Archive - Vote 2013

By MIKHA FLORES CABANATUAN City would have to wait until after the May 13 elections to get residents to vote on a proposal to turn it from a component city of Nueva Ecija province into a highly urbanized city (HUC). The Commission on Elections on Tuesday again denied the city’s motion for reconsideration to schedule

By MIKHA FLORES THE Commission on Elections stands to save more than P200 million worth of taxpayers’ money after the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) has allowed it to re-use ballot boxes used in 2010. In a resolution dated Dec. 4, the PET approved a petition filed by Comelec Law Department Director Esmeralda Amora-Ladra to use the

By JONATHAN DE SANTOS IT has taken Congress a quarter of a century to craft a law that will make the Constitutional ban on political dynasties real, but Fr. Leo Casas, candidate for governor of Masbate province, says citizens are not powerless against political clans that dominate politics. At a forum on political dynasties at

THE Canada Fund for Local Initiatives (CFLI) recently awarded financial grants to 11 projects that seek to advance democracy, ensure security and stability, and stimulate sustainable economic growth. VERA Files is among the 11 recipients of the competitive small grants program.

By YVONNE T. CHUA
THE Commission on Elections filed last year a case against a candidate in a small town for overspending in the 2010 elections, said to be a first in the annals of the poll body. But that was out of sheer luck.

By LALA ORDENES “THE election is war, there is no room for gentleness.” This is the advice of newly appointed Comelec Commissioner Grace Padaca to non-governmental organization (NGO) members who are fielding or supporting candidates in the 2013 elections.

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES BANGUED, Abra—The filing of certificates of candidacy for local positions last week signals the approaching election season, and for inmates at the Abra Provincial Jail (APJ), this could mean one thing: Freedom.

By LORIE ANN A. CASCARO with a report from CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS, MindaNews DAVAO CITY —The Regional Legislative Assembly (RLA) of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is confident it can beat the deadline of six months given for the review of Republic Act 9054 (Expanded Organic Act for the ARMM) as it has so far “achieved two major things,” RLA Speaker Rasol Y. Mitmug Jr. said.

By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS, MindaNews DAVAO CITY – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has found through its Automated Fingerprint Identification System (AFIS) at least 61,416 double/multiple registrants in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao as of September 11.

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES The hearings of the Election Registration Board (ERB) in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao has been postponed again. Commission on Elections (Comelec) Resolution 9519 promulgated September 13 moved the ERB schedule to November. The postponement was made based on the recommendation of lawyer Teofisto Elnas Jr, Director IV of the Election and Barangay Affairs Department.

By VERA Files UMINGAN, Pangasinan – This town posted the highest turnout of persons with disabilities (PWDs) in the province’s special voters registration, thanks to the efficient coordination of municipal government agencies, local leaders and PWD organizations.

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES SULU residents are bent on filing an objection to the list of voting applicants, despite possible reprisals and threats to their lives, Sulu’s second district representative said.

COTABATO CITY— The Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) now faces the difficult, if not almost impossible, task of weeding out the multiple registrants from last July’s general voters’ registration because the Commission on Election failed to provide for the automatic deletion of such registrants.

Text and interview by ARTHA KIRA PAREDES, Photos and video by AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN COTABATO CITY— Local leaders in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) need to change their old habits by committing to clean and honest elections, said an Oblate priest who used to head the panel negotiating peace with Muslim rebels groups.

Text by ARTHA KIRA PAREDES, Photos and video by AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN DATU SAUDI AMPATUAN, Maguindanao— The hearings of the Election Registration Board (ERB) will push through in Maguindanao until the scheduled completion by September, even if the ongoing conflict persists.

BONGAO, Tawi-tawi—Muslim leaders challenged followers of Islam to change public perceptions that the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) is the cheating capital of the Philippines.

Text by ARTHA KIRA PAREDES, Photos and video by AMIEL MARK CAGAYAN COTABATO CITY— The task force created to get people to take part in the recently concluded general voters’ registration in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will become an election monitoring group in the 2013 midterm polls.

Text and photos by VINCENT GO JOLO, Sulu—The recently concluded general voters’ registration here went peacefully and smoothly, despite the various obstacles that Sulu province faces.

By ARTHA KIRA PAREDES COTABATO CITY— The Commission on Elections has postponed the scheduled Election Registration Board (ERB) hearings in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) originally set for this month.

COTABATO CITY— The Commission on Elections allowed persons with disabilities (PWDs) to register during the voters’ registration in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), but failed to provide them with supplemental forms that would have determined the kind of assistance they  would need come election day next year. For the entire 10 days of

By MIKHAIL FRANZ FLORES and LEILANIE ADRIANO Most local offices of the Commission on Elections pushed through with the voters’ registration of persons with disabilities (PWD) last weekend despite the floods left behind by the monsoon rains in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces.

By RICHARD FALCATAN ISABELA CITY—The election officer here was killed on his way home from supervising the special registration of persons with disabilities (PWD) held nationwide on Saturday.

By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS, MindaNews KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia – “On the same paragraph now, but it’s still a long paragraph,” Malaysian facilitator Tengku Dato’ Ab Ghafar Tengku Mohamed summed up to MindaNews Thursday the progress of the first three days of the August 7 to 11 peace negotiations here between the Philippine government (GPH) and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF).

By KEITH BACONGCO, MindaNews COTABATO CITY – The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) has assailed the presence of police and military personnel inside registration centers during the 10-day re-registration in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) last month.

By KEITH BACONGCO, MindaNews
COTABATO CITY – The registration of minors, flying registrants and multiple registrations have remained rampant in the 10-day registration of voters last month in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), according to a task force tasked to assess the registration.

by BABYLYN KANO-OMAR BONGAO, Tawi-Tawi—Aside from the practice of underage voting and hakot or transporting voters to registration centers, election watchers also saw a migration of voters in the recently concluded Commission on Elections (Comelec) listing in the province.

by BABYLYN KANO-OMAR BONGAO, Tawi-Tawi— Unofficial results of the 10-day registration in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) have shown a decrease in the number of of voters in the province.

By CAROLYN O. ARGUILLAS, MindaNews DAVAO CITY – The governors of the five provinces of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)  have taken their oath as new members of President Aquino’s Liberal Party (LP). Basilan’s Jum Akbar, Lanao del Sur’ Mamintal Adiong Jr.; Maguindanao’s Esmael “Toto” Mangudadatu, Sulu’s Sakur Tan and Tawi-tawi’s Sadikul Sahali 

by BABYLYN KANO-OMAR BONGAO, Tawi-Tawi— The local Commission on Elections asked for military augmentation while the general voters registration was ongoing in the province.

By RICHARD FALCATAN LAMITAN CITY— Despite minor drawbacks, the recently concluded voters’ registration in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao was satisfactory, the Commission on Election (Comelec) said.