Patungo sa Kaayaayang Pilipinas

Election 2010 News - May 7, 2010

2010-05-07T13:45:00.000+08:00

Palace: No meetings for 'No-el', only on security (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Supreme court voids NP-NPC merger (The Philippine Star)
Delay looms in counting of 3M votes The Daily Tribune)
If machines fail, teachers not ready for manual count (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Gibo thanks TUCP, 18 groups for support (The Philippine Star)
Supreme court orders Comelec to bare details of preparations (The Philippine Star)
300,000 teachers disenfranchised (The Philippine Star)
Poll machines pass 2nd round of tests (The Philippine Star)

Palace: No meetings for ‘No-El,’ only on security

2010-05-07T13:39:00.000+08:00

By TJ Burgonio (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100507-268515/Palace-No-meetings-for-No-El-only-on-security

MANILA, Philippines—The “no-election” scenario was never on the Palace menu.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been meeting with top security officials because of her concern about unrest arising from the May 10 polls. A failure of elections was never discussed in any of the meetings, Malacañang claimed Thursday.
This whole idea of ‘no elections’ is, just to quote the cardinal, ‘crazy, crazy, crazy and irresponsible,’” Secretary Ricardo Saludo, Ms Arroyo’s spokesperson, said in a briefing. (He was quoting Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales’ reaction early this week to a warning of “people power” by Liberal Party standard-bearer Benigno Aquino III.)

Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza also said it was the threats by communist and secessionist rebels to disrupt the polls that topped the agenda of the meeting on Wednesday.

In that meeting, Saludo said, Ms Arroyo reminded members of the National Security Council (NSC) to maintain stability on Election Day and onward in the face of possible protests.

Ready to handle situation

Asked later in an ambush interview why Ms Arroyo had called military and police officials to the meetings, Saludo said: “If problems arise in some areas, which are no different from those in previous elections where we have to do manual count, problems in counting crop up and there’s public unrest, we stand ready to handle that kind of situation.”

“That’s about the level that we need to worry about,” Saludo said.

He said the Palace would leave “anything bigger” and “whatever glitches” to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to “contain.”

He added that if related problems arose, these would be fewer this time because “the automated system is less prone to errors.”

3 scenarios

Ms Arroyo also met on Tuesday with senior Cabinet and security officials following glitches in Monday’s trial runs of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines in certain parts of Luzon.

In that meeting, she directed the military and police to study the implications of a failure of elections, a postponement of the automated balloting and a return to full manual count, according to a key security officer.

But Saludo sought to downplay the three scenarios, saying these always arose in the run-up to national elections.

“These other scenarios, you don’t have to get that from Malacañang. The Comelec has discussed them,” he said, adding:

“But of course, the one who will manage and run the elections will still have to be the Comelec. And they will have to decide which scenario will happen.”

Saludo, however, said none of the scenarios was tackled at the NSC meeting: “One thing is sure: there was never any mention of ‘no elections.’ That option is not on the table anywhere in any government discussion. ‘No elections’ is not an operative or serious scenario [in any meeting] that I have attended.”

Earlier Thursday, Mendoza told reporters in an ambush interview that government preparations for the elections as well as threats to security were tackled in the NSC meeting.

He said the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the communist New People’s Army had “plans” but that the military and police were “addressing them.”

Mendoza also said the Commission on Information and Communication Technology had briefed Ms Arroyo on the foul-ups in the PCOS machines.

“We agreed that we have to give the Comelec the opportunity to make sure these machines work and the elections push through,” he said.

Damaged credibility

A postponement of the May 10 elections will benefit Ms Arroyo and allow her to hold on to power, according to the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).

In a statement, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said any “no elections” and “holdover” scenario could arise from problems in the automation system.

Reyes said the polls would be conducted “under a cloud of doubt and suspicion because of recent events that are the doing” of the Comelec and its supplier, Smartmatic-TIM.

He said the foul-ups were “not just glitches but a potentially fatal nationwide malfunction.”

“Even if these are resolved, as Smartmatic says they will, the damage to the polls’ credibility has been done,” he said.

According to Reyes, a reduction in the credibility of the May 10 elections “can be exploited by those who are pushing for a ‘no elections’ scenario or postponement.”

“This is what the Arroyo regime can use to justify a holdover,” he said.

Reyes said massive troop deployment in at least 10 cities in Metro Manila was not only aimed at easing the tension in the so-called election hotspots, but would also be used to quell protest actions that might erupt if the elections failed.

He called on the public to monitor the testing of the PCOS machines “because that is one indicator of how the poll automation will be carried out.”

Accountability

Nacionalista Party (NP) guest senatorial candidate Liza Maza said the Comelec should be held accountable for reneging on its mandate “to [hold] honest and credible elections.”

“With only a few days to go before the elections, the automated elections with Comelec’s partner Smartmatic have [become] problematic,” Maza said.

She said the Comelec was “liable for the serious doubts on the credibility of the elections,” as well as for “the looming irregularities and lack of contingency measures.”

Maza also said the errors and glitches that arose during the testing of the PCOS machines could be a prelude to a failure of elections.

“Seemingly, the stage is being set for the elections to fail, to pave the way for the extension of Ms Arroyo’s rule,” Maza said.

“We are calling on all opposition groups and individuals to be vigilant and to act against all moves to retain the current administration,” she said.

Conspiracy

Even the son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos said something appeared to be brewing with the mass foul-ups that occurred on Monday.

Interviewed by reporters at an NP rally in Pasig City on Wednesday, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., also a guest senatorial candidate of the party, voiced the suspicion that the machines’ misreading of votes was part of a plot to have the automated elections fail.

“The idea that this is part of a conspiracy to maintain the status quo in different government positions from President down is not entirely inconceivable for the simple reason that this administration has made many, many attempts in the past to do just that,” said the dictator’s son.

“We know that they are capable of this kind of deceit, and the fact that this may be an attempt is something that we have to consider,” he said, adding this could be Ms Arroyo’s last attempt to perpetuate herself in power.

Marcos said that at every turn, the Comelec had shown that it was not capable of conducting automated voting.

“Some are saying that [the Comelec is] doing this on purpose, that [it is] up to something. The point is that the entire process, the mistakes made and the incompetence shown have not exactly given us a great deal of confidence in the system,” he said.

“And if we, the candidates, have no confidence in the system, how can there be confidence in the system by the voters themselves? And what of the results, if they ever come?” he said.

World is watching

Other NP senatorial candidates, Gilbert Remulla and Susan “Toots” Ople, had their own comments to air.

Remulla said the issue was no longer about whether the automated polls would be a success or a failure because the machines had already failed.

“This is now about the stability of the Philippines. The whole world is watching us—we recalled 76,300 flash cards. This is not just an ordinary election; this is a transition toward hopefully a more democratic and just country,” Remulla said.

Ople said a specter of doubt was already looming over whoever would win the presidency.

She called on all presidential and vice presidential candidates, as well as the heads of the leagues of governors, mayors and councilors to meet with the Comelec and Smartmatic and agree on whether to push through with the automated elections or shift to manual voting. With reports from Alcuin Papa, Michael Lim Ubac and Nikko Dizon

Supreme Court voids NP-NPC merger

2010-05-07T13:34:00.000+08:00

By Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)
Link:http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=573041&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The Liberal Party (LP) stopped the Nacionalista Party (NP) yesterday from acquiring the status of dominant minority party after the Supreme Court (SC) voided the NP’s coalition with the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

In a unanimous decision, the SC agreed with the LP that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) committed “grave abuse of discretion” in disregarding its own deadline in approving the NP-NPC coalition.

“(The) NP-NPC’s petition for registration as a coalition is time-barred,” read the decision.

“Thus, Comelec was wrong in ordering the out-of-time registration of the NP-NPC coalition.

“In so ruling, we emphasize that the matter of party registration raises critical election concerns that should be handled with discretion commensurate with the importance of elections to our democratic system.

“The Comelec should be at its most strict in implementing and complying with the standards and procedures the Constitution and our laws impose.”

Records show the NP-NPC applied for registration as a coalition and accreditation as a dominant minority party last Feb. 12, the deadline for filing of petitions for accreditation of parties.

The deadline for registration of parties, however, was set way back in Aug. 17 last year.

The Comelec granted the registration of the NP-NPC coalition last April 12.

The decision was penned by Associate Justice Arturo Brion.

Melo: LP could be named dominant minority party

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo believes the LP could become the dominant minority party based on his own calculation of its membership.

“This is only my opinion,” he said.

“This is personal. The commission will issue a resolution on this... Tentatively, the Lakas-Kampi-CMD will become the dominant majority party.”

The LP, NP-NPC and the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino have each applied for recognition as the dominant minority party.

Lakas-Kampi-CMD was the only party to seek the dominant majority status.

In determining the dominant majority and minority parties, the Comelec computes the political parties’ membership, including incumbent officials and those running in the May 10 polls.

Under Republic Act 9369, the Poll Automation Law, the dominant majority and minority parties are entitled to the fifth and sixth copies of the election returns (ERs).

Their watchers are also given priority in cramped polling precincts.

LP: SC ruling would give us upper hand in Monday’s polls

The LP believes the SC decision voiding the NP-NPC coalition would level the political playing field that had been tilted in favor of the NP after the Comelec recognized the NP-NPC coalition.

Florencio Abad, LP campaign manager, said as the dominant minority party, the LP could gain access to the Comelec central server for the transmitted results of the elections.

“The Supreme Court proved what the Liberal Party has been saying right from the start – that this fake coalition was formed only by an evil coalition out to steal the elections from the forces of good,” he said.

NP: Ties with NPC remain strong

Ties with the NPC remain strong despite the SC ruling voiding their coalition, the NP said yesterday.

NP spokesman Gilbert Remulla said yesterday the SC decision was based on a technicality and does not reflect the solid working relationship between the two parties.

“The PCOS machines will still be able to provide the election returns to all parties regardless of dominant majority/minority status,” he said. — With Sheila Crisostomo, Aurea Calica, Christina Mendez

Delay looms in counting of 3M votes

2010-05-07T13:31:00.000+08:00

By Marie Surbano (The Daily Tribune)
Link: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100507hed5.html

A delay in the count of over 3 million votes is likely should the consortium of Smartmatic and Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) fail to deliver on time the compact flash cards for about five percent of areas considered as far flung or risky.

This was admitted yesterday by Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Jose Melo who said the supplier of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines may deliver the CF cards to five percent of the total vote precincts not on election day itself but at best the next day or May 11.

“Only 5 percent ‘may’ not get the flash cards with the testing. This may be done on the day of the elections itself. Five percent of the 76,000 may not have their cards attached and tested by Saturday and Sunday. And the rest will be there on Sunday itself for the testing,” Melo told reporters at a news briefing.

Cesar Flores, Smartmatic president for Asia Pacific, said the 5 percent CF cards that would not be delivered on time concerns security issues.

Smartmatic project manager Geraldine Guevara, in a letter to the commission has asked the assistance and

support of the Armed Forces of the Philippines in distributing the new flash cards to all municipalities of Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Misamis Occidental, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Basilan, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

The consortium is also asking security escorts for the shipment of the compact flash cards to the municipalities of Toboso in Negros Occidental; Divilacan, Maconacon and Palanan in Isabela; Calayan in Cagayan; Agutaya, Cuyo, Kalayaan and Magsaysay in Palawan; and Baliguian, Sibuco, Siocon and Sirawai in Zamboanga del Norte.

But Melo stressed that the possible delay in the delivery of the CF cards which consist of only 5 percent of the total 76,000 clustered precincts has no high-hitting effect to the results of the elections.

“Probably it would not have any impact. Because at the worst this five percent will be 3.2 or 3.3 million (votes only),” Melo said.

Melo on the other hand announced that about 95 percent of the clustered precincts will be receiving the CF cards before the sheduled May 10 polls.

“Elections will go through in all levels in all precincts. All will be able to cast their votes, and their votes will be counted. There is no need for manual count,” Melo said.

He noted that for the Comelec to conduct manual count would be made only “in very, very remote areas” and when the election machines break down during election day.

“If at all, manual count will occur in very, very remote areas. In case, there may be manual count in small municipalities and small precincts. It sometimes happen there when the machines break down, that’s the only time we’ll go to manual,” the poll body chief added.

Flores reported that more than 40,000 compact flash cards already arrived from Taiwan and Hong Kong to complete the recofiguration of some 76,000 flash cards.

He added that shipping of the flash cards to different provincial hubs similarly started early yesterday since there were about 35,000 cards already configured. Flores said that the testing and sealing of the newly configured PCOS machines gave out 100-percent accurate results.

“Plans are moving along. Even better than expected. We will have automated elections on May 10. Some areas will still have to wait for the flash cards but 95 percent will have their cards by Saturday,” Flores said, adding that reconfiguration of the compact flash cards will be finished by Friday.

The Smartmatic official also said that their couriers were able to start delivering the machines from the provincial hubs to the municipalities.

Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, meantime said that Comelec National Capital Regional Director Michael Dioneda reported that the PCOS machines tested in nine clustered precincts in Makati City produced accurate results.

Early this week, several PCOS machines in Batangas, Mindoro, Pateros, Taguig, Makati City, Marikina and Quezon City malfunctioned because of the wrong configuration of the compact flash cards that were designed to send instructions on how the election machines will read and count the ballots.

Comelec ordered the recall of the CF cards for reconfiguration.

n election watchdog group, meanwhile, said the recent spate of gross errors by the PCOS machines has revealed “an easy way to shave votes from targeted candidates, by making minor changes in the PCOS configuration file”.

Halalang Marangal (Halal) secretary-general Roberto Verzola explained the current PCOS problems surfaced due to a mismatch between the PCOS configuration and the ballot layout for the local candidates.

“The ballot layout for the local candidates was changed from single-spaced to double-spaced, but the PCOS configuration was not changed to account for the new locations of the double-spaced ovals. Thus, from the perspective of the PCOS, the ovals were misaligned. Ballot printing had changed the alignment of ovals due to the modified layout, but the PCOS was still looking for the ovals based on their original alignment. The PCOS couldn’t find most of the ovals anymore, resulting in missed votes,” he said.

“Smartmatic simply needs to adjust the coordinates of the ovals for the local candidates, to conform with the modified ballot layout, to correct the misalignment. This will require changing the configuration file containing the coordinates. I agree that, properly done, this would solve this particular problem,” Verzola added.

“However, this can be exploited by cheats to do targeted cheating – mostly through vote-shaving – with the PCOS machine,” Verzola warns.

“All that needs to be done is to slightly change the coordinates of the oval associated with a targeted candidate, so that the printed oval on the ballot for that candidate becomes slightly misaligned with respect to the new coordinates on the configuration file. The larger the misalignment, the greater the possibility of missing the mark on the oval – this is called a false negative or a ‘bawas’,” he said.

“The Comelec must make sure that this kind of cheating doesn’t happen,” Verzola said.

Halal convenors include former Sen. Wigberto Tañada, retired General Francisco Gudani, former poll Commissioner Mehol Sadain, former St. Scholastica’s President Sr. Mary John Mananzan, PRRM President Isagani Serrano, TOYM awardee . Ma. Paz Luna, and IT expert Verzola.

Halal had earlier estimated the chance of success of the election automation project at 32 percent.

If machines fail, teachers not ready for manual count

2010-05-07T13:29:00.000+08:00

By Julie Alipala, Inquirer Mindanao, TJ Burgonio (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100507-268519/If-machines-fail-teachers-not-ready-for-manual-count

MANILA, Philippines—Teachers manning precincts on Election Day will be at a loss on what to do in case the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines still do not function properly.

The teachers are not prepared for manual counting, Abelardo Brutas, secretary general of the Teachers in the Philippine Public Sector (TOPPS, said.

Brutas said one of the hindrances to manual voting is the clustering of precincts. A clustered precinct could have up to a thousand voters.

Manual elections would only be possible if the Commission on Elections (Comelec) restores the original number of precincts, which is quite impossible at this time, he said.

“Definitely, we cannot handle the clustered precincts, where we have to deal with about a thousand voters per precinct,” Brutas said.

A total of 229,020 teachers is to be deployed for Monday’s elections as members of the board of election inspectors.

Even Alkhadam Sakandal, an election supervisor of Zamboanga City, acknowledged that it would be difficult for the Comelec to return to the manual process.

Too late

“Our efforts were focused on automation,” he said.

Sakandal said that even if measures were taken to adopt manual voting as a contingency measure, it was already too late with less than a week to Election Day.

“Besides, we need to appoint more BEIs (board of election inspectors) to go back to the manual process,” Sakandal said.

In Basilan, the local Church-backed watchdog group Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) said reverting to manual counting would be confusing.

Fr. Santiago Agoo, PPCRV chair in Isabela City, said nobody had expected the glitches to occur because both the Comelec and Smartmatic had issued assurances the machines were working fine.

The Comelec has halted the deliveries of the machines to the provinces and ordered a recall of the compact flash cards after tests showed that the names of local candidates would not be recognized by the machines.

“We didn’t expect this to happen. We are all geared up for automation and we still do not know how to go about [manual counting] if automation will not push through,” Agoo said.

He said going back to the manual process at this time “will be very tedious, very dangerous and logistics wise, we cannot cope with.”

But Education Undersecretary Franklin Sunga said the teachers were prepared to do their job in case the Comelec holds special elections in far-flung areas, or reverts to manual count.

No guidelines

The Comelec has not issued guidelines for manual counting, Sunga said.

“There are still no guidelines. There is a need for guidelines before we can proceed with this. But we cannot say that our teachers will not know what to do because there are no guidelines,” he said.

Besides, Sunga added, the counting by the PCOS machines would be automated and the election results would be electronically transmitted, saving time and avoiding ballot-snatching.

Helen Aguila-Flores, the Comelec head in Western Mindanao, however, said the agency had no alternative to automation.

“I am sorry to say this, but the Comelec has no contingency measures if automation failed,” Flores said at Thursday’s meeting of civilian, police and military officials at the headquarters of the Western Mindanao Command in Zamboanga City.

“That Comelec has no contingency plan in case automation fails is a reality that I want everyone to wake up to,” she said. “Hopefully, we can cross the bridge when we get there.”

Gibo thanks TUCP, 18 groups for support

2010-05-07T13:27:00.002+08:00

(The Philippine Star)
Link:http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=573038&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro thanked the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) and 18 more party-list groups for endorsing his candidacy, saying their backing is not just support for him but a collective commitment to an agenda for genuine change and sustainable national development into the next decade.

Teodoro said TUCP and the other party-list groups deserve to be represented in Congress to ensure that all sectors, especially the marginalized ones, are adequately heard as the next government seeks a national consensus behind a roadmap for change and development.

These party-list groups’ endorsement came on the heels of an announcement Sunday night in Davao City by Pastor Apollo Quiboloy, “self-appointed Son of God” and founder of the six million-strong Kingdom of Jesus Christ: The Name Above Every Name, that Teodoro should be the country’s next president.

Aside from TUCP, the party-list organizations that signed the manifesto were: AT (Aangat Tayo), ANAD (Alliance for Nationalism and Democracy), Senior Citizens, Ang Kasangga, BANAT (Barangay Association for National Advancement and Transparency), KAKUSA (Kapatiran ng mga Nakulong na Walang Sala), ABAKADA-Guro, ARC (Alliance for Rural Concerns) and ABS (Arts, Business and Science Professionals).

The pro-Teodoro manifesto was also signed by UNI-MAD (United Movement Against Drugs), 1-Utak (1-United Transport Koalisyon), YACAP (You Against Corruption And Poverty), ALAGAD, COOP-NATCCO (Cooperatives-National Confederation of Cooperatives), VFP (Veterans Freedom Party), AA-KASOSYO, and ALIF (Ang Laban ng Indiginong Filipino).

Meanwhile, the administration Lakas-Kampi party promised yesterday to surprise the nation on Monday with the victory of its standard-bearer.

“We are going to deliver a shocker on election day,” Lakas-Kampi secretary-general Ray Roquero told the Serye Café news forum in Quezon City.

He said the party’s machinery in the local level would make Teodoro win the elections.

“Gibo is supported by at least 120 congressmen, 40 governors and thousands of local officials. We have more than 12,000 candidates nationwide,” he said.

Lakas-Kampi senatorial candidate Raul Lambino said while other presidential candidates “spent tens of millions and even billions” on media advertising, the ruling party focused its spending on oiling and fine-tuning its local machinery.

Asked about previous reports of money not flowing from party coffers, Roquero said, “It is not true that Lakas-Kampi is encountering logistical problems. Otherwise, there would have been continuous defections and the party would have disintegrated.”

Sources told The STAR that the latest tranche of fund releases was made in Cebu last week after Teodoro met with congressmen and governors.

There is another release scheduled before Monday’s balloting.

It was Lambino who first complained about lack of funds from their party.

Responding to questions yesterday, he said he was happy with the financial support he is getting from Lakas-Kampi. –With Jess Diaz, Jaime Laude

Supreme Court orders Comelec to bare details of preparations

2010-05-07T13:26:00.000+08:00

By Edu Punay (The Philippine Star)
Link:http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=573037&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Amid fears of a failure of elections due to reported glitches in the automated system, the Supreme Court (SC) compelled yesterday the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to make public details of its preparations for the polls on Monday.

By a vote of 12-3, the high court partially granted the petition of a group of concerned citizens, led by former Vice President Teofisto Guingona Jr., and ordered the poll body to fully disclose its preparations for the conduct of the automated elections because of recent “alarming developments.”

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body respects the decision of the SC and would abide by its order but believed that the petition of Guingona’s group was unnecessary.

“The Comelec has always been very transparent in the implementation of the automation project,” Jimenez said.

In a 20-page resolution penned by Senior Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, the SC upheld the right of petitioners to information on the poll automation, which it said is “a matter of great public concern.”

“The people’s constitutional right to information is intertwined with the government’s constitutional duty of full disclosure of all transactions involving public interest. For every right of the people, there is a corresponding duty on the part of those who govern to protect and respect that right,” the SC explained.

“On election day, the country’s registered voters will come out to exercise the sacred right to suffrage. Not only is it an exercise that ensures the preservation of our democracy, the coming elections also embody our people’s last ounce of hope for a better future,” it stressed.

The information the Comelec needs to reveal include nature and security of all equipment such as software and hardware components, source code for review by interested parties; the terms and protocols of the random manual audit; and certification from the technical evaluation committee that the entire automated system is fully functional and continuity plan is already in place.

Also required to be disclosed are certification protocol and actual certification issued by the Department of Science and Technology that the 240,000 Board of Election Inspectors all over the country are trained to use the automated election system as required under Republic Act 9369 or the Poll Automation Law.

The SC granted the petition of Guingona’s group after the Comelec failed to cite any provision of law exempting the information sought by petitioners from the coverage of the government’s constitutional duty to disclose fully information of public concern.

It noted reports on glitches in the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to be used for the automated election system a few days before the polls, citing for instance the recall of 76,000 compact flash cards following widespread failure of the machines to read and tally votes during the test conducted by the Comelec and contractor Smartmatic.

Eleven other magistrates, including retiring Chief Justice Reynato Puno, concurred in the ruling. Three others – Senior Associate Justice Renato Corona and Associate Justices Presbitero Velasco Jr. and Roberto Abad – dissented.

Public right to information

In a 21-page petition last April 23, the group of Guingona invoked the public right to information in pushing for full transparency of Comelec on the conduct of elections.

They said they sought relief from the court following what they described as “alarming developments that indicate por and highly questionable acts of Comelec.”

Among these, they explained, are earlier reports involving the wrong ink used on ballots and the admission of Smartmatic-Total Information Management consortium of wrong supply of ultraviolet ink used in the printing of ballots that are unreadable by the PCOS machines.

Through lawyer Felix Carao Jr., petitioners feared that such an error or technical glitch could lead to massive cheating and failure of election.

They specifically wanted to know the status of the poll body’s negotiation for election supplies and paraphernalia, including contracts that did not undergo bidding, the nature and security of the machines, memory card and other software and facilities to be used for the election, including its current anti-hacking or tampering strategy.

They also wanted the Comelec to reveal the content of the source code review mandated under the Poll Automation Law and the terms of access by the public to the code.

The petitioners sought information on the schedule, venue and specifications of the random manual audit mandated under same act, as well as the terms and protocols under which manual voting would be implemented and failure of elections be declared.

In filing the petition, Guingona was joined by national broadband network whistleblower Rodolfo Lozada Jr., Bishop Leo Soriano of the United Methodist Church, the late Silliman University president Dr. Quintin Doromal, writer Fe Maria Arriola, and non-government organization leader Isagani Serrano.

Special session called

Yesterday, Chief Justice Puno called for a special session to resolve crucial election-related cases while the SC is on recess in deference to the elections on Monday.

SC spokesman Midas Marquez confirmed that the special session of the high court would start at 3 p.m. today.

Marquez explained that the special session called by Puno, who will retire on May 17, does not mean that the election recess of the SC has already been cancelled to accommodate the influx of election cases.

The SC adjourned last Tuesday and set the next session after the proclamation of the new president on June 30 and under a new chief justice to be appointed by President Arroyo.

Among the cases that the magistrates are expected to discuss is the petition filed by Concerned Citizens Movement, led by UP law professor Harry Roque Jr., asking the SC to order the Comelec to revert to the old system of manual voting and counting of ballots. – With Sheila Crisostomo

300,000 teachers disenfranchised

2010-05-07T13:24:00.000+08:00

By Rainier Allan Ronda (The Philippine Star)
Link:http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=573032&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday to act on the complaints of some 300,000 teachers on their possible disenfranchisement in the May 10 polls.

The DepEd said the Comelec failed to reactivate the teachers’ registration as voters in their respective precincts.

DeEd Undersecretary for Legal and Legislative Affairs Franklin Sunga said the large number of teachers facing disenfranchisement was causing demoralization in the ranks.

“Our teachers have been religiously performing their election duties as part of public service since the country’s first elections. For them to be deactivated as a consequence of their service is grossly unfair. We urge Comelec to listen to the plight of the teachers,” Sunga appealed.

He said that in the past, the Comelec allowed teachers on poll duty to vote in their assigned precincts and not where they are registered.

As provided by Comelec guidelines, any person who has not voted in the precinct where he is a registered voter for the past two elections is automatically removed from the voters’ list.

Since teachers who served as members or heads of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) voted in the precincts where they were serving and not in their original precincts, the Comelec has deactivated their original voter registration, causing their disenfranchisement.

“The law requires members of the BEI to be registered voters. In the case of public school teachers who will be serving as members of the BEI, the consequence of disenfranchisement is the possibility of being charged criminally,” Sunga pointed out.

Sunga said the teachers should not be “punished for doing their jobs.”

DepEd officials learned of the problem during an election briefing last Wednesday where the teachers complained of Comelec’s refusal to act on their request for reactivation.

DepEd spokesman Jonathan Malaya said they would try to push Comelec to act on the issue before election day.

Malaya said many teachers serving as BEIs, particularly in Metro Manila and in other urban areas, became disappointed after learning they have been disenfranchised and deprived of their constitutional right of suffrage.

“We have been asking the Comelec for the longest time to resolve this issue,” he said.

Benjo Basas, national chair of the Teachers’ Dignity Coalition (TDC), said the number of teachers disenfranchised because of Comelec inaction was 300,000.

“The Comelec deliberatey ignored our earlier calls for resolution of this matter,” Basas said.

Basas also echoed the concerns of the teachers against reverting to the manual counting of votes being pushed by some sectors concerned over the security and integrity of the voting.

Basas said the proposal to revert to manual counting would “compromise the welfare of the teachers serving on election day.”

Basas explained the teachers would find it difficult to revert to manual counting because they have been already trained on the use of the PCOS machines.

He pointed out the clustering of precincts under the automated election system had the number of teachers acting as Is reduced from 800,000 to only about 250,000.

“Manually counting the votes of almost 1,000 voters from a ballot especially made for machine scanning would take a lot of time for the BEI and would expose our teachers to so much stress, physical exhaustion, intimidation and harassment,” he said.

