Pinoy Election 2010

LP campaign manager Florencio “Butch” Abad said the Comelec should already remove the name of Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) presidential candidate Vetellano Acosta—who had already been disqualified—to correct the supposedly unfair ballot design.

"As it is now, left unchanged, the present design of the ballot is disadvantageous to Noynoy Aquino," Abad said in a statement.

"Unlike the original design where the candidates' names are presented in a clear, easily readable vertical order, now the names are bunched tightly together three names to a box in a horizontal order," he said.

Aquino said that, in the ballots that the National Printing Office (NPO) produced, the first box for the presidential candidates still had Acosta first in the list with Aquino and Ang Kapatiran presidential bet JC delos Reyes "tightly bunched with him."

"On the other hand, curiously, at the extreme end of the space for the names of presidential candidates, (Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Manuel) Villar's name is by its lonesome self," Abad said.

"It is easy to make a mistake in shading other spaces, but not in the case of Villar. We just hope that this is not deliberate and the reluctance of the Comelec to remove Acosta's name has nothing to do with this," he added.

Abad said the reluctance of Comelec commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal to remove Acosta's name was "puzzling and worrying to the LP."

"After (Comelec) chair Jose Melo called him unfit to run for president, after KBL heir-apparent (Ferdinand Jr.) Bongbong Marcos disowned him and after Larrazabal himself threatened to sue him for perjury, falsification and other charges, the Comelec, on its own, should have ordered the instant removal of Acosta from the ballot," Abad said.

He said that even though the NPO had already printed at least 9 million ballots, the LP will still petition Comelec to remove Acosta's name from the ballot.

Source:Philippine Daily Inquirer

Chief Superintendent Rolando Añonuevo, Calabarzon police director, said the Commission on Elections-imposed ban may “possibly” be continued even after it is lifted on June 9, this time under the aegis of the National Firearm Control Program of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

The Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines prohibits the carrying of firearms and other deadly weapons in public during an election period, except for members of law enforcement who are on duty.

“We will continue setting up checkpoints and choke-points (even after the elections),” said Añonuevo during a regional police security planning conference held here on Friday.

As for those individuals who had been issued permits to carry firearms before the election gun ban, “the chief PNP may consider not (honoring) the permits (anymore) if he finds the number of crimes reduced. They would just have to keep their guns at home,” Añonuevo said.

The Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region has so far recorded the most number of guns and other deadly weapons confiscated during the current election gun ban, followed by Metro Manila.

Source:http://newsinfo.inquirer.net

Election Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said they would need evidence in order to disqualify nominees submitted by the party-list groups themselves.

He said that with 187 accredited party-list groups — each submitting at least five nominees — the poll body could not scrutinize all of the names, all at once.

In order for the Comelec to reject a nominee motu propio, or on its own volition, it would need evidence or information, Sarmiento said.

“There are many nominees. And [for us to act] motu propio, honestly, we need information [and] assistance, what with the many concerns of Comelec. It will [have to] be a collaborative effort, with the stakeholders helping Comelec,” Sarmiento said.

The party-list system was created to ensure that marginalized sectors are represented in Congress.

Bayan Muna Representatives Satur Ocampo and Teddy Casiño earlier said Reyes and Arroyo were both not qualified to run in the party-list system, having come from the moneyed political class.

Reyes was the Armed Forces chief of staff before he became a member of the Arroyo Cabinet. Mikey Arroyo is the son of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

The Comelec has never rejected a party-list nominee — even in the past, according to Sarmiento.

He said he recognized the need for more guidelines to ensure that the partylist voting system would be for marginalized sectors.

The 187 party-list groups have until March 26 to submit a list of their five nominees to the Comelec. Petitions against the nominees may be filed after this date.

Source:http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/

In a one-on-one interview with broadcaster Mike Enriquez over radio dzBB, Gordon continued his tirade against Villar, saying the NP bet’s attempt at buying him, which occurred a week before Feb. 9 or during the time when Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile presented his report on the C-5 road controversy and was facing an attempt to oust him from the Senate presidency, was witnessed by his son.

But Villar immediately downplayed all of Gordon’s accusations, telling his audience in Surigao that people are out to destroy him. He said he and his entire NP team are geared for victory on May 10, and that he has no time for “negotiating” for the withdrawal of fellow presidential candidates.

