Category: 2013 elections

Mother Lily, Trillanes at Magdalo

Published by Ellen on May 26, 2013

Sen. Sonny Trillanes and wife, Arlene with Mother Lily.

Nakakatuwa si Mother Lily Monteverde sa kanyang “thank you lunch” noong Biyernes para kay Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV at sa Magdalo partylist at ang kanilang dalawang nominees na magiging miyembro na ng Kongreso: dating Marine Capt. Gary Alejano at Air Force Lieutenant Francisco Ashley Acedillo.

Si Trillanes kasi ang isa sa ilang kandidato para senador na inindorso ni Mother Lily. Kasama sa kanyang inindorso ang tatlong topnotchers na si Grace Poe, Loren Legarda, Alan Cayetano at Chiz Escudero.

Sabi ni Mother Lily, “Alam nyo ba kung bakit naka-mini skirt ako?” At talaga naman blooming si Mother na kamakalian lang ay napabalitang lumalaban sa lung cancer.

Aquino’s LP increases hold on House of Representatives

Published by Ellen on May 17, 2013

By YvonneT.Chua,VERA Files President Benigno Aquino III has further strengthened his lock on the House of Representatives with 108 members of the Liberal Party likely…

Amazing Grace

Published by Ellen on May 14, 2013

The great thing about last Monday’s election is that, Grace Poe topped the senatorial elections.

It must be ego-shattering for the three re-electionists – Loren Legarda, Chiz Escudero, and Alan Cayetano –whose desire for the number one slot is not a secret to the public.

Other pluses about Monday’s polls are the re-election of Antonio Trillanes IV and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III.
Trillanes because despite limited TV ads due to limited resources, he was able to make it to number nine, an improvement over his number 11 ranking in the 2007 elections.

His victory in this election proved that his 2007 win, when he was under detention, was no fluke. If the 2007 votes for him were “acts of protest” against Arroyo, last Monday’s votes were for his willingness to take on even the powerful and his strong stand on issues that he thinks work against the interest of the Filipino people.

The re-election of Pimentel is made more meaningful by the non-inclusion of Juan Miguel Zubiri, who stole from him five years of his first term.

Making PWD votes count

Published by Ellen on May 9, 2013

Lawyer Harry Roque tried last Wednesday to withdraw P100,000 to pay the tuition fees of his children and was told that he couldn’t because of the stupid Comelec Resolution 9688 which prohibits “the withdrawal of cash, encashment of checks and conversion of any monetary instrument into cash from May 8 to 13, 2013 exceeeding P100,000 or its equivalent in any foreign currency.”

Comelec Commissioner Sixto Brillantes, Jr. said Resolution 9688 was to prevent vote buying and vote selling which have intensified with the computerization of the elections. He said they released it only Tuesday “so that no one would know about it.. because if they know about it, everyone would withdraw.”

Brillantes, who was a much sought-after election lawyer (President Aquino and former Maguindanao Governer Andal Ampatuan Sr., were his clients) before he joined his elections must be joking. Or could it be that he precisely knew that by now the silly money ban is useless.

How much pull is an INC endorsement?

Published by Ellen on May 7, 2013

Iglesia ni Cristo’s list of senatorial candidates to be endorsed is interesting and intriguing.

Crossing party lines, INC’s list includes seven from Team PNoy (Sonny Angara,Bam Aquino,Alan Peter Cayetano,Grace Poe,Loren Legarda,Antonio Trillanes, and Cynthia Villar) and five from United Nationalist Alliance (JV Ejercito,Richard Gordon,Nancy Binay,Gringo Honasan and Jack Enrile).

An INC member said the day after the list was reported in media, a high ranking official of the church told them that it’s not final and changes may be made before the Monday election. That should keep the suspense among those in the list as well as those who want to get the endorsement that would be crucial in their getting into the Magic 12.

According to reliable survey groups like Social Weather Stations and Pulse Asia, of all the religious groups, it’s only the INC that has proven to deliver command votes. There has been no proof of command votes delivered by El Shaddai, Jesus is Lord ( JIL was not able to make its leader, Eddie Villanueva, win in his past presidential bid. He is now a senatorial candidate and is not rating high in surveys) and other religious groups.

