Archive - News

DAVAO CITY.– Independent presidential candidate Nicanor Perlas has asked the Commission on Elections to postpone the May 10 polls by three months to avoid a possible failure of elections that may result from defects in the new automated election system (AES). “The Comelec is not yet prepared. Many PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan) machines are

By RONALD RAMAO Diocese of Malaybalay, Bukidnon MALAYBALAY CITY, Bukidnon. –Four towns and a city in Bukidnon identified as election hot spots will be the target of security deployment plans of the military and police officials of this vote-rich province in Mindanao for the May 10 polls. San Fernando, Kibawe, Talakag, and Kitaotao towns and

By BUENA BERNAL and PAULINE DYCOCO WITH 23 days to go before elections, a group of information technology (IT) professionals has urged the electoral body to adopt a simple, doable and transparent system to ensure the credibility of the polls. They call it the simplified parallel count, a procedure they said could “plug the holes”

By ROSLYN ARAYATA Alyansa Tigil Mina MAJORITY of the presidential candidates favor a revision of the country’s mining policy, a survey of a network of green groups revealed. Conducted on the third week of February by the Green Electoral Initiative (GEI) led by EcoWaste Coalition and Greenpeace, the results showed that six of the seven

By MELVIN PURZUELO Green Forum-Western Visayas ILOILO CITY. —It’s yes to “Cha-cha” and to mining for all three congressional candidates here. In a debate aired on Bombo Radyo last Saturday, Iloilo City Rep. Raul Gonzalez Jr., Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas and former Iloilo City Mayor Mansueto Malabor were asked about Charter change, specifically the

By ABDULBASIT BENITO Bangsamoro Center for JustPeace in the Philippines Inc. BULUAN, Maguindanao. —If he wins, he will turn Maguindanao into a gun-less society. Buluan Vice Mayor Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu promised this during the Gubernatorial Candidates Forum and Dialogue held on April 6, the first of a series of dialogues between candidates and civil society

By FRANKLIN Q. DE GUZMAN Archdiocesan Social Action Apostolate Lingayen-Dagupan DAGUPAN CITY. — More than 30 judges, lawyers, and volunteers representing the different parishes of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan (ALD) and the Diocese of Alaminos are being trained to serve as legal and paralegal volunteers in the coming elections in Pangasinan. Attending the Legal and

By BELINDO AGUILAR Cor Jesu College DIGOS CITY, Davao del Sur.–Go to mass and learn how to vote. This is the message of a unique brand of voter education campaign that the Church and civil society groups launched here, with a month to go before elections. Before every mass at the Mary Mediatrix Cathedral in

LIBERAL Party (LP) presidential candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” C. Aquino III, scoring a 37 percent voting preference, continues to lead the other presidential contenders. In second place is Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar (Nacionalista Party [NP]) with 25 percent voter support.

By MALU CADELINA-MANAR MindaNews KIDAPAWAN CITY.– North Cotabato vice-governor Emmanuel Pinol will not give in to the New Peoples’ Army (NPA) demand for payment of a “permit-to-campaign” and “permit to win” despite the latter’s declaration it would continue to launch attacks in Pinol’s stronghold. Pinol said that since he started campaigning for a government post

By BUSINESSWORLD ONLY one new name has made it to the “Magic 12” list of possible senatorial winners, with reelectionists again dominating the race, results of the latest BusinessWorld-Social Weather Stations Pre-Election survey showed. Staying in first place in the March 19-22 poll was reelectionist Sen. Ramon B. Revilla, Jr. of the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD with

By BUSINESSWORLD SENATOR Manuel “Mar” A. Roxas of the Liberal Party continues to dominate the contest for the vice-presidency despite a three-point drop in his voter preference score, leading Senator Loren B. Legarda who saw her support eroded by the same margin. The latest BusinessWorld-Social Weather Stations (SWS) Pre-Election Survey, conducted last March 19-22 just

By BUSINESSWORLD LIBERAL Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” C. Aquino III has opened up a nine-point lead over his nearest rival for the presidency, fellow legislator and Nacionalista Party bet Sen. Manuel “Manny” B. Villar Jr., based on the results of the latest BusinessWorld-Social Weather Stations Pre-Election Survey. Mr. Aquino picked up a point

FROM behind bars, former Lieutenant Senior Grade James Layug formally launched on Sunday his campaign to represent the second district of Taguig City in the House of Representatives with a motorcade by his supporters. “It is my conviction to fulfill our hopes and dreams. We, the people of Taguig, should have better employment, improved healthcare,

THREE of the country’s leading statistics experts have urged institutions conducting electoral surveys to open their methods to public scrutiny and peer review. Former National Statistics Office Administrator Tomas P. Africa, former Philippine Statistical Association president Jose Ramon G. Albert and PSA life member Corinne B. Burgos also cautioned the public against results from surveys

By MINDANEWS GENERAL SANTOS CITY.– World boxing sensation Manny Pacquiao will temporarily set aside his recent ring exploits once he arrives here on Friday as he takes on another shot for a congressional post through the lone district of Sarangani province in the upcoming May 10 synchronized national and local elections. Dominico Congson, chair of

SMARTMATIC-Total Information Management Inc. (TIM), the consortium that won the poll automation project, said Thursday it has printed 22 million or a little over half of the 50 million ballots needed in the May elections. By weekend, total number of ballots printed would reach  25 million, Smartmatic said in an update it released amid continuing

AN international delegation that visited the country last week said suspicions and the lack of trust fuel the public’s general anxiety over the 2010 automated elections. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has yet to clarify and issue instructions on a range of outstanding issues — from addressing contingency planning, accessing automated election system source codes,