of the presidential candidates.

Legarda was referring to Rapa Lopa, former president of Pulse Asia and first cousin of Aquino. But Holmes said Lopa had divested from the survey firm since Aquino joined the presidential race.

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNation.htm?f=2010/may/1/nation1.isx&d=2010/may/1

Eduardo C. Villanueva: Revolution for righteousness leadership

2010-05-01T02:41:00.000-07:00

By Dona Pazzibugan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:12:00 05/01/2010

Filed Under: Eleksyon 2010, Elections, Inquirer Politics, Politics

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100501-267428/Eduardo-C-Villanueva-Revolution-for-righteousness-leadership

Editor’s Note: The presidential profiles will be running in no particular order but as the stories come in from our reporters in the field.

(Second of a series)

MANILA, Philippines—Politics and religion do not make a strange brew for presidential candidate Eduardo Cruz Villanueva, more popularly known as Brother Eddie.

A far stranger mix is his favorite meal: Carabao milk poured onto a plate of rice.

He was after all a radical activist and political economy professor during the turbulent Marcos years leading to martial law before he heeded his spiritual calling that led him to found the now far-reaching Jesus is Lord Church (JIL).

Hearing him talk, Villanueva is a man on a mission to foil “traditional politicians” and to save the country by reviving “genuine love for God and country.”

In his official campaign kickoff event last February, he introduced a new and more pragmatic slogan, “anim na taon na walang korapsyon (zero corruption for six years).”

That same month he flew to Hong Kong, where a thriving JIL chapter is based, and emotionally addressed the throngs of overseas Filipino workers who eagerly wanted to hear from their candidates.

“We are here to tell our OFWs that Bangon Pilipinas is declaring a revolution, a revolution for righteous leadership,” declared Villanueva, who reportedly became teary-eyed during his speech.

As president and spiritual leader of JIL, he endorsed a number of prominent political candidates including President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in past elections before he himself decided to step into the political center stage and run for president in 2004.

Running for president the second time, Villanueva believes he and his party Bangon Pilipinas are now better prepared to go head on against “traditional politicians.”

Born on Oct. 6, 1946, Villanueva was the sixth of 11 children of a relatively well-to-do family in Bocaue, Bulacan, where he remains based until now.

His father Joaquin Villanueva was a soldier, elementary school teacher and sprinter who represented the Philippines in four consecutive Far East Games (precursor of the Asian Games) in the 1920s.

Owner of fishponds

His mother Maria Cruz-Villanueva owned a veil factory.

The family owned fishponds in Quezon and Bulacan and has small farmlands in Bulacan.

Villanueva went to elementary and high school in Bulacan. For college he went to the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (then known as Philippine College of Commerce), where he was a radical student leader and labor leader in the years leading to martial law imposition in 1972.

He earned a commerce degree (major in economics and minor in finance) in 1969 as the anti-Marcos protest actions escalated.

He went straight to teach economics, finance and political economy in PUP until 1972 and all the while continued to help organize workers’ strikes from 1969 to 1972.

He took up law at the University of the Philippines in 1971 but stopped after a year.

In martial law jail

Due to his involvement in workers’ strikes, he was jailed twice during martial law.

He went into hiding in Infanta, Quezon, and in the mountains of Tinago Island in Sorsogon when the writ of habeas corpus was suspended to evade the police which wanted him dead or alive.

It was at the height of his family’s uphill legal battle against a notorious land-grabbing syndicate in Bulacan that the atheist Villanueva experienced his spiritual conversion in 1973. This was after the land-grabbers were arrested and detained.

The love story

According to the book, “The JIL Love Story” by Michael Wourms (published in 1992), Villanueva single-handedly waged a legal battle against a well-entrenched syndicate that manipulated the foreclosure of a major piece of land which was the family’s major source of livelihood.

Driven to desperation by legal setbacks and uncooperative military authorities after several months, he was already resigned to joining the communist rebels to take vengeance against his family’s persecutors.

After a specially frustrating day at the military headquarters, Villanueva came home one night and came across one of his sister Leni’s letters which he used to ignore for beseeching him to turn to God for solution.

