Comelec to host live chat with RP bets

by James Mananghaya, United Kingdom Correspondent (The Philippine Star)http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=559191
 

LONDON — Filipinos in the United Kingdom can now get to know more about the candidates in the upcoming May 2010 elections after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) launched a website that will host live chats, the Philippine embassy in London said Wednesday.

In a statement, the embassy said the website was introduced by the Comelec to ensure that Filipinos who work overseas and who are listed as overseas absentee voters can have an informed choice come election day.

“politicalarena.com is one of the official information websites of the Comelec which provides a venue for interaction between candidates and the electorate,” the embassy said in a statement Wednesday.

The website will host 45-minute live chats every Tuesday and Thursday at the following timeslots (Manila time): 4 p.m., 4:45 p.m., 7:45 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. and would run until the last week of April, the embassy said.

Filipinos in the United Kingdom can register and send questions addressed to candidates who are online at a certain episode.

“All Filipino nationals and other interested members of the public are encouraged to visit and register with the site,” the embassy said.

Election 2010 News - March 18, 2010

• Invest in Pinoy brainpower to stem brain drain - Gibo (The Philippine Star)
• NY Times stands by accuracy of Luisita story (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• Gordon, Villanueva: Why pick on us? (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• Noynoy, Mar most trusted in Pulse poll (The Manila Times)
• Perlas enjoys Muslim support (The Philippine Star)
• Noynoy a 'political opportunist' -- Erap (People's Tonight)
• Political will needed to solve power crisis, says think-tank (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• NPA leader says no fee for campaign (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• Comelec testing higher nitrate solution for indelible ink (The Philippine Star) 
• Printing of manual ballots stopped, full automation on--Melo (Inquirer.net)
• Teachers on poll duty to get free legal aid (The Philippine Star)
• Media entities required to submit ad contracts to Comelec (The Philippine Star)

Invest in Pinoy brainpower to stem brain drain - Gibo

by Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star)

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=558977&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Administration presidential bet Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro said investing in the Filipino brainpower and in physical infrastructure could check the country’s “brain drain” of medical professionals, especially in far-flung areas.

Teodoro discussed the wrong assignments of healthcare providers in the country during Presidential Forum on Health held at The Medical City in Mandaluyong last Tuesday night, which was televised live on ANC.

Doctors said 80 percent of Filipinos, most of them in the countryside, are not receiving proper medical attention because 50 percent of doctors are in urban centers if not working abroad.

“This is not solely a healthcare problem, it is also a developmental problem,” said Teodoro, Lakas-Kampi standard-bearer. “If we also invest in education and infrastructure, this can be resolved.”

Lack of infrastructure in remote areas is one of the apparent reasons why proper health attention is not distributed effectively in the country.

Thus, there is a need to enhance the country’s infrastructure system by requiring the integration and convergence of various transport networks, he said.

Aside from the need to improve the country’s infrastructure, he also emphasized the importance of improving the quality of education in the country.

NY Times stands by accuracy of Luisita story

by Philip Tubeza (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100318-259327/NY-Times-stands-by-accuracy-of-Luisita-story

MANILA, Philippines—It’s all on tape.

The New York Times Wednesday stood pat on the accuracy and fairness of the paper’s story that quoted a cousin of Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III as saying that the Cojuangcos had no intention of leaving Hacienda Luisita.

Aquino, the Liberal Party presidential candidate in the May 10 elections, on Tuesday said that the article “favored one side of the issue.”

“I don’t think it was a fair treatment,” he added, suggesting that the quotes were taken out of context.

“We stand by our story. The interview with Mr. Fernando Cojuangco was recorded. If he wants us to release the tape, we will be more than happy to do so,” said Carlos H. Conde, the newspaper’s local reporter. He said he had been authorized to speak on the matter.

Cojuangco, 47, chief operating officer of the holding company that owns the sugar plantation, was quoted as saying in the interview on Feb. 23 that the family had no intention of giving up the land or the sugar business.

Gordon, Villanueva: Why pick on us?

by Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Tina Santos (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100318-259328/Gordon-Villanueva-Why-pick-on-us

MANILA, Philippines—Bring it on.

Sen. Richard Gordon is not taking down his huge billboards on EDSA and on South Luzon Expressway despite an order from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for him to remove them.

“I will not dismantle it. I don’t own it. It does not belong to me,” Gordon, a presidential candidate of the Bagumbayan Party, said Wednesday when asked about the Comelec order.