Basas, a teacher in a Caloocan high school, said they are more inclined to give Comelec and Smartmatic the chance to address the technical problems encountered by the PCOS machines and push through with the automated polls.

As stakeholders, Basas assured that teachers, especially those who will serve as BEIs, would closely monitor the troubleshooting efforts of the Comelec and Smartmatic.

Education Secretary Mona Valisno and Sunga stressed the teachers will monitor the second testing of the PCOS machines and “scrutinize the readiness” of the contraptions for the elections on Monday.

“Rest assured that our public school teachers will not give their seal of approval if the PCOS machines will not be worth the same,” Sunga said.

The two officials called on the Comelec to deploy more personnel in the polling precincts to help the teachers with any additional duties that may arise on election day.

Valisno said the teachers were asked to insert the compact flash cards inside the PCOS machines during the first testing. He said Comelec personnel should do the insertion of the flash cards.

Valisno vouched for the integrity of the PCOS machines against cheating.

“Given the features of the PCOS machines and the nature of the automated voting and counting processes, we believe it is highly unlikely that massive cheating could occur without the active participation of teachers who comprise the BEIs,” Sunga added.

Valisno said the teachers who would comprise the BEIs in the new clustering of precincts under the automated system had been chosen for their competence and experience in poll duties. – With Paolo Romero

Poll machines pass 2nd round of tests

2010-05-07T13:20:00.000+08:00

By Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star)
Link:http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=573031&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Automated elections nationwide will be held as scheduled on Monday, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday with renewed optimism after the machines passed a second round of tests.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said compact flash cards will be distributed by Saturday to 95 percent of the clustered precincts throughout the country.

“In case there would be precincts in very, very remote areas without compact flash cards or if they do not arrive on time, voters will still go and vote, and their ballots will be deposited in ballot boxes and, on election day itself or the day after the flash cards arrive and (are) tested, the ballots will then be fed for counting,” he said.

Results of testing of PCOS machines, particularly in Metro Manila, showed a 100 percent match of manual and machine counting of votes, he added.

Melo said manual counting of votes would be held only in small municipalities, in case a machine would malfunction and a spare one is not immediately available.

Only the canvassing of votes in about 320 polling precincts nationwide – in some municipalities in Negros Occidental, Isabela, Basilan, Cagayan, Maguindanao, Palawan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Lanao del Sur, Misamis Occidental, Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur – might be delayed for a few hours or a day due to the late arrival of the flash cards, Melo said.

“All will be able to vote but counting may be done on the night of election day or the next day.”

As of yesterday, flashcards have been dispatched to Bohol, Guimaras, Abra, Capiz, Batanes, Quirino, Parañaque, Marikina, Batangas and Palawan, according to Cezar Flores, Smartmatic spokesman.

The Bureau of Customs (BOC) is fast-tracking the entry of the new compact flashcards for the counting machines.

Customs Commissioner Napoleon Morales said his office has been coordinating closely with Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal on all their shipping needs.

At Malacañang, presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo denied reports that Mrs. Arroyo and her key security officials had discussed the possibility of a failure of elections.

“I don’t recall any such scenario,” he said.

Saludo said the administration’s focus has always been on how to help the Comelec conduct honest, orderly and peaceful elections.

Macalintal: Selective poll delay illegal

Election lawyer Romulo Macalintal warned the Comelec yesterday that selective postponement of the May 10 elections is against the Constitution.

“Under the law, it should be synchronized. Otherwise, it will only be a source for graft and corruption.”

“We don’t even know what will happen next now that they have not even tried the transmission (mode) yet.

Macalintal said postponing the elections in some areas will open the gates to more fraud.

“The tail-enders will go to these places and they will try their very best to manipulate the results of the elections.”

Comelec, Smartmatic officials no-show

Officials of the Comelec and Smartmatic did not appear at the installation of the Consolidation and Canvassing System (CCS) that will count the votes for president at the House of Representatives.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño said House Secretary General Marilyn Yap had to speak on their behalf.

“Their (Comelec and Smartmatic executives) absence is a major insult to the House,” he said.

“They think our questions do not matter.”

Casiño said Smartmatic sent a technician who could not answer questions.

The equipment was placed at the session hall near the podium, Casiño told reporters.

Only authorized personnel will be allowed around the area, which will be secured until the canvassing of votes starts.

Staff members of the House and Senate secretaries general attended the installation of the CCS server, comprising a Dell laptop, a printer and a generator, which can be used in the event of a power outage.

Yap told Casiño and Rep. Neri Colmenares that results not electronically transmitted will be entered into the CCS manually.

The same would be done with overseas absentee voting results.

“The turnover by Comelec and Smartmatic to the House was a mess,” he said.

“Can you imagine, they were using the guidelines for provincial canvassing as they were installing the CCS for the presidential canvassing. It’s like a joke to the Comelec.”

Yap told Colmenares and Casiño that only those who know the password can open the CCS to access the transmitted results.

Casiño said he noticed that security keys to be used for passwords and usernames came from an open envelope, wrapped in ordinary paper and not even sealed.

“Anyone who could have accessed the security tokens in the unsealed envelope and read the passwords written on a piece of paper could now enter fake results in the CCS.”

Colmenares said a losing presidential candidate can now question these results and create havoc in the presidential canvassing.

“The fact that the envelopes were open is a major fiasco,” he said.

Colmenares said House members were informed that results of the overseas absentee voting will be physically transmitted through memory cards.

“Waiting for the results from countries abroad will surely cause delay in the canvassing,” he said.

“It is possible that we will be canvassing the results for more than 48 hours. Moreover, it is difficult for poor party-list candidates like Bayan Muna who cannot afford watchers to guard the memory cards all the way to the Philippines.”

Casiño said the installation of the CCS was a failure.

“The card or flash reader was not tested if it could read information, or if it would accept flashcards physically transmitted.

“There was even no testing of electronic transmission. Bayan Muna will file a protest with the Comelec on these dangerous developments.”

Casiño said the testing of the server was a big disappointment.

No complete testing was done on the capability to receive transmissions or read physically transmitted results,” he said.

“Overall, the test did not inspire confidence in the CCS.”

Sotto: Give modernization a chance

Nationalist People’s Coalition senatorial candidate Vicente Sotto III called yesterday on the country’s eaders and the public to give election modernization a chance.

Sotto told The STAR people should not worry as long as the problems with the PCOS can be solved in time.

“A parallel manual count will create confusion and (is) subject to manipulation,” he said.

A manual count should only be allowed in areas where the counting machines would falter, Sotto said.

Bagumbayan standard-bearer Sen. Richard Gordon called yesterday on the Comelec to ensure that the PCOS machines will work on election day.

“Failure is not an option,” he said.

“Focus and get to work. If it is necessary to move the election date by a week to ensure reliability of the machines, then do it. Work on the solution.”

Gordon said the Comelec must not panic as problems in any project tend to crop up at the last minute.

“These are tough decisions but they have to be made,” he said.

atchdogs: Support Comelec

Election watchdogs called yesterday on the public to support the Comelec for the country’s first automated elections to be successful.

Task Force 2010, a group of various election watchdogs, asked voters to defend and uphold their right of suffrage.

“Let us not be intimidated or be afraid to engage in the first automated synchronized national and local elections,” said Bro. Joseph Raymund Patrick Sanches, executive director of Simbahang Lingkod Bayan, one of the 19 member-organizations of Task Force 2010.

“Let us not allow setbacks to discourage us from exercising our right. Instead, let these be the litmus test of our commitment to our democracy and our resolve to vote conscientiously as our concrete way of defending our democracy.”

Recto: Manual counting in local polls

Liberal Party senatorial candidate Ralph Recto proposed yesterday the manual counting of votes in local elections.

“Comelec should have at least a backup plan to avoid a failure of elections in the event that the PCOS machines develop a severe reading disorder,” he said.

Recto said the glitches in the PCOS machines might affect only the counting of votes.

“With only few days to go before the elections, Comelec should immediately come up with a solution,” he said.

“Time is running out and the task at hand seems to be overwhelming.”

He said in Batangas where the ballots’ backside was misread, this problem can be corrected in a parallel manual count.

“I am under the impression that the PCOS machines misread only the backside of the ballot, where local candidates are listed,” he said.

“But in the national positions, there seems to be no problem. So what the Comelec can do is implement a sort of hybrid polls.

“It can even automate the counting of votes for all positions but conduct a parallel manual count for the local ones.”

Recto said a parallel manual count of votes would solve most of the problems being encountered by Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM.
Everything else would just be a band-aid solution to the problem at hand. But an across-the-board parallel manual count of the votes in all positions would be a catch-all method of responding to the failure of the machines,” he said. — Marvin Sy, Delon Porcalla, Paolo Romero, Michael Punongbayan, Iris Gonzales, Helen Flores, Mike Frialde

Election 2010 News - May 5, 2010

2010-05-05T15:57:00.000+08:00

Smartmatic admits glitches, errors ; Testing junked, 76,000 flash cards recalled Failed polls fears up as PCOS malfunction (The Daily Tribune)
Postpone elections, Arroyo lawyers urges (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Calls for manual count mount but Comelec says no (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Don't be surprised if frontrunner losses (The Philippine Star)
Voting machines fail 76,000 memory cards to be replaced (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Villar vows to bring home stranded OFW's on Day 1 of presidency (The Philippine Star)
19 party-list groups endorse Gibo (The Philippine Star)
Government press probed for printing campaign materials (The Philippine Star)
Voting machines malfunctions (The Philippine Star)

Smartmatic admits glitches, errors; Testing junked, 76,000 flash cards recalled Failed polls fears up as PCOS malfunction

2010-05-05T15:41:00.000+08:00

By Marie A. Surbano (The Daily Tribune)
Link: http://www.tribune.net.ph/

Six days before the precincts open for the electorate to cast their vote using the new system of automated polls, real fears of a total failure of elections and a no-election scenario surfaced yesterday as precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines tested virtually nationwide, all failed, with the machines giving out zero votes to some candidates, while some candidates had all the votes.

Machine supplier Smartmatic and Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials also yesterday tried to allay the public’s fear, saying that these machine glitches that were experienced in areas where machines were tested, are easily fixed, adding that it was human error that led to the failure of the machines to correctly read votes for local positions.

Smartmatic Southeast Asia president Cesar Flores admitted its mistake and said the company is taking full responsibility for it, as Smartmatic failed to properly configure compact flash disks of the PCOS machines to properly read the votes for the local races because of a difference in the layouts of the national and local ballots.

“The PCOS machine incorrectly read the local ballot because the local ballot has double spacing. If you look at the national (ballot), they are all single spaced.”

“If you mark the first row, it will be read correctly but for some reason, the configuration is telling the machine that the candidate on the second row is actually on a third row due to the spacing,” he claimed during the press conference at the Comelec office in Manila.

Due to the malfunctioning of the PCOS, Comelec said it will defer the final testing and sealing of the more than 82,000 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to Thursday.

Smartmatic announced the replacement of all flash cards placed in the PCOS machines after the machines rejected the ballots during the testing and sealing Monday night.

Flores said they have decided to summarily replace all the flash cards saying “the procedure is to replace the compact flash with the corrected configuration. This will force us to stop sealing for the next couple of days and resume on Thursday.”

A total of 82,200 flash cards have been assigned to each of the PCOS machines containing machine-specific precinct information.

Section 12 of Republic Act No. 9369 requires the examination and testing of the PCOS machines by the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) at least three to seven days before Election Day and seal them with finality as it will not be opened again until Election Day.

Reports indicated that during the testing and sealing of the machines in some precincts in Makati, Muntinlupa, Pateros, Batangas and Mindoro and even in many other provinces, the machines counted votes incorrectly and even gave zero counts for other candidates.

But Flores explained that the error happened when “wrong instructions” were inputted to the machines thus resulting to wrong results.

“There were flash cards carrying information in the PCOS and was not able to locate certain candidates to positions… Technically, it’s an easy correction,” Flores assured.

Asked why the problem surfaced only now, with only six days before Election Day, Flores claimed that the use of official ballots in the final testing and sealing process was different, unlike previous tests done by the commission.

“Remember, every ballot is tested for machine readiness at the National Printing Office, which means we checked the integrity of marks and alignment of ballots but ballots are not shaded, therefore, you cannot test shading through PCOS,” said Flores.

He admitted that they are racing against time now in making sure that the final testing and sealing would take place on time.

“The challenge is to make available those cards to the field. How to logistically address this is the challenge… It is a tight schedule but it can be done and it will be done,” said Flores.

Despite this crisis, the supplier assured critics that the integrity of the elections will be kept in place as they will not allow any PCOS machine to be used using “misconfigured” flash cards.

“The assurance is you will do testing and sealing again. And no machine that cannot pass it will be used during the eletions,” stressed Flores.

Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal meantime said they ordered to suspend delivery of PCOS machines to their respective destinations.

Larrazabal pointed that they want to make sure that it would be easier for them to be replaced with the corrected flash cards.

“All PCOS machines at the (regional) hubs have been ordered to remain at the hubs for speedier replacement of the flash cards,” said Larrazabal.

Based on their Rules of Procedures, the PCOS machines are set to be brought from the regional hubs to the provincial treasurers’ offices before they are brought to municipal and down to the polling precincts.

Also yesterday, Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento admitted that the poll body could not conduct manual elctions beyond the 30 percent contingency they have prepared earlier.

He noted that the Comelec had already prepared to utilize the manual system by having printed elections paraphernalia and forms earlier to serve as their backup plan.

“We can go manual for 30 percent. But what exceeds 30 (percent), that has to be deliberated by the commission en banc,” Sarmiento said.

“As of the moment, no (we are not prepared for anything beyond 30 percent).”

The Comelec official also ruled out the possibility of the parallel manual count being pushed by the business, IT and lawyers group as checked and balance.

For its part, the Comelec said they will still be discussing the possible sanctions to be hurled against Smartmatic.

Sarmiento, however, said it is not an immediate concern as of the moment. “That’s for the commission en banc to discuss. We are focused on this issue of elections and that has to be discussed later on,” Sarmiento said.

Fears that national elections in the Philippines next week could descend into chaos grew on Tuesday after authorities said they had detected a major technological flaw with vote-counting machines.

The Comelc admitted it now faced a major logistical challenge in having to replace memory cards for 82,000 machines that are to be used in the country’s first attempt at a computerised tallying of ballots.

“We are not sugar-coating this. This is definitely a setback, but one that is not insurmountable,” said Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ray Anthony Chua, who is part of the commission’s advisory body.

Chua and other officials insisted that the faulty memory cards, which carry software telling the machines how to read the ballots, could be replaced in time and that the elections would be credible.

But the announcement fueled widespread concerns across all sides of politics that the computerized vote-counting experiment could prove to be a failure with extremely dangerous consequences.

More than 50 million voters will go to the polls on Monday to choose a new president as well as thousands of lower-level government positions.

Critics of the system have said it is too complicated to “correct” the flaws for the country of more than 7,000 islands, and that a parallel manual count should be carried out.

Bobby Tuazon, policy studies director at the Center for People Empowerment and Governance, said he doubted whether there would be enough time to correct the problem.

“This will raise doubts about the winners and results. This will just increase fears among the public,” said Tuazon.

An election lacking in credibility could lead to a dizzying range of chaotic scenarios, including people taking to the streets in support of presidential candidates who may lose but challenge the result.

Meanwhile, military National Capital Region Command (NCRCom) chief Rear Admiral Feliciano Angue said they were advised by the Comelec to hold the scheduled delivery of PCOS machines to various polling centers in Metro Manila to address the problem regarding the memory cards.

The NCRCom, along with the National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO), on Monday secured the delivery of 2,928 PCOS machines in various parts of Metro Manila. A total of 7,555 machines are assigned to cover polling centers throughout the metropolis.

The NCRCOm chief, however, said he does not see any problem to the delivery of the remaining PCOS machines, now being kept at the Comelec NCR hub in Quezon City.

“We only need about two days to complete it, two days in a normal delivery (day time only), so if we do it day and night, it could be less, maybe just over a day,” said Angue.

“The AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and the PNP (Philippine National Police) have no problem as far as our tasking is concerned.

With Mario J. Mallari

Postpone elections, Arroyo lawyer urges

2010-05-05T15:37:00.000+08:00

By Christine O. Avendaño (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100505-268136/Postpone-elections-Arroyo-lawyer-urges

MANILA, Philippines—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s election lawyer Tuesday sought the postponement of the May 10 polls for 15 days “as the only remedy to prevent a failure of elections” and to give poll officials enough time to prepare for manual elections.

Lawyer Romulo Macalintal said the Omnibus Election Code allows for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc to reset the polls “based on serious cause like the apparent failure of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to properly and correctly function.”

“Under the present situation, a 15-day postponement would be reasonable to give time for the Comelec to print additional forms for manual tally and canvass,” he said in a statement. He stressed that this was “not the time to blame anybody but the time to solve this serious problem.”

In a phone interview, Macalintal said there was a legal basis for Comelec to postpone the polls, citing the Supreme Court’s decision three months ago in the case of Harry Roque versus the poll body.

He noted in that ruling that there could be failure of elections because the ballots are still there to be counted. “So if the machines malfunction, the Comelec can go manual,” he said.

Macalintal also said the poll body had “broad” constitutional powers to effect a manual count if this would ensure the conduct of clean, honest and credible elections.

Calls for manual count mount but Comelec says no

2010-05-05T15:35:00.000+08:00

(Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100505-268135/Calls-for-manual-count-mount-but-Comelec-says-no

MANILA, Philippines—Widespread misreading of ballots in the testing of counting machines for Monday’s automated polls has revived calls from national and local candidates for a full manual count to ensure that no massive electronic rigging will occur on Election Day.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec), however, quickly thumbed down the suggestions, saying it was confident that computerized balloting and canvassing will push through despite the technical setback of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines.

“We are confident that failure of election is not a problem,” said Commissioner Rene Sarmiento.

But Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III wanted a firm assurance from the Comelec that it “will do everything within the bounds of the law” to ensure that automated elections would push through or else prepare for a manual count “as mandated by law.”

In a statement, Aquino said the misreading of the PCOS machines belied the poll agency’s claim that it is “ready.”

“The Comelec denied our proposed parallel manual count for national and selected local positions as it could open the electoral process to fraud and protest that could delay the proclamation of winners. They called it regressive and unnecessary,” he added.

4 business groups

In a joint statement, four business groups renewed their call for a full manual count for president, vice president, member of the House of Representatives, governor and mayor.

The Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, and the Philippine Bar Association also urged the immediate printing of complete sets of election forms.

The manual count in all clustered precincts was a good way to “salvage the credibility of the elections,” the groups said.

In Malacañang, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s deputy spokesperson said he did not think the Comelec would “outrightly suggest a manual counting of the election returns or the results.”

“The costs of holding the automated polls may run up to P10 billion, and that’s why the Comelec cannot just scrap this,” Rogelio Peyuan said. The poll body’s bill has so far reached P7 billion.

Ms Arroyo directed Commissioner Ray Anthony Chua of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) to meet with officials of the Comelec and its private contractor, Smartmatic-TIM, to discuss the situation and suggest solutions, including possible “alternative moves.”

Senators Francis Escudero and Rodolfo Biazon on Tuesday asked the Comelec to scrap the conduct of automated polls and prepare to go manual now.

Mandatory

In a statement, Escudero, co-chair of the Congressional Poll Automation Oversight Committee, called on Comelec officials to order the printing of election paraphernalia for a mandatory, full manual count.

“The latest report about poll counting errors by the PCOS machines, at this stage of the electoral process, may very well validate long-standing concerns about the nationwide automated count of the votes to be cast on Election Day,” Escudero said.

“The Comelec must undertake preparations with utmost caution and plan for contingencies knowing that any mistake in this unprecedented exercise could cost us more than the billions spent for this project—the denial of our people’s right to elect this country’s next leaders,” he said.

n a phone interview, Biazon expressed concern that “this may be a national level thing and thus the Comelec has to come up with contingencies reverting to manual polls.”

Senatorial candidate Jose “Joey” de Venecia III, an information technology expert, said that while he favored full poll automation, the Comelec was not ready for it. He proposed that full automation be postponed when the country would be “fully” prepared for it.

In a press conference in Bacolod City, De Venecia said it was easier to cheat with the PCOS machines as shown in Monday’s testing in Makati City, in which only the votes of one mayoral candidate were counted, and in other parts of the country.

The Comelec traced the problem to wrong configuration of the compact flash cards, which contains data on precincts, and local and national contests.

Integrity of PCOS count

De Venecia said there was no assurance of the integrity of the PCOS count because some security features of the machines have been disabled.

The PCOS system log file was dubious, he said. “One can actually tamper into the system,” he added.

PEP party-list nominee Philip Piccio, who was also present in the press conference, warned that if the automated count fails on the local level, especially in volatile areas, violence could break out that could lead to bloodshed and death.

Makati mayoral candidate Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay and his sister, reelectionist Rep. Abigail Binay, had asked the Comelec to resort to manual counting following the glitches in the PCOS test run in Metro Manila.

“We cannot trust these machines to count ballots according to our real votes,” Abigail said.

Most of the PCOS machines tested by the city’s board of election inspectors encountered problems in tallying votes for local candidates on Monday afternoon.

Glitches in Manila

During the testing conducted on Sunday in Manila, most of the PCOS machines failed to read votes for the mayoral post, according to mayoral candidate Lito Atienza’s son and campaign manager.

In District 3, Arnold Atienza said the machines failed to read the votes for mayoral and congressional candidates, and votes cast for his father were credited to his toughest rival, incumbent Mayor Alfredo Lim.

“The trend that we see here is that the machines may have been programmed to work well for national positions, but not for local,” he said. “This is a cause for serious concern … the integrity of the elections is at stake here.”

But Commissioner Sarmiento said the poll body was not adjusting its May 10 contingency plan for the manual count. The Comelec expects manual count in only about 30 precincts of the precincts, he said.

“We are ready for that 30 percent. We can go manual for 30. But what if it exceeds 30 percent? That has to be discussed by the en banc,” Sarmiento said. With reports from Carla Gomez, Inquirer Visayas; and Kristine L. Alave, Niña Calleja, Tina G. Santos, Christine O. Avendaño, Philip C. Tubeza and Abigail L. Ho

'Don't be surprised if frontrunner loses'

2010-05-05T15:29:00.000+08:00

(The Philippine Star)

Link:http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=572425&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The race for the presidency is still wide open, Malacañang said yesterday.

Speaking to reporters, Press Undersecretary Rogelio Peyuan said Filipinos must not be surprised if the winner is not among the frontrunners in the surveys.
“Elections give us a lot of surprises,” he said.

Peyuan said figures from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) showed some 50 million registered voters nationwide, out of a population of about 92 to 94 million.

“It would be very safe for each and everyone to think and to always keep in mind that if there are about 50 million voters and 10 or 11 percent of them do not vote, as we experienced in the past, it would be hard for us to have faith in the surveys that have 900 respondents in Luzon, 600 in the Visayas and maybe another 600 in Mindanao. That would be very, very unfair to even presume and assume that that (surveys) is the sentiment of the people,” he said.

Peyuan cited the case of Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro Jr., who has not fared well in the surveys.

Nevertheless, he won the endorsement of Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Christ the Name Above Every Name, which has five to six million followers nationwide.

Peyuan said supporters have heavy turnouts during the campaign sorties of the other presidential candidates.
Other groups with substantial following may announce their preferred candidates before May 10, he added.

Enrile: Polls would be unpredictable

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said the elections would be unpredictable despite the high survey ratings of Liberal Party presidential candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and his running mate, Sen. Manuel Roxas II.

“It can go either way,” he said. “Well, as of now, Noynoy is leading the surveys. But there are issues raised against one another, and this would affect the minds of our people.”

“In the last hour, they will make up their minds. Until that point is reached, it would be fair and square. You cannot be sure of the outcome of the election,” he said.

“You have an undecided number of about 10 percent at this point that can swing either way,” he added. “If the turnout of the election is 70 percent, then you have around 3.5 million undecided voters.”

Enrile, who is running for re-election under the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, said the Iglesia ni Cristo’s possible endorsement of Aquino would give the him a wider lead.

However, that will not change the position of their standard bearer, former President Joseph Estrada in relation to Nacionalista Party presidential candidate Sen. Manuel Villar Jr.

Enrile said the INC has a command vote of three to four million, which could help a candidate win an election, he added.

He was not aware as to how many voters Quiboloy could deliver, but that too could change, he added.

Based on experience, there could still be shifting of support in favor of one or the other presidential candidates, he said.

Enrile dismissed speculations of a failure of elections or the need for snap polls.

“I do not know why are they so preoccupied with the so-called failure of election,” he said.

“I have no fear that the election will fail. I don’t think it will.”

Santiago cautions Aquino vs people power

Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago cautioned Aquino yesterday against his statement that the Filipino people might resort to people power if the results of the elections will not be acceptable to them.

“That is an extremely dangerous statement, because if that is the case that Mr. Aquino might be tempted to lead a people power demonstration if he does not win, then all other presidentiables who have reasonable chances of winning such as those who place no. 2 or no. 3 maybe up to no. 4 in the surveys might also be tempted to make the same threat so we will have a culture of resistance or disobedience to authorities,” she said.

Santiago said all presidential candidates must respect the results of the elections.

“There should always be caveat that the results of the elections should be accepted as regular because that is the presumption in the rules of court unless proven otherwise,” she said.

Santiago said that when she lost the presidency to retired Gen. Fidel Ramos in 1992, she filed an election protest.

“So in my case in 1992 I deliberately, voluntarily and spontaneously refrained from calling a people power,” she said.

“If you remember I was a very close number two. The president was not elected by a majority vote, and in fact he got only less than 30 percent of the vote and his margin over me was less than one million,” she said.

“But all the same I took the legal route. I filed an election protest with the Presidential Electoral Tribunal. I did not call on the young people who are my avid supporters at that time to spill out into the streets because I felt extremely responsible for their lives and their safety,” she added.

Santiago asked presidential candidates not to raise the specter of massive civil unrest.

“But if they are not lucky to be proclaimed as president notwithstanding their own beliefs on their invincibility in the election process then they should go to court like what I did,” she said. - Paolo Romero, Aurea Calica and Christina Mendez

Voting machines fail 76,000 memory cards to be replaced

2010-05-05T15:24:00.000+08:00

By Michael Lim Ubac, Tarra Quismundo, Kristine L. Alave (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: 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 Fores.

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

Villar vows to bring home stranded OFWs on Day 1 of presidency

2010-05-05T15:19:00.000+08:00

By Christina Mendez (The Philippine Star)
Link:http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=572441&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Sen. Manny Villar has reiterated his vow to bring distressed overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) back to the country and provide them with jobs and livelihood opportunities.

In his speech at his campaign rally in Vigan last Sunday night, Villar said this policy would be set into motion on Day One of his presidency.

He promised to establish a country that can provide opportunities to Filipinos so parents do not have to leave their families and children behind in order to work abroad.

Villar strongly believes a dream Philippines can be achieved by investing heavily on developing a “strong entrepreneurial class” by funneling credit to small and medium-scale enterprises.

He is also pushing for labor-intensive industries like tourism and the service industry.

According to records, close to two million Filipinos left the country to work abroad, which roughly translates to 4,500 workers being deployed daily-a record-high in overseas deployment.

Villar has initiated a “Sagip-OFW” program with a helpline through which distressed OFWs and their families can seek assistance. Villar has personally funded the repatriation of hundreds of stranded, deported, abused and troubled OFWs.

Although Villar acknowledges the contribution of OFW remittances to the country, particularly in weathering the international financial crisis, he hopes to steadily reduce the country’s dependence on OFW remittances since an economy anchored on OFW remittances is fundamentally weak.

OFWs remittances continue to rise and give the economy a big boost. Last year, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) reported OFW remittances last year reached $17.35 billion, up 5.6 percent despite the global economic crisis.

Meanwhile, Villar pulled away from closest rival Sen. Noynoy Aquino in terms of Facebook fans.

