ILIGAN CITY.–Civil society leaders in Lanao have appealed to the kidnappers of Noraldin Yusoph, son of Elections Commissioner Elias Yusoph, to “immediately release” the victim.

Yusoph, 22 (not 24 as earlier reported), was abducted by still unidentified armed men while praying inside a mosque in Barangay Sabala Amanao, Marawi City.

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RESULTS of the exit poll conducted by the Social Weather Stations for TV 5 correctly predicted the winners in the presidential and vice presidential elections, differing only from the June 8 official tally by the National Board of Canvassers by an average of less than 1 percent—0.4 percent to be exact.

The exit poll’s final result of 43.34 percent for Sen. Benigno Aquino III is only 1.25 percent larger than the final and official score of 42.08 percent, while its final score of 26.38 percent for former president Joseph Estrada is only 0.12 percent larger than the actual score of 26.25 percent.

This means the exit polls slightly oversestimated Aquino’s lead over Estrada by 1.13 percent compared to the actual Aquino-Estrada lead of 15.83 percent.

For vice president, the exit poll showed Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay garnering 42.52 percent of the votes, only 0.87 percent larger than the actual score of 41.65 percent. Its final score of 39.17 percent for Sen. Manuel Roxas II is only 0.41 percent smaller than the actual score of 39.58 percent.

The SWS overestimated Binay’s lead by 1.28 percent. His actual lead was 2.07 percent.

A total of 52,573 voters from 802 sampled voting centers were polled.

The program, run by the ministry’s Policy Planning Staff (Centre d’analyse et de prévision),  selects young prominent personalities ranging from 25 to 40 years of age from all over the world who have spent little or no time in France, but  who have a growing influence on their country’s affairs  or on their country’s relations with France. With the award, the CenterLaw Executive Director joins the circle of about 220 personalities from Asia and Oceania who had already been granted the fellowship.

“The Program provides future elites with a real knowledge of France, based on contact with people in their professional fields and areas of interests,” said Mr. Didier Ortolland, First Counselor and Deputy Chief of Mission of the French Embassy in Manila.” It also fosters the exchange of ideas and enables participants to forge special relationships with France.”

Mr. Bagares has bachelor’s degrees in communication research (1994) and law (2003) from the University of the Philippines and a master’s in international legal theory from the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Netherlands (2007, cum laude). He teaches public and private international law at the Lyceum Philippines University College of Law and is a Senior Associate at the Roque and Butuyan Law Offices.  Before joining the field of law, he worked as a newspaper reporter for the English-language daily the Philippine Star for eight years.

The International Visitor Leadership Program allows the awardee eight to ten days of intensive, customized studies of his own choosing in France, ranging from institutions, international relations, political life to social and economic issues.

Mr. Bagares, a 36-year old lawyer and native of General Santos City,  explored the French system of human rights protections and institutions, judiciary, media, transportation and energy sectors during a week-long all-expenses-paid visit to Paris and its neighboring environs from April 11 to 18, 2010.

Since it started in 1989, over 1200 accomplished professionals from over 40 countries have benefitted from the  French international visitor leadership program.

AS Congress convenes for the canvassing of votes today, the House investigation on poll irregularities will proceed as losing candidates continue to present “evidence” of fraud in the country’s first automated elections.

The Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms yesterday said it will invite people who allegedly offered to rig the results in favor a certain candidate for a certain fee.

During the hearing yesterday, former Surigao del Norte Governor Robert Ace Barbers said he was offered P50 million by a poll operator who claimed he can reconfigure compact flash cards to contain preprogrammed results in favor of Barbers. He also said the transmission from the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) can be disrupted and overridden by another machine.

According to Barbers, who lost in his reelection bid, he would have to pay 35 percent of the fee as downpayment. The rest would be given after proclamation. Barbers said the offer included results in favor of his entire slate – from the vice governor down to all his mayors.

“I thought it was not realistic. I have big faith in the automation system, that it’s fraud-proof, that’s why I ignored the offer,” he said. The man said should Barbers turn him down, he will offer his services to the governor’s opponent. When the results came out, much to Barbers’s surprise and dismay, his entire team lost.