Gordon, his running mate Bayani Fernando and presidential candidate Eddie Villanueva of Bangon Pilipinas have billboards that exceed the mandated size, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said Wednesday.

The Fair Election Act specifies that the maximum size of posters should be 2 ft by 3 ft. For streamers announcing a public meeting, it’s 3 ft by 8 ft, which can be placed five days before the event and should be removed within 24 hours after the event.

Without his knowledge

Gordon said the two huge billboards that the Comelec referred to as oversized were donated by supporters and were put up without his knowledge.

Noynoy, Mar most trusted in Pulse poll

by ROMMEL C. LONTAYAO (The Manila Times)
http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/13580-noynoy-mar-most-trusted-in-pulse-poll
 
Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino 3rd emerged as the most trusted presidential candidate, according to the latest survey conducted by Pulse Asia.

Aquino got a trust rating of 64 percent while his closest rival, Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar Jr. of the Nacionalista Party, slid down to 59 percent, said the survey conducted by Pulse Asia from February 21 to 25.

Villar had a 70-percent trust rating a month earlier.

Aquino’s running mate, Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd, also had the highest trust rating among vice presidential candidates with 70 percent.

Only 14 percent of voters said that they had “small/no trust” for Aquino, with the rest saying that they were undecided.

Former President Joseph “Erap” Estrada of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino came in third, with a 40-percent trust rating followed by administration bet Gilbert “Gibo” Teodoro with 29 percent and Sen. Richrad “Dick” Gordon of Bagumbayan Movement with 25 percent.

Among the other vice presidential bets, Sen. Loren Legarda, Villar’s running mate, got a 58-percent trust rating, a 3-percent drop from her January rating. Following Legarda was Mayor Jejomar Binay of Makati City, Estrada’s running mate, who got 45 percent while former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando, Gordon’s vice presidential bet, got 22 percent.

Perlas enjoys Muslim support

from The Philippine Star

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=558973&publicationSubCategoryId=63

Independent presidential candidate Nicanor Perlas yesterday claimed he enjoys the support of a diverse and large Muslim sector with five major Muslim organizations joining his “coalition for new politics.”

Perlas said that the leaders of the Manila Golden Mosque in Quiapo, the Lanao del Norte Sultanate Group Movement, Sultanate of Lanao Sur, the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) Group of Lanao del Norte, and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) Returnist Group are now endorsing his presidential bid, as they believe in the credibility of his peace platform.

“The support of these Muslim leaders and their constituents is the basis for the possibility of a lasting peace in Mindanao,” he said.

According to his camp, the five organizations represent around “200,000 immediate members, with a wide network of one million members” that are now part of his coalition for new politics, Pangmasa.

Perlas said his platform will demonstrate the government’s willingness to push for genuine peace by ensuring that the appropriate government services are delivered to the poorest provinces of the country even while peace negotiations are in progress.

Noynoy a ‘political opportunist’ -- Erap

from People's Tonight
http://www.journal.com.ph/index.php/national/5406-noynoy-a-political-opportunist-erap.html  

FORMER President Joseph Estrada said Liberal Party standard-bearer Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino Jr. has become a “political opportunist” who is willing to forsake friendships just to boost his sagging ratings in the surveys.

A visibly irked Estrada said he felt that Aquino used him for publicity when Aquino said earlier that Mrs. Arroyo erred in granting pardon to Estrada on plunder charges in 2007.

“Kaibigan ko ang mga Aquino at si Noynoy kaya nakakapagtaka na ginagamit niya ako ngayon. Katulad nga ng sinabi ko dapat maging presidente muna siya bago siya magsalita ng kung anu-ano,” Estrada, standard-bearer of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino, said.

Estrada said he would like to inform Aquino that he did not ask for pardon from Malacañang.

“Baka nakakalimutan niya na ang tatay [the late Sen. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino] niya ay na-convict din ng military tribunal sa kasong sedition,” he said.

Estrada also reminded Aquino that his mother, the late President Corazon Aquino sought his blessing when her son ran for Senate in 2007 under the ticket of Genuine Opposition.

“It was at the expense of Tessie Oreta, who is Aquino’s aunt, I accommodated him out of respect for the former president,” he recalled.

“Nakalimutan na yata ni Noynoy na may nagawa akong kabutihan sa kanya at sa pamilya nila. Mukhang naging beteranong political opportunist na rin ang ating kaibigan,” Estrada pointed out.

Estrada admitted he was hurt by Aquino’s “ungrateful nature,” adding that he even campaigned for Aquino in Ilocos, a bailiwick of the Marcoses.