As of early morning of May 4, Villar’s Facebook Fan Page already has 1,355,197 fans, against Aquino’s 1,349,864.

Aquino’s camp meanwhile claimed that their candidate’s Facebook Fan Page account had been hacked late last week allegedly by a rival camp, causing “missing” fans.

Facebook is a popular social networking site with more than 11 million users in the Philippines.

The NP also remained hopeful of getting the support of bigger religious groups that have yet to announce their bets for the country’s top two leaders, after losing the endorsement of evangelist Pastor Apollo Quiboloy. - With Marvin Sy

19 party-list groups endorse Gibo

2010-05-05T15:18:00.000+08:00

By Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star)
Link:http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=572433&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - A coalition of 19 party-list organizations including thousands of urban poor residents in Tondo, Manila declared their support for administration candidate Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr.

Former Interior secretary Rafael Alunan also joined in support of Teodoro.

Their endorsements came after Davao-based Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ picked Teodoro on Sunday.

Quiboloy said his congregation chose Teodoro among the presidential candidates who have been trying to get his endorsement.

Alunan, on the other hand, said he picked Teodoro as his personal favorite.

“My presidential candidate is an underdog even in his own party (Lakas-Kampi-CMD), stabbed in the front, back and sides by treacherous partymates,” he said.

Alunan described Teodoro as “a non-traditional politician that prefers the high to the low road.”

Party-list groups of various political orientations also declared their support for Teodoro’s presidential bid yesterday afternoon.

Banat (Barangay Association for National Advancement and Transparency) Rep. Salvador Britanico led other party- list representatives in declaring their support for Teodoro.

The other party-list representatives including Rep. Godofredo Arquiza of Senior Citizens, Rep. Jun Alcover of ANAD and Rep. Grace Abayon of Aangat-Tayo signed a manifesto of support for Teodoro.

“We believe in Gibo’s vision for the country and the Filipino people and are willing to support him for the realization of his vision,” the group declared in a press briefing at the Serye restaurant in Quezon City.

Government press probed for printing campaign materials

2010-05-05T15:14:00.000+08:00

By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star)
Link:http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=572428&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Philippine Information Agency (PIA) Director General Conrado Limcaoco is launching a probe into reports that officials of one of the printing offices that he is supervising have been illegally using facilities to print election materials for their own or their relatives’ political campaign.

Limcaoco was reacting to a report by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) that some members of the board of the APO Production Unit, Inc. who are running for local elective posts, are using their printing facilities for their campaign materials.

The PCIJ report said the officials were taking advantage of the ambiguity of the status of the APO, whether it is a government corporation or a private entity.

The Omnibus Election Code prohibits the use of printing presses owned or controlled by the government in any election campaign or partisan political activity.

The penalties for officials of such an entity caught in violation of the law range from one to six years in prison, along with disqualification from public office and forfeiture of the right of suffrage, the PCIJ pointed out.

The PCIJ said APO officials alternately assert the agency is a government office or a private entity depending on the kind of printing job it undertakes.

“I will investigate these and I promise you that if anybody is guilty, he will be appropriately dealt with under the law,” Limcaoco told The STAR. “I know nothing of these allegations.”

He said the APO was transferred to the PIA about two months ago by President Arroyo and denied that he sought the move.

He said he presided over a board meeting of the agency a few weeks back over the issue of its status as well as the “long-festering problems” in the employees’ and management ranks were raised.

Limcaoco however admitted that he would not be able to resolve the problems before the Arroyo administration hands over power to the new government on June 30.

Among the members of APO Board of Trustees are Benjamin Defensor, chairman; Renato Tobias, treasurer; Juan P. Dayang, corporate secretary; Taciana Verceles, comptroller; and Raul Corro, chairman, committee on legal affairs, and Roberto Brillante.

Its president is Francisco Arellano, a nephew of Sen. Joker Arroyo.

The PCIJ noted that Brillante is former councilor and vice mayor of Makati City and Defensor is an uncle of former congressman and presidential chief of staff Michael Defensor, who is now running for mayor of Quezon City.

“Tobias is said to be a protégé of former Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita while Dayang is a media person close to Malacañang. Verceles is the widow of the late Immigration Commissioner Leandro Verceles Sr. and Corro was recommended to the Board by then Press Secretary Ignacio ‘Toting’ Bunye,” the PCIJ report said.

Voting machines malfunction

2010-05-05T15:11:00.000+08:00

By Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star)
Link:http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=572412&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Fears of election failure intensified yesterday after some of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to be used by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) failed test runs in some parts of the country, prompting a stop to the testing and a recall of the machines.

President Arroyo ordered Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) chairman Ray Anthony Chua to meet with Comelec and Smartmatic officials to see what could be done to address the problem.
Mrs. Arroyo’s election lawyer Romulo Macalintal said postponement of the elections “is the only remedy to prevent a failure of election.”

Smartmatic president for Asia-Pacific Cesar Flores said when the testing started last Monday, some PCOS machines produced “contradictory” reading of the ballots for local elective posts.

“The first thing to do is look at all these reports and go to different possibilities of errors and finally it was narrowed down to configuration issue,” Flores said during a press conference at the Comelec.

The conference was also attended by Makati congressman and Joint Congressional Oversight Committee for Poll Automation co-chairman Teddy Boy Locsin, Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) chairperson Henrietta de Villa and Chua, among others.

The names of candidates for national posts were printed on the ballots with a single space in between rows, while the names of the local bets are in double spaces.

During the testing, the machines were able to count the votes cast for the candidates in the first row but it did not read the votes in the second row presumably because of the space between the two rows.

“It will read this candidate as blank space. It’s a human error. It had already been detected,” said Flores, who said Smartmatic and its Filipino partner Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) would assume responsibility since it is a “technical issue.”

After testing, the teachers serving as Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) are supposed to seal the PCOS machines, which will be opened only on election day.

Birth pains of going high-tech

To address the problem, Smartmatic-TIM will replace the four-gigabyte compact flash (CF) memory cards installed in all the PCOS machines assigned to each of the 76,000 polling precincts.

The cards contain the “polling precinct information” for a certain PCOS machine.

Because of this, the machine cannot be used in any other precinct without being configured first.

“The procedure is to replace the compact flash with corrected configuration. This will force us to stop (the testing and the) sealing for the next couple of days. We’ll resume (tomorrow). It is a logistical challenge. Technically, it’s an easy correction,” Flores said, brushing aside fears that the glitch would lead to failure of the polls.

He said the testing and the sealing, supposed to be done seven to three days before election day, were meant to “deny fraud and cheating by showing how the system is counting and also to detect failure in hardware or software.”

Flores gave assurance that Smartmatic-TIM could acquire all the needed memory cards in time for the resumption of the testing and sealing tomorrow.

The Comelec had leased 82,200 PCOS machines from the joint venture but some 6,000 of them are spare.

A recipe for chaos

The joint venture is presently assessing how many “jurisdictions” were affected by the glitches.

However, as a rule, if a PCOS machine fails the test in one precinct, all the units are automatically grounded.

So far, the affected areas include Manila, Makati City, Taguig City, Laguna, Palawan, Batangas and Mindoro.

At least 80 percent of the PCOS machines in Manila failed to work, according to Ali Atienza, son and campaign manager of mayoralty candidate Lito Atienza.

In District 3, the machines failed to read the votes for congressman and mayor, and votes for Atienza were credited in favor of incumbent Mayor Alfredo Lim.

Atienza also came out with zero votes even if there were at least eight or nines votes cast in his favor.

In Makati City, Vice Mayor Ernesto Mercado complained that the machines tallied only the votes of his opponent for the mayoralty, Erwin Genuino.

Tensions ran high in Batangas between BEIs and Comelec officials on the one hand, and representatives of local candidates from 12 municipalities and two cities on the other, after the PCOS machines failed to work for several reasons.

Hearing the news in Manila, the Comelec office in Isabela City in Basilan immediately recalled 48 machines from the municipalities of Maluso and Tabuanlasa, causing alarm among local residents.

Several political parties immediately called on the poll body to check the flaws to ensure the sanctity and credibility of the elections.

While other candidates were open to the possibility that there were just technical issues involved, others believe that something more sinister is afoot.

Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino senatorial bet Joey de Venecia said the PCOS machines are a potential tool for an “Electronic Garci,” and urged the Comelec to take legal action against Smartmatic.

“I will not say that the May 10 elections will be rigged, but I will say that the automated system is likely to fail,” De Venecia said.

Public school teachers also expressed apprehension over the malfunctions of the machines and their late delivery.

“We are getting worried. There are only a few days left before election day and we hope these problems will be addressed because teachers will be in the frontline and will be the ones who will face the voters,” Teacher’s Dignity Coalition national chairman Benjamin Basas said.

Poll watchdog Kontra Daya also raised the alarm over the machine’s failure, saying the problem will compromise the integrity of the coming polls.

Comelec: No failure of elections

But Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento reiterated the poll body’s confidence that there would be no failure of election resulting from this incident.

“We are optimistic that there will be no failure of election. We have discussed this. In the event that it will happen, 30 percent will serve as backup for manual purposes,” he said, referring to the preparation being done by the poll body to conduct manual polls.

The agency had printed 30 percent of the forms required for manual election like election returns, statement of votes and certificates of canvassing.

However, Sarmiento admitted that the Comelec is not prepared to go manual beyond 30 percent as he claimed that the agency does not think this will happen.

PPCRV’s De Villa also admitted that her confidence in a successful automated polls had diminished.

“(But) one good thing about it is that it has been detected and it can be solved,” De Villa said.

For his part, Macalintal said the Comelec, on its own, based on serious cause like the apparent failure of PCOS machines to properly and correctly function, is authorized under Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code to postpone the polls.

“Under the present situation, a 15-day postponement would be reasonable to give time for the Comelec to print additional forms for manual tally and canvass,” he said.

Deputy presidential spokesman Rogelio Peyuan said Mrs. Arroyo met with Chua yesterday and directed him to give all his support to the Comelec. The CICT is a member of an advisory committee overseeing the automation of the polls.

He said the President was very concerned with the developments in the run-up to the country’s first nationwide automated polls, which she earlier repeatedly stated as one of her legacies.

“Mrs. Arroyo is continuously monitoring and trying to find out what really happened, not necessarily to find out who is to be blamed because we are not just dealing with human beings. We are dealing with machines and with technology,” Peyuan said.

He, however, said the Palace would not budge from its position against a parallel manual counting of the votes.

AFP: No more turning back

Meanwhile, the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) remains confident that the May 10 polls would be held smoothly even in the face of several glitches.

“We are working for them (Comelec), we are supposed to trust them and we believe they are more than capable of making this election credible,” said AFP Task Force HOPE (Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections) spokesman Col. Ricardo Nepomuceno.

National Capital Region Command (NCRCOM) chief Rear Admiral Feliciano Angue, who oversees the security of the PCOS machines in Metro Manila, ruled out a failure of election.

“A failure of election is unlikely. For example, in a worst-case scenario that the machines won’t work, we still have the ballots and these can be counted manually,” he said during the delivery of counting machines in Tandang Sora, Quezon City from a warehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna.

Angue said the other counting machines can still be delivered to polling precincts in Metro Manila before the elections.

“We need two days to complete it. If the delivery would resume on May 7, this would be completed on May 9,” Angue said in Filipino.

He said the military and the police are prepared to secure the movement of the machines once the technical glitches are resolved.

“As far as our tasking is concerned, we are ready to do what the Comelec is asking us to do. But there is a need to fix the machines and that is the problem of Smartmatic. Otherwise, the delivery would be continuous,” Angue said. - With Marvin Sy, Jose Rodel Clapano, Rainier Allan Ronda, Roel Pareño, Ric Sapnu, Ding Cervantes, Arnell Ozaeta, Alexis Romero, Sandy Araneta

Election 2010 News -- April 30, 2010

2010-04-30T13:40:00.000+08:00

Manual count junked (Manila Bulletin)
Cheating on; bets bribing poll officials - DND Chief (The Daily Tribune)
Once-reluctant Aquino ready to lead the Philippines (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Comelec junks parallel manual count bid (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Teodoro camp: Inquirer coverage fair, disclaims ad vs PDI (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Administration lawmaker defends party-lilst group (The Philippine Star)
Erap tied with Villar in latest Pulse Asia Poll (The Philippine Star)
AFP on red alert in preparation for May 10 polls (The Philippine Star)
Comelec junks parallel count (The Philippine Star)

Manual count junked

2010-04-30T13:33:00.000+08:00

By RAYMUND F. ANTONIO (Manila Bulletin)
Link: http://mb.com.ph/articles/255262/manual-count-junked

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) junked Thursday the proposed parallel manual count in the country’s first automated elections on May 10, on the pretext that it would only open up opportunities for cheating.

In its unanimous decision, the poll body ruled that the manual count is not the “only” way to validate the electronic results of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, as pressed by religious leaders, IT experts, the Makati Business Club (MBC), and even some of the candidates themselves.

Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez, who read the contents of the resolution before the media, said adopting such measure would have an adverse effect on the automation process such as the creation of discrepancies or errors in the tallying of votes.

“The Commission also cannot accept that the mere existence of disagreement between the hand and electronic count should automatically be interpreted as proof of the inaccuracy of the electronic count,” the seven-page resolution said.

Jimenez said a parallel count of the ballots, when allowed, would lead to deliberate shading of additional ovals or the defacing of the ballots’ security marks.

“The scrapping of the electronic count and canvass in favor of the hand count and manual canvassing will likewise open up the possibility of the return of old modes of cheating – particularly dagdag-bawas and the resurrection of sleeping Garcis,” he said.

“With the certificates of canvass prepared manually, the old ills of error and fabricated COCs (certificates of canvass) will resurface, leading ironically to a less credible election result,” Jimenez added.

Earlier, the MBC, joined by various groups, called on the poll body to conduct a parallel manual count to ensure the accuracy and credibility of the digital count that will be given by the PCOS machines.

The parallel manual count, which would cost the Comelec an additional P500 million, will require the members of the board of elections inspectors (BEIs) to manually count the ballots that will be cast.

It will also mean that the BEIs will have to stay more than two to three days at the precincts to count the ballots.

Jimenez said the petition for a parallel count now denied by Comelec, it will push through instead with a random manual vote audit for the May 10 polls.

“The random manual audit is the only legally sanctioned mechanism for validating the PCOS count. The paralle manual count, therefore, does not have any legal basis,” the resolution read.

Palace backs Comelec

Meanwhile, Malacañang stood behind Comelec’s decision to junk the proposal for a parallel manual count.

We agree with Comelec's decision. We will expect full and appropriate compliance with it by all parties concerned, and we continue to urge our countrymen to support Comelec and vote based only on what their conscience tells them – the two conditions for a successful and credible election,” Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Gary Olivar said in a statement.

n a briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Ricardo Saludo said it is up to the Comelec to decide on the matter, which is under their jurisdiction, noting that the executive will always be supportive of the poll body.

“With the Comelec decision not to a parallel manual count, all efforts are focused on getting automated counting to work. This will help ensure the expectation of 80 percent of Filipinos that automation will be easier and better,” he said.

The Comelec agreed to Malacañang’s earlier hard stance on the proposal by key business groups that call for a manual count of votes for the three top positions, including president, vice president, and mayors and compare them with the automated results to ensure credible, transparent, and honest elections next month.

Olivar earlier said the Arroyo Administration is not giving in to their “they-want-to-have-their-cakes-and-eat-it,-too” proposal, even as it also called on the anti-government camps to stop sowing terror among the voting public by spreading their fears about a failure of elections, which is unlikely to happen.

Saludo also took the opportunity to commend the security forces “for their selfless dedication to their duty and our democracy, despite, baseless attacks on their untiring work and unsullied intentions.” (Charissa M. Luci)

Cheating on; bets bribing poll officials —DND chief

2010-04-30T13:32:00.000+08:00

By Mario J. Mallari (The Daily Tribune)
Link: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100430hed3.html

Acting defense secretary Norberto Gonzales yesterday warned that there would be cheating in next month’s national elections as he said that several people were already trying to bribe polling officials and even the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP).

“I’m telling you that the cheating has (already) begun,” Gonzales told a gathering of Christian and Muslim religious leaders. “There will be cheating in the coming elections.”

Gonzales did not say who was behind the cheating but said people had already begun trying to bribe members of the body overseeing the poll, the Commission on Elections.

“Money is being distributed to some officials already these days,” he said.

Gonzales bared that attempts to bribe some poll officials, the AFP and PNP to rig the results of the May 10 presidential elections.

“We have some experts saying that it can be rigged and I am telling you now that there will be attempts of cheating in the national elections,” Gonzales stressed before the Bishops-Ulama Conference on Wednesday night in Davao City.

Aside from the supposed bribery of Comelec officials, Gonzales also disclosed attempts to “buy” some officials of the AFP and the PNP which are both deputized by the Comelec to perform vital role before, during and after the elections.

“It seems to be that this noble effort of our men and women in uniform are not being respected. There will be attempts to (bribe) our Armed Forces and police officials. There will be and it has begun,” said Gonzales.

Gonzales, however, said he does not know how much was involved in the bribery.

But Gonzales vowed the military will do its best to counter any attempts to manipulate the results of the May 10 elections as he stressed the AFP is constitutionally-mandated to protect the people.

According to Gonzales, he learned of the bribery sometime Monday or Sunday. “We noticed this two, three days ago and it is too early to tell you who are involved and how this (cheating) is going to be done,” he added.

Gonzales even claimed that some of those who refused the supposed bribe offer reported to him such attempt. “Many officials in the Comelec hate being bribed. I can tell you that one of my sources is from the Comelec itself,” he said.

The acting defense chief claimed that at least two presidential candidates stand to benefit from the bribery and the planned cheating but was quick to imply that Nacionalista Party presidential bet Sen. Manny Villar, whom he supposedly endorsed to Army officers in a recent gathering, is not among them.

When asked if the camp of the monied and billionaire candidate are involved in the bribery, the defense chief said: “I think you are all guessing it wrong.”

On whether the suspects include a bachelor presidential bet, and administration candidate Gilberto Teodoro, he said questions like these are too difficult to reply.

On whether the bribery attempt is coming from the opposition, Gonzales said: “Well, we cannot classify who is the opposition since the lines are blurred.”

Gonzales said Southern Tagalog is among the areas where the bribery is taking place. The official said he is disclosing the information in the hope that bribery and the cheating can be preempted.

He said concerned authorities are now in the process of documenting the bribery and gathering witnesses “then we will file cases hopefully before the elections.”

President Arroyo’s spokesman, Gary Olivar, said Gonzales had did not mention his concerns to the president, but conceded he may be correct. “He is being frank... in order to prepare people so they can cooperate with the duly-constituted authorities,” Olivar said.

But Comelec spokesman James Jimenez denied any knowledge of cheating and said Gonzales had not raised this matter with his group.

“I invite the good secretary to back up his words before he starts maligning a government agency,” he said.

At the same time, the defense chief raised the alarm over Sen. Noynoy Aquino’s threat to mount a people power revolt if he loses the election.”We have a presidential candidate who is assuming that he will win the elections. He is accusing everyone and telling everyone that if he loses, it means that he has been cheated,” Gonzales said during an interview with reporters.

Gonzales did not name the candidate but obviously he was referring to Aquino, who has warned of people’s revolt if he loses in the elections. “ I am worried about this people power business. People power is okay if it will succeed, which means that if it will succeed, then there will be peace. But I do not believe that this people power will succeed,” he said.

The acting defense chief said a failed people power is not good for the country as he appealed to the religious leaders to help authorities call on concerned individuals not to resort to violence.

Meanwhile, Malacañang expressed confidence in the loyalty of the members of the military and the PNP to their mandate.

Deputy presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo made this statement in relation to Gonzales’ baring of a possible destabilization plot allegedly planned by the quarters of two presidential candidates.

Saludo said, “We are not receiving any direct report about it and we, of course, are just referring to the Defense Secretary when it comes to issues on national security. Nevertheless, we still believe that our soldiers and policemen will not allow themselves to be used (by politicians) and will remain faithful to their duties (in protecting) our democracy.”

Saludo said the Palace will leave everything up to Gonzales to take care of this issue.

At this point, one thing that the government can assure the public is the conviction it has to take action against anyeffort to compromise the integrity of the elections or the integrity of the AFP, Saludo added.

“Let us remember even in election time despite attacks on the integrity of certain individuals the fact is the AFP and the police have performed their jobs in securing the elections and affirming our democratic exercises even beyond the call of duty,” Saludo reminded.

With Aytch S. dela Cruz and AFP

Once-reluctant Aquino ready to lead the Philippines

2010-04-30T13:29:00.002+08:00

By Agence France-Presse (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100429-267127/Once-reluctant-Aquino-ready-to-lead-the-Philippines

CALUMPIT, Bulacan, Philippines—Standing on the back of a truck throwing wristbands to an endless stream of people chanting his name, Senator Benigno Aquino III smiles and says he can almost feel the Philippine presidency.

Less than a year ago the quietly spoken Aquino publicly vacillated on whether he wanted to continue the imposing work of his famous parents, who are regarded as democracy heroes in this impoverished Southeast Asian nation.

But, with elections less than two weeks away, he now appears passionate in wanting to be president and more comfortable with the hopes so many have for him as the country's savior.

"You feel that things that weren't considered possible a few months ago are in the realms of possibility," Aquino, 50, told Agence France-Presse from aboard the flatbed truck as it embarked on a pulsating five-hour campaign procession.

"So the changes that we are seeking to implement to improve the lot of our people seem imminently doable."

Asked if he felt he was on the brink of victory ahead of the May 10 election, Aquino looked out at the masses of people lining the road ahead of him and replied with an emphatic: "Yes".

"I thought it would be a difficult battle but with the people demonstrating in numbers like this it doesn't seem to be that big a struggle," he said.

While Aquino was referring to the direct support he has seen on regular motorcade forays around the country in recent months, harder evidence emerged on Thursday with a national survey showing he was headed for a comfortable win.

Thirty-nine percent of respondents said they would vote for him, with wealthy property developer Senator Manuel Villar and ex-president Joseph Estrada tied for second place with 20-percent support each, the Pulse Asia survey said.

However in a democratic system that has long suffered from corruption and violence, Aquino said he was concerned that poll cheating could cost him victory.

"That seems to be the biggest threat at the moment so we are working on it," he said.

Aquino referred to the 2004 presidential and 2007 congressional elections, in which President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her ruling party are alleged to have employed a range of illegal tactics to win.

"The people who were identified and implicated have not been put before the court of justice. So hence (we are concerned)," he said.

But such fears appeared to wash over Aquino only briefly as his campaign truck meandered slowly through narrow roads of impoverished rural villages.

Drawing energy in the blistering heat from cigarettes, bottles of Coca-Cola and the adulation of his supporters, Aquino threw out thousands of his signature yellow friendship wristbands.

Belying his reputation as an uncharismatic and aloof politician, Aquino handed out the bands one-by-one, looking at many of the recipients in the eye and often offering a quick word of encouragement.

he procession lasted from early afternoon until well after dark, but Aquino did not pause and one of his aides estimated he personally gave away 6,500 wristbands.
For Aquino's backers, such moments are proof that the balding bachelor always had the potential to capitalize on the mystique surrounding his parents.

His father, also named Benigno, was shot dead at Manila's airport in 1983 as he tried to return from US exile to fight Ferdinand Marcos' dictatorship.

Benigno Aquino Sr.'s death turned him into a political martyr and his wife, Corazon, into the leader of a democracy movement that famously toppled Marcos with the "People Power" revolution of 1986.

Cory Aquino then served as the Philippines' president, earning a reputation for being honest that so many now cherish following nine years of rule under Arroyo that her many critics charge has lacked moral leadership.

Cory Aquino's death last year from cancer served as the catalyst for her son's stunning political rise, after he spent 11 low-key years in Congress.

After grabbing another handful of wristbands, Aquino said he owed his success to his parents' legacy.

"That opened all of the doors," he said.

Comelec junks parallel manual count bid

2010-04-30T13:27:00.000+08:00

By Kristine L. Alave, Leila B. Salaverria, Amy R. Remo (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100430-267246/Comelec-junks-parallel-manual-count-bid

MANILA, Philippines—A slide into chaos rather than a prescription for order.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) Thursday junked a proposal by concerned business and legal groups to conduct a parallel manual count, at the very least in the presidential contest, to establish the credibility of the automated balloting on May 10.

In a strongly worded resolution, the Comelec en banc slammed proponents of the hybrid polling for “their lack of understanding of the ramifications of their demand” and said the proposal was “very risky.”

“Conducting a hand count of the ballots will open up the possibility of errors in tallying, as well as provide excellent opportunity for the perpetration of fraudulent acts, such as the deliberate shading of additional ovals or the defacing of the ballot security marks—to make it appear that more ballots were read than should have been,” it said.

The proposal, the seven-page resolution said, is aimed not so much at testing the integrity of the computerized system, but at producing discrepancies between the hand tally and the electronic returns that could lea to the scrapping of the automated polls.

It said the proposal “would open the floodgates to dagdag-bawas (vote-padding and vote-shaving), thereby casting much graver doubt on the credibility of the election results than mere automation could.”

Comelec liable for fraud

The Comelec decision was roundly denounced by groups that had expressed apprehension that the poll body had removed measures to ensure the integrity of the vote, including scrapping of the ultraviolet security marks on ballots, the source code review and digital signatures.

“If there is failure of elections or widespread fraud, I’m accusing them, the Comelec commissioners, of being active participants, of being complicit, in a conspiracy to commit these acts,” said former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo of the Philippine Bar Association.

There is now no way to determine if the counting machines are 99.9995 percent accurate, he said.

Marcelo disputed the Comelec’s assertion that the hand count would provide opportunities for vote-shaving and -padding. He said that such acts usually took place not at the precincts, but at the canvassing level in the municipalities. It is also open to the public, he said, so there is virtually no chance of shenanigans taking place without being discovered.

“The country cannot afford an election that is done with speed but without accuracy. We believe a 100-percent manual audit of the position of president will make the 2010 election credible,” the Makati Business Club (MBC) said in a statement.

Election may not be accepted

The MBC said that because the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to be used in the country’s first nationwide automated balloting had “not been pilot-tested in an actual election as mandated by law, the risk of the machines making mistakes at a rate higher than that provided for (1 mistake ut of 20,000) is quite high.”

“We are gravely concerned that without such a verification of the accuracy of these machines, the election may not be accepted by the people as the true reflection of their will,” it added.

In its decision, the Comelec said it did not scrap the petition because of concerns over cost and logistics but on legal implications of the manual count in the age of electronic balloting.

“In theory, at least, this could even result in enough delay to prevent a proclamation of the President-elect before the 30th of June 2010,” it said.

Random manual audit

The Comelec said that the manual count was not the only way to verify the integrity of the electronic results. It said the random manual audit mandated by law would validate results.
Under the audit scheme, five ballot boxes per district will be chosen randomly for inspection. Auditors would count the votes cast in the PCOS machines and compare these with electronic election returns (ER).

The Comelec was likely to release the rules and guidelines for the random manual audit this week, said spokesperson James Jimenez.

The MBC said that as early as March last year, it had expressed concerns about the limited time left to implement the automated election system.

“But when the national leadership decided to push ahead with full automation, we embraced the project and cooperated with the Comelec in making its implementation successful. However, there were several slippage along the way, which only confirmed our worst fears that the risk of failure of automation was going to be high,” it said.

Proposal made in November

In November 2009, the recommendation for a manual count at least in the contests for president, vice president and mayors was made to Comelec officials in various fora with the business and legal communities, the MBC said, dismissing the poll body’s claims that it was done posthaste.

“The proposals were not formalized so as not to discourage the Comelec, which continued to assert there was enough time to deliver the system as specified. But they missed even their own new deadlines resulting in compromises made, including the disabling of several security features,” it added.

“Our proposal of a manual count was deliberately confined to only three positions in order to keep the process simple and doable, given the limited time left before the election. After all, the purpose of the manual count is to verify that the PCOS machines count correctly, which is the interest of the Comelec as well as of the whole country,” MBC said.

