Archive - Top Stories

By JULES BENITEZ Mindanews ZAMBOANGA CITY— Five persons were killed and 10 others were wounded in 14 incidents of election related violence in the provinces covered by the Western Mindanao Command of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (WesMinCom). WesMinCom chief Maj. Gen. Benjamin Dolorfino also reported one incident of ballot snatching and the declaration

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS AND MARK JOSEPH UBALDE SEN. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay are frontrunners in the presidential and vice presidential races based on the initial official election results transmitted to the Commission on Elections. As of 9:45 p.m. Monday, less than three hours after the 12-hour voting ended, 38.25 percent

AT LEAST a dozen people were killed and another dozen injured on Election Day today in what police declare as the “most peaceful elections so far” but in what a Commission on Elections official considers as more violent than the country’s past elections. Task Force Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections (Task Force HOPE) of the

By VIOLETA M. GLORIA Mindanews ILIGAN CITY.–Two persons lining up to vote at the Tugaya Central Elementary School ended up dead while another was wounded when a man identified as Albert Balindong strafed them at around 10:45 a.m., Major Ferdinand Cacas, head of the Philippine Army’s103rd Brigade Election Monitoring and Action Center, said. Cacas added

By LUZ RIMBAN A NATIONWIDE lawyers’ group said Monday the first-ever automated elections in the country caused widespread disenfranchisement because of delays voters had to endure, lining up and voting, as well as problems with the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines. The Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente), a nongovernment organization accredited as one

By MARK  JOSEPH UBALDE AND ELLEN TORDESILLAS IF you want to know the partial results of the May 10 polls in the precinct level, go to: www.ibanangayon.ph. The Commission on Elections launched on Friday the Website. Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said it  will update the list every 20 minutes.

By MARK JOSEPH UBALDE A TOTAL of 465 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines malfunctioned during the 12-hour voting day today, which barely made a dent on its overall performance, Smartmatic said. Cesar Flores, Smartmatic president, said the figure is a mere 0.05 percent of the 82,200 PCOS machine that they supplied for the 2010

By LEYTE SAMAR DAILY EXPRESS TACLOBAN CITY.– -The elections supervisor of Samar has  moved for the holding of special election in a remote barangay of Pagsanghan town involving three precincts. Commission on Elections supervisor Corazon Montallana said voting could not be held in precincts 0017A, 0018-A and 0018-B, all of Barangay Buenos Aires, because they

By MARK JOSEPH UBALDE A PHOTOGRAPH of former President Joseph Estrada’s ballot without any vote for vice president has been circulating all over the Web, feeding speculations that he had dropped his running mate Jejomar Binay. The picture, which was posted via Twitter’s Twitpic platform, shows a man who appears to be Estrada, feeding the

By CARLOS D. MARQUEZ JR. Nueva Ecija Gold CABANATUAN CITY.—Mang Cesar sat on the curb for hours on election eve expecting the politician’s ward who earlier in the day had gotten their names after asking who they will vote for mayor would return and give him money. He was looking forward to using the money

By MARK JOSEPH UBALDE THE Commission on Elections has been asked to declare failure of elections in several towns in Visayas and Mindanao following reported incidents poll violence and ballot switching. Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the commissioners will decide later whether to reschedule elections in some towns in Iloilo, Samar, Lanao del Sur and

By CARLOS MARQUEZ Nueva Ecija Gold CABANATUAN CITY. – Apparently excited over experiencing the first automated election, Nueva Ecija’s 1.3 million voters lined up early Monday morning at their polling precincts, elbowed each other in looking for their names in the list, as some nearly swooned because of the oppressive heat–-only to be greeted by

By MARK JOSEPH UBALDE IT took former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada just five minutes to cast in his votes in his hometown in San Juan City. “Hindi naman ako nahirapan. Okay naman (It wasn’t difficult. It was okay),” Estrada said after feeding his ballot to the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine.

VERA Files' Mario Ignacio took pictures of what it was like shortly before voting began at 7 a.m. today. The shots are from the SSS Elementary School in Marikina City.

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.—Police were busy on the eve of elections in Lagangilang in Abra, with tensions heightening as election day drew near. Around 9 p.m. on May 9, a certain Marlon Castro, a 42-year-old resident of Pacac, Dolores was arrested for illegal possession of a caliber .45 pistol and an M-16 rifle. He

The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) demands the surfacing of Cagayan de Oro journalist Rolando Gono, who went missing in Camiguin Island Sunday morning as it  challenged authorities to take appropriate action against Camiguin Gov.  Jurdin Jesus “JJ” M. Romualdo who, with several of his followers, mauled two other Cagayan de Oro

By LUZ RIMBAN FILIPINOS will be greeting tomorrow with much trepidation given the reported glitches of the automated election system, but Smartmatic-TIM president Cesar Flores said Filipinos should get real and expect an imperfect system with its fair share of faults. “There are many unforeseeable things that could happen. I want people to see that

By MARK JOSEPH UBALDE A DAY before the monthlong overseas absentee voting (OAV) closes, only 22 percent of the almost 600,000 registered voters have participated in the polls, the Commission on Elections reported Sunday. Comelec Commissioner Armando Velasco, head of the poll body’s OAV committee, said Filipinos in Hong Kong are still the most active

By MARK JOSEPH UBALDE EXCEPT for several areas that have yet to test the counting machines and other “isolated cases,” the Commission on Elections said on Sunday that the first-ever automated polls will push through in 98 percent of the precincts in the country. Comelec Chair Jose Melo said the 2 percent that are still

Precinct 175-A of the Central Azucarrera de Tarlac Elementary School was all set and ready to receive its most important voter in tomorrow's election until members of the media appeared and inspected the place.

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.—Two candidates for mayor of Tineg town in Abra, who have been disqualified by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) central office, are “still candidates” according to the provincial election supervisor. “Pwede pa rin, meron pa ring Supreme Court na pwedeng puntahan (They can still run, they can run to the

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.— Senior citizen Aida Bolante-Camaro was among some 200 Abrenians who rallied for peaceful elections Friday, three days before the May 10 national and local elections. Tugging along her 12 year-old grandson, the 72-year-old volunteer catechist from La Paz town said she and representatives from her vicariate joined the prayer

In this year’s election, the Aquinos and the Marcoses have resurrected a political saga as Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III runs for the presidency and the Marcos family decided to return to the political stage.

Vote2010: VERA Files’ Election Coverage