Archive - PHL Vote 2016

By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS IF  Pres. Aquino believes the strategy that if Mar Roxas’  lawyers in Comelec succeeds in eliminating  Grace Poe from the presidential race, the presidency would be  an easy clinch for his anointed, he is dreaming. If the fight is three-way – Rodrigo Duterte, Jojo Binay and Roxas, Duterte will win. If

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL        A newly formed multi-sectoral election watchdog has vowed to monitor the level of inclusion of persons with disabilities (PWDs) not only on polling day itself but also during the government’s preparations for the 2016 elections. Ensuring the accessibility of polling places and holding PWD-sensitivity trainings are part of

By Ellen T. Tordesillas Living up to his macho image of a crime buster that discriminates no one, in Tagalog, “walang sinasanto,” Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte took on the well-loved Pope Francis whose arrival in the Philippines last January caused him to be stuck in traffic he had to pee in his car. Last

By JAKE SORIANO Early and adequate information dissemination about the planned mall voting next year would be key to its success. This was what persons with disabilities (PWDs) told the Commission on Elections (Comelec) during a public consultation Friday, while expressing general support for the initiative. “The general feeling of persons with disabilities is that

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS THE May 2016 elections is now more fun with the entry of Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in the race. Last Monday, Duterte, after months of flip flopping – even writing an open letter last Oct. 12 saying, “The country does not need me” – he declared last weekend in

  By PROCOPIO RESABAL, JR  TAGBILARAN, Bohol – Vice presidential aspirant Leni Robredo has found inspiration in the late president Carlos P. Garcia, whose political life she describes as one designed by destiny, the same situation she finds herself in. “After listening to the life story of President Garcia this morning … hindi mo talaga

By JAKE SORIANO Photos by DANIEL ABUNALES IF all goes according to plan, voting next year will be more convenient for persons with disabilities (PWDs). Areas with high concentrations of PWD voters might see the last of cramped public school classrooms, as polling could be transferred to hundreds of air-conditioned malls nationwide. The Commission on

[metaslider id=32959] By JAKE SORIANO MANILA AND DAVAO CITY — Express lanes and priority treatment were of little help for persons with disabilities (PWDs) who turned up at election offices on the last week of voter registration. Commission of Elections (Comelec) offices and satellite registration centers were swamped last week, causing logistical problems for its

    By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS CANDIDATES for the 2016 May elections, especially those running for president and vice-president, should read the findings of the EON’s 2015 Philippine Trust Survey which tells that Filipinos want from their leaders to listen to and feel for them. The PTI, which EON started in 2011, is not an

By ELLEN  T. TORDESILLAS Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. is the biggest gainer among those who filed their certificates of candidacy  last week, placing second in the vice-presidential race that has always been dominated by Chiz Escudero, running mate of presidential candidate Grace Poe, results of the survey conducted by the Magdalo group four days  after

IN  less than two weeks, on Oct. 31, the Commission on Elections is ending voter registration. Those who fail to register on or before the date won’t be able to vote next year. For persons with disabilities (PWDs), participation in the May presidential elections will test whether government and civil society initiatives have indeed made the country’s

                               By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS PULSE Asia’s latest poll on approval and trust ratings of top government officials showed Vice President Jejomar Binay suffering a huge minus 15 drop in performance and minus 18 in trust in the span of three

                                    By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS SURVEYS if conducted by professionals and executed with integrity are gauge of the sentiments of the people. I have to stress “executed with integrity” because during election season, there are surveys and surveys.

    BY ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS I really hope that Election Commissioner  Christian Robert Lim’s allegation that China is out to sabotage the 2016 elections is just a burst of irresponsibility that has been in abundance in this administration. What is more worrisome is if the sinister scenario that Lim raised is a camouflage for

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS I’M so glad that lawyer Harry Roque has decided to go via the party list in his entry into politics. He is no longer joining Vice President Jejomar Binay’s United Nationalist Alliance ticket. In his meeting with members of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in Bacolod yesterday, Roque announced

By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS IS President Aquino that desperate that just to boost the chances of his “Annointed”‘ he had to insult Sen. Grace Poe and his mother, former President Cory Aquino? In his speech endorsing Interior Secretary Mar Roxas for president in the 2016 elections, Aquino shared: “Sa paghahanap nga po, kinausap natin ang

[metaslider id=32252] By VERA Files WHILE the registration in malls is becoming popular among persons with disabilities (PWDs), some of them find the poll services lacking. Cousins Maricar Bernardo, 21, and Karen Yepez, 26, both persons with hearing disability, went to SM City San Lazaro to register on Friday. Both first-time registrants, they were prioritized

Text and photos by OFELIA KAYAT Baguio City — A total of 254 would-be voters turned up to register at the special satellite registration in a mall here Friday. Dubbed as “No bio, No boto” project of the Commission on Elections, the registration was open to the public, with priority given to persons with disabilities

[metaslider id=32200] By VERA FILES THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Saturday launched a satellite voter registration and validation in several shopping malls in Metro Manila, but turnout was low. A combination of heavy rain and lack of information dissemination hampered the registration of persons with disabilities and other voters. In five areas, Comelec personnel

The Commission on Elections will hold satellite registrations at five SM malls in Metro Manila on July 4 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Persons with disabilities and senior citizens will be given priority. The participating malls: SM North Edsa: Quezon City- District 1 only SM Megamall: Mandaluyong- All districts SM Southmall: Las Pinas- All

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS THE call of Liberal Party’s Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice for Sen. Grace Poe to be more transparent on the issue of her residency in the Philippines signals the drawing of the line between Poe and the Liberal Party’s presidential bet, Interior Secretary Mar Roxas. Erice was quoted as saying that

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS VICE President Jejomar Binay won’t be where he is now if he were not an astute political operator. His strategies reflect a good grasp of the factors involved in the political game. He must therefore have sensed that things are not going right for him after three of the political

By JAKE SORIANO Photos and video by DANIEL ABUNALES IT was not a typical scene during voters’ registration. Hundreds of prospective voters from Quezon City, including persons with disabilities (PWDs), lined up early morning of Independence Day at a covered court in Barangay Bagumbahay. But while waiting for their turn, they were treated to a

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS THE latest survey conducted by the Magdalo Group among voters in vote-rich Lingayen-Lucena corridor has Sen. Grace Poe leading the 2016 presidential race. Conducted two weeks ago (May 18 to 20) among 3,000 respondents, the Magdalo survey, just like what they did in their national survey last April, had two

                           By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS THERE are those who believe that if Vice President Jejomar Binay does not push through with his announced presidential bid in 2016, Manila Mayor Joseph Estrada will carry the opposition torch. I seriously doubt it. And it all boils down to money- at least P10 billion needed to finance

    By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS WE trust Sen. Grace Poe would be astute in dealing with the reported courtship by the Liberal Party for the 2016 elections with no less than President Aquino and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas leading the wooing. Although the talks were about the 2016 elections, Grace said there was no

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS SOME of those who have ambitions to become president in 2016 are reportedly thinking of ways how to stop Grace Poe, whose political trajectory is consistently ascending since she was elected senator two years ago. This has become urgent with President Aquino’s recent meeting with her on the possibility of