Even just presidential bets

According to MBC, if the Comelec’s objection is the time it takes to count three positions, then they could hand tally just the presidential race. It said this would take less than one hour.

“Ultimately it is the vigilance of the Filipino people that will best protect the integrity of the elections. We call for highly intensified and sustained vigilance on May 10,” the group added.

Teodoro camp: Inquirer coverage fair, disclaims ad vs PDI

2010-04-30T13:25:00.000+08:00

By TJ Burgonio (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100430-267248/Teodoro-camp-Inquirer-coverage-fair-disclaims-ad-vs-PDI

MANILA, Philippines—The camp of administration standard-bearer Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. has distanced itself from a print ad questioning a Philippine Daily Inquirer story about Teodoro’s campaign rally in Davao City and the paper’s supposed bias for another candidate.

Mike Toledo, spokesperson for Teodoro, confirmed that a group of volunteers in Davao City had paid for the ad that came out in another broadsheet last Wednesday.

“The ads being brought out by volunteers are ads made on their own. We have nothing to do with the ads put out by volunteers,” Toledo said by phone the other night. But he said Teodoro’s media bureau respected the volunteers’ right to put out the advertisement.

Raymundo Roquero, secretary general of Lakas-Kampi-CMD, under whose banner Teodoro is running, also said the party had no hand in the ad and that the Inquirer had been fair in its coverage of Teodoro’s campaign.

Crowd estimate
In the ad, titled “Setting the record straight,” the Davao volunteers questioned the Inquirer’s crowd estimate of 2,000 at the rally for Teodoro at Davao’s Rizal Park last Saturday night.

The ad claimed that more than 12,000 people waited for Teodoro at the airport, and later joined the motorcade from the airport to the park for the rally.

“The bias of the Inquirer for one presidential candidate has been clear since the start of the campaign period, and continues to this day! Tama na (Enough),” the ad said.

“We don’t know about it. I only read about it. We’ve not even discussed it,” Roquero said by phone.

Fair coverage

Roquero said the Inquirer had been “fair” in its coverage of Teodoro from the party’s convention in November last year through the Feb. 9 kickoff of the campaign and on to the campaign proper.

“You had a very good coverage of the proclamation of Gibo as standard-bearer,” Roquero said. “The stories on the guessing game as to who will be the official candidate between Gibo and Bayani Fernando were good. Even the proclamation rally in Antipolo City was well covered.”

Roquero said he was aware of the dynamics in the newspaper industry and that he understood why some stories about Teodoro did not land on the paper’s front page.

“It all depends on the activity. If the event is not newsworthy enough, then it’s not going to land in the news. Your message should be good so it can be given a good medium,” he said.

More Noynoy stories

Roquero, however, observed that the paper appeared to be giving more space to stories about Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, the Liberal Party presidential candidate.

“There seems to be a big space for Noynoy’s stories ... but it’s not as pronounced as ABS-CBN,” he said.

Administration lawmaker defends party-list group

2010-04-30T13:24:00.000+08:00

By Delon Porcalla (The Philippine Star)
Link:http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=571139&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - A veteran administration lawmaker scored The STAR yesterday for labeling his party-list group as among those with “questionable goals.”

“This is already below the belt. This is even very selective. And it was not even arranged in alphabetical manner,” Alagad party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta complained to The STAR executives.

He was referring to the “Know your party-list” item that appeared in the daily’s front page yesterday. The item is a partial checklist of party-list groups aiming for House seats in the coming polls. The STAR aims to update the list daily, depending on records the groups submit to the Commission on Elections.

Groups tagged by civil society group Kontra Daya as having “questionable goals” are marked with asterisks in The STAR checklist.

“Why is The STAR allowing itself to be used by Kontra Daya which is a very dubious organization?” Marcoleta asked. “These kinds of groups have suddenly sprouted and we don’t even know who they are and who they are representing. They should come out,” he said.

“How can my goals be questionable? What’s questionable about my goals? Well, they will all be disappointed because I will be re-elected,” the two-term congressman, who is seeking re-election in the May 10 polls, said.

Marcoleta was the congressman who endorsed in 2005 the alleged bogus impeachment complaint of Marcos loyalist Oliver Lozano against President Arroyo, which prevented the filing of a stronger and more legitimate complaint. He has since denied this, however.

Last February, before the campaign season started, Marcoleta complained that Comelec had been showing its bias toward militant or left-leaning party-list organizations.

Marcoleta of Alagad, who represents the Iglesia ni Cristo bloc in the House, said even Comelec sample ballots – such as one posted on its website – included the names of leftist party-list groups like the Anakpawis.

“I’m asking why? Not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times. Is this not bias towards a particular group?” he stressed. He disclosed that this sample ballot can be seen in the Comelec’s website, which only gives other groups undue advantage over the rest of them.

Marcoleta also observed that the presidential candidates in the sample ballots are all members of the Aquino clan – Benigno Aquino Sr., Benigno Aquino Jr. and Corazon Aquino.

“Is this not obvious bias in favor of one candidate? And this can be seen everytime, or whenever people open the Comelec website,” the administration lawmaker pointed out. Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III has been a consistent survey topnotcher.

Resign

As many of the country’s 190 party-list groups scrounge for nominees, Rep. Teodoro Casiño of Bayan Muna said government officials who are party-list nominees have to resign or face disqualification, as stipulated in a recent Supreme Court ruling.

An ABS-CBN-Newsbreak report showed that there are at least 25 bureaucrats, aside from elective officials, who want to enter Congress through the backdoor – or through the party-list system.

Casiño also urged the Comelec to immediately disqualify nominees who are not fit to represent the groups they want to speak for in the legislature.

Bayan Muna and Akbayan have filed separate disqualification cases against presidential son and Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, the first nominee of a party-list group called Ang Galing Pinoy (AGP), which is supposedly composed of security guards and tricycle drivers.

The Comelec has required Arroyo and other nominees to submit speeches or articles proving their advocacies for the groups they want to represent.

But according to Akbayan, Arroyo has failed to comply with the Comelec requirement.

Akbayan said it is not aware of any speech or article President Arroyo’s son has made to advance the welfare of security guards and tricycle drivers.

Other groups are seeking the disqualification of former Energy secretary Angelo Reyes, first nominee of the group 1-Utak (United Transport Koalisyon).

Meanwhile, Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Raoul Victorino clarified yesterday that he has withdrawn his nomination from a party-list group immediately after his appointment to the Palace “out of delicadeza.”

“The records in the Comelec will bear me out,” Victorino told The STAR. “I don’t want any misimpression to be created by this (Newsbreak) report,” he said.

Victorino said his name was included among the nominees of the party-list “Ama” when he was still “jobless” after his retirement as associate justice of the Sandiganbayan. – With Paolo Romero and Jess Diaz

Erap tied with Villar in latest Pulse Asia poll

2010-04-30T13:22:00.000+08:00

By Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)
Link:http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=571135&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - With elections less than two weeks away, the tandem of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) standard-bearer former President Joseph Estrada and running mate Jejomar Binay surged to the number two spot.

Results of Pulse Asia’s latest pre-election survey showed that Estrada and Nacionalista Party (NP) bet Sen. Manuel Villar are now tied at second place with 20 percent each.

Binay, showing strong improvement, also overtook NP bet Sen. Loren Legarda for second place (28 percent versus 20 percent).

Pulse Asia said Binay gained nine percentage points in electoral support while Legarda’s score dropped from 23 percent in March to 20 percent in a survey conducted from April 23 to 25.

Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III is still dominating the race with 39 percent or four in 10 Filipino voters showing preference for him. Aquino is leading by 19 points over Villar and Estrada.

Aquino was apparently buoyed by the results and attributed the increase in his numbers to the LP’s intensive campaign in different parts of the country.

“I’ve told you that once we move around (for the campaign sorties, my rating will increase),” he said.

Estrada, for his part, said the Pulse Asia survey is good news.

“This reflects that people are now seeing beyond the campaign propaganda of other camps and discerning who is truly opposition and who is truly pro-poor,” said Estrada’s spokeswoman Margaux Salcedo.

Administration bet Gilberto Teodoro of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD came in a distant third with seven percent; followed by Bangon Pilipinas candidate Bro. Eddie Villanueva with three percent.

Villanueva, meanwhile, said he is not bothered by his rating and maintains that the public should expect an upset in the election turnout, confident that the entire ticket of the BPP will win.

Bagumbayan standard-bearer Sen. Richard Gordon ranks fifth with two percent; followed by disqualified presidential candidate Vetellano Acosta of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan with one percent.

The other presidential candidates received less than one percent of the respondents’ votes: independent candidate Nicanor Perlas (0.3 percent), Ang Kapatiran Party’s John Carlos de los Reyes (0.2 percent); and Sen. Jamby Madrigal (0.1 percent).

Nine percent of respondents were undecided about their presidential preference.

According to Pulse Asia, the other vice-presidential candidates register voter preferences of at most three percent. They were former Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando of the Bagumbayan Party (three percent); Lakas-Kampi candidate actor Edu Manzano (three percent); Bangon Pilipinas’ Perfecto Yasay (one percent); KBL’s Jay Sonza (0.3 percent); and AKP bet Dominador Chipeco (0.05 percent).

In a reaction, Roxas said he is very grateful to the Filipinos for their continuing support.

“We pledge to pursue our commitment to reform our government so that our people can enjoy the fruits of good governance as this will result in true progress and development for all the peoples of this country,” he said.

Pulse Asia said among the major developments immediately prior to and during the conduct of interviews were defections from the Lakas-Kampi mostly to the NP and LP, and Sen. Francis Escudero’s endorsement of Aquino for president and Binay for vice-president.

The non-commissioned survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,800 representative adults. – With Evelyn Macairan, Marvin Sy, Aurea Calica, Cecille Suerte Felipe

AFP on red alert in preparation for May 10 polls

2010-04-30T13:19:00.000+08:00

By Alexis Romero (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=571133&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The military will be placed on red alert starting today as part of security preparations for the May 10 elections.

Col. Ricardo Nepomuceno, spokesman for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)–Task Force HOPE (Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections), said the red alert status will be implemented until May 20 to allow the military to monitor the security situation in the field.

“The red alert will start at 8 a.m. It will be nationwide. We will start the manning of our (HOPE) operations center and that is the signal for us to start implementing our security operations,” Nepomuceno said.

A red alert means that all the military personnel should be readily available for deployment anytime. Such alert level would also entail the cancellation of all leaves to ensure adequate manpower.

Nepomuceno said the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), the citizen arm of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), would send representatives to the HOPE operations center to enhance the gathering of poll-related updates.

He said the agreement with the PPCRV would allow HOPE to get feedback on the security issues on the precinct level.

The HOPE operation center would be located at the AFP general headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo in Quezon City and will be open to the media.

The PPCRV, as the Comelec’s deputized citizen arm, has been authorized to monitor the results of the May 10 elections. This is intended to promote transparency and accountability in the conduct of the polls.

The AFP is not allowed to engage in partisan politics but has been tasked to provide security during the transport of precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to polling precincts nationwide.

In fact, heavily armed police and military forces were already deployed in strategic areas of Metro Manila yesterday to ensure the safe delivery of the PCOS machines.

Joint elements of the National Capital Regional Police Office (NCRPO) and the AFP’s National Capital Region Command (NCRCom) in full battle gear were seen securing vehicles transporting 7,555 PCOS machines, 6.13 million ballots and ballot boxes and election paraphernalia to 743 precincts in Metro Manila.

NCRPO chief Director Roberto Rosales said the police and NCRCom vehicles securing the delivery trucks had global positioning system (GPS) devices for monitoring purposes.

The central hub is being secured by eight NCRPO and 15 NCRCom personnel who barred police officials and journalists who cannot produce access cards issued by Smartmatic from entering.

PNP chief Director General Jesus Verzosa, on the other hand, said that agencies like the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC), Department of Education (DepEd), Department of Energy (DOE), Philippine Information Agency (PIA) and the local government units (LGU) help in the implementatio of safety measures during the polls.

“All other government agencies cannot afford to be mere bystanders in this historic and very important national exercise. Everyone has a moral obligation and duty to choose a new set of national and local leaders in an honest and orderly manner,” said Verzosa.

Because of this overwhelming effort by the AFP and the PNP, Malacañang expressed confidence that their respective members would remain professional and not allow themselves to be influenced by partisan groups.

Presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo said the soldiers and policemen would remain true to their oath to defend democracy.

“Let us remember even in election time despite attacks on the integrity of certain individuals, the fact is the AFP and the police have performed their jobs in securing the elections and affirming our democratic exercises even beyond the call of duty,” Saludo told a news briefing.

He said the Armed Forces and the PNP play a key role in ensuring the success of the elections.

Old generals support Noynoy

Meanwhile, a group of retired military and police officers yesterday expressed support for the candidacy of Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and vowed to guard against cheating in the upcoming May 10 polls.

In a statement, the group claiming to be EDSA 1986 veterans said Aquino can implement genuine reforms in the government and provide solutions to the problems plaguing the county.

“Many of us in recent years followed our ailing President Cory Aquino in her crusade to change a more oppressive, corrupt regime and unite the Filipino people in a fight for true reforms in ourselves, in our institutions and in our national character,” the statement read.

“Our beloved President Cory is now in the heavens but the torch of this crusade is now passed to her son, Senator “Noynoy” Aquino, who is seeking the presidency in 2010 to effect the reforms that all Filipinos are longing for,” it added.

“We would like to inform our people that we are now prepared to protect the votes of every Filipino and to ensure that these votes will be counted. We will see to it that the PNP and armed forces will do their duty,” he said.

Montaño said they will also remind those in active service to be faithful to their duties and to remain non-partisan.

He said they have learned their lesson in 2004 when they backed the candidacy of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., the closest rival of President Arroyo in the presidential race.

“If we know how we were cheated last time, we know how to counter it,” Montaño said. – Non Alquitran, Cecille Suerte Felipe, Paolo Romero

Comelec junks parallel count

2010-04-30T13:17:00.000+08:00

By Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=571131&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - It’s official.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will only conduct a random manual audit of votes in the coming polls and not a full parallel manual count as demanded by some groups.

The decision sparked calls from various groups, including lawyers and business organizations, for street protests.

In a seven-page resolution, the Comelec denied for lack of legal basis the proposal to conduct a parallel manual count in all precincts for the positions of president, vice president, congressmen, governor and mayor.

“After having taken into consideration all the submissions of the various proponents, and after having considered the opinions of those who stand opposed, the Commission concludes that it cannot conduct a full parallel manual count,” the Comelec said.

“The attendant risks to the stability of the electoral system are too grave to be outweighed by the promised benefit of parallel manual count,” the Comelec said.

“Conducting a hand count of the ballots will open up the possibility of errors in tallying, as well as provide an excellent opportunity for the perpetration of fraudulent acts,” the poll body added.

Various groups have been calling on the Comelec to allow a parallel manual count to validate the results of the first automated elections in the country.

“The language employed by the proponents of a full parallel manual count indicates that a mere difference between the results of the hand count and electronic count will be enough to trigger a full manual count of all candidates virtually scrapping the automated election system,” the Comelec said.

The Comelec pointed out candidates might demand the scrapping of precinct count optical scan (PCOS) count and a shift to manual counting and canvassing once a discrepancy is raised.

It added that a full parallel manual count would be extremely vulnerable to error as well as to dagdag-bawas (vote padding-shaving).

James Jimenez, Comelec spokesman, said a mere discrepancy of 10 votes could trigger manual recount and a scrapping of the electronic results of the elections.

“This discrepancy can also be done by anybody by simply smudging the ballots,” Jimenez said.

“More than any consideration of cost and effort, is what makes the commission extremely wary of accepting the proposal for a full parallel manual count,” the Comelec said.

The random manual audit would cover a smaller number or precincts compared to the parallel manual count, which was being planned for 76,340 precincts nationwide.

“The fact that random manual audit takes place in such a relatively small subset means that efforts to safeguard the process from errors and the introduction of fraud will be more effective,” the Comelec said.

At Malacañang, deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said “we agree with the Comelec’s decision.”

“We will expect full and appropriate compliance with it by all parties concerned, and we continue to urge our countrymen to support Comelec and vote based only on what their conscience tells them—the two conditions for a successful and credible election,” he said.

Presidential spokesman Ricardo Saludo said the decision would allow everyone to focus “on getting the automated counting to work.”

“Everybody now can focus on their respective works to see to it that we are well prepared and ready for the first automated election,” deputy presidential spokesman Rogelio Peyuan said.

Bagumbayan presidential bet Sen. Richard Gordon also welcomed the Comelec ruling and lashed out at the Makati Business Club for floating a failure of elections scenario if a parallel manual counting is not carried out.

Protests

“We will join if there will be any protest actions,” Vitalliano Nañagas, Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) vice chair on the national issues committee said in a telephone interview.

“Since the PCOS machines have not been pilot-tested before in an actual election as mandated by law, the risk of the machine making mistakes at the rate higher than that provided for (one mistake out of 20,000), is quite high,” a MAP statement read.

“We are gravely concerned that without such verification of the accuracy of these machines, the election may not be accepted by the people as the true reflection of their will,” it added.

“We are not going to take this sitting down,” MBC executive director Alberto Lim said in a separate interview. “I cannot tell you our next move yet.”

The Alyansa Agrikultura and the Philippine Bar Association (PBA) also appealed to the public to protest the ruling.

“I will protest in the streets. The Comelec is useless,” PBA president Simeon Marcelo said. “They removed the number one safeguard when they eliminated the system that gives the voter a slip of paper confirming who they voted for.”

“They can elevate the matter to the Supreme Court. I will join them if they do that,” Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said. – With Ma. Elisa Osorio, Paolo Romero, Jess Diaz, Aurea Calica, Rainier Allan Ronda, Sheila Crisostomo, Helen Flores, Mike Frialde

Election 2010 News - April 28, 2010

2010-04-28T14:11:00.000+08:00

Parallel manual count gains Proponents cite need to protect election's integrity (Malaya)
'Poll survey undermining democratic processes (The Philippine Star)
CBCP organizing nine-day novena for clean polls (The Philippine Star)
Comelec junks disqualification case vs. Drilon. (The Philippine Star)
Teodoro: Who needs surveys? (Malaya)
Discipline Gibo first for abandoning post - Nograles (The Daily Tribune)
Volunteers vow to deliver 2.5 million votes for Gibo in Metro Manila (The Philippine Star)

Parallel manual count gains Proponents cite need to protect election’s integrity

2010-04-28T14:06:00.002+08:00

BY IRMA ISIP (Malaya)
Link: http://www.malaya.com.ph/04282010/news1.html

THE clamor for a parallel manual count has snowballed as the Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) yesterday said it supports the proposal as a backup measure to protect the integrity of the May 10 automated elections.

The Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, information technology experts and cause-oriented groups had proposed the parallel manual count to ensure that the results are credible.

In a statement, ECOP said in any computerized election, redundancy is important to protect the election’s integrity and reliability.

However, ECOP wants the parallel manual count limited to the votes for president unlike the MBC, MAP which advocates manual count also for vice president, mayor and vice mayor.

"A parallel manual count of all votes for president on May 10 as approved by the Comelec and jointly carried out with the private sector will assuage fears of election failure and enhance the integrity of the machines and raise the comfort level of the electorate," it said.

Gilberto Teodoro Jr. said a parallel manual count poses the danger of trending.

‘’Hindi ko sinasabi na hindi gagawin, but ang danger na mag-trending nandiyan, kaya iwasan na lang natin ang recriminations. Wala naman iyan sa reglamento noong una,’’ he said in an ambush interview after the inauguration of the Toledo Garden City Hall in Cebu.

‘’Sana noong una, bago tayo pumasok dito may parallel manual count. Bakit natin papalitan ngayon? So hindi mo maiiwasan sa ibang tao na magsabing pabor iyan sa ilang kandidato,’’ he said.

Malacañang said it is up to the Comelec to decide on whether to conduct a parallel manual count.

Deputy presidential spokesman Rogelio Peyuan said Malacañang is not totally rejecting the call for a parallel full manual count buit would respect and support any decision the Comelec will make on the issue.

Peyuan said what he does not understand is why the suggestion was raised as the election nears when the preparations, including the drafting of the law on the automated polls, started several years ago.

He said the timing "is with malice" especially after it was made after printing of the ballots had already been completed and the ballots are now due for distribution. – With Regina Bengco and Jocelyn Montemayor

'Poll surveys undermining democratic processes'

2010-04-28T14:05:00.001+08:00

By Perseus Echeminada (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=570454&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Ang Kapatiran vice presidential candidate Dominador Chipeco Jr. yesterday criticized the political surveys being conducted by survey firms, which he said is undermining the democratic processes of the coming May 10 elections.

Speaking with The STAR editors and reporters, Chipeco said that with the election just two weeks away, voters are now having second thoughts whether to vote or not for their candidates who are trailing in the surveys being conducted by the Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia.

“My supporters would now think twice if they will still vote (for) me because I am in the tail end of the surveys. They might say their vote is a waste because of the survey result,” he said.

Chipeco said that even educated and mature people are affected by the results of surveys and because of mind conditioning, the freedom to choose their own candidates is now jeopardized.

He said the damage done by the surveys is irreparable and may result in the election of a candidate who is not the actual choice of the people.

Chipeco said that Sen. Richard Gordon did the right thing when he filed a civil suit before the Quezon City Regional Trial Court seeking a temporary restraining order (TRO) against the release of survey results.

But he said that even if the lower court issued a TRO against SWS and Pulse Asia, this would no longer reverse the damage done by past surveys.

He said any TRO will cover only one survey and that will not affect the impact of the previous surveys conducted regularly by the two firms.

Chipeco said that the case filed by Gordon, which is expected to drag until after the May 10 election, will serve as a vehicle for the Supreme Court to revisit its ruling on the constitutionality of banning surveys before the election.

The ban on political surveys was actually incorporated in the Automated Election law.

However, the case was elevated to the Supreme Court, which declared the provision unconstitutional.

Chipeco said the High Court should look deeper into the impact of surveys in the minds of voters.

He said if Senator Gordon can get a TRO from the lower court the case will be elevated to the Court of Appeals and eentually back to the Supreme Court.

He said survey firms are raking in millions of pesos since a survey is very expensive.

Chipeco recalled that during his time as a marketing and promotions executive in the early 1980, they had to pay at least P1 million to conduct a survey on the acceptability and perception of the people on the product they want to sell.

“The price of P1 million per survey was in the ’80s. So how much would a political survey cost today?” he asked.

CBCP organizing nine-day novena for clean polls

2010-04-28T14:03:00.000+08:00

By Evelyn Macairan (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=570448&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) Media Office director Monsignor Pedro Quitorio III said they are organizing a nine-day novena for clean, honest, orderly and peaceful elections.

Quitorio said they are finalizing plans to hold the novena either at the chapel inside the Archdiocese of Manila or at the Manila Cathedral.

The 12-hour novena will be held from May 3 to May 11, from noon until midnight.

“We believe that in all the social upheavals in our country, there is a role for divine intervention. So we think of holding a vigil for several hours everyday, organizing lay organizations that are near the Commission on Elections (Comelec),” Quitorio said.

They would ask bishops to participate in the novena and organize prayer vigils in their respective dioceses for the same intention.

This project is supported by CBCP president Tandag, Surigao del Sur Bishop Nereo Odchimar and Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales.

“This is to ensure that the electoral processes will be carried out with total integrity, from beginning to end, and that evil designs and purposes may be prevented by the vigilance and courage of all Filipinos who cherish and defend truth, honesty, freedom and democracy,” the officials said in a statement.

Rosales has already sent copies of the novena prayer to the diocesan bishops and to the members of the Council of the Laity.

The CBCP also said it would set up monitoring centers where they could get situation reports from volunteers all over the country on election day.

In yesterday’s forum, Quitorio said that for the first time, they have taken another step to become more involved in monitoring the developments during the election.

“This is the first time that we will be doing this. We are doing this because what is at stake is very big and there is a great need for vigilance,” said Quitorio.

“We will put up the monitoring system and we would have a network of volunteers, in collaboration with the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), on election day. We would organize a texting campaign throughout the country,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) has joined the nation in praying for the success of the May 10 elections.

“We join the rest of the nation in aspiring for clean, honest and peaceful elections and in hoping that there will be no problems so serious as to result in a failure of elections that others might use to instigate public unrest,” INC Executive Minister Eduardo Manalo said in a pastoral letter to INC members.

“In view of this, we are instructing you not to get involved in any baseless speculations that could only cause fear and apprehension,” he said. – With Jess Diaz

Comelec junks disqualification case vs Drilon

2010-04-28T14:01:00.000+08:00

By Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=570443&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) junked a disqualification case filed against former Senate president Franklin Drilon, allowing him to pursue his senatorial bid in the May 10 elections.

In a nine-page decision released yesterday, the Comelec’s First Division dismissed for “utter lack of merit” the petition filed by a certain Vladimir Alarique Cabigao seeking Drilon’s disqualification.

“In the instant case, it has been shown that Drilon had a hiatus of three years since his second consecutive term as senator. Consequently, there can be no doubt as to his eligibility to run for a Senate seat in the 2010 national elections,” the resolution, signed by Commissioners Rene Sarmiento, Armando Velasco and Gregorio Larrazabal, stated.

Cabigao alleged that Drilon’s filing of his certificate of candidacy for the 2010 elections is prohibited by the Constitution because he would be eligible to run for the Senate only in the 2013 elections.

Drilon won as senator under the Lakas-Laban coalition in the 1995 election.

In 2001, Drilon ran again for the Senate and won under the People Power Coalition senatorial lineup.

Teodoro: Who needs surveys?

2010-04-28T13:46:00.002+08:00

BY REGINA BENGCO (Malaya)
Link: http://www.malaya.com.ph/04282010/news14.html

TOLEDO CITY, Cebu. – Administration presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Tuesday said he no longer pays attention to surveys among presidential candidates because they do not represent the real sentiment of the people.

Teodoro made the statement after the April 16-19 Social Weather Stations survey showed him still at number four in the presidential race although his score rose to 9 from 6 percent.

To underscore his feelings about surveys, he waved before the crowd gathered at the newly inaugurated Toledo Garden City Hall here, a special white shirt given by Cebu Rep. Pablo John Garcia.

The shirt, in green letters, read: "Hindi ako tinanong sa survey."

Teodoro gave the shirt to his aide for safekeeping.

He told the people of Toledo City that while his rivals make promises and attack each other, he talks of progress and inaugurates infrastructure like their new city hall.

In an ambush interview later, Teodoro said surveys cannot be the basis of the people’s sentiment because they involve only more than 2,000 respondents.

He said he will just continue reaching out to the people in the ground and relying on his local leaders. He said he is on track.

Garcia said the One Cebu party, which is allied with Lakas-Kampi-CMD, will work "our hardest" to give Teodoro at least 60 percent of the 1.8 million votes in Cebu province, excluding Cebu City.

He admitted that Teodoro ranked third in their March survey in Cebu before the local campaign started but said he believes Teodoro will pull away in the April survey.

He said Cebu supported President Fidel Ramos and President Arroyo during the 1992 and 2004 elections.

Discipline Gibo first for abandoning post —Nograles

2010-04-28T13:45:00.000+08:00

By Charlie V. Manalo (The Daily Tribune)
Link: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100428hed5.html

Insisting that he cannot support someone who wants to become president but cannot even run a political party properly, Speaker Prospero Nograles said the self-appointed officials of Lakas-Kampi-CMD are free to pursue any disciplinary action against him but they should also do the same for presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro for supporting local candidates who are running against their own party mates.

Teodoro has openly supported Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, who in turn endorsed, not Teodoro but the Liberal Party presidential bet, Sen. Noynoy Aquino.

In the Center’s Pulso ng Dabaw latest survey, the Speaker firmed up his lead over his closest rival to 14 percent when some 44 percent or 1,056 respondents out of the 2,400 respondents who were polled said they will vote for Nograles if the elections are held within the period covered by the survey while 30 percent or 720 respondents said they will vote for Sara Duterte.