Three other losing candidates – Laguna Governor Teresita Lazaro, Quezon City Rep. Matias Defensor, and Sulu Rep. Munir Arbison – said they were likewise approached by operators who can make them win.

During the committee hearing last Friday, La Union (2nd district) Rep. Thomas Dumpit Jr. also said technicians can manipulate results “if the price is right.” Smartmatic’s automation system, he said, made it easier for “wholesale cheating” to happen instead of eliminating poll fraud.

According to Rep. Dumpit, technicians can manipulate results as long as the price is right and that Smartmatic did not eliminate election fraud, but instead made it easier for “wholesale cheating” to happen. In his province, Dumpit alleged that CF cards were switched and that the transmission of results were tampered with.

Iloilo Rep. Raul Gonzales Jr. during last week’s hearing said a “possible connivance between opponents and suspected IT experts connected with Smartmatic” to rig the results may have occurred.

“The PCOS machine is nothing but a glamorized counting machine,” he concluded.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez, however, dismissed these allegations as a case of a “me-too syndrome.” He said the barrage of poll fraud allegations and pre-election offers made other losing candidates say “me too.”

The committee’s investigation, chaired by Makati City Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr., was convened after losing representatives and other officials cried foul over allegations of massive cheating during the May 10 polls.

The authors are students of Bicol University doing their summer internship at Vera Files.

TACLOBAN CITY- The Commission on Elections in Eastern Visayas is preparing to hold special elections in Barangay Buenos Aires in Pagsanghan town in Samar on Saturday.

Samar Elections Supervisor Corazon Montallana said the event will be closely watched by the contending parties because it will determine the eventual winners.

The village has 492 registered voters. Based on the Comelec records, only 186 votes separate mayoralty candidates Jim Canones of the Nacionalista Party who got 2,039 votes, and Ruben Palma of Lakas-Kampi, who had 2,225.

Buenos Aires did not hold elections May 10 because the official ballots that were delivered were intended for Guimbal in Iloilo, Mendros said.

“We have to hold the special elections to determine the winners for the local positions,” said Comelec Region 8 director Jose Nick Mendros.

All winners in the region have already been proclaimed except those in Pagsanghan, a fifth town class with a population of 10,000 spread out over 13 villages.

Mendros said precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines will be used, but counting will be done manually.

The special elections will start at 7 a.m. and end at 7 pm.

Montallana said at least two teams from the 801st Infantry Brigade based in Hinabangan town were already deployed in the village to maintain peace and order.

Meantime, Mendros said that there would be no special elections in five other barangays where elections did not take place May 10.

Winners had already been declared, which is why special elections will no longer be conducted in the villages of Carolina and San Roque, both in Matuguinao, and Mabini, San Antonio and Himalandrog in Calbayog City.

Members of the Boards of Inspectors assigned to these polling areas did not show up on election day due to “security concerns.”

GENERAL SANTOS CITY.–An administration mayoralty aspirant in Maasim town in Sarangani province has asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to immediately nullify the earlier proclamation of his rival due to alleged erroneous transmission of election returns from one of the polling precincts.

Defeated Maasim mayoralty candidate Arturo Lawa said on Friday that he filed a petition before the Comelec en banc in Manila to rectify alleged errors in the town’s voting results after the Municipal Board of Canvassers (MBOC) also allegedly failed to properly count the votes cast from clustered precinct number 21 of Barangay Kablakan in Maasim.

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KIDAPAWAN CITY.–The personal secretary of a defeated mayoral candidate in Montawal town in Maguindanao has vehemently denied their involvement in the burning of several houses in a barangay which took place on Sunday.

Abdul Karim said his employer, Datu Arkhan Matalam, son of a powerful clan in Maguindanao has no private army to carry out such thing.

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WITH the upcoming special elections in 11 areas, a youth group is urging all sectors to continue monitoring the polls, especially in ensuring that all election returns (ERs) be accounted for.

“While these areas are now undergoing or are set to undergo special elections, we call on the public to remain vigilant against election fraud and violence,” Youth Vote Philippines said in a statement.

