The ProPinoy Project » Francis Escudero

Palace won't meddle in Senate affairs

Karen Ang — Wed, 05 May 2010 15:19:20 +0000

Palace won’t meddle in Senate affairs
By Paolo Romero and Christina Mendez
The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang announced yesterday that the administration will not meddle in the affairs of the Senate and it is up to the senators to decide if they would elect a new Senate president.

Deputy presidential spokesman and Press Undersecretary Rogelio Peyuan referred to the proposal of re-electionist Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago to elect a new Senate president as a guaranty in the event no president would be proclaimed due to a failure of elections on May 10.

“It’s up to them (senators) to do what they think needs to be done to put in safeguards and security measures,” Peyuan told a news briefing. “This is a matter for them to decide.”

He said President Arroyo has not yet received a formal request from the Senate to call for a special session to allow the senators to elect a new president.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile whose term will expire in June, challenged other senators to bring in the numbers if they want him to be replaced.

Enrile made the challenge following persistent reports that some senators want to replace the Senate leadership as a contingency in case of a failure of elections.

“How? How can they do that? I’m ready to step down if they have the number anytime but how can they do that. If they can ask the President to call a special session between now and Friday, oh? We cannot have sessions on Saturdays and Sundays,” Enrile said.

Among the senators, Senators Santiago, Edgardo Angara, Francis Escudero, and Alan Peter Cayetano have been vocal over the need to replace Enrile with a senator whose term ends in 2013.

Calls for manual count mount but Comelec says no

Karen Ang — Wed, 05 May 2010 11:15:23 +0000

Calls for manual count mount but Comelec says no
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—Widespread misreading of ballots in the testing of counting machines for Monday’s automated polls has revived calls from national and local candidates for a full manual count to ensure that no massive electronic rigging will occur on Election Day.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec), however, quickly thumbed down the suggestions, saying it was confident that computerized balloting and canvassing will push through despite the technical setback of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines.

“We are confident that failure of election is not a problem,” said Commissioner Rene Sarmiento.

But Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III wanted a firm assurance from the Comelec that it “will do everything within the bounds of the law” to ensure that automated elections would push through or else prepare for a manual count “as mandated by law.”

In a statement, Aquino said the misreading of the PCOS machines belied the poll agency’s claim that it is “ready.”

“The Comelec denied our proposed parallel manual count for national and selected local positions as it could open the electoral process to fraud and protest that could delay the proclamation of winners. They called it regressive and unnecessary,” he added.

4 business groups

In a joint statement, four business groups renewed their call for a full manual count for president, vice president, member of the House of Representatives, governor and mayor.

The Financial Executives Institute of the Philippines, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, and the Philippine Bar Association also urged the immediate printing of complete sets of election forms.

The manual count in all clustered precincts was a good way to “salvage the credibility of the elections,” the groups said.

In Malacañang, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s deputy spokesperson said he did not think the Comelec would “outrightly suggest a manual counting of the election returns or the results.”

“The costs of holding the automated polls may run up to P10 billion, and that’s why the Comelec cannot just scrap this,” Rogelio Peyuan said. The poll body’s bill has so far reached P7 billion.

Ms Arroyo directed Commissioner Ray Anthony Chua of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology (CICT) to meet with officials of the Comelec and its private contractor, Smartmatic-TIM, to discuss the situation and suggest solutions, including possible “alternative moves.”

Senators Francis Escudero and Rodolfo Biazon on Tuesday asked the Comelec to scrap the conduct of automated polls and prepare to go manual now.

Mandatory

In a statement, Escudero, co-chair of the Congressional Poll Automation Oversight Committee, called on Comelec officials to order the printing of election paraphernalia for a mandatory, full manual count.

“The latest report about poll counting errors by the PCOS machines, at this stage of the electoral process, may very well validate long-standing concerns about the nationwide automated count of the votes to be cast on Election Day,” Escudero said.

“The Comelec must undertake preparations with utmost caution and plan for contingencies knowing that any mistake in this unprecedented exercise could cost us more than the billions spent for this project—the denial of our people’s right to elect this country’s next leaders,” he said.

In a phone interview, Biazon expressed concern that “this may be a national level thing and thus the Comelec has to come up with contingencies reverting to manual polls.”

Senatorial candidate Jose “Joey” de Venecia III, an information technology expert, said that while he favored full poll automation, the Comelec was not ready for it. He proposed that full automation be postponed when the country would be “fully” prepared for it.

In a press conference in Bacolod City, De Venecia said it was easier to cheat with the PCOS machines as shown in Monday’s testing in Makati City, in which only the votes of one mayoral candidate were counted, and in other parts of the country.

The Comelec traced the problem to wrong configuration of the compact flash cards, which contains data on precincts, and local and national contests.

Integrity of PCOS count

De Venecia said there was no assurance of the integrity of the PCOS count because some security features of the machines have been disabled.

The PCOS system log file was dubious, he said. “One can actually tamper into the system,” he added.

PEP party-list nominee Philip Piccio, who was also present in the press conference, warned that if the automated count fails on the local level, especially in volatile areas, violence could break out that could lead to bloodshed and death.

Makati mayoral candidate Jejomar Erwin “Junjun” Binay and his sister, reelectionist Rep. Abigail Binay, had asked the Comelec to resort to manual counting following the glitches in the PCOS test run in Metro Manila.

“We cannot trust these machines to count ballots according to our real votes,” Abigail said.

Most of the PCOS machines tested by the city’s board of election inspectors encountered problems in tallying votes for local candidates on Monday afternoon.