According to the book, Villanueva asked for a miracle in his fight against the land-grabbing syndicate before he started to read the Bible his sister had given him months ago.

Miracle seals conversion

Before the night was through, his readings had affected him profoundly that the once atheist and communist activist became a “born-again” Christian.

Five days after his profound spiritual encounter, the land-grabbers were arrested and detained. That miracle sealed his transformation.

Eventually he settled down with wife Adoracion Jose. They were married in 1971 at the St. Martin’s Church in Bocaue. Villanueva went into business as export manager of Maran Export Industries from 1973 to 1975 and as general manager of Agape Trading Co. from 1976 to 1977.

He returned to teaching in PUP from 1978 to 1979 and channeled his passion to bring about social justice into evangelism. He started Bible-sharing sessions with family and friends and his students.

Evangelical studies

He started JIL in 1978 as a regular Bible study group among 15 of his students.

For his new calling as an evangelist, he pursued further studies here and in the United States. He was ordained Minister of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in 1979 by Dr. Michael Mckinney of the Victory in Christ Church and International Ministries based in California.

Now 32 years later since Villanueva founded it, the JIL Church claims 6 million members in 44 countries.

He was appointed to the PUP Board of Regents for a record 13 years during the Ramos, Estrada and the early Arroyo administration. He donated his entire honorarium to the PUP Scholarship Fund.

With Villanueva as president and spiritual director, his wife Adoracion now referred to as Sister Dory is the executive director of JIL Church Worldwide and president/director of the Jesus Is Lord Colleges Foundation Inc.

They have four children; two are in politics, while two are involved in JIL.

Eduardo “Jon-Jon” Jr. is incumbent mayor of their hometown Bocaue, Bulacan; Joel has just finished three terms as party-list representative of the Citizens’ Battle Against Corruption (Cibac); Eleanor “Joni” is vice president for programming of ZOE TV-11 and director for administration of JIL Church Worldwide; while Edelisha “Jovi” is an educator.

Worldwide multimedia

Villanueva oversees JIL’s vast operations and multimedia ministries worldwide.

He is also founder and chancellor of the Jesus Is Lord Colleges Foundation (JILCF) Inc.

He is also national chair of the Philippines for Jesus Movement (PJM) and holds positions in various religious groups here and abroad.

Villanueva, however, temporarily asked to be relieved as JIL Church president while he is running for president.

He is also president and chair of ZOE Broadcasting Network, the franchise holder licensed to operate VHF Channel 11 and UHF Channel 33.

Villanueva understands the media very well. He used to host two TV programs over ZOE TV 11/GMA 7. He also has a radio program over DZJV 1458 based in Calamba, Laguna, and writes a column for two tabloids and for monthly publications in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

He has also written two books, “Find It! Straight From The Word” and “Surest Covenant” published in 2004 and contributed articles to two books.

The former activist joined the 1986 People Power Edsa revolution that toppled the Marcos dictatorship.

He supported the 2001 Second People Power revolt that ousted President Joseph Estrada and installed Vice President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in power.

With a son as Bocaue mayor and another as party-list representative, Villanueva himself bit the political bullet and ran in 2004 for president. He founded Bangon Pilipinas as his political vehicle.

Garci victim, too

He ran by himself without a running mate nor a slate, counting on JIL members to recruit others to deliver the votes on Election Day.

He garnered 1.99 million votes—practically his entire evangelical constituency—to land him in fifth place.

Villanueva claimed he was also cheated in the 2004 elections as the “Hello Garci” controversy continues to hound Ms Arroyo’s victory. The alleged cheating involved former Elections Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and a number of politicians and military officers.

As JIL leader, Villanueva endorsed several prominent candidates, among them former President Fidel Ramos, House Speaker Jose De Venecia, former Vice President Teofisto Guingona and Ms Arroyo.

He also endorsed senatorial candidates in the 2007 midterm elections, among them Senators and fellow presidential contenders Benigno Aquino III and Manuel Villar, vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda and Francis Escudero.

By his own admission, Villanueva said Bangon Pilipinas started organizing four years before the 2010 elections. Attempts to join forces with other religious bloc El Shaddai and the group of Catholic priest-turned-Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio fell through.

