FT Chronicle

PHILIPPINES- Yes, national hero Dr. Jose Rizal is the victor in the presidential race with popular rock band Bamboo as the top-ranked party-list group in Congress, only if the results of Saturday’s mock polls were to take effect.
Rizal surfaced as the leading presidential choice in the mock elections, topping closest rival Emilio Aguinaldo, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced about two hours after the mock polls closed on Saturday morning.

Comelec’s mock polls used names of departed heroes and politicians for the positions of president, vice president and senators.

Rizal, who got a total of 118 votes from nine areas from all over the country that participated in the mock polls, was declared president-elect by the Congress Board of Canvassers (CBOC) at past 12 noon Saturday.

Filipino propagandist Marcelo H. del Pilar was proclaimed winner in the vice-presidential race, garnering a total of 76 votes.

Three Aquinos meanwhile dominated the senatorial race in Comelec’s mock polls. Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., former President Corazon Aquino, and Benigno Q. Aquino (Ninoy’s father) obtained the top three highest votes in the mock senatorial elections, according to the Comelec.

Others who made it to the top 12 were: Epifanio C. de los Santos, Robert Z. Barbers, Pio Del Pilar, Julian C. Felipe, Francisco S. Dagohoy, Regidor R. Dela Rosa, Macario S. De Leon, Mariano C. Alvarez and Felipe E. Agoncillo.

For the mock party-list elections, which used names of Filipino musical groups, local rock band Bamboo got the highest number of votes among the 17 mock party-lists that won seats in Congress.

The other winning party-list groups were: Manomano, Apo Hiking Society, 14K, Maria Cafra, MYMP, Natural Born, Aegis, Mi Ultimo Dios, Bukas Palad, El Filibusterismo, Pinay, Mocha Girls, Men Oppose, Parokya ni Edgar, Mastaplann, and Banyuhay.

Nine polling precincts from Metro Manila, Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao participated in the mock election, which Comelec concluded a “success.”

The recently-conducted mock election is a preparation for the smooth flow of the Philippine national elections and also its very first automated elections on May this year.

News via GMANews.tv

PHILIPPINES- Homosexuals can have a shot for their own comfort rooms as Alyansa ng Media at Showbiz Inc. (AMS) proposed the putting up of “gay toilets” in government offices and commercial establishments.

In a statement released Sunday, AMS nominee Leo Martinez, a veteran actor, said such exclusive comfort rooms would protect homosexuals from discrimination.

Under the proposed system, a “gay male” and “gay female” would be constructed in government offices and in commercial establishments like malls and cinemas.

They also hope that their proposal would be welcomed by authorities and the public.

AMS is one of the party-list groups accredited by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to run in the May 10 elections and claimed to have members in media and show business and television, from announcers to cameramen to production crew.

News from GMANews.tv

PHILIPPINES- A Commission on Elections division allowed former President Joseph Estrada to run in the May 2010 presidential elections.

“Let the people decide who will be the next president,” said the resolution released by the poll body’s Second Division, junking the petition filed against Estrada by lawyers Oliver Lozano, Evillo Pormento, and Elly Pamatong last December.

The petitioners earlier said Estrada’s candidacy is unconstitutional, noting that Section 4, Article VII of the Constitution clearly prohibits presidents from running for re-election.

The provision states that “the President shall not be eligible for any reelection. No person who has succeeded as President and has served as such for more than four years shall be qualified for election to the same office at any time.”

Estrada is the first president to be impeached in 2000. He was arrested in 2001 and convicted of two counts of well-documented plunder in 2007. Estrada announced his presidential bid Oct. 21 last year because of the reason that the opposition body does not come with a single candidate.

via GMANEWS.tv

PHILIPPINES- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Friday allowed 144 party-list groups, including gay party-list group Ang Ladlad, to participate in the May 10 national polls.

Through Resolution No. 8744, the Comelec en banc gave the go-signal to 144 out of the more than 300 party-list groups that filed their manifestations of intent to participate in the coming elections.

Among the approved party-lists is the Ang Ladlad, which was included in the list of qualified organizations through a Supreme Court order mandating the Comelec to print the gay group’s name on the ballot for the May polls.

Of the 144 approved party-list groups, 66 have already participated during the last elections while 78 were newly-accredited groups.

Larrazabal likewise said since the number of approved party-list groups was lower than expected, the length of the ballot to be used in the coming polls may be altered.

Section 10 of the Party-List System Act (Republic Act 7941) states that a voter is entitled to “a vote for a party, organization or coalition he wants represented in the House of Representatives” during elections.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez meanwhile said that although disqualified party-list groups could still file motions for consideration before the Supreme Court, the poll body would not include any more names in the ballot once the printing starts on January 25.

Jimenez likewise said he is confident that the high court will take into account the Comelec’s schedule before it makes decisions in connection with the coming polls.

News from GMANews.tv

MANILA, Philippines – The Supreme Court (SC) extended the voters registration for the May 2010 elections until January 9, 2010 yesterday.

The SC’s nine-page unanimous vote granted the petition of Kabataan Partylist Rep. Raymond Palatino asking to declare null and void on Commission on Elections (Comelec) Resolution No. 8585 that set the deadline of voters’ registration.

Supreme Court said in that the Commission has no valid ground in not continuing the voters’ registration as mandated in Republic Act 8189 Section 8.

Under the Voter’s registration Act of 1996, the registration of voters shall be conducted daily in the office of the election officer during regular office hours, except during the period starting 120 days before a regular election and 90 days before a special election.

The SC said its decision is immediately executory.

(According to some news, the registration will start on December 21)

(photo credit: Midanao Magazine)

MANILA, Philippines – To accommodate the volume of last-minute registrants, the commission on Elections (Comelec) decided to extend the hours for voters’ registration nationwide last Thursday until the month ends.

Registration from October 22 to 30 will be from 8 a.m. up to 9 p.m. – four hours more than the original period of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., said Comelec spokesman James Jimenez.

Voters who will enlist on October 31, the registration deadline, will be accommodated from 8 a.m. to 12 midnight, he supplemented.

“We are aware that a lot of Filipinos choose to register at the last minute. To accommodate them and also to address the growing crowds at our field offices as we near the registration deadline, the en banc has ordered the extension of office hours in all registration centers nationwide. Registration is also extended until Sundays in calamity areas of Luzon,” said Jimenez.

He added voters’ registration on Sundays, the first on October 18 and the next on October 25, were being implemented for victims of tropical storm “Ondoy” and typhoon “Pepeng” in flood-hit areas such as the Ilocos Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Calabarzon, Bicol, Cordillera Administrative Region, and National Capital Region.

Registration in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) will run from Mondays to Sundays from October 19 to 31, he added.

Validation or enrollment of biometrics of registered voters will in turn be suspended to prioritize the applicants for registration, added Jimenez.

“We request registered voters, who wish to check the status of or enroll biometrics, not to flock to our registration centers so that our personnel can focus on processing registration applicants. We will issue a schedule when the validation of biometrics will resume,” he said.