Glitches in Manila

During the testing conducted on Sunday in Manila, most of the PCOS machines failed to read votes for the mayoral post, according to mayoral candidate Lito Atienza’s son and campaign manager.

In District 3, Arnold Atienza said the machines failed to read the votes for mayoral and congressional candidates, and votes cast for his father were credited to his toughest rival, incumbent Mayor Alfredo Lim.

“The trend that we see here is that the machines may have been programmed to work well for national positions, but not for local,” he said. “This is a cause for serious concern … the integrity of the elections is at stake here.”

But Commissioner Sarmiento said the poll body was not adjusting its May 10 contingency plan for the manual count. The Comelec expects manual count in only about 30 precincts of the precincts, he said.

“We are ready for that 30 percent. We can go manual for 30. But what if it exceeds 30 percent? That has to be discussed by the en banc,” Sarmiento said. With reports from Carla Gomez, Inquirer Visayas; and Kristine L. Alave, Niña Calleja, Tina G. Santos, Christine O. Avendaño, Philip C. Tubeza and Abigail L. Ho

Congress won’t end reign of political dynasties

Karen Ang — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 14:31:12 +0000

Congress won’t end reign of political dynasties
By Tony Bergonia
Philippine Daily Inquirer

(First of four parts)

MANILA, Philippines—Congress’ refusal to pass an anti-dynasty law could just be one more proof that, quoting Henry Kissinger, “power is an aphrodisiac,” says former Sen. Rene Saguisag.

No anti-dynasty bill ever reached the floor of either chamber of Congress for voting.

“Your search yielded no result,” went the reply on the House website when a search on the subject of political dynasties was made.

It might as well be the epitaph on the tomb of the anti-dynasty measure.

“Delicadeza,” Saguisag says, is the single most important ingredient lacking in the continuing process to stop political dynasties, “but it is long dead and gone.”

The 1987 Constitution left no room for interpretation in Article II, Section 26: “The State shall guarantee equal access to opportunities for public service and prohibit political dynasties …”

However, it left the task of defining dynasties and putting flesh into the prohibition to Congress, one institution teeming with legislators who are either patriarchs or products of clans or families that maintain fiefdoms in regions, provinces, towns or cities.

“The 1987 Constitution made it impossible to serve long so families just spread the bounty,” Saguisag says.

When the late President Corazon Aquino restored Congress and its two chambers, the task of writing a law that would enforce the constitutional ban on dynasties took the life span of a Stage-4 cancer patient.

“Resistance was natural,” Saguisag recalls those days at the Senate when he and other supporters of measures to implement the anti-dynasty provision argued their case before colleagues, who had other priorities than to help kill their own emerging dynasties.

Subtle, strong opposition

The attempt to pass a law didn’t go very far, he says. Opposition was “subtle but strong.”

Saguisag’s episode in public service could be a good example of how power should be handled—reject it outright or simply succumb to it. Except in two instances at the prodding of Ms Aquino, he has made the first choice.

“I don’t know, but it was easy for me (to reject power),” Saguisag says.

One instance, when he had to give in was on Feb. 25, 1986, “when at dusk, I was asked to serve (by Aquino).”

“’Ne (his term of endearment to Ms Aquino), you’ll continue to be my spokesman,” Saguisag recalls Aquino as telling him that day. “I was speechless, looking down at my shoes a long, long time.”

When he tried to resist, Saguisag says, “I got an earful, along with Joker (Arroyo).”

“You were among those who pushed me to run. Now you won’t even help me,” Saguisag recalls Ms Aquino telling him and Joker. “I was an accidental public servant privileged to serve a providential president.”

The temptation, however, didn’t stop there. Soon after agreeing to help Ms Aquino during the transition period, Saguisag recalls, a bigger offer came his way.

“In January 1987, I was given a signed Supreme Court appointment,” Saguisag says in written replies to questions e-mailed to him by the Inquirer. “I said no to it.”

In his foray into public life, Saguisag made himself noticeably scarce only twice—when he ended his term as senator and faded into the background, and when an accident claimed the life of his wife, Dulce, and wounded him for life.

Finding time to reply in writing [he begged off from a face-to-face or phone interview] to the Inquirer request, Saguisag recalls his brushes with power as temptation.

“My wife and I said no to various offers,” he says. “Offered one Cabinet position, she said to me ‘argument over.’”

Speakership fight

Saguisag’s ability to resist power is easy as the struggle to enable the constitutional ban on dynasties is tough.

Journals of the House of Representatives, which keep records of daily sessions, are replete with this passage on anti-dynasty bills: “To the committee on suffrage and electoral reforms.” It simply meant put it on the back burner.

One instance when the dynasty issue became big at the House, however, was during the 2007 speakership fight between Rep. Jose de Venecia Jr. of Pangasinan and Rep. Pablo Garcia Sr. of Cebu.

Struggling to keep his hold on the top House post, De Venecia raised the dynasty issue against the Garcias.

On Aug. 13, 2007, at the height of the fight, De Venecia’s ally, Rep. Arthur Defensor, filed House Bill No. 783, “Anti-Political Dynasty Act of 2007,” that would outlaw “alarming situations where the father is the governor, the mother is the congresswoman, while the son is the mayor.”

A House press release on Aug. 13, 2007, quotes Defensor as saying that political dynasties are “anathema to our democratic life and characteristic of the patronage system of politics that has been a hindrance to our development.”

Defensor’s bill, however, won’t bar relatives from handing power over like they do pieces of property in inheritance proceedings. It isn’t as ugly as “unpleasant situations” of several relatives occupying government positions all at the same time, Defensor was quoted as saying. “This bill is different.”