Prior to officially declaring his candidacy, he formally announced a new movement called Bangon Pilipinas, Bagong Pilipino in Araneta Coliseum in March 2009.

Filling his campaign with symbolism, he announced his candidacy on Independence Day June 12 in historic Barasoian Church in Malolos, Bulacan.

Servant-leader

He kicked off his campaign by unfurling at Luneta Park the biggest Philippine flag ever made and by performing the “washing of the feet” on his running mate and seven senatorial candidates (two were later added). According to the Bible, Christ once washed the feet of his disciples to demonstrate how it is to be a servant-leader.

Villanueva boasted that his party now has the political machinery they did not have in 2004.

This time he has a running mate, former Securities and Exchange Commission chair and losing 2001 senatorial candidate chair Perfecto Yasay Jr.

So as not to repeat his mistake of ignoring other religious groups, Villanueva gathered representatives from as many religious blocs and sectors for his senatorial slate.

Villanueva’s campaign is hinged on the theme that he could provide the “moral and righteous leadership” the country needs and took as slogan the promise of “zero corruption” during his six-year administration.

He believes all sectors of society from rebel groups to smuggling syndicates to foreign creditors will come around if a “godly, righteous leader” such as himself is elected as president.

Last March, candidate Villanueva reverted back to his role as an evangelist and led a prayer rally at the Luneta to ask for divine intervention for orderly elections and, at the same time, commemorate the 490th anniversary of the introduction of Christianity to the country.

“We will be faithful stewards of Your grace, of the gifts and talents to give glory and honor to You and be a blessing for our fellow mankind. We will govern in Your righteousness and justice, gird ourselves with Your truth and be clothed in Your compassion and mercy,” Villanueva read from a “Covenant with God as a People and Nation.”

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100501-267428/Eduardo-C-Villanueva-Revolution-for-righteousness-leadership

Smear tactics vs Aquino hurting Villar, rues Tamano

2010-05-01T02:38:00.000-07:00

By Nikko Dizon
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 03:19:00 05/01/2010

Filed Under: Eleksyon 2010, Elections, Politics, Inquirer Politics

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100501-267431/Smear-tactics-vs-Aquino-hurting-Villar-rues-Tamano

MANILA, Philippines—Unburdening himself for the first time, Nacionalista Party senatorial candidate Adel Tamano said there were “misguided people” in his party “enjoying” the black propaganda meant to smear the name of Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, chief rival of NP standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar for the presidency.

“The [recent] survey result showed that negative campaigning has backfired on the Nacionalista Party,” Tamano, one of the NP’s two spokespersons, told the Inquirer by phone on Friday.

“I’m in pain ... the negative campaign is backfiring and hurting our candidate,” he added.

“I don’t know for a fact if there is a dirty tricks department in our camp but I am not naïve. Different political parties do [have a black ops department]. Even if you don’t have any moral issues about it [black propaganda], is it effective?” he pointed out.

This is the first time that a senatorial candidate from the NP has criticized the perceived black propaganda used in forwarding the candidacy of Villar.

Text messages circulated on Thursday that Tamano and fellow senatorial candidate Susan “Toots” Ople were thinking of quitting the NP after a supposed falling out with other party spokesperson, Gilbert Remulla, and NP secretary general, Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano.

Ople denied the rumor while Tamano said he had no plans of resigning.

“I am not resigning because if I do, the misguided people in our party and the [misguided] supporters would continue to enjoy the black propaganda,” he told the Inquirer.

No chance to talk

Nonetheless, Tamano said he would discuss his sentiments with Villar at the NP’s campaign sortie in Bulacan on Thursday night. “I want to tell him how I feel and ask him if I still have the trust of the party. Kung wala na (if I don’t have it), then I would resign.”

Tamano told the Inquirer on Friday that he and Villar did not have a chance to talk in Bulacan.

Meanwhile, Villar’s numbers in voters’ preference surveys had been slipping, with the latest Pulse Asia result released Friday putting him in a tie with former President Joseph Estrada. Aquino had a comfortable lead.

Waging a lonely campaign against black propaganda, Tamano had been particularly outraged by NP supporter Guido Delgado’s release of an unverified psychiatric report on Aquino and publicly denounced Delgado’s move.

