Comelec issues drug test reminder

It’s mandatory for all candidates – Abalos Honasan, Trillanes assured of appearance in Comelec Hour

By E. T. SUAREZ

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) warned yesterday all prospective candidates for members of the House of Representatives, governors, mayors, and other local posts in the country against ignoring the mandatory drug test under Republic Act 9165.

The Comelec, led by Chairman Benjamin S. Abalos Sr., made the warning as reports from its field offices in various parts of the country showed that early filers of certificates of candidacy (CoC) failed to attach to their CoC a drug test certificate despite having been reminded about it by the election officer concerned.

As this developed, Abalos assured yesterday that senatorial candidates Gregorio Honasan and Antonio Trillanes IV will be given the opportunity to appear in the “Comelec Hour” television program just like other candidates, despite the reported prohibition by a Makati judge on Trillanes.

One Comelec report showed that of the first five candidates for House members in Metro Manila, none had submitted a drug test certificate.

They filed their CoC with the Comelec Regional Office in the National Capital Region (NCR) at FEMII Annex Bldg., Don Soriano Ave., Intramuros, Manila.

The early filers were advised by the Comelec NCR office to submit the required drug test certificate on or before March 29 as required under Section 36 (g) of RA 9165 and under Section 3 of Comelec en banc Resolution No. 7822.

A number of senatorial candidates, it was reported, also failed to submit drug test certification but they promised to submit the same before the March 29 deadline.

Section 38 of RA 9165 reads:

“Authorized drug testing shall be done by any government forensic laboratories or by any of the drug testing laboratories accredited and monitored by the DoH to safeguard the quality of the test results. The DoH shall take steps in setting the price of the drug test with DoH-accredited drug testing centers to further reduce the cost of such drug tests. The drug testing shall employ, among others, two (2) testing methods, the screening test which will determine the positive result as well as the type of drug used and the confirmatory test which will confirm a positive screening test. Drug test certificates issued by accredited drug testing centers shall be valid for a one-year period from the date of issue which may be used for other purposes.”

Prospective candidates, Abalos said, could undergo mandatory drug test in government forensic laboratories or any drug testing laboratories monitored and accredited by the Department of Health (DoH).

He said mandatory drug test for all candidates is being required to enable the voters to know the quality of candidates they are electing and be assured that only those who can serve with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency would be elected to public office.

Aside from the candidates for senators, House members and other local posts, nominees of party or sectoral organizations participating in the party-list system are required to submit drug test certificates not later than March 29, which is also the deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy for House members, governors and other local posts as well as for the submission of party-list nominees.

The drug test certificates should be submitted with the following Comelec offices:

(a) Candidates for senators — with the Law Department.

(b) Nominees of partysectoral organization participating in the party list system — with the Law Department.

(c) Candidates for House members in the NCR — with the Regional Election Director.

(d) Candidates for provincial positions — with the office of the Election Officer concerned.

(e) Candidates for city/municipal positions — with the office of the Provincial Officer concerned.

Comelec officials said the lists of those who complied with the mandatory drug test and those who did not will be published in two newspapers of general circulation.

Other developments in the Comelec:

— Veteran Comelec lawyer Wayne Asdala has been designated as the poll body’s acting Law Department Director while Director Alioden D. Dalaig is in Saudi Arabia on official mission in connection with the Overseas Absentee Voting Law.

A career official, Asdala joined the Comelec in 1972. Although he studied law as a working student, he passed the tough Bar exams in his first attempt. A Muslim, he performed for the Comelec many difficult election tasks in critical areas in Mindanao.

— Lawyers and leaders of non-government organizations (NGO) commended the Comelec yesterday for assuring senatorial candidates who were recommended by its Legal Department to be declared nuisance bets that they will be accorded all the rights under the law to prove that they are credible candidates.

The lawyers, led by Francisco B. Sibayan and Raul A. Casipit of Sibayan & Associates, former Gov. Jose P. Icaonapo Jr. of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines in Metro Manila, and CPA-lawyer Godofredo V. Arquiza of GVA Accounting & Law Firms, said due process is basic and fundamental in public governance as well as in conducting a credible election.