Nograles said that those who have been suggesting his ouster from the party cannot even speak for and in behalf of the party because they are holding party positions that were given out like candy and they do not carry the mandate of Lakas’ general membership.

He said the selection of new party officials in mid-stream after Teodoro unilaterally decided to abandon the party chairmanship did not follow our bylaws and without due process and was never agreed upon in a manner provided by the party’s rules and regulations.

He said the new officers were just “pointed” and not even appointed nor elected and therefore, those who have been suggesting his ouster from the party cannot even speak for and in behalf of the party because they are holding party positions that were given out like candies and does not carry the mandate of Lakas’ general membership.

“I would certainly welcome any disciplinary action but I will only submit myself to the officers who have the real mandate of our members. I remain loyal as Lakas but they cannot compel me to support Teodoro who has abandoned his own party and party mates. He should be one who should be disciplined for betraying his own party mates,” Nograles said.

“The party should have disciplined Gibo et al for quitting in mid-stream and letting local Lakas members fend for themselves. They abandoned their posts to concentrate on their personal candidacies so the locals quit on them too so they can concentrate on their own candidacies as well. Gibo drew first blood and he should not cry out loud,” Nograles said.

“It’s he who should leave. I am the Lakas president and went along with him till he quit on us when the local campaign began. He even supports local candidates against official Lakas line up. He is not a solid leader. W made a mistake,” he said.

Meanwhile, registered voters as well as the people of this city have expressed their dismay over the continued refusal of the Duterte father-daughter tandem to squarely address the many issues that have been raised against the city administration particularly those which concern the alleged illegal disbursement of funds of the city.

Ed Malay, director of The Issues and Advocacy Center (The Center), said this scenario has become evident in the way the issues that were thrown at the city administration have affected the local political environment and this is very much evident in the results of its most recent survey conducted from April 10-18, 2010 out of a sampling size of 2,400 respondents that cuts across all demographic sectors which has a margin of error of + 2.8 percentand a confidence level of in excess of 95 percent.

Nograles scored heavily in the first district with 58 percent of the 1,000 respondents saying they will vote for Nograles as against only 21 percent who chose Sara Duterte. Nograles also is the preferred choice of 42 percent of the 700 respondents in the third district while 31 percent chose Duterte in the same district. Sara Duterte, however, carried the third district but with a slim 5 percent margin over Nograles at 38 percent to 33 percent respectively.

Volunteers vow to deliver 2.5 million votes for Gibo in Metro Manila

2010-04-28T13:43:00.001+08:00

By Perseus Echeminada (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=570455&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - A community-based volunteer movement yesterday vowed to deliver some 2.5 million votes for administration presidential candidate Gilbert Teodoro in Metro Manila.

The Palit Galing Movement said they have already recruited at least 250,000 residents in Metro Manila that will deliver the “swing vote” for Teodoro and the administration candidates.

“Metro Manila will be the swing vote in the May 10 presidential elections, we will deliver 2.5 million votes to administration candidate Gilbert Teodoro,” declared the group’s leader, Suzette Salazar.

Even without support from the administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD, Salazar boasted they could deliver the votes for Teodoro from the grassroots.

“We are operating outside the party machinery and we just rely on the corps of volunteers who believe in the leadership qualities of Gibo Teodoro,” Salazar said.

She said the silent majority of voters in Metro Manila are in favor of Teodoro to become the next president.

Salazar, a physician who specializes in internal medicine, said their group was surprised by the turnout of support for Teodoro in the urban poor communities.

“We thought only the upper classes are in favor of Gibo. But we were surprised that the urban poor communities, particularly the organized ones, welcomed Gibo’s platform of government as realistic and practical,” Salazar said.

Salazar said their group had to employ novel and exciting forms of campaigning to encourage undecided voters to tudy and consider the platform of government of Teodoro.

She said the group went through repairing dilapidated houses under “Extreme House Makeover,” launching a personality and talent search “Guwapo at Talino,” held medical missions, motorcade by mobile campaign teams, and volunteers’ enlistment.

On the other hand, Lakas party leaders are pressing Speaker Prospero Nograles to quit the administration party if he could not support Teodoro.

Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia said Nograles should resign from Lakas if he could not stand supporting the administration standard-bearer.

“Rather than impose sanctions, Nograles (and his followers) should disassociate themselves from the party,” Garcia said.

Garcia also assured Teodoro of at least one million votes from Cebu.

He said the people in Cebu are beginning to take a second look at Teodoro, even if he is still trailing in the surveys.

On the other hand, Lakas-Kampi secretary-general Ray Roquero said Nograles had already crossed the line in committing acts inimical to the party when he declared that he would not be supporting Teodoro.

“Such an act alone could already subject him to disciplinary sanctions,” he said.

Roquero stressed Nograles should support Teodoro as required by the party.

“It is in the oath of office of members that you have to support the party’s candidates, especially its standard bearer,” he said.

Nograles, however, questioned the legitimacy of party leaders calling for punitive actions against him for not supporting Teodoro.

Nograles said the “self-appointed” party officials are free to impose any disciplinary action against him provided that they do the same to Teodoro who had resigned as party chairman and is supporting his political rival, Mayor Rodrigo Duterte of Davao City.

Nograles is running for mayor against Duterte’s daughter Sara, the incumbent vice mayor. Duterte, on the other hand, is running as his daughter’s vice mayoral teammate. – With Jaime Laude, Jess Diaz

Election 2010 News - April 27, 2010

2010-04-27T14:04:00.000+08:00

'Poll watcher getting advance pay in GMA district' (The Philippine Star)
Ballot distribution begins; Coast Guard to deliver poll machines (The Philippine Star)
Mom's appeal: Give Manny a break (Malaya)
NP bet admits meeting with Ampatuan Sr. (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Why was Noynoy vs playing of 'Hello Garci' tape? - NP (Business Mirror)
Lakas members leaving Gibo branded 'pseudo' supporters (The Manila Times)
Nograles warns: More Lakas members to quit on Teodoro (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Gibo endorses Duterte; rift with Nograles worsens (The Philippine Star)

'Poll watchers getting advance pay in GMA district'

2010-04-27T13:55:00.000+08:00

By Ding Cervantes (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=570182&publicationSubCategoryId=63

LUBAO, Pampanga , Philippines - Liberal Party (LP) re-electionist Gov. Eddie Panlilio urged yesterday the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to investigate reports that his gubernatorial rival has been paying advance salaries ranging from P1,500 to P4,000 monthly to people who will act as poll watchers in the second district of Pampanga, where President Arroyo is the official congressional candidate of Lakas-Kampi-CMD.

“I urge the Comelec in Pampanga and Central Luzon to check out reports that my fellow gubernatorial candidate, Mrs. Lilia Pineda, and her campaigners at the Lakas-Kampi-CMD are doing a massive recruitment of poll watchers beyond what is allowed by election laws,” the Pampanga governor said in a statement yesterday.

Panlilio said that a “first batch of poll watchers have been designated as barangay coordinators” and have been required by the Pineda camp to recruit 10 poll watchers each.

“Election laws allow two poll watchers per party in every clustered precinct to work on alternate duty. When the precinct is small, the BEI can ask the poll watchers to leave. Only a representative of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting will be allowed,” he noted.

Panlilio cited reports that barangay coordinators are already being paid P4,000 monthly while the recruited poll watchers were promised P1,500 per month.

“They are being given identification cards so they can regularly collect their allowance. This could be a form of vote buying. I pray that the Comelec check into this to be able to protect the sanctity of the election,” he said.

Mrs. Pineda and her campaign manager Rosve Henson did not respond to phone calls and text messages.

Mrs. Pineda, wife of Rodolfo “Bong” Pineda who was tagged as a big-time gambling lord during the Senate impeachment trial of former President Joseph Estrada, is a close friend of Mrs. Arroyo.

A cabal in Pampanga

More family members of the President and Mrs. Pineda are running in the May 10 elections.

President Arroyo’s rival in the second district, LP congressional candidate Adonis Simpao, noted that Mrs. Pineda’s son, outgoing Lubao Mayor Dennis Pineda, is the congressional nominee of the Ang Galing Pinoy party-list, together with presidential son Rep. Mikey Arroyo and outgoing Bacolor Mayor Buddy Dungca.

Simpao added that Mrs. Pineda’s youngest daughter, Mylene, is also running unopposed as administration candidate for mayor in Lubao where the President is a registered voter.

In Sta. Rita town, Dennis’ wife Yolanda is seeking re-election, also under the administration party. Only independent candidate Arthur Salalila, a former mayor and Sangguniang Panlalawigan member, is challenging her.

Lubao and Sta. Rita are within the second district where the President is running for Congress.

Simpao likened the looming Pineda dynasty in Pampanga to the buildup of the Ampatuan clan in Maguindanao.

The rise of the Pinedas’ political stock, according to him, was based on political patronage.

He added that the President’s support for the Pinedas was also reflected in the electoral case Mrs. Pineda filed against Panlilio.

Only recently, the Comelec’s Second Division ordered the ouster of Panlilio in favor of Mrs. Pineda after a recount of votes cast for governor in 2007 purportedly revealed the latter as the real winner.

The poll body has yet to decide on the petition for reconsideration filed by Panlilio, on top of another petition filed by Pineda to immediately assume the gubernatorial post.

Simpao said the buildup of the Pineda political dynasty could be part of a scenario to strengthen Mrs. Arroyo’s political base once she becomes House Speaker or even prime minister.

“There have been a lot of declarations and denials in the past years which have been later contradicted, such as the President’s announcement not to run in 2004 elections, then the denial by Malacañang that her frequent visits to the second district was politically motivated. It turns out she had wanted all along to run for Congress in the district,” he said.

Simpao also noted that despite similar denials by Mrs. Arroyo’s camp that her congressional bid had nothing to do with reports she is interested in being House Speaker or prime minister under a parliamentary form of government, her allies are now hinting otherwise.

Ballot distribution begins; Coast Guard to deliver poll machines

2010-04-27T13:52:00.000+08:00

By Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=570173&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has started shipping the ballots to be used in the May 10 automated elections to various areas nationwide.

The distribution of ballots to municipal and provincial treasurers’ offices in Mindanao and Luzon started last Saturday, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said yesterday.

Larrazabal said ballots were sent to the provinces of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Zambo Sibugay, Bukidnon, Lanao del Sur, Palawan and Masbate.

He said the Comelec opted to distribute the ballots first in Mindanao provinces and other areas, which would take a longer time to reach.

He added that as a general rule, ballots should be delivered directly to the municipal treasurer’s office, but in some instances they are distributed directly to the provincial treasurer’s office because of security concerns.

“We have to protect the ballots that’s why we have to do that,” Larrazabal said.

He added that the Comelec already completed the pre-bid for the purchase of 80,000 ultraviolet (UV) lamps necessary to check the ballots’ authenticity.

Despite the bidding delay, Larrazabal expressed confidence that the Comelec would still be able to procure the necessary UV lamps and deliver them in various polling precincts before election day.

He also reported that a total of 41,817 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines have already been deployed to different provinces or so-called “hubs.”

Of the total, Larrazabal said 35,279 were distributed in the Visayas and Mindanao while 6,538 were sent out to different Luzon provinces.

“So far we have already deployed 54 percent of the total PCOS machines,” Larrazabal said, adding that distribution of the units has to be done in batches.

“The deployment of machines depends on the proximity of polling precincts because we have to ensure that all PCOS are properly audited,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body is no longer buying new ballot secrecy folders and will just use the long folders previously bought for the last elections.

The Comelec cancelled a multi-million contract for the purchase of 1.8 million ballot secrecy folders at P380 each, but ordered a probe into the controversy.

Coast Guard to provide sea marshals to secure PCOS machines

In a related development, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it would provide sea marshals on ships that have been hired to transport PCOS machines, ballot boxes and other election paraphernalia to the provinces.

PCG commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo yesterday said they received marching orders from Transportation and Communications acting Secretary Anneli Lontoc to provide security in the transport of election paraphernalia.

The PCG was informed that the forwarding services of Argo International Forwarders, Inc., Ace Logistics, Inc. and Germalin Enterprises, Inc. have been tapped for the purpose of transporting the equipment.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), meanwhile, will be placed on red alert nationwide from April 30 to May 20 to monitor the movement of PCOS machines.

“We want to be prepared because we have to deliver the PCOS machines and make sure that all events will be monitored,” said Col. Ricardo Nepomuceno, spokesman of the AFP Task Force HOPE (Honest Orderly and Peaceful Elections).

Nepomuceno, however, said they might downgrade the alert level at an earlier date or prolong such declaration depending on the security situation during the elections.

Nepomuceno said troops were placed on blue alert or normal heightened status starting yesterday until April 29 in preparation for the declaration of a red alert on Friday.

Meanwhile, National Capital Regional Police Office chief Director Roberto Rosales said they would set up closed-circuit surveillance cameras at the central hub in Tandang Sora in Quezon City to guard and secure PCOS machines against saboteurs.

In Masbate, military and police, including former UN peacekeepers, of Special Task Force Masbate (STF Masbate) had set up a tight watch on the PCOS machines and other backup gadgets as they arrived in the province yesterday on board a cargo ship, barely two weeks before the first poll automated election taes place in this Bicol island, a known election hot spot.

Senior Superintendent Victor Deona, STF Masbate commander, said that 724 PCOS machines, 1,106 portable batteries, and 22 generators had been immediately secured as the ship docked at the Masbate City port, while security measures are in place to ensure their safe transport to their respective destinations in the 20 towns and a city comprising Masbate.

Deona said they had already started yesterday marathon conferences attended by election officers, law enforcers, Smartmatic technicians, telecommunications companies, and other concerned government and non-government agencies, to effect strategies and measures to ensure orderly conduct of automated elections in the province, listed by the Comelec as one of the areas of immediate concern in the country. – Non Alquitran, Evelyn Macairan, Cet Dematera

Mom’s appeal: Give Manny a break

2010-04-27T13:49:00.001+08:00

BY JP LOPEZ (Malaya)
Link: http://www.malaya.com.ph/04272010/news2.html

IN-between sobs, Curita Bamba Villar told reporters yesterday how, as a mother, she suffers when hearing criticisms, especially the vicious kind, against her son, Sen. Manny Villar.

The 86-year-old "Nanay Curing" is now paralytic and blinded.

In a press conference held at her house in Vista Grande, BF Resort in Las Piñas City, Nanay Curing said "it pains me and it almost cost my life" hearing the lies being peddled by Villar critics, especially those questioning his roots.

Clad in an orange duster, Nanay Curing started the media interview very calmly as she even managed to narrate how hard their life had been in Tondo.

"Kung ayaw niyo maniwala pumunta kayo sa Divisoria market, Stall 2245," she said.

She said she had been silent amid the criticisms but finally decided to talk because "aping-api na ang anak ko. Nasasaktan ang mga kapatid niya."

One of Villar’s sisters, Gloria Benedicto, briefly stopped the press conference when her mother became hysterical.

Gloria and siblings Lourdes and Vicky said their mother’s surfacing was not a publicity stunt. Vicky said their mother has been crying every night. "Ayaw namin na umiiyak siya, kasi din bulag siya since July," she said.

Vicky and Gloria denied organizing the press conference, saying they were surprised that journalists showed up at their house. They added that Villar did not know that their mother spoke at a press conference.

Villar’s media staff invited the media to the press conference set at 10 a.m.

While another sister was being interviewed after the press conference, Benedicto lost her temper when a reporter asked the reason for the press conference, saying this might be misconstrued as Villar using his mother.

Apparently referring to Sen. Benigno Aquino III, she said: "Sino bang hindi gumagamit ng nanay? Eh patay na nga ang nanay nila ginagamit pa nila. Mabuti pa kami buhay pa yung nanay, kaya pang ipagtanggol ang anak."

Benedicto also criticized television networks ABS-CBN, GMA7, and other media companies for allegedly being unfair to her brother.

"Masyado kayong unfair, you media people, you are unfair. Yang si (Arnold) Clavio (of GMA 7) na yan, si (Winnie) Monsod (also of GMA 7) na yan. My God, di nila kami kilala para sabihan na yan," she said.

GMA 7 released a report yesterday on Villar’s claim of having come from a poor family. Based on what it said was its research, GMA 7 concluded the Villar family was from the middle class , with Villar Sr. in 1961 earning a monthly income of what is now equivalent to P35,000.

Nanay Curing appealed to the public to give Villar a chance to serve the people. "Pakiusap ko lang, maniwala kayo sa kanya … Maawa po kayo sa anak ko," she said.

NP bet admits meeting with Ampatuan Sr.

2010-04-27T13:44:00.000+08:00

By Nikko Dizon ( Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100427-266668/NP-bet-admits-meeting-with-Ampatuan-Sr

MANILA, Philippines—Tensions rose in a press conference of Nacionalista Party senatorial candidates after one of them admitted having met with former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr.
Gilbert Remulla, who is also the NP spokesperson, said he visited Ampatuan in April when the latter was confined in a military hospital in Davao City.
“Yes, I did it, I don’t deny it,” Remulla said when asked by the Inquirer to confirm a report that came out last week.

“But I don’t want to elaborate on it for personal and security reasons. Every parent will understand. But my stand against the Maguindanao massacre is even stronger than before. The victims of the massacre must be given justice and the prime suspects should be tried,” he said.

On April 15, Ampatuan’s son Andal Ampatuan Jr., mayor of Datu Unsay, Maguindanao, who stands accused of carrying out the country’s worst election-related killings, was seen on national television wearing two NP baller IDs at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City where he was transferred from the National Bureau of Investigation in Manila.

On his wrist was an orange bracelet with the name Manny Villar in white letters on it and a purple band with the name of NP senatorial candidate Gilbert Remulla in orange letters.

That image of Andal Jr. coupled with reports that Remulla had visited the elder Ampatuan, the clan patriarch, in his hospital room in Camp Panacan in Davao City last month fueled speculation that the Ampatuans were supporting Villar, who is running for president.

On April 20, Andal Jr. called a press conference at the Metro Manila District Jail in Camp Bagong Diwa where he announced that the Ampatuans were supporting presidential candidate Benigno Aquino III. Wearing a yellow baller ID, he smiled and even flashed an “L” hand signal associated with Aquino.

The Ampatuans are accused of orchestrating the grisly killing of 57 people to stop a rival politician, Esmael Mangudadatu, from running against Andal Jr. for the post of Maguindanao governor in the May 10 elections.

Fellow candidates react

NP senatorial candidate Adel Tamano said “Gilbert did the right thing by admitting [he had met with the elder Ampatuan] but I am unhappy with the fact that he went there.”

Tamano then urged Remulla to say categorically that the “NP did not, in any way, empower you to go there.”

“We will never seek any endorsement from the Ampatuans,” Tamano said.

Remulla replied: “I think it should be overly stated that my visit had nothing to do with politics. It was for safety and security reasons. As a parent, you’d understand.”

Martin Loon, the 23-year-old stepson of detained NP senatorial candidate Col. Ariel Querubin said his father would not hesitate to bolt the party if it were proved that there was a secret alliance between the NP and the Ampatuans.

“I am glad it was clarified that it was a personal and exclusive visit. My father, when he was a Marine brigade commander, intercepted firearms belonging supposedly to the Ampatuans. We will never ever be party to any secret alliance with them,” Loon said.

“And I will be the second to leave,” Tamano added.

NP senatorial candidates Gwen Pimentel, Toots Ople and Mon Mitra who were at the press conference did not comment.

Remulla was vehement in saying that he did not seek the support of the Ampatuans in the elections.

Remulla is a brother-in-law of Sigfried Fortun, the lead lawyer of the Ampatuans.

Why was Noynoy vs playing of ‘Hello, Garci’ tape?–NP

2010-04-27T13:40:00.000+08:00

( Business Mirror)
Link: http://www.businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=24572:why-was-noynoy-vs-playing-of-hello-garci-tapenp&catid=26:nation&Itemid=63

THE Nacionalista Party (NP) said Liberal Party (LP) presidential bet Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and campaign officials of the LP played a key role in helping President Arroyo remain in power by voting against the playing of the “Hello, Garci” tape during the congressional investigation of alleged fraud in the 2004 elections.

NP spokesman and senatorial candidate Gilbert Remulla said voters should be reminded that Aquino, who promises new leadership that will be free of corruption, did not vote for the playing of the “Hello, Garci” tape, which was the key to enlighten the public in determining if Mrs. Arroyo cheated during the 2004 elections.

“It is highly suspicious why Sen. Noynoy Aquino did not vote to listen to the ‘Hello, Garci’ tape when he was House Deputy Speaker for Luzon,” said Remulla in a press briefing on Monday.

Remulla, who is running for senator under NP, said Aquino’s “No” vote in listening to the “Hello, Garci,” tape only “confirmed the lingering allegations that the Aquino-Cojuangco clan made a deal with President Arroyo on the ‘Hello, Garci’ scandal in exchange for help to whitewash the Hacienda Luisita massacre.”

Remulla also said Aquino voted “No” because he was pushing for the multibillion-peso project on the construction of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway project that involved part of the Hacienda Luisita.

Remulla also said key LP campaign officials and senatorial bets also helped Mrs. Arroyo in the 2004 elections.

He said LP campaign manager Florencio “Butch” Abad, LP campaign manager for senatorial candidates Sen. Francisco Pangilinan and LP senatorial bet Franklin Drilon were key players in the proclamation of Mrs. Arroyo as winner in the 2004 elections.
Lakas-Kampi-CMD remnants dig in

DAVAO CITY—Digging in as members of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD by staying away from the defections of some of their national leaders, at least 13 incumbent local officials in South Cotabato and Sarangani have vowed to stay behind the coalition’s presidential candidate, Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro, and work for his victory.

Lakas-Kampi CMD Rep. Arthur Pingoy Jr. of South Cotabato said they are extensively working for Teodoro’s victory in the province, which has long been considered as an opposition territory.

“Out of the seven incumbent mayors in my district, six are doing their best efforts to ensure that Gibo will be victorious in their municipalities,” said Pingoy, a three-term congressman who is now running for governor.

He identified the incumbent mayors as Antonio Damandaman of Santo Niño, Isidro Janita of Banga, Romeo Januto of Norala, Salvador Lagos of Tantangan, Basilio Salif of Lake Sebu, and Romulo Solivio of Surallah.

Pingoy, Lakas-Kampi-CMD provincial chairman, noted that Teodoro has superior qualities among the candidates running for the country’s top post.

“Gibo possesses the credibility, capability and theº political will that our country needs to further move ahead,” Pingoy said.

In Sarangani, Gov. Miguel Dominguez said five of the seven mayors in the province are campaigning for Teodoro.

The local chief executives are from the towns of Malapatan, Glan, Maasim, Kiamba and Maitum.
Dominguez, former president of Lakas-Kampi-CMD, said the former defense chief’s concrete program in a post-Arroyo presidency and his support to Mindanao during the conflicts and calamities have endeared him to Mindanaoans.

Legarda a victim of LP senatorial bet?

THE Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) accused a senatorial candidate of using Nacionalista Party (NP) vice-presidential candidate Sen. Loren Legarda to gain media mileage because of her poor showing in the senatorial race.

“It’s obvious that Hontiveros is getting desperate because she knows that her numbers are not getting anywhere with just a few more weeks left before the elections, so she decided to jump on the issue and use the popularity of Senator Legarda to call the attention to herself,” said NPC Rep. Rex Gatchalian of Valenzuela, referring to Party-list Rep. Ana Theresia Hontiveros-Baraquel.

Gatchalian was reacting to the allegations made by Baraquel, one of the senatorial candidates of LP, that the recent endorsement made by Andal Ampatuan Jr. of LP standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III and the other chosen bets was the handiwork of lawyers identified with Legarda.

Gatchalian said there is a strong possibility that Baraquel is getting delusional because of what was happening to her candidacy which made her imagine things and events,  and then make them appear as real “just to call the attention of the media.”     

He reiterated that the party or any of its members has nothing to do with the controversial press conference held by Andal Ampatuan Jr., the principal suspect in the Ampatuan Massacre, inside a jail facility recently.

Gatchalian, instead, raised the possibility that the incident could indeed be the handiwork of some people from the LP.

“Did it not occur to the minds of the LP people that it was during the time after the 1986 People Power Revolution that the Ampatuans, especially Andal Sr., got their first big break in politics when he was appointed as mayor of Maganoy town [now Shariff Aguak] in Maguindanao?” Gatchalian asked.
The then newly installed administration of the late President Corazon Aquino replaced then-mayor Pinagayaw Ampatuan, who was supposedly inclined to resign anyway owing to old age.

“From that point on, there was no turning back for Ampatuan Sr., who went on to become the governor and the acknowledged patriarch of the Ampatuan clan which along the way has also produced mayors, vice mayors and other officials, making him the most powerful man in the province of Maguindanao,” he said.   

“So if we are trying to look at and establish the connection between the Ampatuans and LP, we can certainly see some starting points to begin with, unlike with Senator Legarda and the NPC which have nothing to do whatsoever with the clan,” he added.

Palace not convinced of Gonzales’s ‘endorsement’ of Villar

MALACAÑANG said on Monday that it doubts the reported “endorsement” given by Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales to NP standard-bearer Sen. Manuel Villar.

Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar said in a news briefing that Gonzales may have been quoted out of context when he was reported to have made the endorsement while attending a recent gathering with military officers.

Olivar said that after repeatedly reading the quotation of Gonzales, which some military officers have interpreted as an endorsement of Villar’s candidacy, he failed to see why the defense chief’s statement was seen as such.

“I read Secretary Gonzales’s quotation several times, and I cannot understand why it was seen as pro-Villar,” he said.

Gonzales reportedly told military officers, “You might not vote for Villar because of these leftists,” referring to NP senatorial bets Party-list Reps. Satur Ocampo of Bayan Muna and Liza Maza of Gabriela, and allegedly relayed to them Villar’s assurance that the two would not win.

“If he was [properly] quoted and if that was all he said, that doesn’t sound like an endorsement of Villar,” Olivar said.

He interpreted the statement of Gonzales to mean that the participation of leftist candidates in the senatorial race should be welcomed, which he said he agrees with and should be considered as a “commendable sentiment.”

“I think, for the first time, there are those running from the organized Left in the Senate and that’s something we should be happy about. That is the message I heard from Secretary Gonzales, and not the endorsement of Senator Villar,” Olivar said.

He added that candidates who field candidates from the Left should be “lauded,” since such move shows that the country’s electoral process is truly “inclusive.”

When asked, Olivar said Gonzales need not clarify his statement to Malacañang, since “if you are in good faith and you listen to him in good faith and you have no ulterior agenda to attack Senator Villar or anyone else involved in that statement, you can take the statement at face value and go to sleep at night.”

(With R. Acosta, F. Marasigan and M. Gonzalez)

Lakas members leaving Gibo branded 'pseudo' supporters

2010-04-27T13:36:00.000+08:00

BY JEFFERSON ANTIPORDA Reporter (The Manila Times )
Link: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/16126-lakas-members-leaving-gibo-branded-pseudo-supporters

DAVAO CITY: A word war between Lakas-Kampi Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) standard-bearer Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro and House Speaker Prospero “Boy” Nograles Jr. continued and chances of the two patching things up seemed remote.

Nograles fanned the flame on Monday by saying that members of the ruling party, Lakas-Kampi CMD, would soon leave Teodoro because they feel that he has a very slim chance of winning the race to Malacañang on May 10.

He made the statement a day after attending a political rally organized by his supporters here during which Teodoro in a speech described Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and Vice Mayor Inday Sarah Duterte-Zimmerman as good leaders. The Dutertes are political rivals of Nograles.

According to the lawmaker, Teodoro’s support for Duterte means nothing where Davao politics or the next month’s balloting is concerned.

Teodoro’s campaign spokesman Mike Toledo said that the recognition of Teodoro of the Dutertes during the rally should not be taken as a form of endorsement.

On defections from Lakas-Kampi CMD, Toledo said that it would be better for those who do not believe in the vision of the administration party to leave.

