Tag: 2010 elections

Aquino lead over Villar down to 7% in latest SWS poll

Published by Ellen on February 1, 2010

Highlights of SWS survey conducted last Jan. 21 -24 commissioned by Businessworld:

• Aquino lead over Villar down to 7 per cent
• Roxas widens lead over Legarda by 21 points; Binay improves numbers
• Revilla,Estrada, Cayetano, Defensor-Santiago post early lead in Senate race

Villar gains ground versus Aquino … while Erap stays in third

Liberal Party standard-bearer Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” C. Aquino III remains the top pick among the 10 presidential aspirants green-lighted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) but the Nationalista Party’s (NP) Sen. Manuel “Manny” B. Villar appears to be fast catching up.

With the campaign period yet to officially start, a new BusinessWorld-Social Weather Stations (SWS) survey found 42% of respondents saying they would vote for Mr. Aquino, four points down from the 46% who said so in an early December poll that was also commissioned by this newspaper.

Over the period Mr. Villar, Mr. Aquino’s top challenger, picked up eight points to secure the nod of 35%, up from 27%.

Choose well

Published by Ellen on January 31, 2010

Former Defense Secretary Avelino “Nonong” Cruz was not one of the speakers in last Friday’s forum of the “The Powers of the Presidency: Preventing Misuse and Abuse” but he was asked to say something when the issue of the Ampatuans’ private armies came up inthe question and answer portion.

Cruz gave a two- word advice for the coming May elections: “Choose well”. He said it will go a long way in instituting reforms in governance if we have a president that will lead by example.

He, of course, didn’t ask to vote for the presidential candidate he is advising: the Liberal Party’s Benigno Aquino III.

Karina Constantino-David, former chair of the Civil Service Commission, also stressed the importance of choosing a president with integrity because she said, “in the final analysis it is the character of the President, his/her honest dedication to public service and not just to power that will speall the difference between decency and judiciousness on the one hand and mis-use and abuse on the other.”

Trial and error mark automated election field tests

Published by Ellen on January 30, 2010

by Mario Ignacio VERA Files The Commission on Elections held field tests in Taguig and Pateros Friday to try out the automated voting machines to…

It’s politics, not ethics

Published by Ellen on January 29, 2010

This is another view on the C-5 controvery:

by Rene B. Azurin
BusinessWorld

More credibility, probably, would attach to the Senate committee report on its so-called “investigations” into the C-5 road project controversy if senators — most politicos, actually — were not widely perceived as being distinctly unshy, brazen even, about using their considerable power to influence government decisions on public works and procurement. That said, I would certainly give great weight to the C-5 allegations being leveled at Senator Villar if I were satisfied that they were true. I am not.

On an issue precisely of ethics, objective observers must wonder how senators — like presidential candidate Aquino’s Liberal Party partymate Mr. Pangilinan — can first affix their signatures to one resolution clearing Mr. Villar and then about-face 180 degrees to affix their signatures to another one censuring him, just because “it’s the party stand.” Well, that, at least, is an explicit admission of how “honorable” senators define ethics.

Although Mr. Villar has actually already made a point-by-point rebuttal in the Senate itself of the charges of “ethical misconduct” against him and has clearly taken pains to make available to the public — through media — documents supporting his answers to each allegation, he is, alas, simply not media’s darling. Thus, media outfits whose bias for his rivals is obvious to observers constantly detail the allegations against him in their stories on the controversy and formulaically just include his denials but not his specific answers to the allegations. Such is life in these politico- and elite-dominated islands.

Three critical turnovers

Published by Ellen on January 24, 2010

There are three changes that would be happening in May and June that should be a cause of concern for the Filipino people.

No, we are not talking about the presidency. It’s not the replacement of Gloria Arroyo after June 30, 2010 that we are worried about. It’s more of she might be replacing herself.

The most discussed impending change is in the judiciary, when Chief Justice Reynato Puno retires on May 17.
Article VIII, Section 4(1) of the Constitution states that any vacancy in the Supreme Court shall be filled within 90 days of the occurrence. Gloria Arroyo’s minions say that she can appoint Puno’s replacement because he term ends on June 30.
However, Article VII, Section 15 of the Constitution prohibits midnight appointments . It states that after two months immediately before the next presidential election and up to the end of his/her term, a President or acting President shall not make appointments except temporary appointments to executive positions when continued vacancies will prejudice or endanger public safety.

The egotist

Published by Ellen on January 24, 2010

Editorial
Philippine Daily Inquirer

The presidential bid of Joseph Estrada can be summarized in three words: it is about I, Me and Myself. He is the male counterpart of the faded silent movie-era star Nora Desmond in Billy Wilder’s classic film, “Sunset Boulevard.” It tells of a failed screen writer who gravitates to Desmond, who dreams of making a cinematic comeback. In the end she kills the screenwriter in a jealous fit, and ends up losing all touch with reality, thinking that the news crews covering the murder are a film crew that has begun filming her comeback role.