Trillanes, Honasan allowed to appear on television

The Commission on Elections (Comelec), invoking that freedom of speech is indispensable to the conduct of credible elections, has assured that Senate bets Antonio F. Trillanes IV of Genuine Opposition (GO) and former Sen. Grogorio B. Honasan who filed his candidacy as an independent, will be among those who will be allowed to present themselves to voters and explain what they plan to do if elected, in the television program which the poll body will host starting on March 12.

Comelec Chairman Benjamin S. Abalos Sr. said the TV program, to be entitled “Comelec Hour,” will enable all candidates for national positions to announce their candidacies and programs of government for such number of minutes and at specific time slots as may be determined by the poll body’s Director IV of the Education and Information Department.

Abalos assurance came in the wake of reports that the regional trial court judges before whom the cases of Honasan and Trillanes are pending have prohibited them from campaigning or talking about their candidacies.

Trillanes, who is facing coup d’etat charges for leading the short-lived Oakwood mutiny in July 2003, is now detained at Fort Bonifacio while Honasan is confined at Fort Santo Domingo in Santa Rosa, Laguna for the same charges.

Abalos said the Comelec will ask the permission of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to allow Trillanes and Honasan appear on the TV program.

He said if the two are not allowed to go out of jail, the Comelec will see to it that they will still be heard in the TV program by placing the camera where they are so that everybody will be given equal opportunity.

“Under the Fair Election Act, interviews with candidates on their platforms or programs of government may be considered as election-related concern which the Comelec shall allow as it deems fit to raise the level of campaign to public issues and vision of government, provided that the moderator or interviewer will be Comelec official or one designated by the Commission specially for the purpose and provided further that all candidates shall be given equal access and opportunity.”

In every program, at least three senatorial candidates will be given the opportunity to present themselves and speak about their programs of government to convince the people to vote for them, Abalos added. (E. T. Suarez)

No Internet voting for OFWs, says Comelec

No Internet voting for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in Singapore will happen in mid-May elections this year, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) declared yesterday.

Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento, during the Fernandina media forum in Club Filipino, Greenhills, San Juan, said the agency decided to give up the planned Internet voting for the OFWs in Singapore to avoid legal controversies.

“To avoid questions such as the legal basis of Internet voting and baka maapektuhan ang pagbobotohan at umabot pa sa husgado kaya non-binding na lang ang paggamit ng Internet voting,” said Sarmiento.

Sarmiento declared that a non-binding Internet voting will be pilot-tested this year but for the purpose only of identifying issues that would enhance the rights and welfare of the OFWs in Singapore.

He cited that by non-official voting on the Internet they would be able to verify government agencies that help them and evaluate their services and performance and how can they assist their needs.

He said the project will be pilot-tested only in Singapore because most of the OFWs there have access to the Internet unlike those in other countries where no Internet are available for their use. There are about 500,000 registered OFWs.

“We have chosen Singapore because it’s small and they have access to computers and they are computer literate,” Sarmiento said, noting that there are some 26,000 overseas voters in Singapore.

Sen. Richard Gordon, head of the Senate Committee on Laws and Constitutional Reforms, is opposing Comelec’s plan to pursue the Internet voting system. (Anna Liza T. Villas)

Originally posted at www.mb.com.ph

‘Legarda, Lacson top MM survey’

The Philippine Star 03/01/2007

The Genuine Opposition (GO) executive committee of elders member and former Senate president Ernesto Maceda yesterday said former senator Loren Legarda and Sen. Panfilo “Ping” Lacson were the top bets of Manilans in the midterm congressional elections.

In a press conference held at the GO’s headquarters on Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City, Maceda said that the latest Pulse Asia survey showed that Legarda has a 63.2 percent acceptance rating from 600 respondents from all the districts in the City of Manila.

Maceda said Lacson came in second with a 56.4 percent acceptance rating among the senatorial candidates for the coming May 14 elections.

He said a total of six GO candidates, against three from the administration’s Unity ticket, made it to the top 12 senatorial slots in the survey.

