Breaking news! By PUNTO CENTRAL LUZON CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The Second Division of the Commission on Elections declared former provincial board member Lilia…
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‘Non-trapo’ campaign to be reviewed
by Wendell Vigilia
Malaya
What went wrong?
The amalgamation of ideas from various civil society, politicians and volunteers has caused an internal “struggle of perspective” in Sen. Noynoy Aquino’s presidential campaign, according to Liberal Party campaign manager Florencio “Butch” Abad.
A discussion on how Aquino’s presidential campaign is being run by his political strategists and handlers came in the wake of a drop in his approval rating and a sudden rise in that of Sen. Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista Party.
The latest Pulse Asia survey showed Aquino with 37 percent against the 35 percent of Villar who has bombarded the television industry with “his millions, or probably billions, worth of advertisements.”
“I’m sure there was a struggle of perspective on how to run the campaign,” he said in an interview in ANC’s “Strictly Politics.” “That’s the nature of the animal (the new LP).”
by YouthVotePhilippines and VERA Files The country’s first national automated election system promises faster counting and canvassing of votes and less opportunities for massive cheating,…
Kamakailan binatikos ni Deputy Presidential Spokesman Gary Olivar ang mga kandidato nga ginagawang isyu pa rin daw ang kanyang amo na si Gloria Arroyo samantalang busy raw ngayon sa pag-aayos ng kanyang “legacy” .
Pagkatapos sirain ang lahat na institusyon pagdemokratiko para lamang maprotektahan ang sarili, gusto ni Gloria Arroyo mamahalin siya ng taumbayan? Nahihibang siya kasama na rin ang kanyang mga alagad.
At akala naman niya maniniwala ang taumbayan na hihinto na si Arroyo sa kanyang pagka-ganid sa kapangyarihan? Eh di sana hindi na tumakbo sa pagka-kongresista.
Kung magpapaloko pa ang taumbayan kay Arroyo, talagang dapat lang talaga tayong magdusa.
Isyu pa rin talaga si Arroyo ngayon kahit hindi siya kandidato sa pagka-pangulo. Kasi sa baho ni Arroyo, kung sino ang kanyang didikitan nagiging mabaho na rin. Tingnan nyo ang nangyayari ngayon kay Gilbert Teodoro, ang opisyal na kandidato ng Lakas-Kampi, partido ng administrasyon? Kahit pa maraming may gusto kay Teodoro, hindi rin talaga nila masikmura na kinakampihan niya si Arroyo.
Update: 43 health workers get SC writ
by Michael Tan
Philippine Daily Inquirer
I know some of you are expecting a column about yesterday’s Inquirer forum at UP with the presidential candidates. I have a lot to share about that event, but I have to postpone that article because I want to write about a very urgent issue, one which has implications for the elections.
I’m referring to the raid conducted last Saturday on a health workers’ training seminar organized by an NGO, the Council for Health and Development (CHD), resulting in the arrest of 42 of the workshop participants. That included two physicians, one nurse and one midwife. All the others were community health workers, most of whom were poor farmers or workers who have been trained as paramedics and health educators. The 42 were brought to Camp Panopio in Tanay, Rizal.
The media reports have mostly featured the military’s claims that the workshop participants were rebels and they were being trained to make bombs. There has been little from the detainees themselves because the mass media have been denied access to the prisoners.
My column today mainly uses information from Dr. Delen de la Paz, vice president of Health Action for Human Rights, and press statements from CHD.
The workshop was being held on private property, a farm/resort owned by Dr. Melecia Velmonte, a retired 71-year-old professor emeritus at the UP College of Medicine who often lets health NGOs use her place for such training activities.
Update: Ampatuan Sr. and 126 others charged with murder.
Someone very much involved in the 2010 elections said Buluan vice Mayor Ismael “Toto” Mangudadatu is agreeable to shaking hands with the patriarch of the Ampatuan clan for the sake of peace in Maguindanao.