De Venecia, another House press release says, “deserves to be reelected to a fifth term (as Speaker) after showing unflinching support for the anti-dynasty bill.”

Nothing was heard of again of the anti-dynasty bill after De Venecia won. The journal passage continued: “To the committee on suffrage and electoral reforms.”

The bill went nowhere even if it, according to Defensor himself, meant to exempt from the dynasty prohibition officials holding positions “where decision-making is made through deliberations and consensus,” like seats in Congress.

Level of priority

Another bill, this time filed by Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Satur Ocampo, was consolidated with Defensor’s work.

When he was Senate President, now presidential candidate Manuel Villar was asked what level of priority he was giving the anti-dynasty measure.

“We can prioritize it depending on our colleagues,” Villar says at a November 2006 press conference with reporters at the Senate.

“But we all know that we’re running out of time,” he says.

“What we are giving priority to now are the ones that already passed the committees. There’s still hope for those that haven’t passed the committees. But, of course, they’re not top priority because it’s just normal for us, it’s just logical for us to act first on those that are already on the floor.”

Sen. Francis Escudero, chair of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments, revision of codes and laws, says in a press conference three years later that his committee has reported out an anti-dynasty bill filed by Sen. Panfilo Lacson.

“But as one of those who would be affected by the bill,” he says in a press conference in June 2009, “I inhibited myself although I first reported it out.” Escudero’s father is currently a congressman in Sorsogon.

The younger Escudero says Congress really has no choice but to pass an anti-dynasty law because it was clear in the 1987 Constitution.

Conflict of interest

“The problem,” he says, “is for each senator and congressman to look closely at themselves in the mirror and ask if they have conflict of interest.”

“Because if they do,” Escudero continues, “they should inhibit themselves and not participate in deliberations on this bill to leave those who do not have conflict of interest in relation to the anti-dynasty bill.”

In a transcript of that press conference, a reporter asks Escudero how many legislators he believed would be left if everyone with conflict of interest on the anti-dynasty issue inhibited themselves.

“No matter how many are left, the configuration and definition of a quorum could be adjusted to pass this bill,” he replies.

Erap tied with Villar in latest Pulse Asia poll

Karen Ang — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 09:17:03 +0000

Erap tied with Villar in latest Pulse Asia poll
By Helen Flores
The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines – With elections less than two weeks away, the tandem of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) standard-bearer former President Joseph Estrada and running mate Jejomar Binay surged to the number two spot.

Results of Pulse Asia’s latest pre-election survey showed that Estrada and Nacionalista Party (NP) bet Sen. Manuel Villar are now tied at second place with 20 percent each.

Binay, showing strong improvement, also overtook NP bet Sen. Loren Legarda for second place (28 percent versus 20 percent).

Pulse Asia said Binay gained nine percentage points in electoral support while Legarda’s score dropped from 23 percent in March to 20 percent in a survey conducted from April 23 to 25.

Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno Aquino III is still dominating the race with 39 percent or four in 10 Filipino voters showing preference for him. Aquino is leading by 19 points over Villar and Estrada.

Aquino was apparently buoyed by the results and attributed the increase in his numbers to the LP’s intensive campaign in different parts of the country.

“I’ve told you that once we move around (for the campaign sorties, my rating will increase),” he said.

Estrada, for his part, said the Pulse Asia survey is good news.

“This reflects that people are now seeing beyond the campaign propaganda of other camps and discerning who is truly opposition and who is truly pro-poor,” said Estrada’s spokeswoman Margaux Salcedo.

Administration bet Gilberto Teodoro of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD came in a distant third with seven percent; followed by Bangon Pilipinas candidate Bro. Eddie Villanueva with three percent.

Villanueva, meanwhile, said he is not bothered by his rating and maintains that the public should expect an upset in the election turnout, confident that the entire ticket of the BPP will win.

Bagumbayan standard-bearer Sen. Richard Gordon ranks fifth with two percent; followed by disqualified presidential candidate Vetellano Acosta of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan with one percent.

The other presidential candidates received less than one percent of the respondents’ votes: independent candidate Nicanor Perlas (0.3 percent), Ang Kapatiran Party’s John Carlos de los Reyes (0.2 percent); and Sen. Jamby Madrigal (0.1 percent).

Nine percent of respondents were undecided about their presidential preference.

According to Pulse Asia, the other vice-presidential candidates register voter preferences of at most three percent. They were former Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Bayani Fernando of the Bagumbayan Party (three percent); Lakas-Kampi candidate actor Edu Manzano (three percent); Bangon Pilipinas’ Perfecto Yasay (one percent); KBL’s Jay Sonza (0.3 percent); and AKP bet Dominador Chipeco (0.05 percent).

In a reaction, Roxas said he is very grateful to the Filipinos for their continuing support.

“We pledge to pursue our commitment to reform our government so that our people can enjoy the fruits of good governance as this will result in true progress and development for all the peoples of this country,” he said.

Pulse Asia said among the major developments immediately prior to and during the conduct of interviews were defections from the Lakas-Kampi mostly to the NP and LP, and Sen. Francis Escudero’s endorsement of Aquino for president and Binay for vice-president.

The non-commissioned survey used face-to-face interviews of 1,800 representative adults. – With Evelyn Macairan, Marvin Sy, Aurea Calica, Cecille Suerte Felipe

Noynoy: Mar is my only vice president

Karen Ang — Wed, 28 Apr 2010 10:36:30 +0000

Noynoy: Mar is my only vice president
By Delon Porcalla
The Philippine Star

TACLOBAN CITY , Philippines – Liberal Party standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, the frontrunner in the presidential race, assured the people yesterday that Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II is his only running mate, amid speculation that there is a growing support for an Aquino tandem with Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, the vice presidential bet of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino.

