Archive - News

By JAKE SORIANO OF the 54 million Filipinos registered to vote in the upcoming presidential elections, 318,013 have disabilities. The interactive map below shows the 10 provinces in the Philippines with the most number of registered voters with disabilities.

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL AFTER months of debate, the Commission on Elections has finally resolved to activate the on-screen verification (OSV) feature of vote-counting machines (VCMs) for the May 9 elections. Voters will be allowed a maximum of 15 seconds to verify whether or not their choices are accurately read by the VCMs. If there

THERE are about 54 million voters registered for this year’s presidential elections. Who are they? Where are they?

By LUIS T. CRUZ AT the beginning of this year, an important milestone began in Southeast Asia with the inauguration of the ASEAN Community. What does ASEAN Community mean to the lives of ordinary Filipinos aside from no longer getting a visa when going as tourists to other Asean countries namely Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, Indonesia,

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL THE Commission on Elections has tripled the number of random manual audit (RMA) precincts compared to previous elections to boost public confidence on the accuracy of results, Commissioner Luie Tito Guia said Tuesday. From 234 precincts in 2013, a total of 715 precincts will be employed for the RMA this May,

EVEN if the high court decides that independent bet Sen. Grace Poe is disqualified from running for president, her name will stay on the official ballot for the 2016 polls, Commission on Elections Chair Andres Bautista said Tuesday. With nearly 10.5 million or one-fourth of the total number of ballots printed, Bautista said the poll

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL IF it violates certain provisions of the fair elections law, the Commission on Elections may consider banning broadcast networks from airing the upcoming boxing match of senatorial aspirant Sarangani Rep. Manny Pacquiao. Comelec Chair Andres Bautista said in a press conference Tuesday it is possible to do so since the poll

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL A former lawmaker is facing criticism for his insensitive remarks on the alleged special treatment given to persons with disabilities (PWDs) in verifying their votes through the voice prompt feature of vote counting machines (VCMs). Former Biliran representative Glenn Chong questioned the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for allowing people with visual

     By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS GOING  the rounds in Facebook is a post by Candy Chan in Astig.Ph about a vehicle by a mayor that was parked in a slot reserved for Persons with Disabilities at Bay 4 of NAIA3. When the security guard called the attention of the man who came out of

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL THIRTY years ago today, Filipinos reclaimed their democracy. In 1986, a monumental shift in history was being conceived at EDSA. An oppressed collective had resolved to overturn strongman rule through a peaceful revolt that banked on the promises of freedom, liberty, peace, justice and other universal imperatives. A revived nation, Filipinos

                       By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS IT has been 30 years since that one shining moment in Philippine history when the people came together to put an end to tyranny. As Che Francisco, a colleague in  Ang Pahayagang Malaya, remarked , “Parang kelan lang.” On this day,

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL A broad range of national issues, ranging from poverty to illegal drugs and political dynasties, was tackled in the first leg of presidential debates last Sunday. For one electoral reform advocate, though, it would have made sense if the candidates covered issues closer to home. Pressing concerns in Mindanao could have

By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS Photos from GMA News Online THE winner of the first Comelec-sponsored debates of presidential candidates organized with GMA-7 and Philippine Daily Inquirer based on my monitoring of social media and exchange of notes with friends was Grace Poe. It’s not scientific survey, of course. Political analyst and De La  Salle University

  By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS TWO days after boxing icon Manny Pacquiao rebuked  same sex couples as worse than animals, shoe giant Nike dropped him as endorser. That was fast. Observers said that was an easy decision for Nike because Pacquiao, 37, is at the sunset of his career after losing in two major fights:

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL IT is possible, but highly unlikely to rig the 2016 elections and use it to favor a certain candidate, given the security features of the automated election system (AES), says an information technology expert. Only when there is “insider cheating” or conspiracy among those controlling the system can electoral fraud take

By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS DESPITE decline in global oil prices, the Saudi labor market remains stable for Filipino workers. The reported retrenchments are not due to the oil price slump in recent months, according to assessment of Saudi-based labor attaches and diplomats of the situation in the Middle East kingdom that hosts some 800,000 OFWS.

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL AFTER a series of delays, the Commission on Elections has finally started printing nearly 57 million official ballots for the 2016 polls. Comelec Chair Andres Bautista led observers, poll watchdogs and members of the media in a walkthrough today at the National Printing Office, the government agency in charge of the

By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL and YVETTE B. MORALES THE nationwide mock elections held Saturday were generally smooth, save for some glitches in the vote-counting machines (VCMs) and discrepancies between automated and manual results due to incomplete ballot shading. To boost public confidence in the security features of VCMs amid software issues, the Commission on Elections