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Around 16,820 printed elections returns (ERs) have been encoded by the Pastoral Parish Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) by 11:20 a.m. of May 12, and matched with the electronically transmitted ERs from the vote counting machines (VCMs), council spokesman Van dela Cruz said at a briefing. The number represents 15.6% of the 107,785 total ERs.

Spurious last-ditch reports of candidates being disqualified and a buildup of fabricated vote tallies of presidential contenders took hold of social media as voters trooped to precincts on Monday.

VERA Files president Ellen Tordesillas is included in the inaugural list of 100 Global Tech’s Changemakers by international nonprofit journalism organization Rest of World (RoW).

Petitioners have five days to file a temporary restraining order before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) declares as "final and executory" the en banc decision to uphold the non-disqualification of Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., lawyer and Clerk of the Commission Genesis Gatdula said.

Just like in past elections, Filipinos trooped to the polls in huge numbers and lined up for hours enduring the summer heat and the disorganization of poll officers, to exercise their duty to choose their leaders.

Comelec Chairman Saidamen Pangarungan, appointed just two months ago, described the political exercise as “quite peaceful” even as scattered violent incidents were reported in Lanao del Sur province. 

The Commission on Elections reported over 1,800 incidents involving problems with the automated vote-counting machines (VCM), stalling lines in several polling centers.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) assured that COVID-19 marshals and safety officers are deployed in polling precincts to make sure that minimum public health standards, such as physical distancing and wearing of masks, are followed.

The fact checks since February saw the proliferation of information that tends to sow confusion in the conduct of voting which could undermine the results of the election.

This same heart of a fighter, which turned Pacquiao into a beloved Filipino sports icon, kept him in the presidential race to the very end, even when most thought he should never have forayed into politics, much less seek the highest position in the land.

Maribojoc, Bohol – With the lifting of the two–and-a-half-year ban on fiestas due to the Covid 19 pandemic, local folks are back to enjoying this much-loved celebration this month.

Retired ICC Judge Raul Pangalangan: “The Marcos dictatorship killed democracy by jailing journalists, shutting down newspapers, and installing government spies and watchdogs in newsrooms. Today, democracy is in peril without having to resort to such brutal measures. All it takes is to devalue the truth and displace reason from public discourse.”

Local government units are regulating the sale and use of e-cigarettes and other novel tobacco products, but some have liberal rules that allow persons as young as 18 years old to buy the products.

Cracks in the Marcos political machine started to show in the 1984 Batasan election. And the dictator’s last campaign ended in a popular revolt that forced him, his family, and his cabal into exile.

Not even the PR firm with some of the best access to the gates of power in Washington could save Marcos after his own military and the U.S. turned against him in the final days of his dictatorship.

A creation myth in Philippine folklore, the Marcoses co-opted the Malakas at Maganda myth in the 1970s and anointed themselves as “the strong one” and “ the beautiful one” under “the new society.”

Fighting “fake news” should never stop, however exhausting it may be, the vice president said.

The young voters dismissed allegations of atrocities and corruption during Martial Law.

Members of the church were enthusiastic about the initiative. They hoped that it could help them and other OFWs combat misinformation.

As leases expire after five years, it affects victims of the 'war on drugs' - which Amnesty International has called a 'war on the poor' with heightened urgency.

Thinking of the "drug war", certain images come to mind: darkened crime scenes, dead bodies on the floor with cardboards tagging victims as drug users, the police fending off a crime scene from grieving families and spectators in shock. One of the most known photographs of the ongoing drug war in the Philippines was taken by Raffy Lerma. In this image that was later called the Pieta, Jennilyn Olayres is seen holding her partner, Michael Siaron, who was shot to death by motorcycle-riding gunmen.

Recent survey results show that candidates with significant political backing kept the lion's share of voter preference going into the final stretch of the elections.

“Iba naman!” This is the battle cry of Manila City Mayor and presidential candidate Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso as he offered himself as the best alternative in the May 9 elections.

An official bio page of Louise “Liza” Araneta-Marcos, wife of presidential candidate Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., listed her as a member of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA), a private voluntary membership association for licensed attorneys in the state of New York.

For at least the second time, senatorial candidate Salvador Panelo repeated a wrong claim that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has “no jurisdiction” to investigate alleged crimes against humanity associated with President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs.

For International Fact-Checking Week, fact-checkers convened to discuss what happens when sources of false information can’t take the heat.

In a recent public speech, President Rodrigo Duterte falsely claimed that the founding of the Philippine republic was in 1947. He also made an inaccurate claim that his relatives – the Durano political clan – have been leading Danao City, Cebu for “almost 15 decades.”

Pushing to develop alternative energy sources in the country, presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson Sr. has claimed that the Philippines is the top biomass producer. This needs context.

In the final year of the Duterte administration, Congress approved a bill that defies the chief executive’s anti-tobacco smoking and anti-vaping position.

Several provisions in the proposed Vaporized Nicotine and Non-nicotine Products Regulation Act or the vape bill, ratified by Congress on Jan. 26, have been contested by medical experts and health advocates, questioning the need for a new regulation on electronic nicotine and non-nicotine devices (ENDS/ENNDS) and heated tobacco products (HTPs).