Archive - Top Stories

INCIDENTS of election-related violence have risen sharply as Monday’s election nears, leading to the deaths of a considerable number of candidates or their key campaign leaders, an election monitoring group said on Thursday. The Consortium on Electoral Reform, which has launched an anti-election violation initiative called Vote Peace 2010, also said a significant number of

By CARLOS MARQUEZ JR. Nueva Ecija Gold CABANATUAN CITY.—It is unusually quiet here this poll season and observers are keeping their fingers crossed there will be no more of the killings that characterized past electoral exercises in this province once called “Wild, wild Nueva Ecija.” Except for the killing of a barangay captain in Aliaga

By YouthVotePhilippines DESPITE the heated contests among the standard-bearers of the Liberal Party (LP), Nacionalista Party (NP), Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) and Lakas-Kampi-CMD (Lakas), some of their local bets are teaming up with supposed rivals, blurring party lines and making party platforms irrelevant. Political strategists and observers said local candidates are doing whatever it

By DEAN M. BERNARDO CALBAYOG CITY, Samar.—In Barangay San Jose in this city, local folk point to nipa walls, bamboo posts and even the village’s few paved roads, all riddled with bullet holes. These holes have been here since midnight of Feb. 20 when 200 armed men raided Happy Valley, the name used to refer

By ELLEN TORDESILLAS BOXING champ Manny Pacquiao wants to be congressman so he can continue helping other people without using his personal funds. In an interview at the sidelines of a provincial rally by the Nacionalista Party recently, Pacquiao, who is known for his generosity to his needy province mates, said what he is doing

Former president Joseph Estrada spent Labor Day with about 10,000 people who flocked to his rally at Nueve de Pebrero and Martinez Streets in Mandaluyong City.

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.—A councilor of Lagayan town and six of his companions, including two minors, were arrested Friday afternoon for illegal possession of firearms at a checkpoint in Barangay Alaoa in Tineg. George Taguinod, 38, was driving a “military look-a-like truck bearing the license plate number RJU 838,” according to a memorandum

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.—In the afternoon of March 23 this year, 50 heavily armed guards of mayoral candidate Cromwell Luna appeared at the kindergarten graduation of Tineg Central School in Barangay Agsimao in Tineg town. Eyewitnesses said children wailed, old men and women cried, while the rest scampered for cover as the men

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.— Bangued Mayor Dominic Valera is under hospital arrest after he allegedly shot and killed a supporter of his political rival earlier today, the first recorded casualty of an election-related violent incident in the province. Abra provincial police chief Senior Superintendent Ernesto Gaab said two witnesses pointed to Valera as

By MARK JOSEPH UBALDE FIRST-TIME voter Diana Aricheta excitedly opened the overseas absentee voting (OAV) packet she received in the mail last week. But when the 20-year-old Los Angeles, California resident spread the contents of the envelope on the table, confusion set in. The packet held three legal-size sheets containing the names of the party-list

By CITIZEN JOURNALISTS (CJ) – PAMPANGA SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga.—Saying “my kabalens are intelligent voters,” Filipinas Sampang, independent candidate for the 2nd district, believes she stands a chance against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in the congressional race. As one of three Kapampangans challenging Arroyo for the congressional seat, the 48-year-old Sampang said there is a “great opportunity

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.— A political supporter of a mayoralty candidate here was shot this morning while helping cook for the wedding of a relative in Barangay Calot. Elmer Velasco was shot four times–in the chest and right forearm–at his relative’s house in Sitio Laylay at 7:30 a.m but is now in stable condition at

By LEYTE SAMAR DAILY EXPRESS CATBALOGAN CITY.—The Independent Commission against Private Armies (ICAPA) has urged politicians in Eastern Visayas to help dismantle existing private armed groups. ICAPA Chairperson Justice Monina Arevalo-Zenarosa singled out the region as among the places where these armed groups continue to exist. The others are Abra, Marawi City, Davao and Zamboanga

By MELVIN PURZUELO Green Forum Western Visayas ILOILO CITY. —As if the automation of the May 10 polls were not complicated enough, local political formations here are making the upcoming elections more confusing. Mayor Jerry Trenas, who is running for congressman, and Vice Mayor Jed Mabilog, who is running for mayor, have formed an alliance

By MARK JOSEPH UBALDE WITH barely 14 days left before the elections, a multisectoral group is making a last-ditch effort to convince the Commission on Elections to adopt a parallel nationwide manual count to avoid a possible “Automated Garci.” In a press conference held at Club Filipino Sunday, leaders of concerned groups that include the

Former President Joseph Estrada of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) showed he has not lost his “masa “ appeal despite having been ousted from power and convicted of plunder.