One of the Nora Desmond character’s famous lines is “I am big! It’s the pictures that got small.” In his mind, Joseph Estrada is still the big shot matinee idol, champion and idol of the masses; but the reality is it’s his fantasy of relevance that has enlarged over time even as his box office and electoral clout has diminished. This is not to say that the clout has evaporated totally or that he hasn’t retained his fan base. He obviously still does.

The surveys show him increasing his percentage but it needs to be asked if this is purely a function of his reclaiming his constituency, or more the interaction of official concessions and that constituency rallying because of these unexpected signs of official favor.

Prior to Estrada’s throwing his hat into the ring, the legal consensus was that the Constitution prohibited former presidents from seeking the presidency. This was a view we believe was widely shared by the public. The Palace, for its part, had tried to limit Estrada’s freedom of political action by holding over his head a condition in his pardon that stated he would give up political aspirations. But when the deadline for the filing of candidacies for 2010 approached, the Palace itself announced it had no intention of blocking his comeback plans.

Noynoy: Read my lips: No new taxes

Published by Ellen on January 21, 2010

Says P1 trillion lost to graft under GMA

by Ashzel Hachero
Malaya

Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III yesterday vowed not to impose new taxes or even increase tax rates if he is elected president.

“My vision is to transform our country into one where we have lower tax rates enjoyed by all, rather than have some enjoy absolute tax exemptions while we burden the rest of the economy with very high tax rates,” Aquino said.

Aquino spoke before businessmen and the diplomatic corps during the “Presidential Candidate Series” sponsored by the Makati Business Club at the Manila Peninsula Hotel.

Aquino’s “no new taxes” approach was similar to then US presidential candidate George H. W. Bush’s famous phrase “Read my lips: No new taxes” at the 1998 Republican National Convention when he accepted the nomination.

“With universal low tax rates, we will encourage entrepreneurs and enterprises to invest and create jobs in any industry,” Aquino said to wide applause from the audience.

He said an Aquino administration will pursue the rationalization of fiscal incentives to investors to lower the budget deficit and stem revenue losses.

It’s a go for Erap

Published by Ellen on January 20, 2010

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) 2nd Division on Wednesday junked separate petitions seeking the disqualification of former President Joseph Estrada in the 2010 presidential elections.

In its resolution, the poll body said it junked the petitions filed by lawyers Ely Pamatong, Evelio Formento and Merelo Estrada due to lack of merit.

“Let the people decide who will be the next president,” the Comelec ruled.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the petitioners could still a file a motion for reconsideration before the commission en banc.

Pwede ng botohin ang Ang Ladlad

Published by Ellen on January 16, 2010

Mabuti naman at naisama ang Ang Ladlad, ang grupo na magtatanggol ng karapatan ng isang tao laban sa diskriminasyun dahil sa kanyang kasarian o gender, sa listahan ng partylist groups na mapagpilian ng mga botante sa nalalapit na eleksyun sa Mayo.

Umabot sa 144 ang listahan ng mga partylist groups na maaring pagpilian ng mga botante na magiging kinatawan ng mga sinasabi nating marginalized sector o bahagi ng ating lipunan na hindi nabigyan ng sapat na oportunidad para umunlad.

Hindi ko nakita sa listahan ang Magdalo, ng mga makabayang sundalo na kasamahan ni Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV. Ito ang isang pagkakamali ng Comelec na kailangan pa iwasto.

Nothing quite bold

Published by Ellen on January 15, 2010

by Lito Banayo
Malaya

My friend Jun Campillo invited me to the Presidential Policy Forum sponsored by the Carlos P. Romulo Foundation of which he is one of the main movers, and I am glad I went. There is a difference between watching a forum on television, no matter if live, as against being right there where it unfolds.

The forum, held at the AIM Conference Center, was mainly focused on the country’s external relations and international competitiveness, which are the primary concerns of the policy center named after one of our history’s top diplomats, and is ably presided over by his son, himself a seasoned diplomat, former ambassador and foreign minister Bobby Romulo.

Only three of the five major presidentiables went to yesterday’s jam-packed forum – Gilbert Teodoro, Dick Gordon and Manny Villar. The audience was pretty distinguished, with foreign diplomats and heads of multinational agencies, foreign trade chambers, credible business community leaders, media, and even a former president, Fidel V. Ramos. Erap probably dodged the forum wisely. That crowd would not have warmed up to him, nor he to them. But Noynoy should have been around. Most in the audience empathize with him and Mar. His absence became more felt when FVR asked the obvious when he stood up to ask the last question – “Where are the others?”