Aquino said he is confident that if he wins as president and something untoward happens to him, the government will be left in good hands under Roxas.

“Gusto ko iliwanag, sa akin kandidato ko kaisa-isa kong partner sa laban na ito, si Mar, dahil sigurado akong ipagpatuloy niya kung sakaling di ko kayanin (I want to make it clear that I have only one candidate and one partner in this fight, and that is Mar, because I am certain he will finish what I have begun),” he said.

Some groups have been pushing for an Aquino-Binay tandem in the May 10 elections.

Sen. Francis Escudero, who is also supporting the Aquino campaign, had endorsed Binay, the running mate of PMP standard-bearer former President Joseph Estrada.

Escudero is allegedly one of the prospective rivals of Roxas in the presidential race in 2016.

Aquino said he and Roxas would both win in the polls and they would implement genuine reforms in the country.

“The numbers of my partner (Roxas) are consistent, His lead is big and his lead will be wider in the coming days,” Aquino said during his campaign sorties here.

He said the struggle of the rivals of Roxas for vice president is now just for the No. 2 slot and they can no longer beat Roxas.

A BusinessWorld-commissioned survey conducted recently by the Social Weather Stations showed Roxas still leading the vice presidential race with 39 percent. Binay and Nacionalista Party vice presidential bet Sen. Loren Legarda were virtually tied at second place with 25 percent and 24 percent, respectively.

Noynoy said Villar is to blame for low ratings

Aquino also claimed yesterday that his main rival Nacionalista Party Sen. Manuel Villar has only himself to blame for his decline in the surveys.

“He (Villar) only helped all of these doubts (against him) grow bigger and bigger. He had the opportunity but he chose not to answer all of these issues squarely. I think he only has himself to blame for all these,” Aquino said.

PMP standard-bearer Estrada had overtaken Villar in a recent survey commissioned by Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno, where Aquino got 41 percent, Estrada obtained 25 percent while Villar only garnered 23 percent.

PMP senatorial bet Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile had also disclosed that Villar who was then Senate president in 2007, allegedly pressured officials of the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) to lift the “lockup” rule over shares of stocks of Vistaland and Lifescapes, Inc. to allow Villar to sell his stocks and allegedly earned P26 billion.

The latest controversy involving the NP was the recent admission of one of the party’s senatorial bet former Cavite Rep. Gilbert Remulla that he had talked to detained former Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr. in Davao City, a suspect in the killing of 57 people that was known as the Maguindanao massacre.

Aquino said that Villar had also refused to properly answer questions regarding the C-5 Road extension project that allegedly increased the value of the property of the Villar family in Las Piñas.

“He has consistently refused to answer the C-5 issue, for one,” said Aquino.

Aquino also felt vindicated by the admission of Remulla that he had a met the controversial Ampatuan patriarch, after the former Maguindanao governor’s detained son Andal Ampatuan Jr. held a press conference at his detention cell at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig and announced his endorsement of Aquino’s presidential bid. Andal Jr. had earlier expressed his support for Villar and Remulla.

“It turned out it was the other way around. I’m happy that the truth is now coming out. “The truth is I don’t know any of them (Ampatuans), although I would admit that one of them shook hands with us during our budget deliberations. No more, no less,” Aquino added.

“I think it is very clear from this issue (Ampatuan meeting) alone on what style of governance they (NP bets) are practicing,” he said.

Meanwhile, Aquino also endorsed the candidacy of re-electionist party-list Rep. Florencio “Bem” Noel of An Waray, who he said has helped his constituents through the years. Noel and Aquino were former colleagues in the House opposition bloc.

After his visit to Tacloban, Aquino went to Catbalogan in Samar, then to Maasin and Baybay in Leyte.

The race for No. 2 shaping up: It’s Roxas vs Binay

Karen Ang — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 10:41:18 +0000

The race for No. 2 shaping up: It’s Roxas vs Binay
By Gil C. Cabacungan Jr., Norman Bordadora, TJ Burgonio
Philippine Daily Inquirer

SOLANO, NUEVA VIZCAYA, Philippines—“Let them have a good fight for No. 2.”

This was the message of Liberal Party vice presidential candidate Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II to his rivals Sen. Loren Legarda of the Nacionalista Party (NP) and Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP).

Roxas has been at the forefront of the vice presidential race, according to surveys conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia, with Legarda occupying the second slot and Binay in third place.

“The numbers of my partner are consistent. He has a huge lead which will get bigger in the coming days,” LP standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III told reporters.

“They (Legarda and Binay) can fight for the No. 2 slot but what is important is being No. 1 and maintaining it,” Aquino added.

An SWS survey conducted March 19-22 showed Roxas with a 42 percent voter preference. Legarda, a member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition but running under the NP slate, was at 25 percent and Binay at 21 percent.

Roxas was also at the top of the Pulse Asia survey for the March 21-28 period with 43 percent. Legarda was second at 23 percent while Binay had 19 percent.

There was some chest thumping Friday in the camp of Binay, who has been endorsed by Sen. Francis Escudero, a former leader of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

A new survey carried out by a firm named LA Research showed that while Roxas was leading in the vice presidential contest with 41.4 percent, Binay had taken over second place with 27.3 percent while Legarda had dropped to third with 22.9 percent, a press release from the Binay camp said.

Registered with SEC

The Binay camp said the face-to-face survey was conducted on April 15 among 6,900 respondents and commissioned by radio network dzRH. It had a margin of error of plus-minus 1.1 percent.

The Binay camp described LA Research as a Manila-based group of pollsters that has been doing surveys for the radio station in the run-up to the May 10 elections.