Other poll watchdog groups and losing candidates have monitored discrepancies in the electronic and printed election results, allowing some to conclude that a “systematic, widespread fraud” took place during the May 10 polls.

The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), for example, noted differences in the ERs and electronically transmitted data. But PPCRV said the errors showed no pattern of rigging.

Youth Vote Philippines said problems that occurred in the recently held polls can be prevented with continuous and transparent reporting on areas where failure of elections was declared.

On May 28, the Commission on Elections will conduct special elections in seven areas in Lanao del Sur: Masiu, Sultan Dumalondong, Tubaran, Lumba Bayabao, Marogong, Lumbaca Unayan and Bayang;  two barangays (Upper and Lower Mahaybahay) in Maluso, Basilan; Buenos Aires, in Pagsanjan, Western Samar; and Generosa in Guimbal, Iloilo.

Failure of elections was declared in these areas because of voter disenfranchisement and poll violence.

In Lanao del Sur, for instance, a series of bombing and shooting incidents prevented Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) from going to the precincts. At least 44,792 voters failed to vote in four areas in the province.

In Basilan, 5,025 residents in 30 precincts did not cast their vote because of unidentified men who were harassing voters in the centers.

Over 400 voters in Iloilo also failed to vote because ballots for their precincts were interchanged with that of Western Samar. The affected areas in Samar had 492 voters.

Comelec has yet to decide on six more petitions to declare failure of elections in six areas in the provinces of Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, and Abra.

In a petition, Abra Rep. Cecilia Seares Luna, who lost her in her reelection bid, is claiming that thousands of voters in the towns of La Paz and Danglas were “disenfranchised.”

On election day, the petition said  “voters” were dragged into polling precincts by armed men and were forced to sign the voters’ list, accept a pre-shaded ballot, and feed it into the machine.

The petition further said such an incident could not have happened without the BEIs consent.

Luna  said  watchers were not allowed to enter the polling places and were harassed and threatened.

In Poona-Piagapo, Lanao Del Norte, a failure of elections is being sought because of poll-related violence incidents.

The affidavit  said that by 7 p.m. on election day, after the closing of the polls and with the machines already sealed, a Comelec officer arrived and ordered members of the military to allow “people” to enter the precincts and vote.

When representatives of a mayoral candidate arrived to question the Comelec, the two men were reportedly mauled. One of them had to be rushed to the hospital.

Meanwhile, shooting incidents marred the conduct of election in Tugaya, Lanao del Sur. As early as 9:30 a.m. on May 10, explosions and gunfire directed at the polling areas lasted for two hours. A woman was killed and two were injured. The precincts in Tugaya Central Elementary School were reportedly ransacked and official ballots were stolen.

In another barangay, Pandiaranao, voting was taking place when a man opened fire at a police officer, who in turn shot back, killing his assailant. The BEIs and the people ran, leaving the ballots and the PCOS machines.

Under the Omnibus Election Code, a failure of election can be declared if polling failed to take place due to violence, terrorism, fraud and any unforseen event beyond the control of any party.

(The authors are students of Bicol University doing their summer internship at VERA Files.)

BULUAN, Maguindanao.  – Governor-elect Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu is requesting the National Statistics Office (NSO) to have a special census for Maguindanao.

“I want a physical count ng mga tao (of people). One by one,” Mangudadatu said.

“Hindi naman ito (This is not about) vengeance,” he told MindaNews late Saturday afternoon in his brother’s residence. “Niloloko nila yung gobyerno eh (they’re fooling government),” he said.

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SHARIFF AGUAK , Maguindanao.– If Ismael “Dustin” Veloso Mastura, 39, had a choice, he would be happy running for vice mayor of Sultan Kudarat town. But fate would lead him to run for and win against the 68-year old warlord, Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr.

His uncle Tucao, who would have been proclaimed governor of Shariff Kabunsuan province in the 2007 elections but for a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court and the latter’s declaring its creation unconstitutional, had filed his candidacy for mayor of Sultan Kudarat town when Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, who was running for Governor, sought the Masturas for a running mate.

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