Focus on the vision

He had also confronted Remulla, at a press conference on the latter’s admission that he visited Maguindanao massacre suspect, Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. and asked Remulla to categorically state if the call on Ampatuan was sanctioned by the NP.

Remulla had stressed that the party was not involved in his visit to the elder Ampatuan.

In stressing what appeared to be the folly of Delgado’s release of the unverified psychiatric report on Aquino, Tamano said: “Why should we frame the debates in terms of mudslinging? Wala kaming laban kay (We cannot make a dent on) Noynoy because he is protected by Ninoy and Cory. Matatalo kami(We would lose) if we keep on using that [psychiatric report]. Why don’t we just focus on the competence and vision of our presidential candidate?”

The stinging result of the Pulse Asia survey on the presidential race which had Villar neck and neck with Estrada had made Tamano all the more bullish in pushing for a “positive campaign” in the last few days before Election Day.

Focus on Villar strength

Tamano said he hoped for a “change in tone of the campaign” and in the “strategy in terms of clarifying our message.”

“We should spend the last couple of days clarifying the message in terms of the vision and accomplishment of our candidate... we should be focusing on the strength of our candidate and not the weakness of his opponent,” he said.

Tamano said he would seek out Villar during a campaign sortie scheduled in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, this weekend.

“I don’t want it said that he (Villar) has to explain to me. I just want to express my sentiments and I would like him... to show what a great leader he is now and would be for the country,” he said.

On going public with his sentiments about the negative campaigning, Tamano admitted on Thursday that there could be a faction within the NP that “doesn’t trust me anymore.”

This, however, would not make him waver in his stand, he stressed.

Doing it with integrity

“This isn’t about winning and losing. It is about doing things with integrity,” he said.

Tamano, who ranked 23rd-29th in Friday’s Pulse Asia survey on voters’ preference for senatorial candidates, is seeking to represent Filipino Muslims in the Senate just like his father, the late Sen. Mamintal Tamano.

Original Story: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100501-267431/Smear-tactics-vs-Aquino-hurting-Villar-rues-Tamano

86-year-old mom cries over attacks on Villar

2010-04-28T05:29:00.000-07:00

by Fel V. Maragay

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2010/april/27/news2.isx&d=2010/april/27

THE 86-year-old mother of presidential candidate Manuel Villar Jr. on Monday pleaded with his political enemies and critics to be fair and to stop attacking her son.

Curita Villar said she was deeply hurt by the attacks—especially allegations that their family did not have humble beginnings as portrayed by Villar’s advertisements.

“It pains and it almost kills me,” Mrs. Villar said in Tagalog during an emotional press conference at her home in Las Piñas City.

“They’re ganging up on my son.”

Mrs. Villar said her son was not exaggerating when he talked about helping her sell fish and shrimp in the market in his youth, and challenged reporters to visit their old stall at the Divisoria market.

The wheelchair-bound mother broke into tears as she talked about the difficulties she and her son, who was then 9, had gone through.

She said Villar’s brothers and sisters were also deeply hurt by the daily attacks on him on television and in the newspapers.

Villar’s sisters, Divina Gracia and Gloria Benedicto, came to his defense in the same conference, and lashed out at the media for being biased against him.

“Before you throw mud at us, why don’t you first look at the mud on your faces? ’’ Benedicto said.

“We are just simple people. As much as possible, we don’t want to come out, but we have to respond to these attacks.”

Benedicto became emotional when a reporter asked about the possibility that Villar would be criticized for using his mother in the campaign.

“Who was the first to use that gimmick?” she said.

“In all his [Senator Benigno Aquino III’s] posters, his mother and his father are there.”

Mrs. Villar appealed to her son’s political enemies and critics, and to the public, to be considerate and to stop peddling lies about her son.

“Please believe in him. His desire to help comes from the heart. Have pity on him,” she said.

At one point, Mrs. Villar sang Stardust, a song that she said she used to sing with her son, and then broke into tears again.