Teodoro, he added, would rather have a solid base of supporters than “pseudo supporters.”

The word war started when Nograles threatened to bolt the administration party a few weeks ago.

The House Speaker remained a member of the ruling coalition but allegedly was supporting Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr.

Meanwhile, Toledo blasted a supposedly stepped-up demolition drive against Teodoro with only more than two weeks away before the country’s next leader is chosen.

Part of the drive, he said, was that a vote-rigging operation would deliver to the administration bet some 10 million votes on May 10.

Another was that the Precision Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines for use in next month’s voting have been pre-programmed also in Teodoro’s favor.

“While our first reaction was to laugh them [allegations] off, we are now concerned that some groups could be peddling such wild tales to shrewdly condition the mind of the public about the supposedly large-scale electoral fraud to justify their respective candidates’ imminent loss to Gibo in the presidential race,” Toledo said.

Nograles warns: More Lakas members to quit on Teodoro

2010-04-27T13:34:00.000+08:00

By Abigail Kwok (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/topstories/topstories/view/20100426-266539/Nograles-warns-More-Lakas-members-to-quit-on-Teodoro

DAVAO CITY, Philippines — (UPDATE) House Speaker and city mayoral candidate Prospero Nograles on Monday warned that more members of the administration’s Lakas-Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino-Christian Muslim Democrats (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) will quit on the party’s standard bearer Gilbert Teodoro as Election Day nears.

“The old members of Lakas have left him and others will leave Gibo very, very soon because they feel he has a very slim chance to win,” Nograles said in a statement.

“He has not taken off,” Nograles said, referring to Teodoro’s struggle in the surveys. “And he quit on Lakas in midstream. We have no choice but to quit on him also.”

Nograles had earlier threatened to leave Lakas-Kampi-CMD as he claimed that the party was being run without consultation with its members.

Teodoro’s spokesman, Mike Toledo, was not surprised with Nograles’ statement.

“Let’s draw the line on the sand: all those who believe in the candidacy and principles of the party, stay; those who are no longer aligned with the vision of Teodoro, we would rather have a solid base of supporters than pseudo-supporters,” he said.

“It is clear they have made their decision and minds already,” Toledo told reporters.

Nograles also scoffed at Teodoro’s support for the Dutertes here.

“Gibo’s support for the Dutertes means nothing as far as Davao politics or the presidential elections are concerned. It cannot make him win as president,” Nograles said.

He said this was because the Dutertes were supporting the candidacies of Liberal Party’s Senators Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.

Toledo admitted that the Dutertes were supporting another candidate but said that the family remains friends with Teodoro.

Likewise, Nograles said Teodoro has no political clout here.

“He’s is just a lot of hype. Parang ampaw,” he added.

But Toledo belied Nograles’ claim.

“Not having Davao support in the rallies is very different from what you saw. The kind of people that attended these rallies and sorties will belie claims that he is not supported,” he said.

Toledo added that both in Davao del Sur and Oriental, local officials have already affirmed their loyalty with Teodoro.

Nograles is running against incumbent Mayor Rodrigo Duterte’s daughter, Vice Mayor Sara Duterte, for the position of mayor.

Gibo endorses Duterte; rift with Nograles worsens

2010-04-27T13:32:00.000+08:00

By Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=570180&publicationSubCategoryId=63

DAVAO CITY, Philippines – Any possible reconciliation between Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gilberto Teodoro Jr. and Speaker Prospero Nograles fell through when the House leader went ballistic against the former Defense secretary here.

In a strongly worded media statement yesterday, Nograles described Teodoro’s public recognition of his main rivals – city Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and his daughter Sarah Duterte – as an affront to the party leadership.

Speaking at a huge political rally at Rizal Park here Saturday, Teodoro described before the roaring crowd that the Dutertes were good leaders and good friends of his.

“He (Teodoro) quit on Lakas in midstream and we have no choice but to quit on him also,” said Nograles, referring to Teodoro’s sudden resignation as party chairman.

But lawyer Mike Toledo clarified that Teodoro’s acknowledgment of the Dutertes should not be seen as a form of endorsement.

“It was clear Gibo said that while Mayor Duterte is supporting another candidate, they remain friends. He was very appreciative of the Dutertes during the rallies. He was glad they remain friends despite the fact that they belong to different parties,” said Toledo.

But Nograles would not be pacified.

He said old members of Lakas have already abandoned Teodoro and others will soon follow suit because his (Teodoro) chances of winning are very slim.

To this Toledo declared: “Let’s draw the line on the sand. All those who believe in the candidacy and principles of the party, stay. Those who are no longer aligned with the vision of Teodoro (can go). We would rather have a solid base of supporters than pseudo supporters.”

Nograles is running for mayor against Sarah while the elder Duterte is seeking the vice mayoralty seat.

Teodoro, who was Duterte’s lawyer in the 1990s, said he continues to respect his “true friend” (Duterte) even if he is not supporting his presidential bid.

But Nograles stressed that “Gibo’s support for Duterte means nothing as far as Davao politics or the presidential elections are concerned.”

“It cannot make him win as president because despite their supposed closeness as good friends, the Dutertes are supporting Noynoy and Mar (Liberal Party’s presidential candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and vice presidential bet Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II),” he added.

Election 2010 News - April 26, 2010

2010-04-26T16:21:00.000+08:00

Warn of protest actions vs poll body Elite group press Comelec on manual count (The Daily Tribune)
Comelec exec tagged in secrecy folder deal Lawyer says directive to suspend bidding defied (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Mock polls in Metro Manila deffered; PNP to secure poll machines (The Philippine Star)
Comelec prepares for manual audit (The Philippine Star)
Bongbong bats for more green buildings (Malaya)
Villar's mere presense already undue pressure (The Daily Tribune)
Gibo backs Duterte in fight with Nograles (Malaya)
Candidate Gloria hits campaign trail (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Warn of protest actions vs poll body Elite groups press Comelec on manual count

2010-04-26T16:10:00.000+08:00

(The Daily Tribune)
Link: http://www.tribune.net.ph/

Insisting that a parallel and manual count at the precinct level would bring about credible elections, an elite group of businessmen, who are mostly identified with the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), yesterday called a press conference at the Club Filipino in Greenhills, San Juan City, putting additional pressure on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to allow a parallel count of the ballots in the precinct level.

The press conference was carried live on the Lopez cable network yesterday morning.

There were hints from some members of the group that, apart from coming up with an open letter to the Comelec, massive protest actions will be employed.

Earlier, there was staged in front of the Comelec, the so-called “Jericho” march, which harks back to the biblical Jericho walls that crumbled.

The business groups warned of massive protests to be staged but failed to state whether these would be staged before the polls, or after the polls.

The group, led by the Makati Business Club (MBC), wants a parallel manual count of the May 10 automated polls, stressing that the manual count will usher in credibility and acceptability of the May 10 election results.

The poll commissioners, as well as Malacañang, has taken the position that a parallel manual count at this stage of the poll preparations is well nigh impossible and “unnecessary.”

Fears of electoral fraud and machine failure were cited by the group as dangers in automation.

Agusto Lagman, an IT expert, pointed out that the trend today in Europe and the United States is to return to manual count, as automated counting machines have already been found to be unreliable, especially after the controversy over the George W. Bush-Al Gore Florida count by the automated polls.

MBC chairman Ramon del Rosario spoke of the open letter that he said has been signed, not just by the business groups, but also the presidential candidates.

“We support it (parallel manual count) since we know what automation entails and we know the dangers that can be found in automation,” Del Rosario said, adding that even in business practice, when corporations switch systems from manual to automation, such is done in stages and they do not drop the manual system while testing automation.

He deplored the move of the Comelec to go all out on nationwide automated polls.

Lagman, for his part, brought up the many problems and dangers of the automated system that makes use of the Precinct Count Optical Scan, as well as the fact that only Smartmatic holds the keys--or the passwords.

Lagman recalled that during the elections in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), in a place called Wao, one machine registered a zero vote and when this was reporred to the Comelec and Smartmatic, which also conducted the automated polls, it was Smartmatic in Manila that “fixed” up the results of that machine.

Lagman pointed to this as an example of how the results of the vote could be manipulated from a faraway site, as it is only Smartmatic that has control of all the keys.

Another danger, it was stressed, was the fact that even as the law states that Comelec would have to make available the source code of the machines, this was never done by the poll body.

A passionate Ernesto Ordonez, who represents an agricultrual group, and who has endorsed the open letter, said: “We do not want failure and we do not want cheating.”

The group also claimed that it would not take too long for the results of the elections if the count is done manually at the precinct level, and would only include three positions: the presidency, the vice presidency and the mayoralty.

The IT experts also joined in while expressing grave doubts over the the results of the automated elections, citing that both the Comelec and Smartmatic lack experience in conducting automated polls.

Roberto Verzola of Halalang Marangal raised the possibility of that many of the ballots printed by the National Printing Office may well be misread, or not read at all by the PCOS machines.

Verzola said the ballots may have been misprinted, considering the reported displacements of the ultraviolet security markings on the ballots.

Verzola said that the ovals as printed, may have been misaligned by few minute centimers which would then not be read by the machine.

Lagman warned of major glitches in the May elections saying that this is a first time for Smartmatic to implement the PCOS technology, stressing that it is only the Philippines that has jumped from fully manual to fully automated polls, which brings in more danger.

The Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino resident IT expert, Joey de Venecia, who is running for a Senate sear, yesterday said that the Comelec is “well advised to heed the snowballing call for the conduct of a manual count of the votes to be cast in the May 10 elections side-by-side with the automated tally of the ballots of 50 million registered voters.”

IT experts worried about fraud in the polls earlier prodded the poll body to consider the parallel manual count to guarantee the credibility of poll results.

De Venecia, the PMP spokesman on poll automation, has been advocating the double track counting of votes since in the last quarter of 2009 as soon as doubts surfaced about the dependability of various aspects of the automated election system (AES).

“We had noticed early on that the AES had several vulnerabilities, including the danger of the precinct count optical scan machines being infused with self-erasing malicious software, questions about the PCOS source codes which were never subjected to independent validation, and the secure transmission of election data,” De Venecia said.

“We in the PMP most definitely support the call of the Philippine National IT Standards Foundation for the votes for president, vice president and mayors be tallied manually given the estimate that it would only take about three hours for a precinct with 500 voters and five hours for a precinct with 1,000 voters to do parallel count,” De Venecia said.

“The projection that the Comelec would only need an extra P300 million for additional honorarium of the Board of Election Inspectors will be a relatively small price to pay to vouchsafe the integrity of the elections,” according to De Venecia.

He also scored the poll body, saying that “It is about time for the Comelec to give Filipino taxpayers all the details on the multi-billion peso contracts it has awarded and will still sign for the upcoming elections.”

He said that the poll body “should also now open its books for early scrutiny by the Commission on Audit since it claims to have completed nearly all the pre-election tasks from setting up the highly-expensive automated election system up to the printing of the official ballots and the delivery of election paraphernalia across out archipelago.”

De Vencia cited the estimate of the Namfrel that the Comelec has already spent at least P10 billion of the national election budget of P16.5 billion, consisting of P11.3 billion for poll automation plus P5.21 billion representing the regular allocation in the national budget every three years that an election is held.

De Venecia asked why the Comelec continues to hold off on revealing all the particulars on the supply contracts it has awarded for the elections, such as the identities of all the contractors. “The public will be comforted if the people know there are no other deals like the anomalous plastic ballot security folders contract which the Comelec backed off from.”

Comelec should also furnish the CoA the following election preparation contracts packaged and given green lights by the poll body:

1. P7.2 billion for the lease of 82,200 PCOS scan machines from Smartmatic’

2. P243 million for 77,000 ballot boxes awarded to Smartmatic without bidding;

3. P28 million for 80,000 units of handheld portable ultraviolet lamps;

4. P75.8 million for 720,000 bottles of indelible ink awarded to Texas Resources Corp.;

5. P499.1-million contract for trucking and delivery services for official ballots that has also been awarded to Smartmatic;

6. P519-million contract given to Smartmatic for the transport of ballot boxes with PCOS machines to polling centers;

7. P1.5 billion to Unison Joint Venture for the cleansing of computerized voters list;

8. P2.1 million to Copylandia Office System Corp. for nine units of copying machines;

9. P174.2 million to Noah’s Paper Mills for storage and working area logistics.

“This is just a partial listing, but Comelec should give the particulars on all the election-related contracts. Their prompt action will contribute significantly to building public confidence about how trustworthy it is in the handling of public money, in the same way that it vows that the elections will finally be fraud-free,” De Venecia said.

Comelec exec tagged in secrecy folder deal Lawyer says directive to suspend bidding defied

2010-04-26T16:05:00.002+08:00

By Leila Salaverria (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100426-266445/Comelec-exec-tagged-in-secrecy-folder-deal

MANILA, Philippines—The winning bidder in the scuttled purchase by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) of ballot secrecy folders bagged a contract in 2008 after an election executive allegedly defied a directive of the poll body to postpone the bidding, a Comelec official said.

Lawyer Melchor Magdamo, who is assigned to the office of Comelec Chair Jose Melo, made the statement in an affidavit he submitted to a panel investigating the earlier decision to buy from OTC Paper Supply 1.8 million ballot secrecy folders at P380 each, a deal worth nearly P700 million.

The secrecy folder deal has since been junked, but the poll body has decided to probe the circumstances leading to its decision to buy the “extravagant” folders.

OTC has disputed claims that the folders were overpriced and has contested the Comelec decision not to push through with the contract.

Magdamo, in an interview, also disclosed that it was he who told Arwin Serrano of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) about the questionable price of the ballot secrecy folders.

Serrano sent a letter to the Comelec legal chief, Ferdinand Rafanan, about his misgivings. The latter wrote Melo about the price of the folders.

Jose Tolentino

Magdamo, in his affidavit dated April 15, alleged that the Comelec’s then Bids and Awards Committee chair, Jose Tolentino Jr., pushed through with the bidding for the contract to buy voter registration-record (VRR) binders and plastic fillers in 2008 despite a directive from the poll body to hold it in abeyance.

The company that won the bidding was OTC Paper Supply.

Magdamo narrated that on Feb. 14, 2008, the Comelec’s Finance Services Department (FSD) issued a certification that P99.58 million was available for the purchase of VRR binders and plastic fillers.

A few days later, then Comelec acting chair Romeo Brawner wrote a memorandum to Tolentino, who is also the Comelec’s executive director, telling him to postpone the bidding for the binders and fillers until after the FSD shall have apprised the poll body about its financial status.

The next month, another Comelec lawyer, Judy Lorenzo, requested Brawner to approve the purchase of 42,000 VRR binders and 8.4 million plastic fillers, saying these items were needed for the elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

Highly irregular

But the poll body affirmed Brawner’s directive that the bidding be suspended until after the FSD shall have submitted its report. Magdamo alleged that the proposal was again brought to the poll body during the same meeting, which he described as “highly unusual and irregular,” but the request was shot down.

Later, the Comelec decided to schedule the presentation of the FSD report on May 14, 2008. But Magdamo said Tolentino pushed through with the bidding before this date.

“Surprisingly, on 12 May 2008 or two days prior to the 14 May 2008 reporting date, the executive director and concurrent BAC Chairman Jose M. Tolentino Jr. went on ahead with the bidding of VRR holders/binders, plastic fillers, and thumb and fingerprint takers, in open defiance of the clear directives in En Banc Minute Resolutions No. 08-0364 and 08-0375,” Magdamo said.

“Emerging as one of the winners from the openly defiant bidding was a single proprietorship using the name ‘OTC Paper Supply,’” he added.

Folder design

Tolentino was no longer the BAC chair when the Comelec awarded the ballot secrecy folder contract to OTC Paper Supply. But he was the one who presented the design of the folder to the poll body.

Sought for comment, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said no bidding in 2008 was ever questioned by the poll body. Jimenez, who had read Magdamo’s affidavit, said he was unaware that a bidding was held in defiance of the poll body’s order.

“Usually, if there is such a case, there would be an order from the en banc stopping the procurement. Nothing like that happened. So I presume that whatever bidding took place that time, all were above board,” he said.

Magdamo also said in the affidavit that he first learned about the ballot secrecy folder procurement worth P380 after a woman came to Melo’s office, claiming that OTC had copied her ballot secrecy folder design. OTC has a pending application to patent the design.

He said it was the woman who told him that OTC’s folder cost P380 each. He said he did not believe it at first, but the amount was later confirmed.

Syndicate

Magdamo said another colleague of his warned him about a syndicate, and advised him to be careful. When he sensed that things were getting serious, he told the PPCRV about his concerns.

In an interview, Magdamo said he became concerned about his safety because of his revelations and his earlier questioning of Comelec practices, prompting him to lie low for the meantime.

Mock polls in Metro Manila deferred; PNP to secure poll machines

2010-04-26T16:02:00.002+08:00

By With Reinir Padua (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=569883&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is postponing Thursday’s mock polls in Metro Manila to Monday next week.

This was revealed by National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) chairman Jose Cuisia, who said delays in the delivery of ballots and other poll paraphernalia prompted the rescheduling of the mock elections.

“There are also problems in the delivery of the Precinct Count Optical Scan machines,” Cuisia added.

He said the postponement indicated that the Comelec was still unprepared for automated elections.

“They claim that they are ready, yet we are talking only of one precinct and a thousand voters and they were not able to fulfill their commitment,” Cuisia pointed out.

He said the Comelec has even failed to release the source code, which is a set of instructions embedded in every PCOS machine.

“They were supposed to provide a source code six months prior to elections. Again they did not accomplish that,” Cuisia said.

The Comelec earlier announced plans to hold mock polls among 1,000 voters in Metro Manila in an effort to test the readiness of the automated election system.

Meanwhile, the Quezon City Police Department (QCPD) has set up security measures in anticipation of the arrival of the PCOS machines for polling precincts in Metro Manila.

The machines will be kept in a warehouse in Quezon City.

The PCOS machines will start arriving on Wednesday from the Comelec warehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna.

“We have conducted a security survey of the area and the site passed the criteria for it to be considered safe to keep the election materials,” Senior Superintendent Audie Arroyo, QCPD deputy director for operations, said.

Contingents from the National Capital Region Police Office’s Regional Mobile Group and the military’s NCR Command will guard the warehouse.

“Under no circumstances will the PCOS machines be left unattended,” Arroyo assured.

Comelec prepares for manual audit

2010-04-26T16:01:00.001+08:00

By Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=569882&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is preparing for a random manual auditing of elections results, according to Henrietta de Villa, head of the poll body’s committee on random manual audit.

She said part of the plan is the deployment of an additional 3,500 public school teachers to ensure the accuracy of random manual auditing.

De Villa said the committee has recommended the creation of a special board of election inspectors to undertake the manual audit.

The Comelec has rejected calls for a parallel manual canvassing of poll results, saying it is no longer necessary since a random manual audit is enough to do the job.

The Philippine Bar Association (PBA) insisted yesterday that parallel manual counting of votes is not an impossible task for the Comelec.

PBA head and former ombudsman Simeon Marcelo stressed that preparations for manual counts in all precincts for five elective posts could be completed in less than five days.

“Yes, it’s not as simple as buying vinegar in the grocery store. It’s as simple as counting money the way bank tellers do,” he told The STAR in reaction to a statement from Comelec spokesman James Jimenez over the weekend that a manual count was “almost impossible” at this point.

De Villa said she agreed with the Comelec’s position that a parallel manual count would defeat the purpose of automation and would be tantamount to putting together two systems: manual and automated.

She also said the Poll Automation Law does not mention anything about having parallel manual counting.

De Villa, who also chairs the church-based poll watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting or PPCRV, said the recommendation for the creation of SBEIs is now awaiting Comelec’s approval.

She explained that fatigue had been a very big factor that had affected the accuracy of manual election system in past elections.

“But if we will have the SBEIs instead of the regular BEIs, the teachers will not be very tired and they would exhibit fresh look, fresh minds in conducting the random manual count,” De Villa said.

Last week, the Comelec decided to increase from one to five per legislative district the number of precincts to be subjected to the random audit.

A total of 1,145 clustered precincts will be subjected to random manual audit involving three BEI members. She said the involvement of 3,435 members of the SBEIs would be necessary.

Not impossible

Marcelo said it would only take a day or two to print additional election returns and three more days to deliver them to polling precincts all over the country.

“If only Comelec will agree, it’s not impossible at all. We just want parallel manual count for five positions - president, vice president, congressman, governor and mayor - and that will just take an hour,” he explained.

Marcelo said their proposal is the last external check to verify results of the precinct count optical count (PCOS) machines.

Meanwhile, local business leaders are scheduled to meet with the Comelec today to discuss the group’s proposal for a parallel manual count for president, vice president and mayor.

The Makati Business Club has urged the public to support the parallel manual count for an honest elections.

With the elections two weeks away, the group, which included Bishops Oscar Cruz and Deogracias Iniguez, called on the Comelec to rule on the matter immediately and not to wait until April 29.

Meanwhile, Malacañang called on critics yesterday not to destabilize Comelec, adding that it is in the final stages of election preparations.

He said the Comelec would need all the support from the public to ensure its success.

“What we believe in is the law that mandates an automated counting of votes. If there would be different results from the two (automated and manual), what would be followed is the results from the automated count,” Olivar said.

“We can’t be shifting from one mode of counting to another. We must learn to respect the law,” Olivar said.

Meanwhile, former president Joseph Estrada said the automated elections should be done in urban cities while far-flung areas should adopt the manual count. “Even in the US, they have not perfected the automated system, how much more here and right now, in Mindanao, there is brownout almost everyday. There could be a 24-hour brownout on the election and this might result in a failure of elections,” he said.

In Davao City, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino senatorial candidate and spokesman on poll automation Joey de Venecia III said Comelec’s rejection of parallel manual count might actually compromise the credibility of the automated system.

“It is puzzling that while the Comelec and Smartmatic officials broke out the champagne for completing the printing of official ballots several days ahead of their deadline, they choose to ignore multi-sectoral calls for a parallel manual count that’s precisely meant to validate that the untested precinct count optical scan (PCOS) system works,” De Venecia said.

“Has the digital dagdag bawas system been set up?”

De Venecia was among the politicians who arrived in Davao City to attend the 60th birthday celebration of evangelist Pastor Apollo Quiboloy of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ The Name Above Every Name congregation.

De Venecia said that a Princeton University study has found that PCOS machines could be infected with a malicious ware that could carry out automated vote shaving and switching.

Worst, he said, the malware has self-erasing capability thus it cannot be detected easily.

He said the possibility of the malware infecting the PCOS machines may be counter-checked by manual counting.

“It is plain to see that if the count for president, vice-president and mayor are accurate, then the people will accept even the counts for councilors and congressmen,” De Venecia said.

With Jess Diaz, Edith Regalado, Jose Rodel Clapano, Edu Punay, Paolo Romero, Ma. Elisa Osorio, Rainier Allan Ronda.

Bongbong bats for more green buildings

2010-04-26T15:56:00.002+08:00

(Malaya)
Link: http://www.malaya.com.ph/04262010/news10.html

NACIONALISTA senatorial candidate Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos yesterday said he would introduce legislation that would put emphasis on the design and construction of green buildings and structures.

Green buildings, he said, ensure better health and productivity of occupants aside from being environment-friendly through the use of technologies that use resources with minimal ecological impact.

The green building concept was hatched in the US in the 1970s at the height of the oil crisis and growing concerns over environmental degradation.

"There are many technologies that will make structures green buildings such as roof-top water impounding facilities for buildings, electric solar panels, the use of packed gravel or permeable concrete to improve replenishment of ground water, wind turbines and architecture that allows minimal daytime use of lights, among others," Marcos said.

Marcos is confident that with more green buildings in commercial and residential districts, the energy and water crisis, which is more pronounced during the dry months, can be addressed along with the dire consequences of using fossil fuel and coal for energy generation and the growing demand for water.

Villar’s mere presence already undue pressure

2010-04-26T15:55:00.002+08:00

By Jason Faustino (The Daily Tribune)
Link: http://www.tribune.net.ph/

The mere presence of Villar as Senate president in the offices of Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) executives and the regulator Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or personal calls he made to them is already a form of applying undue pressure, a former Senate president said yesterday.

Former Senate President and Liberal Party senatorial bet Franklin Drilon labeled as “excuses” Nacionalista Party (NP) presidential candidate Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr.’s claim that he indeed made the rounds with the PSE and SEC in 2007 when he was the Senate president but denied pressuring its officials for his or his companies’ gains.

Villar, in denying that he pressured the PSE, admitted that he made calls to the SEC and met with PSE officials, but said he never pressured them.

Drilon said the issue is not about violating laws but is more of a morality and ethical issue on the part of Villar, as well as delicadeza.

“Manny Villar was the Senate president when he appeared before the PSE. His personal presence was deliberately done and intended to put pressure on the PSE,” Drilon said.“Why didn’t he simply send Vista land executives to PSE? His personal presence at PSC plus his calls to the SEC show his intenion to pressure PSE. While PSE is in the private sector, it is an organization impressed with public interest,” Drilon said.

He added that Villar could state that he did not violate any law or a regulatory rule, when his family’s real estate firms were able to raise billions of pesos through the stock exchange in 2007.

But Drilon said that Villar’s apparent appearance caused indirect pressure on the PSE.

Villar’s attendance when he attended a meeting of the PSE board that was called to discuss an issue about Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., his holding firm, is an indirect pressure, even if Villar continues to deny the truth.

Villar was the Senate president in 2007 until now Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile replaced him in 2008.

In June 29, 2007, Villar attended the PSE board meeting purportedly to personally justify to the directors why some Vista Land shares should be allowed to be sold to public investors.

Drilon said Villar could have sent his exectuives from Vista, but it seemed that it was not enough as his presence in the boardroom seemed tio send a signal to the board directors in making a decision since Vista Land’s investment bankers and underwriters were about to hit the road to market Vista Land shares to local and foreign investors.

That same day, the PSE board decided to allow the release of some Vista Land shares from escrow. Villar had wanted the board to free up shares equivalent to 30 percent of the holding firm. The board’s decision was to allow only 11 percent. It was generally perceived as a decision in Villar’s favor.

Gibo backs Duterte in fight with Nograles

2010-04-26T15:53:00.000+08:00

BY REGINA BENGCO (Malaya)
Link: http://www.malaya.com.ph/04262010/news7.html

DAVAO CITY. –Gilberto Teodoro Jr. on Saturday night expressed support for Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, even if the latter is backing his rival and second cousin Sen. Benigno Aquino III.

Teodoro, in a speech before a crowd of 2,000 at the Rizal Park here, said Duterte is a "real friend." He said he used to be Duterte’s lawyer in the 1990s.

"Gusto kong pasalamatan ang isang tunay na kaibigan. Bagama’t iba ang partido niya ay nirerespeto ko pa rin siya…Ang aking paghanga sa taong iyan ay hindi magbabago," he said, eliciting loud applause.

Duterte, who is running for vice mayor, and his daughter Sara, who is eyeing the mayoralty post, were not present during the campaign rally.

The administration candidate for mayor here, Speaker Prospero Nograles Jr., was also not around because of his feud with Teodoro.

Nograles has asked Teodoro to shape up or ship out of the party if he could not attend to the requests of its local candidates. He has threatened to support another presidential candidate, along with those he claimed are disgruntled members of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD.

Teodoro, for his part, dared Nograles to make good his threat.

Only Davao del Norte Rep. Antonio Lagdameo, Teodoro’s cousin, and his wife actress Dawn Zulueta, were on hand.

Presidential assistant for special projects Madeleine Marfori, Nograles’ political rival, got special thanks from Teodoro for helping organize his campaign rally.

Teodoro, in his speech, batted for genuine national unity and reconciliation. He said this is the reason he does not attack or besmirch anyone.

"Kung ang isang lider ay puro atake ang ginagawa, how can he unite the country? Kaya kahit masakit minsan sa akin, I turn the other cheek," he said.

In what could be interpreted as a swipe at his disloyal party mates, he asked the people to support his running mate Edu Manzano, whom he described as "tunay, tapat at hindi ka iiwanan."