A check by Inquirer Research shows that a company called LA Research Info Center is registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission to “undertake or engage in marketing and consumer research.”

Advice to Aquino
In its survey, former Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chair Bayani Fernando and ex-Optical Media Board Chair Edu Manzano were tied for fourth and fifth with 2.9 percent each.

Respondents representing 1.1 percent are undecided, according to the survey.

As the campaign headed into the homestretch, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s election lawyer had a piece of unsolicited advice for Aquino: Reject Escudero’s endorsement if it would hurt your running mate’s candidacy.

Lawyer Romeo Macalintal warned Aquino that he risked being called an “ingrate” and losing his friendship with Roxas if he accepted Escudero’s endorsement.

“If he’s a gentleman enough, he should not accept that kind of endorsement,” Macalintal said by phone. “That is a challenge to his leadership, as to whether he would abandon his running mate for his own political benefit.”

“If he (Aquino) could refuse an endorsement from the Ampatuans because it is disastrous to his career, why can’t he refuse an endorsement from Escudero, which is disastrous to the political stand of his running mate?” Macalintal said.

“An honorable man like Mar Roxas deserves to be respected and not deserted by his supposed partner,” he added.

Escudero has picked Aquino for president while supporting Binay for vice president. He says an Aquino-Binay tandem would provide a better balance of governance since one is from the legislature, while the other comes from the executive.

Macalintal reminded Aquino that it would be the “height of ingratitude” if he went along with Escudero’s endorsement given the “political sacrifice” made by Roxas in giving way to Aquino’s presidential aspirations.

Reciprocity among friends

“Noynoy’s acceptance of Escudero’s support (would) expose his low regard for friendship,” Macalintal said. “The reciprocity among friends should be preserved by the party.”

Roxas dropped his presidential ambitions and agreed to run for vice president after Aquino decided to take a crack at the No. 1 post. With Inquirer Research

Melo: We’re 100 percent on target

Karen Ang — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:37:43 +0000

Melo: We’re 100 percent on target
By Kristine L. Alave
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—It’s all systems go, contrary to fears of skeptics.

“We are 100 percent on target,” declared Chair Jose Melo of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in an interview with reporters barely three weeks before the first nationwide automated elections on May 10.

He said that the Comelec was within its schedule for the deliveries of ballots, the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) voting machines, ballot boxes and other materials within this week.

“We are on target on the printing, we are ahead of schedule. The customization of the PCOS machines is going along well,” Melo said.

Ray Roxas Chua, chair of the Comelec Advisory Council and the Commission on Information and Communications Technology, also expressed confidence that preparations were “on track to be able to conduct a successful automation.”

“We’re pretty confident that it will work,” he said in a recent interview with the Inquirer.

Exaggerated

Chua shrugged off fears that the automated election system was prone to modifications that could undermine results. He said that there were safeguards in the ballots, machines and in the other processes.

“If someone tries to change the results, it will show. It’s going to be difficult to alter the results,” he said.

The fear of a massive failure of elections is exaggerated, Chua said, saying the scenario is “almost impossible.”

The Comelec has leased 82,200 PCOS machines from Smartmatic-TIM Corp. that will read and scan the machine-readable ballots. About 76,300 of them will be deployed to each precinct, while the rest will be on stand by to replace those malfunctioning.

Machines being shipped out

Melo noted that freight forwarders started on Monday to ship voting machines to various regional warehouses in Mindanao. The process would be completed May 6—four days before the balloting.

The ballot boxes will also be at the precincts seven to three days before the elections for the testing and sealing of the PCOS machines to be conducted by the board of election inspectors and observed by election watchers.

The printing of the 50.7 million ballots for the May 10 elections will be completed by Thursday evening or Saturday, two days before the Comelec’s self-imposed deadline of April 25.

The verification of the ballots, which entails each ballots to be scanned by a voting machine, is expected to end a day or two after. All the ballots will be sent directly to the municipal treasurers to ensure swift delivery.

The preparations for the canvassing system have also started, Melo said.

Centralized canvassing

On Tuesday, Melo, Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr. and Sen. Francis Escudero, chairs of the joint congressional oversight committee on the automated elections, each entered a six- to eight-character password into the software for the centralized canvassing system.

The password will lock the system, disabling modifications and changes in it, Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal explained.

Thus, fears that the 1,772 laptops that will be used in the canvassing can be used to tamper the results are baseless, officials said.

The Comelec, Larrazabal said, is also preparing to decommission the five printers leased from Smartmatic-TIM once the printing of the ballots has been completed.

Melo will seal the machines and delete the files containing the ballot formats, Larrazabal said. “These procedures are to ensure that no files will be leaked,” he said.

“We are doing this so they won’t say that we are printing extra ballots,” Melo added.

Unfounded fears

Also Tuesday, Press Secretary Crispulo Icban Jr., backed the call of former Comelec Chair Christian Monsod for critics to stop heckling the poll body on its capability to manage the balloting.

Icban described as “unfounded” speculation about election failure. He pointed out that a recent survey showed that 80 percent of the people believe the automated polls was much better and easier to do than manual elections. With a report from Christine O. Avendaño

For Villar on Thursday, Aquino on Tuesday

Karen Ang — Wed, 21 Apr 2010 17:19:27 +0000

For Villar on Thursday, Aquino on Tuesday
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—Is sporting orange baller IDs (rubber bracelets) or wearing a yellow T-shirt and flashing the Laban sign an indication of one’s choice of a presidential candidate?

It usually is.

But Andal Ampatuan Jr., accused of carrying out the country’s worst election-related killings, did both in a span of five days.