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNews.htm?f=2010/april/27/news2.isx&d=2010/april/27

Left torn between Aquino and Villar

2010-04-26T23:09:00.000-07:00

by Christine Herrera

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNation.htm?f=2010/april/26/nation2.isx&d=2010/april/26

Militant and moderate farmers’ groups have cast their lot with either the Liberal Party’s Senator Benigno Simeon Aquino III or his closest rival Senator Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista Party.

But Aquino’s 300,000 supporters pale in comparison with the two million farmers belonging to the militant Anakpawis and Bayan Muna that are actively campaigning against Aquino and quietly supporting Villar.

The militant farmers have mounted Lakbayan a 30-vehicle caravan from Central Luzon to the Department of Agrarian Reform main office in Quezon City to denounce the alleged oppression in the 4,972-hectare Hacienda Luisita owned by the Aquino and Cojuangco clan.

The anti-Aquino farmers started the caravan last April 19 and farmer-leaders yesterday held a dialogue with agrarian officials to press them to enforce the 2005 order of the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council to distribute the lands in Hacienda Luisita to some 5,000 farmer-beneficiaries.

The farmer-leaders were told by the DAR officials that their hands are tied since the Aquinos and Cojuangcos stopped them from doing so after the influential family sought a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court in 2005.

The Luisita farmers dared Aquino to lift the TRO if he was indeed sincere” in his promise to distribute the lands.

While the militant farmers were picketing the DAR, the Aquino camp issued a statement saying that “despite an intense black propaganda campaign against them, farmers’ groups and agrarian reform advocates representing more than 300,000 farmers nationwide formally endorsed Aquino and Roxas as their choice to become the next President and Vice-President of the Philippines.

“The endorsement by the 47 groups followed the endorsement of the LP tandem by the farmer-beneficiaries of agrarian reform in the controversial Sumilao estate in Bukidnon province that marshaled public attention on their cause by marching from their land in Bukidnon to highlight the pestering issue of agrarian reform in the Philippines,” the LP statement said.

These farmers said they “trust” Aquino that he would keep his promise to distribute lands to the landless, including the Hacienda Luisita lands, and enforce the extended Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program in five years.

The 47 farmer-groups belong to the moderate Akbayan, whose representative in Congress, Risa Hontiveros is one of LP’s senatorial candidates.

Not to be outdone, the militant Anakpawis and Bayan Muna intensified their campaign against Aquino and pressed DAR to prod the Supreme Court to lift the Aquino-Cojuangco-sought TRO since their plea to have the restraining order lifted “fell on deaf ears.”

While the farmers have openly denounced Aquino as “not fit for President,” they were also quiet and not openly endorsing Villar although two of their leaders in Congress, Bayan Muna Satur Ocampo and Gabriela Rep. Liza Maza are in the senatorial slate of NP.

Ocampo and Maza are said to have promised Villar “three million command votes” nationwide.

Apart from the two million farmers, the militant lawmakers claim to have a membership of one million more from multisectorial groups such as women, youth, urban poor and workers, among others.

Lito Bais, president of the United Luisita Workers’ Union, said the 300 farmers who joined the caravan would picket the SC today to press the high court to lift the TRO.

Bais said their trust rating on Aquino was way below zero because he has not lifted a finger to give justice to the seven farmers who were killed during a picket on Nov. 15, 2004.

Bais said Aquino was trying to mislead the farmers and the public in saying the Aquinos and Cojuangcos have already agreed to his plan to distribute the lands.

Original Story: http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/insideNation.htm?f=2010/april/26/nation2.isx&d=2010/april/26

Villar ‘one big liar’ – Erap

2010-04-26T19:09:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, 27 April 2010 00:00
BY FRANCIS EARL A. CUETO Reporter

Original Story: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/component/content/article/42-rokstories/16136-villar-one-big-liar-erap

FORMER President Joseph “Erap” Estrada on Monday called his rival for the presidency, Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. of the Nacionalista Party (NP), “one big liar” for “covering up” his alleged shady deals with the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) involving the Villar-controlled Vista Land and Lifescape (VLL).

Estrada considered Villar’s “biggest lie” his denial of charges that he pressured PSE board members to lift the lock-up rule on stocks of VLL in 2007 when the NP standard-bearer was still Senate president.

