Erap won’t concede on unofficial vote count By Gerry Baldo 05/12/2010

To bow to sovereign will if he loses the Congress canvass Erap won’t concede on unofficial vote count By Gerry Baldo 05/12/2010 Not so fast. Not on the poll body’s count. Former President Joseph Estrada, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) standard bearer, yesterday said that he is not conceding to Liberal Party (LP) presidential bet Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, making it clear that his silence on the election should not lead people to think that he is conceding defeat, stressing that it is wrong for him to concede on the basis of mere transmitted election returns coming from unidentified precincts. “Lest my silence following the recent presidential elections be misconstrued as conceding the elections to the frontrunner, I wish to assure the public that while I plan no protests, I am not conceding,” Estrada said in a statement, which was read by his son and a certain senatorial winner, Senate President Pro-Tempore Jinggoy Estrada. He read the statement of his father over ANC, the cable network yesterday afternoon. The statement said: “I wish to remind the people that under our Constitution, only Congress, not the Commission on Elections or its chairman, Jose Melo, and certainly not the so-called poll watchdogs, can proclaim the winner of the presidential elections,” Estrada said.  Estrada was apparently speaking about an alleged trending that makes it appear that Aquino had already won the elections, as poll watchdog Parish Pastoral Council on Responsible Voting and the Comelec itself have been releasing precinct count transmitted results, with PPCRV passed off a an “unofficial” partial count, while the Comelec released numbers, also based on transmitted election returns, are passed off as the “official” partial Comelec count without, however, identifying from where these numbers come, which could well result in a trending of unofficial vote count....MORE

HEADLINES Erap won’t concede on unofficial vote count Aquino, Binay still lead Palace to Noynoy: Drop Edsa syndrome Villar, Gibo, others concede defeat Smooth transfer vowed; transition team formed Marcos clan set for victory in polls

Source:  The Daily Tribune

URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100512hed1.html

Aquino, Binay still lead 05/12/2010

Aquino, Binay still lead

05/12/2010 The partial unofficial tally as of 5 pm yesterday, with 84.90 percent in, based on transmitted election results showed Liberal Party presidential bet Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino obtaining 13,036, 207 votes. At second place was former President Joseph Estrada, of Pwersa ng Masa, getting 8, 345,926 while Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar, of the Nacionalista Party obtained a vote coung of 4,680,580 followed by administration candidate Gilbert Teodoro with a vote count of 3,470,136. In the vice presidential race, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay was still leading LP vice presidential bet Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas, by some 800,000 votes, in the partial unofficial count based on the election returns (ERs) and not on the certificates of canvass. The open “official” poll body’s precinct tally of the presidential results based on transmitted ERs has been questioned by some quarters, as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc has no mandate to tabulate or even come up with a quick count, partial or complete, of the president and vice president, since this is a function of Congress, which is tasked to canvass the results of the presidential polls and proclaim the winner of the presidential race.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100512hed2.html

HEADLINES Erap won’t concede on unofficial vote count Aquino, Binay still lead Palace to Noynoy: Drop Edsa syndrome Villar, Gibo, others concede defeat Smooth transfer vowed; transition team formed Marcos clan set for victory in polls

Villar, Gibo, others concede defeat 05/12/2010

Villar, Gibo, others concede defeat

05/12/2010 Nacionalista Party standard bearer, Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar, one of the major candidates in the presidential election, and touted earlier by the media as the strongest presidential rival of the survey frontrunner, Liberal Party presidential candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, conceded defeat yesterday. The property magnate, like Aquino, a member of the Senate, was running second in the survey race until a late surge by former president Joseph Estrada nudged Villar to third place in Monday’s ballot. “The Filipino people have decided,” Villar told a news conference.” I congratulate Sen. Noynoy Aquino for his victory,” he added. He also offered to help Aquino if he wins the presidency. “The challenges our country faces are enormous and we should work together,” Villar said..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100512hed4.html

HEADLINES Erap won’t concede on unofficial vote count  Aquino, Binay still lead Palace to Noynoy: Drop Edsa syndrome Villar, Gibo, others concede defeat Smooth transfer vowed; transition team formed Marcos clan set for victory in polls

Marcos clan set for victory in polls 05/12/2010

Marcos clan set for victory in polls

05/12/2010 The Marcoses are politically alive and kicking, as they appeared poised to return to political power in both houses of Congress, along with a gubernatorial seat for a daughter, over two decades after being booted out of power and position in 1986. The wife and children of deposed dictator Ferdinand Marcos appeared all set to return to political power in Congress and their homeprovince, going by way of partial and unofficial results released yesterday by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the media. With about 80 percent of the votes tallied from Monday’s polls, former first lady Imelda Marcos, her only son Ferdinand Jr. and eldest daughter Imee are all likely to be elected in their respective races. Imelda, 80, will get a seat in the House of Representatives, Ferdinand Jr, 52, will go to the 24-seat Senate and Imee, 56, will again become governor of the family’s home province of Ilocos Norte, the figures showed. Lito Gorospe, a family spokesman, told AFP that Imelda and Imee Marcos were both expecting to be proclaimed in a few hours. “We are just awaiting word from the Commission on Elections,” he said .... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100512hed6.html