Orange is the campaign color of Manuel Villar, Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer, while yellow is the color of Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, presidential candidate of the Liberal Party (LP).

On Thursday, the principal suspect in the slaughter of 57 people in Maguindanao, wore two NP ballers at Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City where he was transferred from a cell at the National Bureau of Investigation in Manila.

One bore the name of Villar in white letters and the other the name of NP senatorial candidate Gilbert Remulla in orange letters on a purple background. (Remulla is a brother-in-law of Andal’s lawyer, Sigfrid Fortun.)

That image of Andal Jr. shown on ABS-CBN News coupled with reports that Remulla visited Maguindanao Gov. Andal Ampatuan Sr., the clan patriarch, in his hospital room in Camp Panacan in Davao City last month, fueled speculation that the Ampatuans were for Villar.

Twist

But in a strange twist, the younger Andal called a press conference Tuesday at the Metro Manila District Jail in Camp Bagong Diwa where he announced that the Ampatuans were supporting Aquino.

“Our whole family is endorsing Noynoy Aquino because we believe in him,” said Andal Jr., who was wearing a yellow baller ID and was not handcuffed.

He then smiled as he flashed an “L” hand signal (Laban sign) that is used by Aquino.

“Noynoy tayo, ha?” Andal Jr., mayor of Datu Unsay, Maguindanao, kept reiterating.

Asked if he had talks with the camp of Villar, he said: “We had no communication with them. As I have said, (the rumors) are part of politics. ”

In a message to Aquino, Andal Jr. said in Filipino, “Don’t let the administration rig the election. I want you to win.”

Joke

Aquino treated as a joke a report that the Ampatuan clan had declared its support for his candidacy.

“No, thank you” was Aquino’s reply to reporters seeking his reaction to Andal Jr.’s press conference.

Aquino said he had not talked to Andal Jr. “I am not running after their endorsement.”

The LP standard-bearer said that he was a victim of cheating in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) in 2007 when he ran for a Senate seat. Andal Jr.’s brother, Zaldy, is the suspended ARMM governor and one of the accused in the massacre, who along with Maguindanao Vice Gov. Akmad Ampatuan, was cleared last week by acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra.

“Sen. (Francis) Escudero and I were laughing about it. He told me not to look at the (Maguindanao election returns) because I’d just feel bad. But I told him at least I got 13 votes and he (Escudero) only got 12,” Aquino said.

Family decision

Andal Jr. said that when his father and brothers arrived in the same jail with him on Thursday, they talked about the candidates they would endorse.

He, his father, brothers Zaldy, Sajid and Anwar, and nephew Akmad are detained in a 64-square-meter cell in the headquarters of the National Capital Regional Police Office in Bicutan, Taguig.

He said someone from Aquino’s camp had talked to him.

“We are supporting Noynoy because we believe he is the one who can expose the truth about what happened in the massacre,” Andal Jr. said.

He said that if he were to make a choice it would be Villar.

But Andal Jr. said he was praising Aquino because the latter’s family had defeated the strongman President Ferdinand Marcos.

“Noynoy would be our instrument to achieve justice,” he said.

Relaxed

He was relaxed and smiled as he gave his most expansive comments to the media since being arrested last year for the slaughter of 57 people.

“I had no role in what happened,” he told the reporters.

He gave a variety of scenarios as to who may have been behind the Nov. 23 massacre in Maguindanao, where his family had dominated politics for over a decade.

The family is accused of orchestrating the killings to stop a rival politician, Esmael Mangudadatu, from running against Andal Jr. for the post of Maguindanao governor in the May 10 national elections.

Andal Sr. was grooming his namesake to succeed him and the son is accused of leading 100 gunmen in carrying out the murders.

Among the victims were the wife and two sisters of Mangudadatu, along with 32 journalists traveling with them in a convoy to register his candidacy for the Maguindanao governorship.

Roxas, senatorial candidates

Andal Jr. said the Ampatuans had already told all their supporters in Maguindanao to support Aquino.

Apart from Aquino, the Ampatuans are also endorsing his running mate Mar Roxas, senatorial candidates Juan Ponce Enrile, Tito Sotto, Miriam Santiago, Adel Tamano, Risa Hontiveros, Pia Cayetano, Sergio Osmeña III and Ralph Recto.

On their choices for party-list groups, Ampatuan mentioned Anakpawis, Gabriela and TUCP.

Crude stunt

LP campaign manager Florencio “Butch” Abad assailed the police for allowing the younger Andal to hold the press conference.

“How can a dangerous prisoner like (Andal Jr.) be allowed to hold a press conference inside a high security prison without the Arroyo regime being complicit in it? And who is expected to be the prime beneficiary of this stunt other than the candidate originally endorsed by Andal Jr.?” Abad said.

Arroyo allowed private army

Until the massacre, the Ampatuans had been close political allies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and were used by her to contain Muslim fighters waging a decades-long insurgency in Mindanao.

As part of this containment strategy, the President had allowed the Ampatuans to maintain a private army numbering thousands, as well as massive amounts of weapons and ammunition.

“If this was a way for the Ampatuans to instantly repay the Arroyo regime for the legally questionable and undue haste by which two of their kin had been set free, it is a crude and reprehensible stunt,” Abad said.

He added that the stunt showed how low the Arroyo regime regarded “the people to expect them to believe such a cruel joke.”