Spin

Published by Ellen on May 3, 2013

Spin, in media lingo, is using information to support a particular bias or slant.

It’s not exactly false but some aspects of the truth may have been glossed over.

As the campaign for the 2013 elections heats up, spin doctors are becoming more creative that sometimes, I get startled by what I hear and read.

Crunch time

Published by Ellen on April 30, 2013

Team PNoy and UNA. Thanks to Philstar for photo.

With two more weeks to go before Election Day, candidates are moving heaven and earth to get that much coveted post.

Expect more black propaganda, vote buying, junkings and soul-selling. Senatorial candidates would be dealing individually with local politicians. The declaration of Albay Gov. Joey Salceda, head of the Liberal Party in Bicol, that he won’t be voting straight Team PNoy and include two candidates from the United Nationalist Alliance, will be replicated all over the country.

Salceda said that he will include UNA candidates JV Ejercito and Nancy Binay in his senatorial ticket.
Ejercito and Binay are only two of the UNA candidates in the Magic 12 in both Pulse Asia and SWS poll surveys, spoiling the exhortation of President Aquino for a straight Team PNoy victory.

Getting to know Trillanes at Bulong-Pulungan

Published by Ellen on April 23, 2013

Trillanes in Bulong-Pulungan with Manila Bulletin's Deedee Siytangco — Trillanes in Bulong-Pulungan with Manila Bulletin’s Dee-dee Siytangco

Bulong-Pulungan sa Sofitel yesterday was a getting-to-know Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV with journalists asking questions not often asked of the young senator who shot into the limelight in July 2003 when he and some 300 junior officers and soldiers made a stand against Gloria Arroyo in Oakwood Hotel in Makati.

Manila Bulletin’s Deedee Siytangco asked about the senator’s family life- wife Arlene and children, Seth and Thea.
Not many in the audience know that Arlene belonged to the first batch of female graduates of the Philippine Military Academy in 1997. She has resigned from military service and is now teaching at the National University.

Charo Yu, a supporter of Trillanes who helped arrange the senator’s guesting at the weekly media lunch forum, had to retrieve a photo of the senator and his wife from her cellphone to show Bulong regulars. “She’s pretty,” Deedee commented of Arlene.

Made for TV campaign rallies

Published by Ellen on February 10, 2013

Benigno Aquino III in Mindoro — Aquino campaigning in Mindoro 2010

Election campaign is non-stop, all-season in the Philippines. But officially, for the May election, it starts tomorrow, Feb. 12.

For the opening salvo, the administration’s Team PNoy will have its proclamation rally at the Plaza Miranda while the United Nationalist Alliance will have theirs in Cebu.

Although campaign rallies have lessened their importance as a vote- getting vehicle with the dominance of television and radio as sources of information on elections, barrio folks still look forward to them more as an entertainment show.

Campaign rallies usually feature entertainers. A rally of candidates for national positions (senators in this mid-term election) usually have movie and TV stars to attract a crowd. The masses enjoy free shows. It’s a balm to their weary body after a whole day of toil in the rice fields.

On the part of campaign organizers, campaign rallies are more of photo opportunities for them to show a big crowd on national TV hoping to create a bandwagon.

Gun ban should go with crime prevention

Published by Ellen on January 14, 2013

By Ace Esmeralda, VERA Files

A .45 caliber pistol like this one was used in the accidental shooting of Stephanie Nicole and in the rampage of Ronal Bae. Photo by SecurityMatters

The election period in the Philippines began Sunday and signalled the start of a nationwide total gun ban expected to minimize election-related offenses, particularly gun-related violence among political groups and clans.

For many, the gun ban brings some relief, especially since the country enters this period with heightened fear of gun-related violence.

The accidental death of 7-year-old Stephanie Nichole Ella in Caloocan City from a stray bullet fired on New Year’s Eve, to the killing of 10 people by an alleged mentally deranged and drug-crazed frustrated village politician in Kawit, Cavite a few days later have prompted calls for a total gun ban, gunless society, taking into the arena issues against gun ownership, regulation and control. Some quarters even associate gun crimes with President Benigno Aquino III’s passion for guns.