Re-electionist Sen. Francis Pangilinan, who has decided to run as an independent, came in fifth with a 43.2 percent approval rating, while detained independent senatorial candidate Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan took seventh place with an approval rating of 38.4 percent.

Besides Legarda and Lacson, the other GO candidates who made it to the Pulse Asia survey’s 12 senatorial slots include Francis Escudero with 50.9 percent; Alan Peter Cayetano, 50.6 percent; Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III with 41.2 percent, Manuel Villar Jr. with 32.9 percent and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III, with 29.2 percent.

The three candidates of the Unity ticket who made it to the survey’s top 12 include re-electionist Sen. Ralph Recto at 8th with 36.1 percent and Vicente Sotto III, 9th with 34.7 percent. Sen. Joker Arroyo with 31 percent was the third administration candidate in the winning circle.

Maceda said Sen. Edgardo Angara was a poor 13th, with only 22.9 percent; followed by John Osmeña with 20.8 percent; Michael Defensor with 19.9 percent; Lt. SG Antonio Trillanes with 19.5 percent; Sonia Roco with 17.7 percent; Tessie Aquino-Oreta with 11.9 percent; former senator Nikki Coseteng with 10.6 percent; Prospero Pichay with 8.4; Richard Gomez with 8.1 percent; Ilocos Sur Gov. Luis “Chavit” Singson with 7.1 percent and Cesar Montano with 6.4 percent.

“Our candidates are better known than six of their (Unity ticket) candidates,” Maceda said.

Maceda said the same survey showed that an endorsement from President Arroyo will not help the Unity ticket candidates: “An endorsement of President Arroyo in surveys is a negative 68 percent.” – Jose Rodel Clapano

Originally posted at www.philstar.com

Party-list groups qualified to run in May known next week

The Philippine Star 03/01/2007

The names of party-list groups qualified to seek seats in Congress in the May 14 elections may be released by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) next week.

Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said yesterday a party-list group must capture two percent of the votes cast in the elections for them to get a seat in the House of Representatives.

Each group is entitled to three seats equivalent to six percent of the total votes cast, he added.

Sarmiento said the Comelec will drop a party-list group from the list given accreditation if it failed to win a seat in the two previous elections.

The Comelec will also look into the track record of a party to determine whether it truly represents a marginalized sector of society and if it is capable of launching a nationwide campaign, he added.

Meanwhile, Sarmiento said Ang Ladlad, a party-list of gay-lesbian-bisexual-transgender groups, has not been officially removed from the congressional race. – Sheila Crisostomo, Marycris Reah Guevarra

Originally posted at www.philstar.com

Rules meant to be broken

The Philippine Star 03/01/2007

The Commission on Elections reminded political parties yesterday that they are required to file a statement of expenditures within a week after every campaign rally. Who knew? Probably not even candidates themselves. Campaign funding is among the most tightly guarded secrets in this country, and those tasked to compel transparency have so far failed to do the job.

A standing joke in this country is that certain individuals run for public office chiefly for the fund of it. The joke is on us. The failure to require transparency in campaign finance is one of the causes of corruption. With candidates disregarding limits set by law on campaign contributions and expenditures, there is no way of knowing who will cash in his chips after betting on a winning candidate, and whether this will be done at the expense of public interest. An individual or special interest group that invests millions on a candidate’s war chest will naturally want a return on investment if the candidate wins. The public has a right to know who these big campaign donors are and what they stand to get in return for their investments.

And the law does provide for that kind of transparency, but the law has never been effectively enforced. Even winners in presidential elections submit lists of campaign donors and their respective contributions that are good for nothing but comedy shows.

The Comelec can require candidates and political parties to submit their statements of expenditures. But can the Comelec verify the statements? Unless those statements can be audited accurately, there is no way of determining who is breaking the rules, already limited enough, on campaign finance. And unable to identify the rule violators, there is no way of imposing penalties. With no one getting punished, the rules will continue to be disregarded in every electoral exercise.

Originally posted at www.philstar.com

Team Unity eyes free zones

Posted March 01, 2007 07:56:00(Mla Time)
Michael Lim Ubac

MANILA, Philippines — Malaca? faces the nearly impossible task of holding on to 30 percent of local election areas in which two or more administration allies are vying for the same post, according to Gabriel Claudio, the presidential adviser on political affairs.

