Archive - Vote 2013

By FERDINANDH B. CABRERA, MindaNews and VERA Files COTABATO CITY — A seven-year old girl died and her mother was wounded in an explosion that occurred today in front of the house of former governor Andal Ampatuan Sr. in Barangay Timbangan, Shariff Aguak town in Maguindanao. Killed was Agatha Sakal, who was with her mother

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES Photos by AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN COTABATO CITY—Police officials have recorded six registration-related violent incidents between July 8 and July 13 in the  Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The assessment was submitted to Task Force Rehistro (TFR) that held its fourth meeting at the Office of the Regional Governor Monday.  The Philippine

By BABYLYN KANO-OMAR, VERA Files BONGAO, Tawi-tawi—The 10 days set aside for the general registration of voters would be sufficient to accommodate all registrants, and an extension would be unnecessary, election officials said. But some sectors have been asking for a extension of the registration, giving rise to suspicion that such calls are a ploy

Text and photos by RICHARD FALCATAN LAMITAN CITY— The number of registrants in four big barangays of this city have doubled over the weekend. From the usual 200 registrants per registration center on weekdays, around 400 registrants flocked to the four classrooms designated as registration centers at the Lamitan Central School. The four barangays covered in

ARTHA KIRA PAREDES, Reporter AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN, Producer DATU SALIBO, Maguindanao— Heavy rains at the start of the voters’ registration in Datu Salibo, Maguindanao  left the main road flooded for almost a week now. The intermittent downpour all throughout the day also caused the swelling of the Botalo River. As a result, houses in the vicinity

Text by ARTHA KIRA PAREDES Photos and Video by AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN UPI, Maguindanao—The local Commission on Election (Comelec) here spent Sunday making sure that all teachers and school employees in the municipality were registered as voters. Election Officer Flordelina Muñoz said allotting Sunday for the registration of education personnel was the local Comelec’s initiative

Text by ARTHA KIRA PAREDES Photos and Video by AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao—Classes went on as usual for elementary pupils and high school students here, even if classrooms in some schools were  designated voters’ registration areas. At noon last Friday, students of Sarilikha National High School in Barangay Semba were caught in

  By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS, MindaNews DAVAO CITY – A network of peace groups has asked the government and Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) peace panels to suspend the election of officials in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in May 2013 to give way to a transition government that would oversee the shift from

Last of two parts MAGUINDANAO – If the ghosts of registrations past are to be exorcised and electoral reforms are to take root in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) or the future “new autonomous political entity,” apathy must give way to active participation of the citizenry to ensure the ill practices of the past are not allowed to pass this time, Rasol Mitmug, OIC Speaker of the ARMM’s Regional Legislative Assembly (RLA) said.

By BABYLYN KANO-OMAR VERA Files BONGAO, Tawi-tawi—Reports of “flying” registrants in different barangays here are reaching the election watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting. On Day 4 of the 10-day general registration, residents lining up to enlist complained that unknown people have been cutting through long lines of registrants waiting for their turns to

Text by ARTHA KIRA PAREDES and AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN Photos and Video by AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN   COTABATO CITY— Barangay officials in the Automous Region in Muslim Mindanao have been sighted in registration sites since Day 1 of the ongoing general voters’ registration, in violation of election rules promulgated by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

By LOVE ILUSTRE, DXSM JOLO, Sulu— Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan said he is grateful to President Benigno Aquino for pursuing electoral reforms like the general registration of voters in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, which would give the people a clean slate in the 2013 elections. Tan also commended the Commission on Election for an orderly, systematic and

By MINDANEWS LAMITAN CITY, Basilan – At the registration centers in this city, one will not fail to notice young individuals grouping themselves outside or inside the designated registration rooms. It is positive to note that the younger generation here is now trying to actively exercise their right to vote in the upcoming elections—but here’s

By BABYLYN KANO-OMAR VERA Files BONGAO, Tawi-tawi—“Hakot” sytem or the practice of ferrying and transporting residents to voters’ registration centers is happening all over Tawi-tawi, the country’s southernmost province, according to coordinators of the Catholic Church’s election watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV). PPCRV volunteers report that registrants are being brought in by air,

Text by ARTHA KIRA PAREDES Photos and Video by AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN DATU ODIN SINSUAT, Maguindanao—Officials are pushing for a more efficient registration process in the village with one of the highest number of voters here by setting different schedules of each zone to allow them to complete voters’ registration by July 18. Tamontaka Barangay

MAGUINDANAO – The girl in black abaya waiting outside a voting registration center at the Datu Pendililang Piang Elementary School in Datu Saudi Ampatuan town on Wednesday afternoon looked 13 or 14 but claimed to be 19. “You’re in college,” we asked Baileng (not her real name). She shook her head. “High school?” She again shook her head. “Grade Six,” she replied, almost in a whisper.

ZAMBOANGA CITY (MindaNews) – Seven rubber plantation workers were killed while 18 others were wounded in an early morning ambush today in the municipality of Sumisip in the island province of Basilan allegedly staged by the Abu Sayyaf after a local cooperative refused to pay the armed group’s extortion demand.

By BABYLYN KANO-OMAR, DXGD-AM BONGAO, Tawi-tawi—Registration centers of the Commission on Elections have been able to process only 50 voters’ registration forms per center on the second day of the general voters’ registration here. The figure is just one-fourth of the projected 200 forms per center per day, causing delays and tensions in the registration areas.

By LOVE ILUSTRE, DXSM JOLO, Sulu—The Commission on Election (Comelec) provincial supervisor here has warned residents against multiple registrations, or enlisting as voters in different areas. Atty. Vidzfar Julie issued the warning amid observations that the number of registrants has reached 300 in some registration centers, despite a limit of 200 applications per day per

By FROILAN GALLARDO, MindaNews MARAWI CITY  – Fearing for their lives, the entire team of election officers assigned in the municipality of Butig in Lanao del Sur pulled out dawn Wednesday after unruly supporters of warring local politicians fired shots in the air and fought each other at the town market. The election officers, mostly

By BABYLYN KANO-OMAR VERA Files   BONGAO, Tawi-tawi—The general registration of voters went off to a peaceful start here, the Philippines’ southernmost province, although delays and power shortages slightly marred the event. Election paraphernalia arrived in the capital Bongao only on July 9, the first of the 10-day general voters’  registration in the Autonomous Region

LAMITAN CITY—The practice of underaged Muslims attempting to register as voters continues in the ongoing general registration of voters in Muslim Mindanao, but they won’t get away with it.

By MindaNews ZAMBOANGA CITY – The head of the country’s election body has witnessed firsthand a perennial problem bugging elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). On Monday, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chair Sixto Brillantes Jr. did not fail to notice that in the island municipality of Simunul in Tawi-Tawi people look so

By FROILAN GALLARDO, MindaNews MARAWI CITY — A multi-agency task force started a crackdown on vehicles ferrying “fictitious registrants” on Tuesday after Army soldiers intercepted 13 such vehicles in Saguiaran town in Lanao del Sur on the same day. Col. Dario Bucawit, chief of the 64th Infantry Battalion said 13 vans and jeeps filled with suspected