“Nakasama siya sa top 12 dahil inilapit ko siya sa mga Ilokano,” Estrada said.

Estrada said Sen. Aquino should be reminded that the late President Cory even granted pardon to communist leader Jose Ma. Sison, ex-New People’s Army leader Dante Buscayno, and Muslim separatist leader Nur Misuari.

Political will needed to solve power crisis, says think-tank

by Doris Dumlao (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100318-259343/Political-will-needed-to-solve-power-crisis-says-think-tank

MANILA, Philippines—The country’s next president must have the political will to tackle a threatened power crisis that could undermine investor confidence, according to the New York-based Global Source think tank.

In a March 18 report titled “Power, Interrupted,” Global Source said that beyond election and short-term macroeconomic risks, incidents of massive blackouts would undermine investor confidence as well, especially in a country that has a history of power shortages.

“This risks under-investment all around resulting in an inability to expand the country’s growth frontier, thus bringing forward to the present the issue of long-term supply adequacy,” it said.

Global Source noted that the Department of Energy’s power supply and demand outlook underscored the need for immediate new investments in power-generating capacity, especially considering the three- to four-year lead time needed to get all the requirements and financing for building power plants.

Worst-case scenario

NPA leader says no fee for campaign

from Philippine Daily Inquirer

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20100317-259306/NPA-leader-says-no-fee-for-campaign

BAGUIO CITY — An official of the Cordillera People’s Democratic Front (CPDF) said guerrilla leaders would allow political candidates to campaign in Cordillera villages where communist rebels operate without paying permit to campaign (PTC) fees.

Simon Naogsan, spokesman of the CPDF, the local political arm of the National Democratic Front, said New People’s Army (NPA) rebels have never forced candidates to pay the NPA in exchange for access to so-called rebel territories.

Donations

But Naogsan said donations that rebels received during the election period in 2007 reached P500,000 worth of cash and goods in the Cordillera alone.

What rebel leaders in the region wanted was coordination to avoid clashes between guerrillas and security escorts of politicians, he said.

Naogsan said the group would welcome “any help or support from these candidates in cash or in kind … even moral support.”

“Kusang loob nilang ibinibigay (Candidates give us cash or goods on their own volition),” he said.

Goods

Comelec testing higher nitrate solution for indelible ink

by Mayen Jaymalin (The Philippine Star)

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=558986&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Commission on Elections Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal reported yesterday that the poll body is testing a higher nitrate solution for the indelible ink to make it stick and mark the nail of the voter’s index finger for several days to prevent flying voters from undermining the coming May 10 elections.

Larrazabal said the Comelec plans to put more nitrate solution due to complaints in the past elections that the indelible ink could be easily removed and allow erring voters to vote several times.

“We have already tested seven-percent nitrate solution, which is already higher than the rate we used in the past elections, but we want more so it would not be removed for a longer time,” Larrazabal disclosed.

James Jimenez, Comelec spokesman, explained that indelible ink contains blue dye to stain the nail and mixed with a nitrate solution to “burn” the index finger of voters and make it more difficult to remove the ink.

“So we want a stronger concentrate of nitrate solution so the fingers would burn more and make it more difficult to remove, but we have to test the amount of solution possible because we need to ensure that it would not be painful and tolerable for the voters,” Jimenez pointed out.

Printing of manual ballots stopped, full automation on—Melo

by Anna Valmero (INQUIRER.net) 
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100317-259248/Printing-of-manual-ballots-stopped-full-automation-onMelo

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will no longer print manual ballots because “it’s too late” and that to mix these with those prepared for the automated polls on May 10 will be “problematic,” said Chairman Jose Melo.

“We will no longer print manual ballots, too late na [it’s too late],” Melo said, explaining that mixed manual and automated polls would be “problematic” in terms of consolidating the total votes cast, especially for national candidates.

As with previous elections, results in manual polls for national positions are tampered through “dagdag bawas” (vote padding and shaving) by election operators to favor a candidate and winners are proclaimed after a month, he said.

Melo added that partial automated polls might pave the way for cheaters to introduce fraud into the system or sabotage elections in areas where manual ballots have been distributed, which might result in failure of elections in the area.

“Hypothetically, let us say that we automate 90 percent of the country and 10 percent have manual polls. For automated polls, the results are out in three to four days and who knows how many weeks it would take to consolidate the votes for areas with manual elections,” said Melo.