The worst case scenario is for the administration to declare “free zones,” that is, there will be no endorsements so that any candidate from the component parties of the administration coalition is free to contest any post.

House Speaker Jose de Venecia, president of the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats party, on Tuesday announced the official candidates in the mayoralty and gubernatorial races for 70 percent of the local elective posts up for grabs in the May elections.

He predicted that the ruling Lakas-CMD, with 46 provincial governors, would still be the “most dominant party” in the administration coalition after the midterm elections.

The other members of the administration coalition are the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi), Nationalist People’s Coalition, Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino, the Liberal Party and the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas.

Lakas national executive director Raymundo Roquero said the party would field some 10,000 official candidates in the more than 17,000 local positions, representing about 60 to 70 percent of all the positions to be contested.

“We inherit an economy that is our best in the last six years. We have a big edge against the opposition whose dissonant overtures are being jeered by the electorate,” said Roquero, adding that the names of congressional candidates would be released soon.

Claudio said free zones should be declared in administration strongholds, which he defined as areas where the competing candidates belong to the administration coalition, or the opposition candidates are perceived to be weak.

He confirmed that Pampanga Governor Mark Lapid has been chosen by the coalition as its official candidate in the province in keeping with the rule of the equity of the incumbent.

He said Lapid’s rival, board member Lilia Pineda, herself acknowledges the rule, and could very well pursue her candidacy under her party, Kampi.

He said the coalition was still studying how to resolve the dilemma in Pampanga province, in which “you have a governor who has the [equity of the incumbent] but a vast majority of incumbent mayors was supporting another candidate for governor.”

“This makes the situation in Pampanga rather exceptional or unique. These are nuances or variations of the situation that we are looking at,” he said.

Originally posted at www.inquirer.net

GO accepts debate challenge

Posted March 01, 2007 05:57:00(Mla Time)
Dona Pazzibugan Nikko Dizon

MANILA, Philippines – The Genuine Opposition on Wednesday accepted the challenge of the administration’s Team Unity to a debate on the economy, but wants the debate held in the open at the Plaza Miranda in Manila.

“We respond to Secretary (Joey) Salceda’s challenge and we dare Team-GMA (Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) to debate with us at the Plaza Miranda,” GO campaign spokesman Adel Tamano said Wednesday.

The planned debate among the senatorial candidates was welcomed on Wednesday by Catholic bishops, saying this would give the electorate a chance to get to know who they would be voting for.

“Ang kailangan ay ipahayag at ipaliwanag ng mga partido ang kani-kanilang plataporma ng gobyerno (What is important is for the various political parties to announce and explain their respective platforms),” Iloilo Archbishop Angel Lagdameo told reporters in a text message. He is also the president of the influential Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP).

Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma said a debate was “important” to allow those seeking elective positions to explain their platforms and for voters to be “made aware” of the candidates’ “promises.”

Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iniguez said the debate should be “well-motivated.” “That is, to help us know them (candidates) more,” he said.

Pangasinan Archbishop Oscar Cruz, however, was a bit more wary of such debates.

“The better debater does not necessarily champion the truth,” said Cruz, a staunch government critic.

Cruz believed that most voters would “rather watch telenovelas,” saying a debate is simply comprised of “words and more words which the poor, the hungry, and the sick have no use for.”

On Tuesday, Presidential Chief of Staff Joey Salceda challenged the opposition to a debate after GO came out with full-page ads in several dailies claiming the economy performed better during the term of deposed President Joseph Estrada.

Originally posted at www.inquirer.net

Power rate cuts no poll gimmickry, says Palace

MANILA, Philippines — Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita concedes that the timely announcement of a power rate reduction would boost the chances of the administration’s senatorial candidates but denies that it was a political gimmick.

“Some people will give their own interpretation, they will say this was meant to make Team Unity appear good to the people. Such is the nature of politics. We try to think of things that will benefit us and set aside things that might not be beneficial to us, especially during the election period,” Ermita said.

The opposition questioned the timing of the announcement of the reduction, saying Malaca? was engaging in electioneering.

