Date Published: June 18, 2010

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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Date Published: June 7, 2010

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS and YOUTHVOTEPHILIPPINES

WHATEVER the final outcome of the tightly contested vice presidential race, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay has made history by being the first local official to be possibly catapulted to a top national position, just a breath away from the presidency. Unlike another former mayor, Joseph Estrada, Binay bypassed Congress in his quest for a top post.

But Binay’s journey from being a far third at the start of the campaign to becoming the frontrunner in the national canvassing does not surprise fellow mayors and other local executives who say he prepared for it long ago. The Makati mayor made smart use of vast resources and backed these up with an underground operation that included an in-your-face infiltration of a rival political organization.
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