By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL BARELY a hundred days before this year’s polls, the Commission on Elections has yet to settle issues of vote counting machines (VCMs) being prone to electoral fraud, poll watchdogs say. To boost public confidence, the Comelec demonstrated Monday four security features in its VCMs. These were not used in the Precinct
By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL THE clamor to include “None of the above” as one of the options in the official ballot for the 2016 polls may sound hilarious, but it only expresses the blatant frustration of the voting populace, a lawyer said on Thursday. “It’s like another way of saying, ‘Wala na bang iba’ (isn’t
By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL PLATFORMS over personalities. Four months before the elections, a poll watchdog has urged candidates, voters and key stakeholders in the 2016 presidential elections to raise the level of discourse from personality-driven politics to an issue-based exercise. “The electoral players seem to be forgetting a basic fact: that the elections are about
By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL CANDIDATES for the presidency and vice presidency will not be compelled to attend the nationwide debates the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is organizing starting next month, but the poll body says non-attendance is a message in itself. The debates will not only reveal how candidates fare in their specific fields, but
By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) is proposing stricter measures on the posting and airing of political advertisements as well as the tracking of its donors as part of the efforts to make the 2016 elections transparent and fair. Candidates in the May 9 elections may be required to submit a written
BY ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS I really hope that Election Commissioner Christian Robert Lim’s allegation that China is out to sabotage the 2016 elections is just a burst of irresponsibility that has been in abundance in this administration. What is more worrisome is if the sinister scenario that Lim raised is a camouflage for
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS INSTEAD of acting like crybabies for not having lulled Sen. Grace Poe into their trap so she could not be an impediment to their standard bearer’s Malacañang dream, Liberal Party officials should work on getting Batangas Governor Vilma Santos-Recto as Mar Roxas running mate. Ate Vi is the perfect partner for
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS “THE President and I talked for about five hours. I could sense the very difficult position PNoy is in right now. I understand and sympathize with his predicament and situation. I consider him a true and sincere friend and he has my utmost respect. He reiterated his desire for all of
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS THE latest survey conducted by the Magdalo Group among voters in vote-rich Lingayen-Lucena corridor has Sen. Grace Poe leading the 2016 presidential race. Conducted two weeks ago (May 18 to 20) among 3,000 respondents, the Magdalo survey, just like what they did in their national survey last April, had two
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS WE trust Sen. Grace Poe would be astute in dealing with the reported courtship by the Liberal Party for the 2016 elections with no less than President Aquino and Interior Secretary Mar Roxas leading the wooing. Although the talks were about the 2016 elections, Grace said there was no