Ermita said that the power cut would not be a welcome development to the opposition as it would help Team Unity.

No gimmickry

“But you can be sure this is not political gimmickry. The administration is just trying to display its capacity to continue undertaking measures that will help alleviate the conditions of our people,” he said.

The Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) announced on Tuesday that it had ordered the National Power Corp. (Napocor), the state power generator, to reduce its rates by 4.3 centavos in Luzon, 31.5 centavos in the Visayas and 0.45 centavos in Mindanao. In Luzon, this will mean a decrease of P2 (not P4.30 as reported earlier) in the monthly bill of a household consuming 100 kWh.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Wednesday used the announcement of the power rate cut as an occasion to endorse the Team Unity senatorial candidates and ask the people to focus on the economy.

In a statement released Wednesday, the President said the Napocor rate reduction was “part of the great story of economic gains flowing down to the people” and the fruits of “fiscal discipline and good governance.”

Destructive politics

“This is a clear and compelling reason for all of us to stay the course we have begun and not be distracted by the pullback of destructive politics,” she said.

“Our candidates in Team Unity are keeping the campaign at a high level because this is the only way we can continue to advance and maintain the gains of our economy while elevating the sheen of Philippine democracy to the world,” Ms Arroyo said.

Though she has vowed to stay on the sidelines of the May 14 senatorial elections to concentrate on governance, she indirectly addressed the attacks on her administration and its senatorial slate.

“While our detractors can continue to scrape the bottom of the barrel for old, worn-out issues, we are concerned with the issue of a modern Philippines fighting for the people and lifting them from poverty,” she said.

Bury the past

“I call on all Filipinos to bury past complaints and join the bandwagon of the economy. This is our only time to break free from the drag of past complaints and move forward,” she said.

“Let us not waste time but use it to grab every opportunity to advance, prevail over our conflicts and doubts, and win the future,” she said.

In Iloilo City, Genuine Opposition senatorial candidate John Osme?ednesday said the power rates cut was a “grand deception.”

He said the amount of the cut should be higher because of the improving value of the peso against the US dollar.

“Instead of lowering [electricity rates] now by a few centavos, we should lower them by two to three pesos,” Osme?aid.

“So my question is, who is pocketing the difference? The oil companies now making tons of money that is the result of the lowering of the exchange rate,” Osme?aid.

Loren Legarda, another GO candidate, welcomed the rate reduction because it was a “positive development for the people.”

“I welcome it regardless of the motive. Besides, the people will be able to see through it,” she said. Juliet Labog-Javellana and Norman Bordadora

Originally posted at www.inquirer.net

Estrada barks: Ive nothing to do with ASO jingle

Estrada barks: I’ve nothing to do with ‘ASO jingle’
Posted March 01, 2007 06:01:00(Mla Time)

MANILA, Philippines — The man didn’t do it.

Ousted President Joseph Estrada Wednesday said he had nothing to do with the derisive “ASO Jingle” that certain sectors of the opposition are using to discredit three ex-members of the opposition who are now all senatorial candidates of the administration’s Team Unity.

“I have never used the term ‘aso’ to refer to Sen. Edgardo Angara and former Senators Vicente “Tito” Sotto III and Tessie Aquino Oreta,” Estrada said from his vacation estate in Tanay, Rizal, where he is in detention.

“My friendship with them goes beyond politics,” he said. “And I don’t dabble in such petty politics.”

Even Adel Tamano, the campaign spokesperson of the Genuine Opposition, denied that it was Estrada who composed the jingle about “turncoats.”

“He wants to disclaim it. He did not write the ASO Jingle.’ It was written by supporters of FPJ (Fernando Poe Jr.),” Tamano said.

When asked, however, who exactly among the late actor’s supporters wrote the jingle, Tamano could not say.

“Alam mo na yon (You know the answer),” he said.

But Rez Cortez of the FPJ Movement admitted on several radio interviews that he was behind the making and the distribution of the jingle.

Cortez said his action was dictated by his displeasure with the three ex-allies of Estrada.

Ernesto Maceda, a close Estrada associate and one of the leaders of the GO “executive committee,” was unruffled.

