Vote 2010

By TESSA JAMANDRE

HEARINGS on the Maguindanao massacre resumed Wednesday, the first under the Aquino government, with former Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and 16 other suspects pleading not guilty to the murder of the 57^th victim, UNTV journalist Victor Nunez.

Ampatuan, the alleged mastermind, and the other suspects, mostly police officers, were each asked in Filipino and entered their pleas separately.


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By FROILAN GALLARDO

Nuraldin Yusoph with Jesus Dureza of the Mindanao Development Council, and ARMM DENR Secretary Usman Sarangani Sr. upon his release by kidnappers. Photo by Froilan Gallardo.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY.— It was all about the huge amount of bribe money that corrupted election officials who issued orders to cluster polling precincts to favored politicians during the last elections in May, military officers and poll watchdog groups said.

The officers and NGO leaders said  this was the reason  Nuraldin Yusoph, the 22-year-old son of Poll Commissioner Elias Yusoph, was kidnapped in Marawi City.

“Politicians who lost a lot of money want to recoup their losses. That is the reason why Nuraldin was kidnapped,” said Brig. Gen. Ray Ardo, chief of the Army’s 103rd Infantry Brigade. “They want to be refunded.”

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MAGUINDANAO governor Esmael Mangudadatu and 13 other “peacemakers” were recognized Friday for their role in helping reduce election-related violence in the recently concluded elections.

The nongovernment organization Consortium for Electoral Reform, which spearheaded the Vote Peace project, gave out the awards as it ended a conference assessing the conduct of the May 10 automated elections.

The Consortium recognized church and civil society groups, and police officials who worked to get various sectors to cooperate in bringing about peaceful elections in areas long considered hotspots.

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By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES

AN improvised bomb exploded at the Bangued Municipal Hall at dawn today, the inauguration day of newly elected provincial officials.

The explosion, which damaged P50,000 worth of property, happened at about 2 a.m., according to Abra Police Provincial Director Senior Superintendent Joseph Adnol.

The police report said an “improvised bomb was left by unidentified person in front of the municipal hall” and partially damaged “the frontage ceiling of the building.”

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By MINDANEWS

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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By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS
Mindanews
(Conclusion)

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao.—In the province where the worst pre-election violence in Philippine history happened on Nov. 23, there was reason to celebrate when the worst-case scenarios on election day did not happen.

Soldiers and policemen were already tearing down the posters of candidates and other election paraphernalia a day after the elections. At the provincial capitol grounds, soldiers sought refuge from the searing heat under trees like it were an ordinary day.

Two days after the elections, the 6^th Infantry Division hosted a breakfast meeting at Camp Siongco in Datu Odin Sinsuat town to celebrate the success of the country’s first automated elections, particularly Maguindanao’s “generally peaceful” polls.

In the past, no celebration, cleaning up of election paraphernalia or relaxing under the shade of trees was possible in the first week after election day because soldiers would still be busy patrolling the areas or securing venues of electoral canvassing.
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By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS
Mindanews
(First of two parts)

SHARIFF AGUAK, Maguindanao.—Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu will take his oath of office as the new governor on June 30 and deliver his inaugural address in his hometown Buluan, 40 kilometers from the provincial capitol here.

Mangudadatu intends to be far from this place, the bailiwick of the Ampatuans who are standing trial for the Nov. 23 massacre that left his wife Genalyn and 57 other civilians dead in what is now known as the worst case of pre-election violence in the country’s history.

The former Buluan vice mayor who beat the Ampatuans’ gubernatorial bet Datu Ombra Sinsuat in the May 10 elections intends to restore the provincial capitol in Simuay, Sultan Kudarat town, which the Ampatuans abandoned after the patriarch Andal Sr. was elected governor in 2001. While waiting for the old capitol to be restored, Mangudadatu will hold office in a building behind the Buluan town hall “for very important reasons,” he stressed.
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By YVONNE T. CHUA

AN election watchdog has this piece of advice for the Commission on Elections: Don’t buy the counting machines used in the May 10 elections.

Ramon Casiple, executive director of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform (IPER), instead urged the Comelec to just lease the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines amid a suggestion from the Venezuelan firm Smartmatic for the poll body to buy the 80,000 units it had leased for P8 billion for this year’s elections.

Smartmatic president Cesar Flores made the pitch at a press conference upon the arrival of Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela, its “Ambassador for Transparency.” He had said the Comelec would save billions of pesos if it bought the machines now for future use. The lease contract with Smartmatic gives Comelec the option to buy the technology for P2 billion.
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By MARK JOSEPH UBALDE

THE dust may have settled from what is deemed to be a generally peaceful May 10 elections, but records show the first automated polls also gave rise to a dozen of abductions.

Compared with the 2004 and 2007 elections, when no abductions were recorded, about 12 individuals were kidnapped this year during the election period, said Police Inspector Michael Virtudazo of the Philippine National Police’s elections monitoring center at the National Operations Center.

But he said some of those who were abducted have been released by their captors. He gave no further details.
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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.
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