“The incontrovertible fact is that Mr. Villar did [pressure the board members] and the stock exchange gave in to his request,” Estrada said during a press conference at the headquarters of the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).

He maintained that Villar showed up “unannounced” at a meeting of the PSE board when it was discussing the VLL stocks issue. Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile echoed at the same press conference Estrada’s charge that Villar was a “liar.”

“He is a big liar but a poor one at that,” said Enrile, who is running for reelection under Estrada’s ticket.

Enrile claimed that Villar “pressured” the PSE members through a veiled threat. He said that during the meeting, Villar accused the directors, who are mostly stockbrokers, that they themselves were violating the legal limitation on their shareholders in the exchange. In June 2007, the PSE exempted 29.28 percent of VLL shares from the lock-up provision and allowed the firm to sell shares in a second public offering.

Estrada said that Villar lied when he did not disclose in his 2007 and 2008 Statement of Assets and Liabilities and Net Worth (SALN) the P5-billion to P8-billion profit he and his wife allegedly made from the sale of their Vista Land stake. This apparent windfall, the former president said, was not shown in the SALN that Villar and his wife, Rep. Cynthia Villar, jointly filed.

Villar’s lawyer, Nalen Rosero-Galang, said that Villar’s accusers were “recycling lies to save face” after both PSE and Securities and Exchange Commission said they did not change or bend any rules to allow the public listing of shares of VLL.

Galang added that proceeds of the sale of the VLL shares are reflected in the books of the selling companies, “which explains why it is not reflected in the SALN of Sen. Villar.”

She said that the PSE board did not grant the requested release from escrow despite Villar’s appearance before the board.

“This shows that the PSE board was not influenced, much less pressured by Sen. Villar’s appearance before them. The PSE board allowed the release from escrow of the shares of one corporation because the board concluded that those shares were not subject to the lock-up requirement. Contrary to the allegations of Mr. Estrada, no waiver was granted by the PSE board,” Galang added.

She cited a formal statement from the PSE that the VLL transaction was above board.

“The PSE board earlier approved the public offering of Vista Land and in a subsequent meeting in 2007 clarified that the lock-up rule would not apply to the sale by existing shareholders owning less than 10 percent of the outstanding capital stock of the company at the time of the offering,” PSE Chairman Hans Sicat said in a statement.

Galang hinted that Estrada has an ax to grind against Villar who, as then Speaker of the House of Representatives, was mainly responsible for his impeachment and Senate trial that eventually resulted in his overthrow in a military and police-backed civilian uprising in 2001.

Enrile, however, was unimpressed by the PSE clearance of Villar. He said that the PSE board had executed “a very craftily and cleverly done cover-up” when it said that the Villar-owned Vista Land complied with existing rules and requirements for listing and public offering.

“Shame on you and your ilk who sit at the board of the PSE,” Enrile added.

He charged that some members of the board might have benefited from the allegedly irregular share sale so they are protecting Villar.

PSE intimidated

Enrile said those PSE board members were intimidated because they also had the problem of violating the bourse’s rule of having only a few stockbrokers on the board.

He challenged the board to declare as fake the minutes of a June 2007 PSE board meeting that he used as basis for his accusations.

“I dare the PSE board to say that the copies of the minutes of their meetings I am holding are fake and if so produce before the public [its] own version of the minutes so that they [public] can judge who is telling the truth and who [is] covering up,” Enrile said.

Villar earlier dismissed the accusations as black propaganda that he used his influence to manipulate the stock market and secure special treatment for his companies. He and his lawyer challenged Estrada and Enrile to sue him and let the courts decide if he committed any crime or not.

Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd, the candidate for president of the Liberal Party (LP), also did not escape the ire of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).

The LP supposedly had also received reports of Villar’s alleged undue influence on PSE board members but did not reveal them because they wanted to verify the reports first.

Lawyer JV Bautista, PMP senatorial candidate, said at the same press conference that Aquino did not seem to have moral courage.

“He knew about this all along, but he reportedly lacked proof. He wants someone else to do the work for him. He needs to find moral courage to stand up and fight,” Bautista added.

With report from Marie Kristine De Guzman

Original Story: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/component/content/article/42-rokstories/16136-villar-one-big-liar-erap