Maceda pointed out that the jingle did not mention any names. “If people are admitting that they’re the ones referred to, that’s their privilege,” he said.

Gutter politics

According to opposition sources, the jingle, sung to the tune of “How Much is that Doggie in the Window,” is targeted at Angara, Sotto and Oreta, who played key roles in Poe’s campaign in 2004 against President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

After the three announced early last month that they would hitch their wagons to Ms Arroyo’s ticket, allegations that they had mismanaged Poe’s campaign funds cropped up.

Angara was quick to say that it was Sotto and Oreta who had primarily run the actor’s campaign, and that he had had no hand in it.

The three on Wednesday condemned the jingle; all ruled out Estrada’s participation in it.

Angara told the Philippine Daily Inquirer that the jingle was slanderous and was not allowed under the Election Code, which prohibits black propaganda in the campaign.

He said Estrada would never “stoop down to gutter politics.”

“This is the height of black propaganda, the dirtiest of all. Very sinister, and we know the source,” he said.

Told that it was Cortez, Angara said Cortez was just being used by someone with “a shadowy past.”

“The one behind it is a master of trickery and it’s in the nature of his lifetime career,” said Angara, who was Estrada’s executive secretary in the last days of the latter’s abbreviated presidency

‘Not turncoats’

Sotto said he was taking the jingle with a grain of salt.

“If it was intended for recording, it would be a commercial flop,” he said.

Sotto said those behind the jingle were obviously misled and ignorant of the facts surrounding his and his colleagues’ transfer to Team Unity.

“We’re not turncoats. [The GO] rejected us. In the case of Senator Angara, he was never invited to the opposition ticket,” Sotto said, adding:

“Do they want us to just take it, lie down and die? They rejected us because they wanted to accommodate all four members of the Wednesday Group, who did not want to join them. Tessie (Oreta) was already there, but they still took in (Tarlac Rep. Benigno) Noynoy Aquino. Then they were embarrassed by their guest candidate Sen. (Francis) Kiko Pangilinan, who doesn’t want to be with them.”

Sotto said Estrada was “not capable” of engaging in a dirty campaign.

Yet unaware that Estrada himself had denied composing the jingle, Sotto added: “I’m disappointed because I expected him to deny it, and he’s not saying anything. Knowing him for 34 years, I don’t think he tolerates that kind of campaigning.”

‘Not his work’

Oreta said she was “deeply saddened” that those behind the jingle wanted to drive a wedge between her and Estrada.

“I know for sure, without any tinge of doubt, that the muckraking jingle being attributed to him is not his work. President Estrada is a long-time close personal friend. He is a decent man and is not capable of engaging in gutter politics,” she said.

Oreta said she was confident that the “dubious shadowy characters preying” on Estrada would soon be “unmasked.”

“As far as I’m concerned, these characters are the real jailers of President Erap, holding him their virtual captive through their lies, deceit and intrigue,” she said.

She added that she would not let the jingle affect her campaign and distract her legislative agenda to provide free preschool education for poor children.

No rancor

Angara’s party, the Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), said the senator had parted ways with Estrada “under the most amicable circumstances” and “with neither rancor nor bitterness.”

Lawyer Ed Tumangan, LDP secretary general, said both Estrada and Angara were sufficiently “politically sophisticated to accept that political alliances may change.”

He added that Oreta and Sotto came from “political families of fierce loyalty and nationalism,” and that their adherence to principles was “beyond doubt.” Reports from Norman Bordadora, Dona Z. Pazzibugan and Cynthia D. Balana

Originally posted at www.inquirer.net

Gay party-list group Ladlad out of race

Posted March 01, 2007 06:05:00(Mla Time)
Jerome Aning

MANILA, Philippines — Ang Ladlad, a group of lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders (LGBT), has been disallowed from participating in the party-list elections in May because of its purported failure to prove nationwide membership.

In a three-page ruling issued on Tuesday, the Commission on Elections’ second division dismissed Ang Ladlad’s application for accreditation “for lack of merit.”

