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Posted April 10, 2007 23:54:00(Mla Time)
The recent opinion surveys on senatorial candidates sadden me. Former senator Loren Legarda, Sen. Francisco Pangilinan and Sen. Ralph Recto are faring very well in the senatorial race.
Legarda had a marriage preceding her union with Antonio Leviste. Pangilinan went through a marriage ceremony with Sharon Cuneta, who earlier married Gabby Concepcion and gave birth to KC Concepcion. Recto exchanged marriage vows with Mayor Vilma Santos, former wife of Edu Manzano and mother of Lucky Manzano.
According to the Holy Scripture, “[t]herefore, what God has joined together, let no human being put asunder.” (Mark, 10:9)
The previous marriages of Legarda, Cuneta and Santos were annulled? Yes, but by man’s authority, by force of a Family Code which is full of semantics to conceal that it allows divorce in the Philippines.
One related observation. Our judicial records contain final judgments that the fathers of KC Concepcion and Lucky Manzano were psychologically incapacitated to contract marriage at the very outset. But does anybody care? (More on Inquirer)
Originally Posted at www.inquirer.net
Posted April 11, 2007 04:52:00(Mla Time)
Juan Escandor Jr.
NAGA CITY—The father and son political feud continues to seethe here in Camarines Sur.
Rep. Luis Villafuerte yesterday denounced his son, incumbent Gov. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte, who had earlier claimed that the feud between them was “just for show.”
Facing the local media and hooked up to four local radio stations here, the elder Villafuerte, of the Second District of Camarines Sur, again told voters not to vote for his son whom he accused of being an ingrate. He said LRay was disrespectful both to his elders and his parents.
The congressman said he called for the press conference to clarify issues that had muddled the electoral situation here. (More on Inquirer)
Originally Posted at www.inquirer.net
Posted April 11, 2007 06:36:00(Mla Time)
Gil C. Cabacungan Jr. Cynthia Balana
MANILA, Philippines — TEAM Unity’s senatorial candidates will focus their campaign on the Visayas and Mindanao in the last month before the May 14 elections in order to maximize the administration’s traditional edge in those parts of the country.
TU spokesperson Joseph Ace Durano said Tuesday the Visayas and Mindanao not only had a bigger voting population than Luzon, the two regions had posted historically higher turnouts in elections.
“We’re not abandoning Luzon or Metro Manila, we’re just trying to secure our advantage in the Visayas and Mindanao in order to get at least 10 million votes for each of our candidates which we believe will be enough to crack the Magic 12,” said Durano after a press conference at TU headquarters in Makati.
Durano said maximizing TU’s advantage was the most feasible way of helping its candidates catch up to the bets of the Genuine Opposition who have been lording it over election surveys. (More on Inquirer)
Originally Posted at www.inquirer.net
By Erwin Oliva
INQUIRER.net
Last updated 08:47pm (Mla time) 04/10/2007
MANILA, Philippines — Akbayan representative Loretta Ann Rosales will take her complaint against the Commission on Elections to the Supreme Court.
Rosales said the Comelec allegedly violated a constitutional right to access public documents when she was denied anew access to the poll body’s list of partylist nominees.
“For Comelec to obstruct this process, it also violates their mandate also contained in the Constitution,” Rosales said Tuesday.
Rosales said the Comelec had released the partylist nominees in 2001 and 2004.
Akbayan held another picket in front of the Comelec earlier on Tuesday.
The Comelec has declared that it would only release names after elections on May 14.
Originally posted at www.inquirer.net
by JAILEEN F. JIMENO
BY MAY this year, four of Makati Mayor Jejomar ‘Jojo’ Binay’s seven-member household (in-laws, grandchildren, and helpers excluded) would have joined the family’s business in Makati: politics. The latest addition would be Mar-Len Abigail or Abby, a 31-year-old lawyer, who is eyeing the congressional seat in the city’s second district.