Teodoro said he wants the same unity to achieve growth for Mindanao, including new power plants to prevent more brownouts and improved seaports and airports for major investor destinations in the area.

"Let us start here, with a genuine reconciliation under a principled and competent government," he said.

Teodoro also asked his supporters to help enlighten those who believe in the presidential surveys, where he is currently running in fourth place.

He said he believes more in the voice of the people and would prefer to wait for their verdict on May 10.

Manzano said people should vote for Teodoro because he is the most qualified among the presidential aspirants.

"Elections are not won by radio interviews or the number of appearances on television. It’s not won by surveys. Previous elections have shown that," he said.

Lagdameo said defections, and threats of defection, are normal during election season. He said members cannot be forced to support candidates they do not like.

He said Teodoro’s camp has no problems with Duterte because he lets all candidates campaign in his area.

Candidate Gloria hits campaign trail

2010-04-26T15:50:00.000+08:00

By Tonette Orejas (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100426-266451/Candidate-Gloria-hits-campaign-trail

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—In her first sortie in Pampanga since the campaign period for local positions started on March 26, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo sang Florante’s “Handog” on Saturday.

Pampanga gubernatorial candidate Lilia Pineda, a friend of the President’s, joined her in singing the familiar Filipino tune about gratitude at a gymnasium in Lubao, hometown of Ms Arroyo’s late father, former President Diosdado Macapagal.

Lakas-Kampi-CMD campaign coordinators said the rally’s host, Rosve Henson, put Ms Arroyo on the spot during the program by asking her to sing.

The President granted the request of her “cabalen” (province mates) for a song. She embraced Pineda as they sang before some 3,000 people.

Ms Arroyo, however, was unfamiliar with the lyrics of Handog. Her voice was drowned out by Pineda’s in most parts of the song, but it was clearer in the refrain:

Refrain

“Tatanda at lilipas din ako / Ngunit mayro’ng awiting / Iiwanan sa inyong alaala / Dahil minsan, tayo’y nagkasama (I will get old and my time will pass / But there’s a song / That I will leave you / Because we were once together).”

Handog, a hit in the 1980s, is a singer-composer’s gift to his fans as he accepts the fact of aging or retirement—a matter that the President is not bound to do shortly because she aspires to be a legislator again.

Before the rally at the gymnasium, the President led a motorcade that went around the rural villages of Porac, Floridablanca and Lubao towns to press flesh and woo votes.

In a light blue blouse and a pair of pants, Ms Arroyo was relaxed. She smiled and waved to people gathered along the route. Some of them flashed cardboard bearing her initials, chanting these as she passed by. Others held her campaign posters.

Accompanying her was Pineda, a former board member and Lubao mayor who is facing reelectionist Gov. Eddie Panlilio.

Party-list nominee

In another showboat, Ms Arroyo’s son, outgoing Rep. Juan Miguel “Mikey” Arroyo, also worked the crowd.

Mikey dropped his plan to seek a third and final term to give way to his mother who, before filing her candidacy on Dec. 1 last year, said public service was in her DNA.

Mikey is seeking to return to the House of Representatives as the first nominee of Ang Galing Pinoy, a party-list group representing security guards.

Doing motorcades is not new to Ms Arroyo. She has been doing these since she ran for senator, vice president and president, said her sister, former Pampanga Vice Gov. Cielo Macapagal-Salgado.

Not known to sing

The President, though, is not known to sing in front of a huge audience, according to Salgado.

At the Pineda Sports Complex in Lubao where she sang Handog, security for Ms Arroyo got tighter.

Members of the Presidential Security Group stopped reporters from entering the gym. The Office of the Press Secretary did not advise Pampanga-based reporters about the campaign activity.

Ms Arroyo talked little, telling the crowd she was eager to do “pamanuyu” (service).

Mikey’s 41st birthday

After the rally, the President proceeded to the St. Augustine Parish grounds for a dinner held to celebrate Mikey’s 41st birthday.

In her earlier visits to the district, Ms Arroyo said she would be “firmly in control of our national government until the last day I am in office as President.”

She vowed to be “pursigido” (determined) in her campaign to become the district’s next representative.

Her term as President ends on June 30 after nine years in office.

Election 2010 News - April 23, 2010

2010-04-23T14:30:00.000+08:00

Comelec spendings for 2010 auto polls reach P10B (The Daily Tribune)
Comelec: No 'ghost' polling precincts (The Philippine Star)
Namfrel asks Comelec to publish poll automation expenses (The Philippine Star)
Gordon sues SWS, Pulse Asia (The Philippine Star)
'KULANG SA KALYO' Why Escudero all the way for Binay, not Roxas (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Loren lashes out at bashers (Malaya)
Villar steered PSE - Erap deals complied with listing rules,NP bet camps says (Manila Bulletin)
Gibo, Erap lead mock polls in Metro (The Philippine Star)
Lakas to give Gibo 15 Million votes - lawmakers (The Philippien Star)

Comelec spendings for 2010 auto polls reach P10B

2010-04-23T14:22:00.000+08:00

By Marie Surbano (The Daily Tribune)
Link: http://www.tribune.net.ph/

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has spent more than P10 billion of the electoral body’s P16.5-billion budget for the country’s first ever computerized elections, the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) yesterday revealed.

Based on the data of Namfrel’s Bantay ng Bayan research, the poll body has spent 62 percent or around P10.241 billion of the total budget, including the P7.2-billion lease of the 82,200 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines for the May 10 electoral exercises.

Among the other spendings and acquisitions of the Comelec include P243 million for the 77,000 ballot boxes (P3,155 per box) awarded to Smartmatic International Corp.; P28 million for the 80,000 units of handheld portable UV lamps awarded to OTC Paper Corp.; P75.8 million for the purchase of 720,000 bottles of indelible ink (P105 per bottle) to Texas Resources Corp.; P499.1 million for the tracking and delivery of official ballots to Smartmatic; P519 million procurement of ballot box transportation with PCOS machines nationwide; P1.5 billion for the cleansing of computerized voters’ list to Unison Join Venture; P2.1 million for the nine units of copying machines (P234,000 per unit) to Copylandia Office Systems Corp.; and

P172.4 million for the Storage and Working Area Logistics (leased racking system, pallets and lifters to Noah’s Paper Mills Inc.).

The former citizens’ arm of the poll body also urged the commission to be transparent and fully disclose the funds it has used to finance the automated May polls.

“The public needs to know. The public has the right to know” it said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Comelec also yesterday belied reports that there are 57 non-existing precincts in the list provided by the poll body to the surveyors of Smartmatic Corp., and Total Information Management (TIM) Corp.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez disputed the report posted on the Web site of abs-cbn/Newsbreak of the ghost precincts in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.

“It was a regular report and it was misinterpreted as ghost precincts because of findings that supposedly so and so number was not found by the team. It’s as simple as that. The report itself does not make any claim that there are missing precincts,” he said.

The official said election officers already assured that these precincts are there.

Local surveyors hired by Smartmatic said that they cannot locate the precincts after conducting a check on the connectivity or existing telecommunication facilities in the areas.

Cesar Flores, Smartmatic president for Asia Pacific, said they have submitted the list of the missing precincts to the Comelec for appropriate action.

“The Comelec said they are going to look into that… Our surveyors have checked addresses but they could not find them. We are waiting for the report of the Comelec,” he added.

Flores said if Comelec will fail to locate this missing precincts they will still deliver the precinct count optical scan machines to these addresses.

At least 76,300 PCOS machines will be deployed by the Comelec days before the May 10 polls.

Comelec: No 'ghost' polling precincts

2010-04-23T14:21:00.002+08:00

By Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=569029&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday denied the existence of “ghost” polling centers in the list of precincts they asked Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) to survey.

In a press briefing, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez belied an abs -cbnNews.com/Newsbreak report about “ghost” precincts in Metro Manila and other parts of the country.

Citing Smartmatic-TIM’s site survey reports to the Comelec, the news agency revealed that the joint venture’s surveyors have failed to locate 57 polling centers which pertain to public schools.

“It was a regular report and it was misinterpreted as ghost precincts because of findings that supposedly so and so number was not found by the team. It’s as simple as that. The report itself does not make any claim that there are missing precincts,” he noted.

Jimenez added the existence of the voting centers, which pertain to public schools, have been assured by the election officers of the Comelec in the concerned localities.

Smartmatic-TIM hired local surveyors to check the presence of telecommunication facilities in the area.

This is part of the preparations for the automated May 10 polls which involves the use of services of telecommunication companies in automatically transmitting election results.

According to Smartmatic president for Asia Pacific Cesar Flores, they have submitted the list of the missing precincts to the Comelec for proper action.

“The Comelec said they are going to look into that… Our surveyors have checked addresses but they could not find them. We are waiting for the report of the Comelec,” he maintained.

Flores said that Smartmatic-TIM, unless the Comelec gives them a new list, would deliver the PCOS machines to the “same addresses.”

Meantime, the Philippine Bar Association (PBA) has pushed for a parallel manual counting of votes in the coming elections that would countercheck results of precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to be used in the country’s first automated elections.

PBA president and former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo said they plan to reiterate their proposal to the Comelec through another letter after it was reportedly already dismissed by Comelec Chairman Jose Melo. – With Evelyn Macairan, Edu Punay, Jose Rodel Clapano

Namfrel asks Comelec to publish poll automation expenses

2010-04-23T14:18:00.000+08:00

By Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=569026&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The National Citizen’s Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) has urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to make public its spending for the automated election system (AES), saying that expenditures have already reached P10 billion, the biggest ever.

In a statement, Namfrel said the Comelec should exercise transparency and accountability by disclosing the funds it has spent for the 2010 elections.

“The budget for the elections has been set at P16.5 billion – P11.3 billion for AES... plus the P5.21-billion appropriation,” Namfrel claimed.

The P11.3 billion is earmarked under Republic Act 9525, specifically as supplemental appropriation for the AES.

The P5.21 billion is provided for in the General Appropriations Act of 2010, representing the regular allocation in the national budget every three years that an election is held.

Namfrel expressed concern over the “undue haste” and lapses of the Comelec on the overpriced ballot secrecy folders that the agency almost bought, “accommodation of no penalties to Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp. for late deliveries, propensity for awarding contracts without bidding and appalling disregard for rules on prudent spending that the election body has been engaging in.”

Citing findings of its Bantay Bayan research, Namfrel noted that the Comelec had so far spent some P10 billion for big contracts.

These include the P7.2 billion for the lease of 82,200 precinct count optical (PCOS) scan machines from Smartmatic-TIM; P243 million for 77,000 ballot boxes awarded to Smartmatic without bidding; P28 million for 80,000 units of handheld portable ultraviolet lamps; P75.8 million for 720,000 bottles of indelible ink awarded to Texas Resources Corp.; a P499.1-million contract for trucking and delivery services for official ballots that has also been awarded to Smartmatic; P519-million contract given to Smartmatic for the transport of ballot boxes with PCOS machines to polling centers; P1.5 billion to Unison Joint Venture for the cleansing of computerized voters list; P2.1 million to Copylandia Office System Corp. for nine units of copying machines; and P174.2 million to Noah’s Paper Mills for storage and working area logistics.

Namfrel said the Comelec should keep its accounting books open to scrutiny if it wants the public to trust the automated poll system.

Gordon sues SWS, Pulse Asia

2010-04-23T14:13:00.002+08:00

By Reinir Padua (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=569021&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Bagumbayan presidential candidate Sen. Richard Gordon yesterday filed with the Quezon City Regional Trial Court a P650,000 civil suit against survey firms Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia Inc. for negatively affecting his campaign.

Gordon asked the court to temporarily restrain the polling firms from conducting surveys and publishing survey results.

Gordon asked for P100,000 in nominal and tem perate damages, P500,000 in exemplary damages, and P50,000 in attorney’s fees.

“Without regard to their fundamental duty to act with justice to observe honesty and good faith, defendants SWS and Pulse Asia, for pecuniary gain and solely for reasons intended to favor their moneyed clients, have published false, fraudulent, biased and defective surveys which have undermined the campaign of Senator Gordon and (former MMDA) Chairman Bayani (Fernando) and made them as unwinnable contenders for president and vice president, respectively,” the 26-page complaint said.

Lawyer Chito Diaz, who represents Gordon, said SWS and Pulse Asia use “obsolete methodologies” in their surveys. Most survey firms claim to use face-to-face interviews, a method that Diaz said can create bias among respondents.

Diaz said the survey results condition the minds of voters to favor candidates who perform better in the surveys.

Gordon has consistently ranked fifth in pre-election surveys. In the recent Pulse Asia survey, Gordon has a voter preference rating of 29 percent, seven percentage points behind Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gilberto Teodoro in fourth place with 36 percent.

Fernando, on the other hand, has consistently ranked fourth in the surveys on vice presidential candidates.

“Knowing that his (Gordon) continuously low ratings in the surveys of defendants SWS and Pulse Asia were belied by the enthusiasm and approval of the huge crowds which have continuously attended his campaign sorties, Senator Gordon investigated the methods and practices used by defendants… in conducting their surveys,” the complaint said.

Gordon claimed that the publication of survey results has “damaged” and “prejudiced” his campaign.

Gordon said survey firms should be cautious in doing their surveys, citing the large discrepancy between the SWS count and the official count after the close of balloting in the 2004 elections.

The SWS survey said President Arroyo received 31 percent of the votes in Metro Manila while her main opponent actor Fernando Poe Jr. received only 23 percent. The official count declared Poe the winner in Metro Manila with 36.67 percent of the votes.

Diaz said they are planning to file a complaint before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) against SWS and Pulse Asia for violating the Fair Elections Act.

Diaz argued that even if the Supreme Court declared pre-elections surveys protected by freedom of speech, this right is not absolute.

“We are looking at the possibility of filing a complaint with the Comelec as there is now a question on the methodologies used by the survey firms. Perhaps the Supreme Court could also review and reconsider its decision,” he said.

Gordon, who was on a campaign sortie in Zamboanga City, said Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III maintained his lead in the surveys because of public sympathy rather than his performance in government.

“Noynoy is running because his mother died… Noynoy’s loss was headlined by newspapers everyday. Kris (Noynoy’s sister) kept crying in public. So, of course, his ratings would surge,” Gordon said. “You don’t want people to think anymore. Surveys do not educate people on issues.”

Officials of Pulse Asia and SWS said Gordon’s reaction is common among candidates who lag behind in surveys.

Pulse Asia research fellow Dr. Ana Maria Tabunda said the firm’s survey methods are scientific.

“Pulse Asia employs scientific methods and upholds academic standard in the conduct of all its surveys and analyses,” Tabunda said. “Our data collection methods are not outdated but are suited to our population, a large segment of which has no access to telephones, including cell phones.”

SWS president Mahar Mangahas said their surveys are at par with international standards.

“SWS surveys are world class. Election survey freedom is protected by Philippine jurisprudence,” Mangahas said.

In an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel, Pulse Asia president Ronald Holmes said they are willing to explain their methodologies to Gordon.

Valid but not helpful
The Comelec said pre-election surveys are constitutionally valid but are not helpful to voters because these set trending, which can influence the voters.

“Instead of studying the platform, the qualifications, the issues concerning the candidates, you will rely on the trend,” Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said.

Surveys, however, can rouse the interest of voters to study the background of candidates leading the surveys.

“If one is a leading candidate, the public can study the qualification, why he is the favorite,” Sarmiento said. - With Mike Frialde, Roel Pareño, Helen Flores, Sheila Crisostomo

‘KULANG SA KALYO’ Why Escudero all the way for Binay, not Roxas

2010-04-23T14:04:00.000+08:00

By Cathy C. Yamsuan (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100423-265949/Why-Escudero-all-the-way-for-Binay-not-Roxas

MANILA, Philippines—“Kulang sa kalyo,” Sen. Francis “Chiz” Escudero says of Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II.

In plain talk, Roxas is a spring chicken, rather than a fighting cock.

That’s why, Escudero said in a television interview Thursday, he had decided to support Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, running mate of ex-President Joseph Estrada.

Binay fits Escudero’s idea of a vice president.

“Not someone rich, not an ‘ilustrado,’ one who is courageous, a man of honor and a genuine member of the opposition,” he told ANC’s Karen Davila.

Asked if his support for Binay was aimed at thwarting Roxas’ anticipated run for the presidency in 2016, the 40-year-old Escudero said, “I am nearsighted.”

“Why should I be making enemies this early? It’s not in my interest to draw the line this early if indeed that is on my mind,” he said.

Besides, Escudero said, the Aquino-Binay tandem would provide a better balance of governance. “One is from the legislature, while the other is an executive official.”

“Everyone says Noynoy comes from a rich family so it might be a good thing if his running mate does not come from another rich family. And since Noynoy purportedly lacks experience, his vice president should have a background to make up for this. I think they will complement each other,” Escudero said.

He said he had nothing against Roxas, scion of one of the country’s wealthiest families.

Escudero disappeared from the May election arena after he announced late last year he no longer was pursuing his presidential ambitions.

That was after he had a falling out with tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco.

The scuttlebutt then was that Cojuangco, head of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) and regarded as a kingmaker, wasn’t going to finance Escudero’s drive to the presidency that had a so-called “entry barrier” of P5 billion.

Like Icarus

Escudero then said that he wasn’t going to allow himself to be beholden to any political party and would await a ground swell that would catapult him to Malacañang.

The ground swell never happened and Escudero went into hibernation, reviled as a modern-day Icarus, the tragic Greek character who flew close to the sun on wings of wax and came crashing to earth a dead duck, sort of.

He had not been heard from since, until his communications team that was helping Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, the Liberal Party presidential candidate, complained to media that it was having a hard time with Roxas.

The team had respectably handled Escudero’s campaign last year. He was among the favorites in the initial poll surveys of presidential wannabes. He had run away to fight another day—in the 2016 elections, possibly against Roxas.

Roxas leads poll surveys in the vice presidential race.

Essence of RP democracy

Last year, Roxas initiated moves to join the May 10 presidential race, but stepped aside for Aquino, who decided he wanted the presidency for himself after he saw the outpouring of grief upon the death of his mother, the former president Corazon Aquino.

Escudero said the TV ad, paid for by Binay’s friends, “should not be a cause for division or conflict within the LP.”

He said he had also taped another TV ad for Aquino that will be aired this week.

“There is no bloc voting in our laws. This is the essence of democracy; that each and every voter is allowed to choose who he wants to vote for for a particular office,” he said.

“I’m not saying that Senator Mar is not true opposition. I’m saying Mayor Binay has been with the opposition longer, has done many things and is not just a talker. Also he had not backed away from a fight as recent history had shown,” Escudero said in Filipino.
“Anyone who thinks that my ad is against a specific person, well, I do not spend all my waking hours just thinking about him,” said Escudero.

“There is no need for us to talk. I am not mad at him. I have no issues against him. Just because I do not support his candidacy does not mean I am mad at him,” Escudero said.

Not mad at Chiz

In an interview, Roxas also dismissed suggestions that Escudero’s endorsement had something to do with 2016.

“I’m not thinking about that,” Roxas said. “What I’m focusing on right now is how to ensure that Senator Noynoy wins so that we would get the chance to have real change in our country.”

Roxas said that Escudero had the right to endorse his choice of candidates. He also downplayed Escudero’s alleged dig against him in Escudero’s ad for Binay as “just politics.”

or united ticket

Sen. Francis Pangilinan, LP campaign manager, said:

“While we respect the decision of others to support a mixed ticket, we believe that for our nation to achieve real change we must have the strongest unity possible between the president and vice president.

“A united ticket is essential for us to effectively lead the nation out of the mess it is in. This is best served by ensuring the victory of both Noy and Mar in 2010.” With reports from Philip C. Tubeza and Gil C. Cabacungan

Loren lashes out at bashers

2010-04-23T13:57:00.001+08:00

BY JP LOPEZ (Malaya)
Link: http://www.malaya.com.ph/04232010/news9.html

BACOLOD CITY – Nacionalista Party vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda on Thursday described as "delusional" the candidates of Liberal Party for linking her and her party to the move of Andal Ampatuan Jr., prime suspect in the Maguindanao massacre, to endorse the candidacy of Benigno Aquino III and his running-mate Manuel Roxas II.

"My only response is one word, delusional. Wag kayo mawawala sa sarili!" she said.

"Yung presidential candidate, yung president nila wala sa isip, yung vice presidential candidate nagpapadyak, umiiyak pag nag-aalyansa ang NP-NPC. Yung mga kanditotong vice president at pagka-senador delusional. Sana magpakatotoo naman ang mga Liberal. Wag naman delusional," she added.

Sen. Edgardo Angara said it was malicious of the LP to link him, through his lawyers, to the endorsement of Ampatuan, who last week proclaimed he was for the NP’s Manny Villar.

The endorsement was made in a press conference held by the detainee.

LP senatorial bet Riza Hontiveros on Wednesday said lawyers identified with Legarda orchestrated Ampatuan’s turnaround and briefED him for the press conference. She said the one of the lawyers used to work for Angara and is now part of Legarda’s campaign staff. Another lawyer was recommended by Angara to be a member of the legal defense team of Ampatuan, she said.

Angara said: "That is completely ridiculous and baseless. I do not know anyone from the prison facility in Taguig. You can check my phone records, I have not made any calls nor written any letters to orchestrate the press conference for Andal Ampatuan."

He said the LP was trying to divert the issue of Ampatuan’s endorsement.

"They said they have received reports that I was behind the press conference. I wish they examined its veracity first before dishing out baseless accusations," Angara said.

He urged the candidates to end the mudslinging and character assassination. "The campaign gimmickry should stop. It is a disservice to our nation, and it derogates our democracy. We want our voters to cast an informed, educated vote, one that is based on platform and not on who seems to be the lesser evil."

Villar steered PSE – Erap Deals complied with listing rules, NP bet’s camp says

2010-04-23T13:54:00.000+08:00

By RIO ROSE RIBAYA and HANNAH L. TORREGOZA (Manila Bulletin)
Link: http://mb.com.ph/articles/254115/villar-steered-pse-erap

Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada definitely saved the best for the last crunch of the campaign period when he exposed Thursday the alleged illegal activities of Nacionalista Party (NP)s standard-bearer Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar to propel his presidential bid in May 10 elections.

With only two weeks left remaining to campaign, Estrada dared Villar to explain allegations that he “manipulated the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) and duped investors” to buy shares of stocks from his company, Vista Land & Lifescapes (VLL), Inc.

But lawyer Nalen Rosero-Galang, chief legal officer for Villar, said the public offering of the shares of stock of Vista Land & Lifescapes was done in compliance with the requirements of the Securities Regulation Code and the rules of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

“I've chosen to break my silence on issues that have bearing not just on this campaign but on the future of our beloved country, especially the poor. I've always believed in pursuing an honorable campaign based on a high level issues and not on mudslinging,” Estrada said in a press conference Thursday.

“That was my firm conviction until I was presented with credible documents involving my rival and his pretensions of being poor, of being pro-poor, and being an honest businessman, I've given Sen. Villar the benefit of the doubt even if he has not given our people convincing explanations on many charges levelled against him,” he added.

“For the enlightenment of Mr. Estrada, the bulk of Vista Land shares, or 85 percent thereof, were taken up by foreign investors. So how can they claim that Filipino investors were duped by Sen. Villar?” Rosero-Galang said.

She added that the said public offering was duly passed upon and cleared by both the SEC and the PSE.

In a press conference, Estrada expressed beliefs that it is his duty as a presidential candidate to expose pieces of evidence, which detailed how Villar used his influence as Senate President “to make billions of pesos from businessmen, who bought shares from VLL.”
He echoed the detailed allegations of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile, who also disclosed how Villar “bended PSE rules” and “conniving with board members Francis Ed Lim, Anabelle Chua, Roberto Atendido, and Cornelio Peralta to exempt 29.28 percent from the locked-up shares of VLL. Efforts to get the side of the PSE officials proved futile.

The “lock-up” requirement is a standard proscription in all listings and public offerings of shares of stock of private business corporations, prohibiting major shareholders like Villar from selling their own shares with a certain period, Enrile explained.

“In simple terms, those who want to generate funding for their companies by selling their shares to the public are prohibited from selling or dumping their own shares within a certain period, because such will adversely affect the price or value of the listed shares,” Enrile said.

“(This will) unjustly enrich the majority shareholders at the expense of and to the detriment of the public,” he added.

Citing letters in correspondence with PSE Chairman Hans Sicat last March, Enrile said he was able to confirm that Villar met with PSE board members in Tektite Towers in Pasig City to persuade them to bend PSE rules in order to raise a multi-billion pesos, a portion of which had been used up for Villar's campaign for 2010 presidential elections.

“Did Sen. Manny Villar, as has been the talk in business circles, really threaten the PSE with a Senate investigation of the shenanigans of its own members? Was such a threat, no matter how veiled, hidden in the unrecorded caucus?” he asked.

The Senate President, who was almost ousted by Villar in a coup in the Senate last year, said that the presidential bet has generated more or less R26 billion earnings from his private companies from which P5 billion were sold from his “personal shares of stocks.”

Enrile said that after 29.28 percent of locked-up stocks were sold to overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) at listing price of P6.50 per share from the initial public offering of P2.50 per share, its stock price plummeted to only P0.60 per shares.

Enrile also expressed doubts that these multi-billion earnings were not included in Villar's statement of assets and liabilities net worth of P1.041 billion in 2007 and P1.046 billion in 2008.

“If he can do this if he is still not the president, how much more if he is already the president of this country?” he asked.

Villar camp lashes back at Estrada, Enrile

Reacting to the exposé, the Villar’s camp lashed back at Estrada and Enrile for peddling lies and deceiving the public regarding the propriety of the stock offering of his real estate company.

Villar dismissed the claim made by Estrada and Enrile as “pure fiction.”

“Senator Villar is once again being tried publicly via the media by his political opponents. We challenge them to present documents if indeed they have any such credible documents to back their allegations,” said Rosero-Galang.

“We challenge them to file appropriate charges in courts and agencies against the senator and his companies if indeed violations of laws were committed. Until that time, the public should know that this is clearly nothing but political mudslinging.”

Rosero-Galang said the public offering of the shares of stock of Vista Land & Lifescapes was done in compliance with the requirements of the Securities Regulation Code and the rules of the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Both Estrada and Enrile said Villar pressured the PSE board to approve the public offering of the stocks of the company, proceeds of which they claim he used to fund his campaign to the detriment of the company’s Filipino stockholders.

Rosero-Galang said Estrada and Enrile were lying through their teeth.

“For the enlightenment of Mr. Estrada and his Honorable Enrile, the bulk of Vista Land shares, or 85 percent thereof, were taken up by foreign investors. So, how can they claim that Filipino investors were duped by Sen. Villar?” she said.

She added that the said public offering was duly passed upon and cleared by both the SEC and the PSE.

“There was full disclosure of all material information as required by law. There was an Offering Circular, which not only complied with Philippine legal requirements but also conformed to the international standards and practices,” Rosero-Galang explained.

She added that UBS Investment Bank acted as global coordinator and bookrunner of the international offering of the Vista Land shares, while BDO Capital & Investment Corporation acted as Issue Manager and Domestic Lead Underwriter.

She further disclosed that two reputable Philippine law firms – Romulo Mabanta Buenaventura Sayoc & Delos Angeles and Picazo Buyco Tan Fider & Santos – and two reputable international law firms – Allen & Overy and Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom – passed upon the legality of the share offer.

Rosero-Galang also said the pricing of the shares for purposes of the public offer was arrived at trough an international bookbuilding exercise that was coordinated by UBS.

While it is true that Sen. Villar appeared before the PSE Board, there is nothing irregular with the said appearance. PSE listing applicants do that, when deemed necessary to secure the approval of their listing application.
“The PSE is a private corporation, not a government agency. Senator Villar appeared in his private capacity, as a controlling shareholder of an applicant, not as a government official. The lock-up requirement which Vista Land requested the PSE to waive is a requirement under the rules of the PSE, not under any law or regulation. It is well within the power of the PSE to waive any of its rules on just and meritorious grounds. Senator Villar’s appearance was to explain the circumstances which make the request for waiver just and meritorious.