Teachers on poll duty to get free legal aid

from The Philippine Star

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=558967&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Public school teachers will get free legal assistance from the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) if they face lawsuits while on poll duty on May 10.

However, free legal assistance will not be given in cases where the chairman or member of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) is the nominal complainant.

Justice Santiago Kapunan, IBP officer-in-charge, signed an agreement yesterday with Education Secretary Mona Valisno to formalize the IBP’s commitment to extend legal aid to teachers involved in election-related lawsuits.

Valisno said the agreement will set procedures on how public school teachers could avail of the free legal assistance.

“The MOA arises from our desire to promote and protect the welfare of the public school teachers who will again play a key role in this democratic exercise,” she said.

Kapunan said the agreement stipulates IBP’s commitment to DepEd to provide free legal assistance to public school teachers who will be charged administratively and criminally in the performance of their election duties.

Education Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Franklin Sunga said it has been standard practice for DepEd and the IBP to provide legal assistance for teachers in every election.

“However, since 2010 elections will be the very first automated national and local elections, it poses a whole new set of questions,” he said.

The free legal assistance shall be in the nature of court appearances and representations, preparation and submission of pleadings and other documents required to be produced in court and other legal services for the protection of the rights of teachers serving as chairmen or members of BEI.

Media entities required to submit ad contracts to Comelec

BY CHE DE LOS REYES and KAROL M. ILAGAN (The Manila Times)

http://www.manilatimes.net/index.php/top-stories/13583-media-entities-required-to-submit-ad-contracts-to-comelec

CANDIDATES and political parties are not the only ones who have to submit documents to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) once the campaign period starts.

According to Comelec Resolution 8758, or the “Rules and Regulations Implementing RA (Republic Act) 9006, otherwise known as the Fair Election Practices Act in Relation to the May 10, 2010 Synchronized National and Local Elections, and Subsequent Elections,” all media entities, whether print or broadcast, are required to submit copies of their political advertising contracts within five days after these are signed. If a political ad is donated, a written acceptance by the candidate, political party or party-list group for which the donation is being made should be attached to the advertising contract.

Broadcast media outfits are also supposed to submit certified true copies of broadcast logs and certificates of performance covering political advertisements by four preset deadlines: March 9, April 9, May 8 and May 14.

The networks’ certificates of performance are official reports certifying the airing of ads for the account holders (or the entities that placed the ads). These reflect the dates and time when the ads were broadcast. Broadcast logs, meanwhile, are running accounts of all political advertisements (whether commercial, political or otherwise) broadcast by a particular station in a given day.

Election 2010 News - March 17, 2010

• Future scientists pinili si Gibo (Pilipino Star Ngayon) 
• Teodoro tops mock polls among state scholars (The Philippine Star)
• Villar allies slam Aquino over Hacienda Luisita (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• Danding Cojuangco affirms support for Legarda (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• Take down oversized billboards, Gordon told (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• Kahit holy week: Pag-imprenta ng mga balota tuloy (Pilipino Star Ngayon)
• Election body to use stronger indelible ink to stop flying voters (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• Comelec sets up express lanes for old, sick, clueless voters  (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
• PARTY-LIST-FOR-SALE! Comelec naalarma rin (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

Future scientists pinili si Gibo

mula sa Pilipino Star Ngayon
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=558620&publicationSubCategoryId=92

MANILA, Philippines - Kahit hindi pa mga botante ang mga future scientists ng bansa na pawang estudyante ng Philippine Science High School, pinili nila si Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard bearer Gilbert Teodoro Jr. bilang susunod na pangulo sa isinagawa nilang mock elections.

Hindi man sila botante sa ngayon, alam ng mga estudyante ng PSHS na dapat paghandaan ang kanilang magiging kinabukasan kaya dapat paghandaang mabuti at piliin ang susunod na lider ng bansa.

Sa mock elections na nilahukan ng may 300 estudyante, nakakuha si Teodoro ng 54 percent habang si Liberal Party presidential bet Noynoy Aquino ay nakakuha ng 19 percent kasunod si Sen. Richard Gordon na may 12 percent.

Hindi ito ang unang pagkakataon na nanalo si Teodoro sa mock elections na isinagawa sa mga paaralan sa bansa kung saan maging ang alma mater ni Noynoy na Ateneo de Manila University ay ang una ang nanalo. Maging sa isinagawang independent survey ng Campaigns and Images sa koordinasyon ng Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting ay big­lang umangat si Teodoro sa 2nd spot kung saan ay tinalo na niya si Noynoy. (Rudy Andal)

Teodoro tops mock polls among state scholars

By Jaime Laude (The Philippine Star)

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=558742&publicationSubCategoryId=63

MANILA, Philippines - Administration presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro Jr. has topped a mock presidential election among students of the Philippine Science High School (PSHS).