Mangudadatu’s wife, Jenalyn, his sister, and some relatives were among the more than 57 killed in the Nov. 23 massacre allegedly perpetrated by the Mangudadatus in a fierce rivalry for the control of the province, the second poorest in the country. Thirty of those killed were journalists, who accompanied Mangudadatus’ wife who was to file her husband’s certificate of candidacy for mayor.
Andal Ampatuan, Jr, mayor of Datu Unsay in Maguindanao , has been identified by witnesses as the one who led the massacre. He has been charged with several counts of murder and is detained at the National Bureau of Investigation.
Ampatuan Sr. is in a military hospital in Davao City; his sons Datu Zaldy, Datu Anwar and Datu Sajid are detained in General Santos City with his son-in-law Datu Akmad Ampatuan Sr., husband of eldest daughter Rebecca.
It’s too much to be just a simple coincidence.
Last Friday, Manila RTC Judge Myra Fernandez issued the arrest warrant against Sen. Panfilo Lacson for the murder of publicist Salvador “Bubby” Dacer and his driver Emmanuel Corbito.
It was revealed last Monday that the Judicial and Bar Council, by a vote of seven out of eight members, recommended her nomination to the Court of Appeals. Sen. Francis Escudero, a JBC member, as head of the Senate Justice committee, was the only one that did not vote for Fernandez.
by Carolyn O. Arguillas
MindaNews
DAVAO CITY (MindaNews/08 Feb) – The Ampatuans, Mangudadatus, Midtimbangs, Sinsuats, Masturas, Sangkis comprise the majority among Maguindanao’s 879 candidates running for 374 posts: two congressional representatives to Congress, one governor, one vice-governor, 10 provincial board members, 36 mayors, 36 vice mayors and 288 municipal board members or councilors.
The Ampatuans lead the list of candidates with 50 carrying the same surname, at least 23 of them directly related to the patriarch, Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr., and 18 with Ampatuan as middle name, according to records of the Commission on Elections (see list in article below)
Among the Ampatuans running are the patriarch, Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr., the three-term governor of Maguindanao who resigned in January 2009 and returned as OIC governor in late 2009 (he was OIC governor when the November 23 massacre in Ampatuan town happened).
He is running for vice governor as an Independent candidate against three others, including his daughter Shaydee Ampatuan-Abutazil. His other opponents are Ma-arouph Bajunaid Candao and Ismael “Dustin” Veloso Mastura.
Noynoy: Hindi ako magnanakaw!
Gibo: Hindi ko na kailangan magnakaw!
Villar: Hindi na ako magnanakaw!
Erap: Kailangan ko ulit magnakaw!
GMA: Wala na kayong mananakaw pa!
‘Yan ang kumakalat na text at marami pa tayong makukuha na mga ganyan habang palapit na palapit na ang eleksyun. Ang iba nakakatuwa, ang iba nakaka-inis. Kailangan salain ang impormasyun. At i-enjoy ang nakakatuwa.
Ngayong araw ang simula ang opisyal na kampanya. Sa totoo lang matagal ng nagkakampanya ang mga kandidato dahil sinabi ng Supreme Court na hindi daw labag sa batas ang magkampanya kahit hindi pa official camapign period. Huwag lang daw sabihin na “Iboto mo ako.”
Philippine Navy reaction to the dismissal of charges against Lt. Raymundo and the “disrespect” charge:http://www.malaya.com.ph/02092010/news9.html
Romel informed me that the motion of his client, Marine First Lieutenant Artemio Raymundo’s motion for finding him not guilty was sustained on all serious charges.
“Light charge remained but maximum sentence already served,” he said.
Romel was referring to what we call the “Erap CD case”. This is a classic example of injustice in the military system. I’m glad that after almost three and a- half years, the military court has corrected the injustice. Although not yet fully.
Since September 26, 2006, Raymundo has been in detention at the Marines Brig accused of violations of Articles of War 96 (Conduct Unbecoming an Officer and Gentleman) ; 97 (Conduct Prejudicial to Good Order and Military Discipline) and 64 (Disrespect Towards Superior Officer).