By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL and VERLIE Q. RETULIN PRESIDENTIAL candidate Rodrigo Duterte is leading by a wide margin in an elections with the fastest transmission rate in the country’s history of automated polls. At 10:40 p.m., 75.38 percent of polling precincts have already transmitted election returns said poll chief Andres Bautista. Though the Commission on
By VERA FILES HALFWAY into the day of Monday’s elections, problems among voters with disabilities have been piling up from across the country. Initial reports as of noon show many persons with disabilities (PWDs) having a hard time exercising their right to vote, betraying a lack of preparation by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), despite
By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL VOTING may be extended in areas where vote-counting machines (VCMs) have caused delays, Commission on Elections (Comelec) spokesperson James Jimenez said Monday. Comelec has been receiving numerous reports of rejected ballots since voting opened. Ballots are considered rejected if they are not accepted by the VCM after four attempts, said Jimenez. In case
By FROILAN GALLARDO, MindaNews MARAWI City — Fearing for their lives, 200 teachers from five municipalities in Lanao del Sur are boycotting their poll duty on Monday, prompting the Commission on Elections to deploy policemen to replace them. Senior Insp. Barlowe Espiga said they are fielding 200 policemen to replace the teachers who will not
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS FIVE days before Election Day, former Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, who supervised the first automated elections in 2010 and is now consultant of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, said there are a still lot of loose ends that need to be tied to make Monday’s election orderly. He is very concerned with
By MARIA FEONA IMPERIAL IF you’re a government employee or a barangay official, be careful what you post on social media. The Commission on Elections and the Civil Service Commission (CSC), in a joint circular, have widened the scope of electioneering and partisan political activity to include ground rules on social media use. While they
By ELLEN T. TORDESILLAS FORMER Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, who is now consultant of the Nationalist People’s Coalition, said the Commission on Elections cannot postpone the May 9 elections as it is being floated now. He said there is only one option for Comelec: “To conduct automated elections on May 9, 2016.” Former Senator
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
[metaslider id=32200] By VERA FILES THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Saturday launched a satellite voter registration and validation in several shopping malls in Metro Manila, but turnout was low. A combination of heavy rain and lack of information dissemination hampered the registration of persons with disabilities and other voters. In five areas, Comelec personnel
By JAKE SORIANO Photos and video by DANIEL ABUNALES IT was not a typical scene during voters’ registration. Hundreds of prospective voters from Quezon City, including persons with disabilities (PWDs), lined up early morning of Independence Day at a covered court in Barangay Bagumbahay. But while waiting for their turn, they were treated to a