Teodoro got more than half or 54 percent of the votes cast by 300 students, followed by Liberal Party’s Sen. Benigno Aquino III who received 19 percent; and Sen. Richard Gordon, 12 percent.

The PSHS, the country’s premier science high school, admits about two percent of around 18,000 applicants yearly.

“They may not yet be voters, but like all other Filipinos they are stakeholders in next May’s elections,” Teodoro’s campaign spokesman Mike Toledo said.

“These PSHS students are keenly aware and capable of separating the chaff from the grain when it comes to a candidate’s qualifications,” he said.

Villar allies slam Aquino over Hacienda Luisita

By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. (Philippine Daily Inquirer) 

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100317-259146/Villar-allies-slam-Aquino-over-Hacienda-Luisita

MANILA, Philippines—Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, the Liberal Party standard-bearer, came under fire Tuesday after his cousin was quoted in The New York Times article published March 14 as saying that the Cojuangco family would not give up Hacienda Luisita.

The distribution of all agricultural lands to farmers—over 1 million hectares in the most productive areas of the country that had not been distributed under the agrarian reform program in the past two decades—is mandated under a new law extending the program for five years and appropriating P150 billion for its implementation.
Hypocrisy, double-speak
Gilbert Remulla, spokesperson of Nacionalista Party presidential candidate Manny Villar, accused Aquino of “political double-speak” over the hacienda issue.
“Senator Aquino says in his latest political ads that he will continue the fight. I think he owes it to the Filipino people to first settle his family’s fight with the farmers and tenants of Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac,” said Remulla, also an NP senatorial candidate.
“It is hypocrisy and double-speak, plain and simple,” Remulla said.
“He can no longer evade the issue as he did all these months. For a presidential candidate who is supposedly running on a platform of change, the appalling conditions that pervade in his family’s hacienda and the continuing plight of the farmers and tenants there should be explained and not swept under the rug,” Remulla said.

Danding Cojuangco affirms support for Legarda

By Michael Lim Ubac (Philippine Daily Inquirer) 

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100317-259155/Danding-Cojuangco-affirms-support-for-Legarda

MANILA, Philippines—During a recent closed-door meeting, business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco and the Nationalist People’s Coalition, which he founded, reiterated their full support for vice presidential candidate Loren Legarda.

However, the kingmaker was mum on his presidential choice, reportedly a close fight between Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. of the Nacionalista Party and Sen. Benigno Aquino III of the Liberal Party.
“My father and I want to assure everybody, that we and the entire NPC organization are fully supporting Senator Legarda’s vice presidential candidacy,” said Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco, issuing a statement right after the meeting on Monday.
The congressman admitted that the NPC had yet to rally behind a presidential candidate. The party’s only other official national candidate is Vicente “Tito” Sotto III, who is seeking to return to the Senate.
“We may not have a presidential aspirant in these elections, but the NPC has not wavered in its commitment to support Senator Legarda,” Cojuangco stressed.
Legarda, an NPC stalwart, opted to run with Villar as a guest VP candidate of the NP.
The good news was welcomed by Legarda in an ambush interview after she keynoted a climate change adaptation conference on Monday at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City.

Take down oversized billboards, Gordon told By Kristine L. Alave, Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Dona Pazzibugan Philippine Daily Inquirer

By Kristine L. Alave, Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Dona Pazzibugan (Philippine Daily Inquirer)

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100317-259153/Take-down-oversized-billboards-Gordon-told
 
MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has warned candidates Sen. Richard Gordon, his running mate Bayani Fernando and Bro. Eddie Villanueva to take down their campaign billboards that are oversized, lest they risk election charges.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez Tuesday said the poll agency had been monitoring the outdoor ads of the candidates and found billboards of Gordon, Fernando and Villanueva that exceeded the size mandated by law.

“The clock is ticking. They should remove the billboards forthwith, otherwise they risk sanctions for violating election laws,” Jimenez said.

He said the Comelec sent photos of the offending billboards to its law department, which would notify the candidates to take them down.

Jimenez said the Gordon and Fernando billboards were found along EDSA and the South Luzon Expressway.

Villanueva, on the other hand, had a giant banner near Quiapo Bridge in Manila.