Senior Insp. Lloyd Gonzaga, jail warden at the facility considered a Quezon City jail extension, said the press conference was requested by one of the Ampatuan lawyers on the phone. Reports from Niña Calleja, Gil Cabacungan, Philip C. Tubeza and Agence France-Presse

NP urges ABS-CBN to reveal source of psychiatric report on Noynoy

Karen Ang — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 10:29:59 +0000

NP urges ABS-CBN to reveal source of psychiatric report on Noynoy
By Christina Mendez
The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines – Nacionalista Party (NP) senatorial candidates yesterday challenged ABS-CBN Channel 2 to reveal their sources from the party who leaked the alleged psychiatric report on the mental health of Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III.

NP spokesman and senatorial bet Gilbert Remulla said the party had waived the “confidentiality clause” on the protection of news sources to uncover who is behind the supposed plot to discredit Aquino.

“The name of the NP is being dragged, they made a big generalization when they claimed that the NP released that report. We are giving them authority to please reveal the source,” Remulla added.

The word war between NP and LP raged in the past week after a three-page report, purportedly on the depression of Aquino, circulated in the Internet.

At the height of the controversy, ABS-CBN executives said two sources from the NP leaked the report.

The network also revealed that a source from LP gave information surrounding the death of NP standard-bearer Sen. Manny Villar’s brother, Danny, who died of complications of leukemia in 1962. Critics questioned Villar’s background based on his brother’s death certificate – which showed the young boy was brought to the Far Eastern University, a private hospital.

Remulla, along with NP senatorial bets Adel Tamano, Toots Ople and Martin Loon who represented his father detained Col. Ariel Querubin, also an NP senatorial bet, held a joint press conference yesterday to reiterate that the report did not came from the NP.

“We are reiterating that ABS-CBN disclose their sources because not only the integrity of the Nacionalista Party is affected here, but also the credibility of ABS-CBN because we are now at loggerheads. And we will continue to say that the NP did not authorize the release of such documents,” Remulla said.

Remulla said the NP’s top officials including its president Villar, secretary-general Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, Rimpy Bondoc, Tamano and Ricky Luanzon and himself have no knowledge on the release of the purported psychiatric report.

Ople said she has high regard for Fr. Carmelo Caluag, SJ, the purported Ateneo official who signed the document, and she cannot allow such act of disrespect to the Jesuit priest.

She said she would consider leaving NP and run as an independent candidate if it is proven that the report came from the party.

Both Aquino and Father Caluag, whose signature appeared on the document, have claimed that the report was fabricated.

Aquino decried the supposed medical report from the Ateneo de Manila University’s psychology department, as he insisted that the document was fake.

He said the issue was an invention and smacks of his rival’s desperation to destroy his person.

The medical report was a supposed assessment of how Aquino was suffering from major depressive disorder due to work-related issues and after a breakup with his flight attendant girlfriend. It also mentioned some vices that Aquino had since he was young.

Remulla said that the report might have come from within the ranks of the Liberal Party, which has also been rocked by conflict because of the faction between the groups of LP vice-presidential bet Sen. Manuel Roxas and Sen. Francis Escudero, who are helping Aquino in his campaign.

Querubin’s son demanded an apology from the people who were behind the smear campaign.

“We will demand that that person or individual issue an apology to Fr. Caluag, to the ADMU, Sen. Aquino and to the NP,” Loon said.

Willie Revillame hits ABS-CBN

Television host Willie Revillame of ABS-CBN noontime show “Wowowee” also appealed to the network’s management to present the real attendance of people who showed up during the NP-sponsored Rockatropa-Wowowillie shows in various provinces.

Revillame was unable to hide his disappointment, especially with the ABS-CBN news and public affairs that showed only part of the thousands of people who attended the NP rally in Cabanatuan City, Lucena City and Camarines Sur.

He claimed that over 200,000 people attended the rallies in Cabanatuan and Camarines Sur.

Villar’s running mate, Sen. Loren Legarda, a broadcaster before she become a politician, said she sensed the obvious downplay in the news coverage on ABS-CBN, apparently due to their support for Aquino.

Meanwhile, LP senatorial bet detained Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim called on Villar to apologize for the spread of the fake psychiatric report on Aquino.

“A true national leader is capable of acknowledging when he is at fault, whether he or his people caused the transgression. As such, I ask, can Villar do that? Can he swallow his pride and admit wrongdoing?” Lim, an adopted candidate of the Liberal Party, said in a statement.

Loren dares other bets

Legarda challenged other vice presidential bets and the presidential candidates to undergo physical, psychological and emotional tests.

Legarda told The STAR during their party’s rally in Marbel, Koronadal City, South Cotabato on Sunday night that the tests would help determine if the candidates who are seeking the two highest positions in the country are emotionally, physically and psychologically capable to lead the nation.

Legarda, a guest candidate of the Nacionalista Party, said candidates for president and vice president should also be checked if they have any criminal records or any pending cases.

Villar supported the proposal for candidates to undergo physical and mental examinations.

Villar told the press conference at the Koronadal Sports Complex that Legarda’s challenge to their opponents was a positive move.

He said that NP bets are ready to undergo the medical tests to prove to the voters that they are qualified, ready and capable to lead the nation physically, emotionally and psychologically.

Palace supports good mental health of bets

Deputy presidential spokesman Gary Olivar said the mental health of presidential candidates is a legitimate election issue that Filipinos should take into account.

Olivar said a presidential candidate’s mental health must be raised in a fair and objective manner without violating one’s right to privacy.

Meanwhile, Lakas-Kampi-CMD senatorial bet Raul Lambino lashed out yesterday at some candidates for hitting the media over the report on the alleged psychiatric problem of Aquino.

He said that journalists should not be dictated upon by personalities or groups on election-related issues, especially what and how these should be reported, saying it is part of the freedom of the press that the Constitution protects.

NP candidates called on their counterparts in the LP not to put the issue under the rug.