“Most importantly, in the end, the PSE Board did NOT grant the requested waiver despite the appearance of Senator Villar. This shows that the PSE Board was not influenced, much less pressured, by Senator 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. To reiterate, contrary to the allegations of Mr. Estrada, no waiver was granted by the PSE Board,” Rosero-Galang said.

Meanwhile, stock market sources said Vista Land & Lifescapes’ follow-on offering (FOO) overtook two public offerings that were lined up ahead of it but, while there were some grumblings, no one dared raise their voices against the firm owned by the family of Villar.

The offering that had to give way to the Vista Land FOO were the initial public offerings of GMA Network and the Philippine National Bank (PNB). Vista Land conducted its FOO on July 26, GMA’s IPO was on July 31, and PNB’s FOO on August 2.

PSE President Lim during that time did not return requests for an interview while the PSE has yet to issue a statement as of press time.

n the other hand, PSE Director Vivian Yuchengco said there was “no such thing” as the PSE board being strong-armed into letting Vista Land FOO overtake others.

Sources said Vista Land had wanted to rush its FOO as the market was already at its peak during the stock market’s rally in 2007 and the market was already showing signs of falling from its high and appetite for new share offerings were waning.

ista not covered by 180-day lock-in period

Vista Land had earlier listed its shares at the PSE by way of introduction of listing without first undertaking an initial public offering on June 25, 2007. Firms that list by way of introduction are mandated to do a public offer of shares 12 months after listing.

Vista Land immediately started the process for its follow-on offering after its listing by way of introduction and soon listed shares from its FOO on July 26, 2007 or just one month after the listing by way of introduction.

Under PSE rules, major shareholders are required to lock in, or not allowed to sell, their shares within 180 days from the listing of shares of the company. However, Vista Land shareholders were able to sell shares in the secondary offering of the FOO since, unlike listings after public offerings, there is no lock-in period required for listing by way of introduction.

Based on PSE rules, listing by way of introduction do not require a 180-day lock-in period on shares. What is covered by the 180-day lock-in period is the case of FOO.

In the case of Vista Land, it complied and in fact extended the lock-in period voluntary through announcement disclosure that they will no longer sell anymore shares.

In its FOO, PSE sources said Vista Land sold a total of P24.75 billion worth of shares consisting of 2.12 billion new shares worth P14.5 billion while its major shareholders, firms controlled by the Villar family, sold 1.49 billion shares to raise P10.2 billion in cash.

Aboitiz Power Corporation raised a total of P11.6 billion from its IPO, GMA and its major shareholders raised P8.9 billion, while PNB raised P5.25 billion from its follow on offering. (With a report from James Loyola)

Gibo, Erap lead mock polls in Metro

2010-04-23T13:51:00.000+08:00

By Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=568870&publicationSubCategoryId=65

MANILA, Philippines - Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential candidate and former defense secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr., and Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino former President Joseph Estrada are dominating mock polls in Metro Manila’s slum districts, newly-formed “Green Army Brigades” (GAB) bared yesterday.

Daisy Bardoquillo, head of the Kilusan ng mga Aktwal na Naninirahan sa Estado ng Payatas (Kanepa) and spokesperson of the newly-formed Green Army Brigades, said that results of mock polls they have been conducting since last month among informal settlers in Metro Manila, were in total contrast to the survey results being released by the Social Weather Station (SWS) and the Pulse Asia.

“Our own surveys had Teodoro winning popular support among the urban poor. In six big events attended by leaders of urban poor groups held in March and early April, a total of 963 joined the mock polls conducted after the meetings,” Bardoquillo said. Joven Pajora, president of the Parola Binondo Coalition, also of GAB said Teodoro was the top choice for President with 464 respondents voting for him.

He was followed by Estrada who got 306 votes, Liberal Party presidential bet Sen. Benigno Aquino III placed third with 127 while Sen. Manuel Villar, who claimed to have lived in the slums of Tondo, received 33 votes.

Evangelist Eddie Villanueva had 17 votes; Nicanor Perlas, seven; Sen. Richard Gordon, six and JC de los Reyes, five. Sen. Jamby Madrigal received only one vote. Pajora said 56 were still undecided.

Both Bardoquillo and Pajora said that the mock polls were conducted in urban poor areas in Baseco and Smokey Mountain, Manila; Sucat, Parañaque; Tonsuya, Malabon; Golden Ville Tower, San Jose del Monte, Navotas, Caloocan City and Pasay City.

Both said their group have decided to back Teodoro’s presidential bid because of their general dismay over the negative campaigns waged by other presidential candidates.

Bardoquillo said their group, composed of urban dwellers in the metropolis who work as jeepney and tricycle drivers, vendors, youth and women’s groups, senior citizens’ groups, among others, vowed to recruit more urban poor families in support of Gibo. “We will saturate Metro Manila to recruit more members for Green Army Brigades who will not just campaign but will also deliver a mass-based, solid vote for Gibo Teodoro,” she said.

Lakas to give Gibo 15 million votes - lawmaker

2010-04-23T13:47:00.000+08:00

By Jess Diaz (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=569027&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - The nationwide political machinery of the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD will deliver at least 15 million votes to party standard-bearer Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr., Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said yesterday.

“It is our machinery that will carry Gibo to victory,” he told the Serye Café news forum in Quezon City.

Barzaga said of the country’s 1,500 town mayors, 1,200 are affiliated with Lakas-Kampi.

“If each of them delivers just 10,000 votes to Gibo, he will have 12 million votes from municipal mayors. We have 66 city mayors. If they can each deliver an additional 50,000, that’s more than three million more for a total of 15 million votes, enough to make Gibo our next president,” he said.

He said in Cavite, which has a voting population of 1.7 million, he and other Lakas leaders would give Teodoro no fewer than half a million votes.

Lakas-Kampi senatorial candidate Raul Lambino shared Barzaga’s prediction that their candidate would win despite his poor survey showing.

“Northern Luzon, from the Ilocos provinces to Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and most of the Visayas and Mindanao will go for Gibo. In Metro Manila and Southern Luzon, including Bicol, he will put up a good fight,” he said.

Barzaga and Lambino also said money is now flowing from their party to its candidates and local leaders.

“In Cavite, we have funds coming from the party to our congressional and local candidates,” Barzaga said.

Lambino, who had complained of lack of financial support from Lakas-Kampi, said he now has television advertisements, proof that funds have been unlocked.

“We are now happy, we can now afford to campaign as a team more frequently,” he said, grinning from ear to ear.

At the same time, Barzaga chided some of his administration party colleagues for deserting Teodoro and defecting to the camps of his opponents.

“We have a moral obligation to support him. Gibo did not impose himself on us. We Lakas-Kampi members chose him in a convention as our presidential candidate,” he said.

“Besides, we are setting a bad example to our young leaders by changing political colors,” he said.

He vowed to support Teo-doro “all the way.”

In another development, Teodoro called on his rivals not to give false hopes and band-aid solutions to voters in their effort to win the elections.
“The major problems of the country are so deep-rooted that it would take long-term solutions and hard, often unpopular, decisions to solve them. Also, economic, political and environmentally sustainable development takes time,” Teodoro said.

He said candidates should not promise the immediate lowering of prices of commodities because it takes time and clear-cut plans to make these happen.

On addressing the country’s energy woes, Teodoro said implementation of the sustainable and renewable energy roadmap and encouraging investors to invest in generating capacity is the key.

“But can these immediately lower the price of energy? No it will not. But the prices will go down in the near future, which will not happen if we don’t enter into such deals right now. So let us not deceive our countrymen into believing that we can lower the prices of energy. It would be hard for us to lower this unless there is a reduction in oil prices,” Teodoro pointed out. – With Jaime Laude

Election 2010 News - April 22, 2010

2010-04-22T14:15:00.000+08:00

Bets' ad budget top funding for govt hospitals (The Manila Times)
Smartmatic inks service contract with telcos for auto polls (The Philippine Star)
Melo says postponement of polls 'unconstitutional' (The Philippine Star)
Legarda pulls out ads, uses funds to feed the poor (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Lakas expects defectors from rival camps (The Manila TImes)
Reveal favored bets, Lakas dares pollsters (The Daily Tribune)
Gibo pull off come from behind victory - Lakas (The Philippine Star)

Bets’ ad budgets top funding for govt hospitals

2010-04-22T14:09:00.000+08:00

BY FRANK LLOYD TIONGSON Reporter (The Manila Times )
Link: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/15781-bets-ad-budgets-top-funding-for-govt-hospitals

A consortium of electoral-reform advocates and civil society groups on Wednesday renewed calls for stricter regulation of provisions of the Fair Election Practices Act after they found that spending on advertisements of top contenders for the highest elective posts in the country exceeds that of the government on state hospitals and social services.

The Pera’t Politika (PaP) 2010 Consortium told reporters during a press conference in Quezon City on Wednesday that Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. had spent P273 million on advertisements during the first 60 days of the campaign period and Sen. Bengino “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd, P176 million.

In surveys, Villar and Aquino are the frontrunners in the May 10 elections, which will pick the successor to President Gloria Arroyo.

According to the PaP 2010 Consortium, Villar’s P273 million is more than the allocated budget for state hospitals such as the Quirino Memorial Medical Center with P207 million and the Amang Rodriguez Medical Center with P179 million, among others.

Che de los Reyes, a senior researcher and writer with the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), noted, “They [candidates] all claim to be pro-poor, but their [advertisement] spending is more than the budget allocated for poverty-alleviation programs.”

The cited amount also exceeds the budget allocated to various government agencies such as the National Anti-Poverty Commission, the Philippine Commission on Women and the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor.

Fairer practices

Commenting on the candidates’ extravagant spending on advertisements, lawyer Luie Tito Guia of the Lawyers League for Liberty (LIBERTAS), explained that contenders in the electoral race find ways to circumvent the law in order to maximize their exposure in the media.

Republic Act (RA) 9006, or the Fair Election Practices Act sets limits to the number of advertisements that may be aired over television and radio.

For candidates for president and for political parties, the limit is set at 120 minutes for television and 180 minutes for radio. Spending limits, meanwhile, are set at P10 per voter for the candidates for president.

PCIJ Executive Director Malou Mangahas pointed out that certain “gaps” in the law leads to “creative compliance” by candidates. She cited, for one, that there are no regulations on how to credit the advertisements of political parties featuring several candidates.

Guia, meanwhile, also explained that candidates tend to interpret the law in a “legalistic” manner. Conversely, he noted that the purpose of the law is to “level the playing field” in order to provide equal opportunities for candidates to be exposed to the media.

“It is easy to violate the spirit of the law,” Guia said.

Mangahas maintained that candidates running for the top elective posts in the country should adhere to both the letter and the spirit of the law “even if no one is looking.”

“We don’t want leaders who would say, ‘Puwede naman eh, lulusot naman sa batas [It’s alright, the law can be circumvented],’” she said.

The PaP 2010 Consortium, besides monitoring campaign financing, stressed the need to reform RA 9006 in order to set stricter and clearer regulations regarding campaign financing and to ensure compliance of candidates.

Besides the PCIJ and LIBERTAS, the PaP 2010 Consortium also includes the Consortium on Electoral Reforms and the Association of Schools of Public Administration in the Philippines.

Smartmatic inks service contract with telcos for auto polls

2010-04-22T14:07:00.000+08:00

By Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=568672&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) forged yesterday a memorandum of agreement with telecommunication companies to avail of their services in the May 10 polls.

The agreement was signed by representatives of Globe, PLDT Smart, Digitel and Smartmatic-TIM while Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials, led by Chairman Jose Melo, stood as witnesses.

Under the agreement, the system of these companies will be used to transmit the poll results from the voting centers to the canvassing centers and to the national canvassing centers.

“The way I look at it, this completes the circle because we are going to have preparations for the elections, the printing, the configuration and manufacture of the PCOS (precinct count optical scan) machines, everything,” Melo said.

The agreement is part of the P7.2-billion contract awarded to Smartmatic-TIM.

The other component of the deal is the 82,200 PCOS machines that the joint venture leased to Comelec.

Renato Garcia, Comelec consultant for information technology, said the three companies have agreed to provide Smartmatic-TIM a private channel that could be used for the transmission.

Smartmatic-TIM project director Alberto Castro noted that having a private channel allows them enough flexibility to transmit poll results.

“Having several networks would allow for flexibilities in the transmission of results in case one network is out of reach,” Castro added. – With Jose Rodel Clapano

Melo says postponement of polls 'unconstitutional'

2010-04-22T14:06:00.000+08:00

By Helen Flores (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=568671&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - There’s no stopping the national and local elections on May 10 despite a petition for their postponement by a presidential candidate, according to Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo.

“That’s unconstitutional… because the Constitution itself provides for the specific date on which an election will be held,” Melo said in reaction to a petition to postpone the polls filed by independent presidential candidate Nicanor Perlas.

The Comelec has yet to deliberate on Perlas’ petition.

In his petition, Perlas cited the agency’s lack of preparedness in carrying out its duties in the first nationwide automated polls.

In a 34-page petition, Perlas said the Comelec should first ensure that the automated elections system (AES) is fool proof before it proceeds with the elections in May.

“Failing to do so, the commission should give due course to the petition and postpone the May 10 national elections and expeditiously resolve all the technical, logistical, legal, and other problems connected with the AES within or less than three months,” Perlas said.

Among the issues Perlas raised in his petition were the lack of source code review, possible transmission failure, absence of voter verifiable paper trail, lack of ballot security features, presence of thousands of multiple registrants, lack of sufficient voter education and possible non-delivery of voting machines due to logistical failure.

“The honorable commission should demonstrate in writing that they have fully addressed all the factual allegations of this petition and that there is no basis for concern that the fully automated election system will fail on May 10,” Perlas said.

Perlas said the Comelec has the power to postpone the elections as provided for in the Omnibus Election Code.

He said that Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code states that the elections may be postponed in cases of “violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, force majeure, and other analogous causes.”

The law also provides that a new election schedule “should be reasonably close to the date of the election” but not later than 30 days.

Perlas, who trails most candidates in surveys, also clarified that his petition is not meant to benefit President Arroyo, whose term may be extended in the event of a postponement of polls.

“I’m not in favor of Arroyo but I do not want mass violence and civil war in case of a failure of elections,” Perlas said.

Legarda pulls out ads, uses funds to feed the poor

2010-04-22T14:04:00.002+08:00

By Michael Lim Ubac (Philippine Daily Inquirer )
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100422-265750/Legarda-pulls-out-ads-uses-funds-to-feed-the-poor

MANILA, Philippines—Vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda last week pulled out her solo TV advertisements, diverting funds to regular feeding programs dubbed “Lingkod Loren” in depressed areas in Metro Manila.

The move could turn out to be a political suicide since her main rival, Sen. Mar Roxas, airs about 20 TV ad spots a day.

The prime time rate, including spots in news programs, is P303,015.30 per 30-second ad, not including the 12-percent value-added tax.

“The politics of hunger is the politics we must address now,” said Legarda, urging candidates running for elective posts in May not to neglect the plight of poor and hungry Filipinos.

“Amidst the political noise and mudslinging, millions of Filipinos go hungry everyday; some die of hunger or lack of access to medicines,” she said.

Group ads

With her decision, Legarda’s TV exposure in major TV networks will be limited to group campaign ads paid by the Nacionalista Party (NP) which show the entire NP presidential and senatorial slate. She used to have five TV spots a day.

Legarda herself disclosed this when asked about reports that more Filipinos were getting hungry—about half of 8 million poor Filipinos, according to the Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey.

She earlier told reporters that Roxas had already spent about P1.3 billion on TV campaign ads alone.
“That’s a waste of too much money... there are so many poor people in our midst,” she said.

At the end of 2009, Roxas had already spent P851 million; from January to February this year, he spent P395 million. No figures yet from February to April this year, she said.

Legarda was confident about her data, citing figures from the Nielsen media monitoring report.

LP reacts

Liberal Party (LP) Director General Chito Gascon disagreed, saying that since the start of the campaign period, from Feb. 9 to Feb. 28, Legarda had already spent P31 million for 162 TV and radio spots, compared to Roxas’ P23 million for 90 TV and radio spots.

Gascon had denied Legarda’s claim that Roxas had already spent a fortune on campaign advertisements even before the official start of the campaign period.

He had said that Legarda spent P140.6 million on television and radio “infomercials” from Sept. 1, 2009 to Dec. 15, 2009.

“As I promised you on Oct. 23, when I was in Luneta Park, our Lingkod Loren programs will continue,” Legarda said, citing two ongoing feeding programs in Parañaque, Muntinlupa and Smokey Mountain in Tondo, Manila.

“We have feeding missions, medical missions, climate change viewing missions,” she said. “How many more children are dying of malnutrition while politicians fight with each other during this political contest?”

Distributed during feeding missions are congee rice, cupcakes and juice.

Lakas expects defectors from rival camps

2010-04-22T14:02:00.000+08:00

By Jefferson Antiporda, Francis Earl A. Cueto and Rhadz B. Barcia(The Manila Times)

Link: http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/15782-lakas-expects-defectors-from-rival-camps

THINGS are looking up for former Defense Secretary Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro because stalwarts from other political parties are reportedly planning to jump ship and support the ruling party’s standard-bearer in the May 10 elections.

According to Reggie Velasco, the deputy secretary general of Lakas-Kampi Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD), more politicians from the rival parties have signified their intention to support Teodoro, whom they said is the most qualified among the candidates seeking to succeed President Gloria Arroyo.

Velasco said things are still under negotiations and that they could not disclose any details yet on the transfer of the politicians to the ruling party. What is sure, according to him, is that there are politicians who have sent feelers to defect to the camp of Teodoro.

Meanwhile, Rep. Amelita Villarosa of Occidental Mindoro, the Lakas-Kampi CMD chairman, has announced that Rep. George Arnaiz of Negros Oriental, who belongs to the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), would be supporting the bid of the former Defense secretary but that Arnaiz will stay with his current party.

Villarosa made the disclosure during a meeting at the Marco Polo Hotel in Cebu City on Tuesday night that was attended by at least 41 governors and gubernatorial candidates, who all reaffirmed their support for Teodoro.

Also present during the meeting was Rep. Benhur Salimbangon of Cebu province, who belied local media reports that he was no longer supporting Teodoro and has switched allegiance to a rival candidate.

“We are kumpadre [buddies], so kumpadre we will be, till the end. Gibo is the most qualified to be our next president. What we need is a president who will look forward, not backward,” he said.

Teodoro said that he never doubted Salimbangon despite stories published in the local media that the Cebu congressman was supporting another candidate.

Teodoro volunteers

Various volunteer groups supporting Teodoro have vowed to work harder to ensure clean and honest elections on May 10.

“It is important that voters remain vigilant of their votes and to protect their votes,” said Evelyn Kilayko, chairman of Mahal Ko Bayan Ko.

“It is important for us volunteers to know exactly what we can do, to clinch the victory of our candidate, Gibo Teodoro, without any fears regarding the safety of our votes,” said Rose Imperial of Friends of Ramos for Teodoro (FORT).

More than 200 volunteers attended the seminar on Tuesday at the Gibo Volunteer Center in Barangay Wack-Wack, Mandaluyong City (metro Manila).

In Legazpi City, Albay, a volunteer movement has emerged to support the bid of Teodoro, apparently a welcome development given the defection of some ruling party members to the opposition, particularly Gov. Jose “Joey” Salceda of Albay. The volunteer movement is spearheaded by Mayor Noel Rosal of Legazpi City.

Teodoro is “the best preference of the electorate from almost all sectors of society. The youth and young professionals are rallying behind him [Teodoro] because of his magnificent track record and intellectual capabilities as a young leader. Gibo is now the underdog with great capabilities [and] because of this, he won over Sen. [Francis] “Chiz” Escudero’s millions of political supporters,” Rosal said.

He added that while Teodoro’s ranking in the surveys was not that high, online polls in almost all the universities in the country showed the administration bet leading the other candidates.

Villar appeals

With less than three weeks before the May 10 polls, Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. urged Filipino voters to stop using popularity and emotions as the basis for choosing the country’s next president.

Villar said that the people should remember that the country plunged into deep political and economic turmoil when the electorate in the late 1980s and late 1990s picked presidents out of sympathy and opularity. He did not name the presidents he was referring to.

“In the end, the issue here is if we really want to move on, the country’s next president should have leadership and competence,” he added.

The NP bet earlier declared that his track record could speak for itself since he is a successful businessman and an outstanding member of the Senate.

Villar said that many voters even see him as the first political figure to run for president without relying on funding from others. This, he added, makes him financially beholden to no one.

The NP candidate allayed fears that his alliance with various political groups with contradicting interests would undermine his leadership.

Estrada gaining

Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada’s camp believe that its bet continues to gain more supporters, belying results of popular surveys that showed him trailing the frontrunners.

Former Sen. Ernesto Maceda, the campaign manager of Estrada’s Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP), said that the massing of thousands of supports during the former president’s provincial sorties has disproved the results of the popular surveys.

“As we have said time and again, these surveys do not show the reality on the ground and those who belittled President Erap’s chances are now being proved wrong. He [Estrada] was correct in predicting that he would peak when the time is right, [or] in the last few weeks of the campaign. It’s all coming together now,” Maceda added.

He cited Estrada’s recent rally in Cebu province that drew a crowd of about 30,000, the biggest gathering mustered so far by any candidate for president in the province that was achieved without the appearance of show business personalities.

On Tuesday, 20,000 people attended Estrada’s rally with his running mate, Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati City (Metro Manila), in Cavite City.

According to Maceda, the recent defection of Rep. Annie Susano of Quezon City to Estrada’s camp would also be a big boost to the former president’s campaign in Metro Manila.

Susano’s “constituency includes Novaliches and areas along Commonwealth Avenue with large masa [masses] communities, traditional bailiwicks of President Erap,” he said.

Susano started her political career with the PMP but later joined the ruling party.

Reveal favored bets, Lakas dares pollsters

2010-04-22T13:59:00.002+08:00

By Aytch S. de la Cruz (The Daily Tribune)

Link: http://www.tribune.net.ph/

Officials of the admi-nistration party, Lakas-Kampi-CMD, yesterday assailed the country’s major survey companies as it has come to their knowledge that these firms have themselves elicited the idea to the public that the battle for the presidency has been narrowed down to the two leading candidates, hence the frequent favorable results on the part of the candidates concerned.

Speaking before a Malacañang press

conference, ruling party’s secretary general, Raymond Roquero, challenged the owners of the survey firms in question to come out in the open and declare which candidates are they supporting and just how much do their companies receive from them.

“They (survey firms) should tell us who their benefactors are, how much do they receive from them to conduct these surveys and one presidential candidate even mentioned that it is time to refrain from publishing the results (in favor of them) because this gives the wrong impression to our people,” he said.

Roquero also stressed that despite the questionable survey results every now and then, nothing changed in their belief that their candidate, former Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro, would have a come-from-behind win especially since the dirty campaign tricks established by other quarters have backfired.

“There is such a thing as a come from behind victory and what we’re seeing now is that the efforts of our candidates have been galvanized. The black propagandas being waged against us by the opposition seemed to have backfired and went to our favor. We have seen unheard of groups now helping us in the province,” Roquero said.

He added that Teodoro’s chances in winning the presidential race are also strengthened by the recent reaffirmation of support by their allies at the local level particularly those of the 56 provincial governors and hundreds of congressmen.

Presidential adviser for political affairs and concurrent vice chairman for recruitment and membership of Lakas-Kampi CMD, Prospero Pichay echoed that the continuous mudslinging by the two leading rivals for the top public position spurred an increase in the number of undecided voters which they would like to capitalize from.

“With the machinery that we have, I’m sure we will be able to convert the undecided which is around 20 percent plus the 8 or 9 percent of Gilbert Teodoro, maybe 10 in the next survey, and that will assure us of victory in 2010,” Pichay said.

He added they are still not discounting the fact that defections may still occur but they’re confident that this anticipation will not exceed to 10 percent as they have since expected.

“Considering the fact that we have 161 candidates for congressmen and congresswomen and then we have around 72 candidates for governors and, of course, a lot of mayors and city mayors — you can expect that there will be more defections but not big enough to be able to tilt the balance,” Pichay said.

Gibo to pull off come from behind victory - Lakas

2010-04-22T13:57:00.002+08:00

By Paolo Romero (The Philippine Star)
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=568673&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro Jr. would pull a “come from behind victory” with the resurgence of support for him three weeks before the May 10 elections, party officials said yesterday.

Speaking to reporters, Ray Roquero, Lakas-Kampi secretary-general, said attacks against Teodoro, who continues to place fourth in surveys, have backfired.

“There is such a thing as a come from behind victory, and we can see the campaign being galvanized, the black propaganda being waged against us by the opposition seemed to have backfired and favored us,” he said.

“We have seen unheard-of groups now helping us in the provinces. All the sorties now of Gibo (Teodoro) are packed even if there are no artistas (stars) but they come and we are very happy about this development.”

Roquero said 30 governors and 12 gubernatorial candidates converged in Cebu on Tuesday to reaffirm their support for Teodoro.

“This (56) is not the figure that we thought would be still loyal for Gibo,” he said.

“So there are many positive developments and we feel that we are right, and we believe that we are going to win this election.”

Roquero said Filipino voters have realized that among the presidential candidates, only Teodoro has not resorted to mudslinging.

Presidential adviser for political affairs Prospero Pichay said the number of undecided voters has increased to about 15 percent and would likely vote for Teodoro.

“So they’re (undecided voters) looking for alternative candidates and I’m sure they will choose somebody who has been engaging a high-level campaign, did not engage in mudslinging, but what he (Teodoro) is just trying to do is present to them the program and platform of government if elected as president,” he said.

Pichay said the widely publicized defections from Lakas-Kampi were not as many as they had earlier expected.

“From the very beginning, we were expecting a 10 percent defection and but now it’s just two to three percent only,” he said.

“And considering the fact that we have 161 candidates for congressmen and congresswomen and then we have around 72 candidates for governors and, of course, a lot of mayors and city mayors – you can expect that there will be more defections but not big enough to be able to tilt the balance.”

Pichay also told Lakas-Kampi members planning to jump ship that they are free to go.

“We are a democratic party,” he said.

“We will not stop those who will decide to leave.”

Last Monday, Romblon Rep. Eleandro Jesus Madrona defected to the Nacionalista Party hours after joining130 other lawmakers in expressing their support for Teodoro during a Lakas-Kampi caucus at the Dusit Thani Hotel in Makati.

Madrona took his oath as an NP member, along with several mayors of Romblon. The congressman was chairman of the accounts committee when Villar was speaker.

Pichay hits Aquino

Pichay has criticized Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III for warning of civil unrest in case he loses the elections.

“I think they are anticipating defeat rather than victory, that’s why they are preconditioning the minds of our people that when they lose, there was cheating,” he said.

“So, sad to say, I thought that they were anticipating victory. At the moment, I think if that is their plan that means they are anticipating their defeat.”

Meanwhile, Pichay said the Ampatuans endorsed the candidacy of Aquino because President Corazon Aquino named Andal Ampatuan Sr. town mayor in 1986. – With Jaime Laude

Election 2010 News - April 21, 2010

2010-04-21T14:43:00.000+08:00

Comelec won't count votes for 32 'unaccredited' party-list groups (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Perlas wants May 10 polls postponed (The Philippine Star)
Akbayan prods Comelec to disqualify Mikey (The Philippine Star)
Comelec enters passwords for automated system (The Philippine Star)
Palace, security officials tackle power crisis (The Philippine Star)
It's Official: NPC backing Villar, Loren candidacy (The Manila TImes)
Solon turns Teodoro green to Villar orange in a snap (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
No bribery attempt during Lakas meeting (The Manila Times)
Gibo tops online survey; Erap second, Noynoy fourth (The Daily Tribune)
GMA acts to strengthen Lakas (Manila Bulletin)
Teodoro to maintain principled fight (The Philippine Star)