Gordon, in the same radio interview, said that Villar’s camp wanted him to back out from the race and support the NP standard-bearer.

“They asked me not to attend the (Senate) session and in return they will pay me and reimburse the expenses in my preparation for the presidency, and promised to give me a Cabinet position of my choice,” Gordon said in Filipino.

Enriquez asked Gordon to identify Villar’s emissary but he declined. He, however, insinuated that he would drop another bombshell soon.

He said he was irked by the buy out attempt because it only showed the arrogance of the moneyed candidate.

But Gordon said he is unfazed and vowed to fight on.

During the interview, he also assailed other candidates’ attempt to condition the minds of voters through surveys.

The NP kicked off the Mindanao-leg of their campaign yesterday, promising economic development and improving the human development index in the entire region.

“I am running clean and I have no other intention. I respect the other candidates even if I hear comments like that. Some people probably want to besmirch my reputation. Please don’t believe in those things,” Villar said in an interview.

He noted that it is just two months before elections, and he expects that no presidential candidate would back out at this point.

He also belittled claims that he tapped Mike Velarde to ask Estrada to withdraw from the race.

The NP bet reiterated that he did not talk with any presidential candidate to offer them reimbursement of their poll expenses and promise a good Cabinet position.

Asked why all sorts of criticisms are thrown his way, Villar said it is “good news” because he is being hit since he has become number one in the surveys.

Students from the University of the Philippines (UP) College of Mass Communication (CMC) have “surprisingly and unexpectedly” picked Sen. Richard Gordon in their recent open-source mock polls.

This, even as Gordon had reportedly lambasted journalists covering his sorties.

A survey result conducted by the Department of Journalism, which was released yesterday, showed Gordon garnering a total of 139 votes, representing 37.57 percent of the 370 enrolled students of the CMC, who participated in the mock presidential polls.

The UP-CMC has 1,086 enrolled students.

Administration presidential bet Gilbert Teodoro came in second in the survey with 107 votes (28.92 percent), Benigno Aquino III was third with 48 votes (12.97 percent), and Manuel Villar Jr. placed fourth with 37 votes (10 percent).

Observers were surprised with the result of the Feb. 24 mock polls of students of the premier State University, which has always been known as a bastion of activism.

But former CMC dean Prof. Luis Teodoro believes that the changing population of the CMC could have been a factor, although the way presidential aspirants appear and answer questions in various presidential debates could have also been a significant influence to the decision of the students.

He said that while UP students consider themselves as reform-minded and pro-poor, the results of the presidential mock polls could be an “expression of protest over what is perceived to be popular.”

“The results of the mock polls showed a disconnection between the perceived perception of the students and the perceived perception of the general Filipino voters as shown in the surveys,” he said.

However, Teodoro said that the result could be a signal that candidates would have to take a different approach to convince students, as compared to, for instance, the urban poor voters.

He said students might have chosen Gordon and Teodoro for being “fluently persuasive” or “smooth, smooth talker.”

A lot of student-participants in the mock polls cited the ability of Gordon and Teodoro to articulate their respective specific platform well.

Teodoro added that Aquino’s image may have been stained by the Hacienda Luisita massacre while Villar has to work on his claims of innocence after being implicated in the C5-road extension mess.

He surmised that perhaps the students “are not buying that Villar is the only salvation of the poor or that Aquino is the last hope for reform.”

And despite the seeming bias of UP students on President Arroyo, the journalism professor thinks the students might be seeing “something else” in Teodoro other than his alliance with President Arroyo.

“Or maybe his (Teodoro) looks have something to do with it,” he said, drawing out laugher from the audience.

Nicanor Perlas came in 5th place with 15 votes, representing 4.05 percent of the voter turnout; evangelist Eduardo Villanueva, 6th place with five votes (1.35 percent); Jamby Madrigal with three votes (.81 percent); and former President Joseph Estrada with one vote (.27 percent).

Ang Kapatiran Party standard-bearer, Olongapo City Councilor JC delos Reyes, and Kilusang Bagong Lipunan presidential bet Vetellano Acosta, got zero votes in the mock polls.

Fifteen students, representing 4.05 percent of the total voter turnout, abstained in the presidential survey.

Source:http://www.philstar.com