NP senatorial bets Bayan Muna party-list Reps. Liza Maza and Satur Ocampo said a presidential candidate and any candidate for that matter should be physically and mentally fit.

Lawyer seeks Villar’s disqualification

Lawyer Ernesto Francisco filed a petition yesterday before the Commission on Elections seeking to disqualify Villar from the presidential race for allegedly accepting illegal campaign contributions.

Francisco said the Comelec should investigate the sources of campaign funds of Villar who had an “unprecedented amount” of money.

Francisco had previously filed a complaint before the Senate Ethics Committee against Villar for his alleged involvement in the irregularity over the right-of-way acquisition of the controversial C-5 Road extension project that reportedly benefited the real estate companies owned by Villar’s family.

In the new petition to the Comelec, Francisco said Villar declared in his sworn statement of assets and liabilities over P29 million cash in bank, but has reportedly spent billions in radio and television political advertisements since November 2009.

“Even if he had liquidated and sold all of his other declared assets to finance his candidacy, which obviously he has not done, the proceeds would still be insufficient and inadequate to fund his campaign expenses,” Francisco pointed out.

Francisco said the law prohibits real estate firms like the Villar-owned Vista Land and Lifescapes, Inc. from giving directly or indirectly contributions for purposes of partisan political activity.

“In view of the foregoing prohibition on real estate companies and considering that Villar spent billions in his campaign, it’s the duty of the Comelec to conduct an investigation and determine whether election law have violated,” he said. – With Alexis Romero, Rose Tamayo-Tesoro, Paolo Romero, Mayen Jaymalin

Noynoy: Palace impounding my 'pork'

Karen Ang — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 19:53:57 +0000

Noynoy: Palace impounding my ‘pork’
By Jess Diaz
The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines – Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III said yesterday Malacañang has been impounding his P200-million annual pork barrel fund allocation since he was elected to the Senate in 2007.

“My last was in 2005, which was a SARO (Special Allotment Release Order) for hospitals. None afterwards. Mar (Roxas), I understand, is also not getting any,” he said when asked if he and Roxas received their annual pork barrel allocations.

Aquino, Liberal Party’s presidential candidate, was still a Tarlac congressman in 2005. Senate colleague Mar Roxas is his running mate.

Reached for comment, Sen. Francis Escudero said he, too, is not receiving his allocation, while Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano said most of his funds are withheld by Malacañang.

Two other senators – Panfilo Lacson and Jamby Madrigal – have not been availing themselves of their P200 million in annual pork barrel funds. They deducted their combined P400 million from this year’s P1.5-trillion national budget.

President Arroyo has been releasing funds to her allies in both the Senate and the House of Representatives to boost their election campaign. The releases include the regular pork barrel allocations and congressional initiatives or budgetary insertions.

Unlike Aquino, his Nacionalista Party rival, Sen. Manuel Villar, has apparently been receiving his funds and had in fact been able to make insertions in the budget.

Last year, he got into trouble for his “double insertion” of a P200-million appropriation for the controversial C-5 road extension that a subsequent Senate investigation found to be traversing some subdivisions owned by his companies.

The controversy cost Villar the Senate presidency. His successor, Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile, who was finance committee chairman, revealed that Villar had asked for the P200-million insertion.

Aquino’s revelation that he has not been receiving his funds belies the statement of Budget Secretary Joaquin Lagonera that there are no political considerations in the release of pork barrel funds.

Lagonera made the statement after at least two congressmen – former Speaker Jose de Venecia of Pangasinan and Rufus Rodriguez of Cagayan de Oro City – complained that Malacañang had impounded the money allotted for their districts.

“I have been following up the release of our funds, but Secretary Lagonera and Palace liaison officer Undersecretary Bernie Sayo have been giving me the runaround. Lagonera would not even talk to me. They don’t like my face because I belong to the opposition,” Rodriguez said.

“Obviously, Mrs. Arroyo chooses to play politics with the welfare of our people even while she is about to leave office” he said.

Rodriguez, a neophyte congressman, is a member of former President Joseph Estrada’s Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino.

In the wake of Aquino’s revelation and the congressmen’s complaints of discrimination, Liberal Party senatorial candidate Ralph Recto urged Malacañang not to “color-code” fund releases.

“The Palace cannot subject one group to pork abstinence while ordering a pork feast for its friends. Nowhere in the budget law does it state that pork distribution be color-coded, that servings for the Greens, Orange, Yellows, and Reds vary in size” he said.

By Green, Orange, Yellow, and Red, Recto, a former senator, was obviously referring to Gilberto Teodoro Jr. of Lakas-Kampi, Villar, Aquino, and former President Estrada.

He said if pork barrel funds were equally distributed, they would “not become a handicapping tool that will provide electoral stimulus to only a few.”

At the same time, Recto urged Mrs. Arroyo to “obey her own rule” in dispensing funds, which is “that the release of congressional insertions be contingent on the availability of revenues.”

He said there is no justification for the reported release of insertions since the government has just posted a P110- billion budget deficit for the first quarter.

He said if so-called congressional initiatives are funded through borrowings and not tax collections, that would bloat the deficit from P293 billion to P358 billion, should the full P65 billion in insertions be released.

Before approving the 2010 budget, senators and congressmen diverted P65 billion in debt payment funds to their pork barrel.

According to a member of the House appropriations committee, one-third of that huge amount or P21.6 billion is allocated for senators and P43.4 billion for congressmen.

“This means that if all insertions are released, the 23 senators will have an average of more than P1 billion each in pork this year, including the annual regular allocation of P200 million. That is an unprecedented amount of pork,” the lawmaker said.