Binay’s son, Jejomar Erwin or Junjun, 29, who began his political career as Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) official at the age of 15, is now a councilor of the city’s first district and is running for reelection. Binay’s wife, Elenita, warmed the mayoralty seat for the family patriarch for three years after he reached his term limit in 1998. For a man orphaned at a young age and worked hard to go through law school, activism and then, politics, life has indeed changed radically for Jojo Binay. He exudes power and shows he can keep and expand his political clout — by fielding his wife and children in elections.
Binay dismisses accusations that he is building a political dynasty in the country’s financial and business capital. Instead, he sees his family’s efforts to add on to its political strength as proof of a healthy democracy. “Hindi ako naniniwala sa dynasty-dynasty na iyan (I don’t believe in that dynasty thing),” he says. “Where’s the spirit of democracy if there’s a prohibition (to run) based on family relations?” (More on PCIJ)
Originally posted at www.pcij.org
By Allison Lopez
Inquirer
Last updated 04:41am (Mla time) 04/11/2007
MANILA, Philippines — Former Manila Congressman Harry Angping has lodged a disqualification case at the Commission on Elections against Rep. Miles Roces for allegedly using a fictitious address in his certificate of candidacy.
Roces, who is running for a second term as congressman of Manila’s third district, is up against Angping’s wife, Naida.
Roces, who is Mayor Lito Atienza’s son-in-law, was Angping’s only challenger for the same post in 2004 when a barangay chair questioned the latter’s citizenship and filed a disqualification case against him. Angping, who was going for his last term, was forced to withdraw because of the case. His wife ran in his stead but lost to Roces. (More on Inquirer)
Originally posted at www.inquirer.net
Eleksyon 2007: Major trends in campaig
By Winston A. Marbella
Inquirer
Last updated 03:25am (Mla time) 04/11/2007
(Last of three parts)
MANILA, Philippines — If Commission on Elections Chair Benjamin Abalos were to have his way, clean and credible elections would be just a text message away on May 14.
Announcing the Comelec’s “voters’ info-text service,” Abalos trumpeted, “Essential election information such as the national, local and party-list candidates and election results may be just a text message away with this service.”
Abalos said the new service will be available nationwide and allow the public to report electoral fraud and complaints, bringing “immense benefit to the electorate and encouraging them to take a more active role in safeguarding the elections.”
The service will also provide information on voting precincts when the Comelec comes out with the final list of voters. A unified number for the service is to be announced shortly, Abalos said.
The Comelec has accredited the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) as its quick count organization for May 14. Working together with the hundreds of thousands of volunteers for the Comelec’s official watchdog organization, the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), the Namfrel could do a better job than its previous quick count, which ground to a halt with 80 percent of the vote because of problems with text messaging. (More on Inquirer)
Originally Posted at www.inquirer.net
Dynasty slayer Grace Padaca has had to contend with a province that is still Dy country, unable to get most of the mayors of Isabela to cooperate with her.
ILAGAN, ISABELA — When Maria Gracia Cielo ‘Grace’ Padaca was proclaimed governor of the northeastern province of Isabela in 2004 after a hotly contested election, she knew that an even tougher battle awaited her.(More on PCIJ)
Originally Posted at www.pcij.org
Posted April 10, 2007 23:33:00(Mla Time)
Neal Cruz opinion@inquirer.com.ph
Do not believe both the administration and the opposition when they predict that their candidates will sweep the senatorial race, 12-0. Both are lying. Both are spouting propaganda. In the case of Team Unity, it is pure bravado or wishful thinking. Even in the mock polls among overseas Filipino workers in Hong Kong, TU candidates ended up at the bottom. If its boast of a 12-0 victory happens, there would be a revolution. It would be a sure sign that the administration cheated, and the people would not accept that.
As for the Genuine Opposition, its candidates are leading the surveys but it will never sweep the senatorial polls, no matter how popular its candidates are. There will be at least one Team Unity candidate (Ralph Recto) and one independent (Kiko Pangilinan) who will make it to the Magic 12. (More on Inquirer)
Originally posted at www.inquirer.net
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