By DIANA DELOS SANTOS BIÑAN, Laguna.—Elections used to be peaceful here, but things seem to be changing in Biñan, San Pedro and Sta. Rosa that comprise the first district of Laguna. On March 23,  Barangay Chairman Eric Jimenez of San Antonio, Biñan left the city’s sports coliseum after watching cockfights and was walking to his

By DANNY SABINO Kapayapaan Kapatid Council/Enigma and Panukad Student Volunteers GENERAL SANTOS CITY.–Some 4,000 environmentalists marked World Earth Day Wednesday with simultaneous rallies in Tampakan, South Cotabato and Maasim, Sarangani to protest the planned construction of a coal-fired power plant and mining activities in these provinces. Leaders of religious groups, fishermen, indigenous people and other

By URBANO S.D. CORDERO JR. RODRIGUEZ, Rizal.—Two main political parties are striving to hit the electoral homerun here as the May elections draw near. Cecilio “Elyong” Hernandez, president of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) and the Liberal Party’s bet, is running against Aksyon Demokratiko candidate Roy ‘RC” Cuerpo, the son and administrative assistant of

Text and Photos by FRANKLIN Q. DE GUZMAN Archdiocesan Social Action Apostolate Lingayen-Dagupan LINGAYEN, Pangasinan.—Political rivals, representatives of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), members of religious groups and ordinary citizens poured out into the streets of this town recently to express their determination to hold clean and peaceful elections in May. In an event called

Text by ELLEN TORDESILLAS Photos by MARIO IGNACIO LIPA CITY.—Batangueños gave Liberal Party presidential candidate Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and his running mate, Manuel “Mar” Roxas Jr., a rapturous welcome here over the weekend. Gov. Vilma Santos and her husband Ralph Recto, who is running for senator in the LP slate, received and hosted Aquino

ARMED Forces Chief Delfin Bangit approved the release of 10 Magdalo soldiers after the court decided that their  sentence of eight months’ imprisonment was considered served since they have been in detention since the November 2007 Manila Peninsula siege. Former Marine Capt. Gary Alejano and former Ltsg  James Layug were released Sunday and eight others

By BERNADETTE ILAO Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan STA. CRUZ, Mindoro Occidental.—For the Mangyan tribe of Barangay Pinagtuliran, Sitio Siapo in this province, things will be different in this year’s elections. Tricked and taken advantage of in past polls, the Mangyans are taking steps to make sure that they would be able to exercise their right

By DUKE THOMAS G. DOLORICAL Task Force 2010 “EVEN if you make us vote, if we don’t know whom to vote for, it’s as if we are still wasting our vote.” So lamented detainee Gemma Talingting at a recent voter education seminar conducted by the Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan (SLB) at the Davao City Female Jail.

THE Nacionalista Party has brought provincial rallies to another level with Wowowillie’ s team of TV host Willie Revillame. The format is open-air concert with world-class production values featuring big stars like Andrew E, Randy Santiago,  Geneva Cruz, Jessa Zaragoza and Ara Mina. In between musical numbers, senatorial candidates give a five-minute speech. Last Sunday’s show,

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.—Ryan Luna goes around campaigning in barangays here on board one of his army-type trucks that people often mistake for military vehicles. Luna, the son of Congresswoman Cecilia Seares-Luna, is the incumbent president of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) and is running for mayor of this town. “There’s nothing

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.–Four men, including a barangay councilor of this town, were wounded in what police confirmed was an ambush in Barangay Malamsit, Peñarrubia early this afternoon. The victims were with Bangued mayoral candidate Ryan Luna aboard a three-vehicle convoy which had just come from a campaign sortie in Barangay Sappaac when

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra.–Firearms confiscated from private armed groups (PAGs) were stolen from the evidence room of the Regional Trial Court Branch 2 located at the Don Quintin Paredes Hall of Justice here. Police confirmed that at least two of the firearms belonged to a member of the Cordillera People’s Liberation Army (CPLA).

By JOSEPH ARNEL DELIVERIO Sibugay Express IPIL, Zamboanga Sibugay.—The Commission on Human Rights is trying to put together pieces of the puzzle surrounding the mysterious death of Gregan Cardeño, a Filipino who allegedly committed suicide last February inside the barracks of American soldiers taking part in the Balikatan exercises. A team from the CHR central office

By RIZIEL ANN AGALOOS CABREROS and CAMILLE PABLO DE JESUS (Part 2) THE new green color of the fences along Metro Manila’s major thoroughfares may mask the “Metro Gwapo” legacy of former Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chair and now vice presidential candidate Bayani Fernando, but not the series of lapses and anomalies that marked