By VERA Files CANDIDATES in Monday’s midterm elections have been using “Mother’s Day” and birthday celebrations, among others, as cover to buy votes, a political think tank said Sunday. A statement issued by Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) on election eve said election cheating has worsened and poll automation “is powerless against it.” CenPEG
By MIKHA FLORES THE Commission on Elections has identified the 234 towns and municipalities across the country where a random manual audit (RMA) will be conducted after the May 13 elections. Election Commissioner Christian Robert Lim said the audit will check whether the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines accurately counted the votes cast. “It is
By VINCE NONATO, LEILANIE ADRIANO, REYNARD MAGTOTO and CLTV 36 Was it a P1.4 billion well spent? Airfreight 2100 (Air 21), one of the two freight and cargo forwarding firms awarded by the Commission on Elections a P1.4 billion contract to deploy poll machines on Monday, caused massive delays and confusion in polling precincts for
By DARLENE CAY and MELISSA LUZ LOPEZ Photos and video by VINCENT GO Senatorial candidates stole the limelight from the working class at yesterday’s Labor Day protest rallies, where workers called for a wage increase, bigger tax relief, an end to contractualization, non-wage benefits and lower prices of basic commodities. Cameras and microphones turned away
By CLTV 36 SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga—The good news about the elections in Central Luzon is that only a tiny fraction of candidates running for public office in the May 13 elections comes from political families. The bad news is that Pampanga has the highest number of candidates for various positions who hail from those dynasties,
By VINCE NONATO TO this Baptist church in Quezon City, Paul Watser is what you may call a good Christian. He’s tall, he’s young, he reads the Bible, he votes. Watser is a character in a series of shorts depicting the story of an ordinary, church-going, apathetic college student. And for the first time last
By REYNARD MAGTOTO LEGAZPI City —Despite the recent uproar over the energy privatization in Albay, candidates have refused to join the fray and remain mum on the issue. On April 15, the National Electrification Administration (NEA) decided to finally privatize the bankrupt Albay Electric Cooperative (Aleco), the country’s second biggest electric cooperative. Stakeholders in Albay have