The division chaired by Commissioner Florentino Tuason Jr. said that contrary to Ang Ladlad’s claim “that its membership is national in scope, reports from our field offices reveal that it doesn’t exist in most regions of the country.”

The division cited Section 6 of Republic Act No. 7941 (the Party-List System Act of 1995), which provides that an applicant may be denied accreditation for making an “untruthful statement” in its petition.

Its other members, Commissioners Rene Sarmiento and Nicodemo Ferrer, also voted to reject Ang Ladlad’s petition.

Ang Ladlad filed its petition for accreditation on Sept. 15, 2006.

Danton Remoto, its president and founder, went to the Comelec office Wednesday afternoon to get a copy of the decision. He said he would confer with the group’s lawyers to discuss their next move, which included the filing of a motion for reconsideration.

Under Comelec rules of procedure, any motion for reconsideration of a division’s ruling must be heard by the commission en banc, meaning all commissioners sitting as one body.

‘Where did fees go?’

Remoto, a professor at the Ateneo de Manila University, expressed disappointment at the division’s ruling.

“I ask, did they go to the houses of our members to check? We paid the required P3,050 as filing and research fees. Where did these go?” he told reporters.

If the group’s motion for reconsideration is denied, it will take the case all the way to the Supreme Court, he said.

“Let’s be fair and square in the fight and to allow real marginal groups, not relatives of people in the Comelec, to run for public office,” Remoto told reporters.

“If not, we will have a party-list system that will become a refuge of the mediocre and obscure, destroying its true spirit,” he added.

In a message e-mailed to Ang Ladlad members, Remoto said: “This is the way it is; our hands are clean. We took no bribes and gave none. In the end, [we will be able to participate in the elections] if not in 2007, then in 2010. I know we will be vindicated, and we will win.

“Other party-list groups fabricate their membership [but] in our case, our membership is real.”

Equal rights for LGBT

Ang Ladlad planned to seek seats in the House of Representatives on the platform of equal rights for and end to discrimination of members of the LGBT community.

Concerned that the Comelec was taking a long time to decide on their accreditation to take part in the party-list elections, Ang Ladlad officials had decided to field Remoto in the senatorial race instead.

Remoto filed his certificate of candidacy last Feb. 10 as an independent candidate.

He had begun campaigning to solicit the votes of the members and supporters of the LGBT community.

But he said on Wednesday that he was considering junking his senatorial candidacy for the meantime and instead seek to represent Quezon City’s third district in the House.

Constituency

Comelec education and information department chief James Arthur Jimenez said Ang Ladlad’s petition was rejected simply because it had failed to comply with all the legal requirements.

“The question of constituency is very important especially if you declare your party or organization as a national party with national membership,” he said.

But Jimenez clarified that in reaching its decision, the Comelec had never doubted Ang Ladlad’s sincerity in pushing the LGBT agenda if elected to Congress.

153 applicants

Ang Ladlad is one of 153 groups that applied to participate for the first time in the party-list elections in May.

Only 37 have so far been accredited by the Comelec. Those not yet accredited were allowed to campaign for the meantime until the agency rules on their petitions.

Two other parties denied accreditation for not being nationwide in scope, as they had claimed in their petitions, were the MARE Foundation Inc. headed by Sen. Luisa “Loi” Estrada, and the Union of the Masses for Democracy and Justice.

Of the 77 party-list groups able to run in the 2004 elections, the Comelec delisted 33 for failing to win or participate in two previous consecutive elections.

Many of the delisted groups and those who failed to be accredited have filed motions for reconsideration before the Comelec.

The list of incumbent party-list groups and new party-list groups that were accredited may be viewed at the EID website, http://www.bagongbotante.com.

Originally posted at www.inquirer.net

Arroyo revamps campaign team, names Samar gov action man

Posted March 01, 2007 03:42:00(Mla Time)
Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.

MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is shuffling Team Unity’s movers and shakers by tapping Eastern Samar Gov. Benjamin Evardone as the administration ticket’s point man to replace veteran campaign strategist Reli German.

German, the architect of the presidential campaigns of both Ms Arroyo and her ousted predecessor, Joseph Estrada, confirmed on Wednesday that Evardone would take over the media and logistics aspect of Team Unity’s sorties as it enters the second leg of the 90-day campaign period.

But he will retain his title as campaign manager, he said.

Asked to describe his trimmed responsibilities, German said he would basically be the “brains” of the campaign and Evardone, the action man.

Another fresh face joining Team Unity is Antonio “Tonypet” Albano, who has been designated deputy of the group’s spokesperson, Tourism Secretary Ace Durano.

Albano, a graduate of the University of California at Los Angeles, is currently the head executive assistant of his father, Energy Regulatory Commission chair Rodolfo Albano.

Can’t say no

Evardone was tightlipped about his new appointment, saying only in a phone interview that it was “difficult to say no to the President.”

A former journalist, Evardone has served as the spokesperson of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines and the mouthpiece for the President’s pet advocacy — Charter change.

There has been talk that some Team Unity members were generally dissatisfied with the handling of its rallies and media events.

But German just shrugged this off, saying: “I’m with them all the time and I haven’t heard of any complaint from any one of them. Maybe you should ask them yourself.”

German’s deputy, Ike Gutierrez, did not reply to questions from the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

A source from Team Unity, who asked not to be named because of the sensitive nature of the subject, said the President was keen on tapping Evardone’s deep and broad links with local government units — the administration’s trump card against the opposition.
Efficient field general

With the campaign moving into a higher gear, Evardone’s background makes him a more efficient field general in deploying the administration’s troops and resources, the source said.

Team Unity candidates claim that governors and mayors were willingly spending their own money just to host the contenders in their respective locales.

The President’s decision to revamp Team Unity’s campaign team comes on the heels of the Genuine Opposition’s supposed plan to replace its campaign manager, San Juan Mayor Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito, with his half-brother, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada, before the end of this month.

Both Estrada and JV have denied this, but Jinggoy said he had yet to decide on the matter.

JV is expected to focus on his reelection campaign. GO is said to be hoping to ride on Jinggoy’s enduring ties with local government officials for the rest of the campaign period, and negate part of the administration’s advantage in the local government network.

Originally posted at www.inquirer.net

GOs first major out-of-town rally canceled

Posted March 01, 2007 05:27:00(Mla Time)
Ma. Diosa Labiste

ILOILO CITY — The first major rally by the Genuine Opposition’s senatorial slate in Iloilo province was abruptly canceled at 8 p.m. Wednesday due to an unconfirmed threat.

Two entertainers — Inday Garutay and Tiya Pusit — were working up a crowd of about 100 attending the GO rally at the Rotary Amphitheater in front of the Iloilo Provincial Capitol building at around 7:50 p.m. when provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada went up the stage and announced that the rally has been called off because of a threat.

Mejorada later told reporters that the threat included phone calls and text messages received by unnamed close allies of Gov. Niel Tupas Sr., which warned of a “serious incident” should the rally proceed as scheduled.

Mejorada said the decision to call off the rally was reached by Sen. Franklin Drilon, Tupas and GO campaign manager Joseph Victor “JV” Ejercito.

He said Drilon, Tupas and Ejercito believed that whether or not there was truth to the threat, they could not afford to take a risk, particularly since the political heat generated by the move to dismiss Tupas from office and the subsequent widely criticized siege of the Capitol in January have yet to die down.

“Safety is important and we have to take the road of caution … They did that before; who then would believe that they could do it in the capitol,” Tupas later explained in a radio interview here.

The GO senatorial candidates — Benigno Aquino III, Sonia Roco, Nikki Coseteng, John Osme?Aquilino Pimentel III, Francis Escudero and Loren Legarda — were in an undisclosed place somewhere in the city when they were told of the threat, according to a Capitol source.

Mejorada said they believed that the threat could only come from pro-administration personalities who did not want to see a successful opposition rally in Iloilo.

The rally, which was supposed to begin at 9 p.m., was to be the “coming out” event of the opposition in Iloilo initiated by Tupas, a close ally of Drilon.

Tupas, who fought off a dismissal order issued by the Ombudsman, has vowed a big win for the GO candidates in Iloilo which he declared an “opposition country.”

Originally posted at www.inquirer.net