HEADLINES Erap won’t concede on unofficial vote count  Aquino, Binay still lead Palace to Noynoy: Drop Edsa syndrome Villar, Gibo, others concede defeat Smooth transfer vowed; transition team formed Marcos clan set for victory in polls

Bishop ‘flunks’ Arroyo as President 05/12/2010

Bishop ‘flunks’ Arroyo as President

05/12/2010 As the time for her to step down from Malacañang is nearing and as a new administration is set to replace hers, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Rosales has said President Arroyo has failed in her role as leader of the country for the past nine years. Rosales gave this assessment yesterday as the country successfully concluded its first-ever automated elections in which voters all over the archipelago chose the next leader of the nation in lieu of Arroyo. “She did not face the challenge. She missed the chance to be a good leader,” he told a press briefing at the Pope Pius XII Center in Paco, Manila. Rosales presided over a Mass yesterday at the Pope Pius, where the command center of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), a poll watchdog, is located.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20100512nat3.html

NATION DepEd says no teachers harmed in elections for the first time Town police chief sacked, Congress bet held over shootout Bishop ‘flunks’ Arroyo as President NPA rebels kill six in Davao ambush DoJ awaits formal complaints of poll offenses

GMA wins EDITORIAL 05/12/2010

GMA wins

EDITORIAL Click to enlarge 05/12/2010 Yes, it certainly was GMA-7, not Gloria Arroyo, who won in the manner with which the TV network covered the 2010 elections, in comparison to the ANC’s election coverage. The GMA Network anchors and its reporters — save for some snide remarks by a guest commentator on her take of senatorial candidates who appear to have won the polls, but whom obviously she did not care for. To cite an example, even as the top six senatorial candidates are fairly sure winners, she comes up to state that there were so many “good” candidates who should have won, not those who have not done anything. There was too, the clear offensive remark from this guest commentator who made a crack about the Marcoses winning the race in the senatorial, congressional and gubernatorial race, dredging up the old issues that had been at the forefront in 1986. Still, hers was clearly reflective of the attitude of the usual civil socialites, who without a doubt, will be around Sen. Noynoy Aquino, just as they surrounded his mother during her presidency.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100512com1.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL GMA wins FRONTLINE Usurping Congress’ canvassing mandate focus Radiation death exposes India’s waste disposal failures NO HOLDS BARRED Congratulations FEATURE China’s human rights lawyers face uphill struggle HE SAYS Sacrifices and expectations SHE SAYS Voting day

Usurping Congress’ canvassing mandate FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 05/12/2010

Usurping Congress’ canvassing mandate

FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 05/12/2010 What the Commission on Elections (Comelec) commissioners are doing is all wrong, in the sense that they as a body, are not empowered by the Constitution to announce the results of the elections on the presidential and vice presidential level, since this rightly belongs to Congress, that is tasked to canvass the results of the top two political posts, automated or manual, taken from the provincial certificates of canvass. The task of the Comelec en banc, constituted as a national election canvasser, is to strictly announce and proclaim the senatorial winners.  While the commissioners may have received official partial results of the votes of all the candidates, since they all come in one ballot and one certificate of canvass, they have no mandate, and no right to come out with the partial results of the presidential and vice presidential elections. Yet that was what they had done, in the past 36 hours or so. As of writing time, what the Comelec commissioners have been putting out as partial official results of the 2010 polls for the president and vice president, along with the senators are merely transmitted results and these figures are not even taken from the official certificates of canvass, which have not as yet arrived.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100512com2.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL GMA wins FRONTLINE Usurping Congress’ canvassing mandate focus Radiation death exposes India’s waste disposal failures NO HOLDS BARRED Congratulations FEATURE China’s human rights lawyers face uphill struggle HE SAYS Sacrifices and expectations SHE SAYS Voting days

Radiation death exposes India’s waste disposal failures focus 05/12/2010

Radiation death exposes India’s waste disposal failures

focus 05/12/2010 NEW DELHI — The death from radiation poisoning of a scrapyard worker in New Delhi has highlighted the lax enforcement of waste disposal laws in India, leading to calls for urgent action. In early April, a machine from Delhi University containing cobalt-60, a radioactive metal used for radiotherapy in hospitals, ended up in a scrapyard in the city. Rajendra Yadav, a 35-year-old worker in the congested yard in Mayapuri, western New Delhi, died due to multiple organ failure on April 26. Seven others were hospitalized. The International Atomic Energy Agency said it was the worst radiation incident worldwide in four years. Yadav had been given a “shiny piece of a white metal” from the machine as a sample to scout for a buyer and had carried it around in his leather wallet, showing it to potential customers. In pain and with burn marks on his hips and thighs, he went to see doctors who confirmed he had suffered radiation poisoning, sparking panic in nearby residential areas and leading to a scramble for the source by investigators. “The metal was gleaming. We assumed it to be expensive and wanted to sell it for a good price,” said Yadav’s friend, Deepak Jain, who has been a waste metal trader for 15 years.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100512com3.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL GMA wins FRONTLINE Usurping Congress’ canvassing mandate focus Radiation death exposes India’s waste disposal failures NO HOLDS BARRED Congratulations FEATURE China’s human rights lawyers face uphill struggle HE SAYS Sacrifices and expectations SHE SAYS Voting day

Congratulations NO HOLDS BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna 05/12/2010

Congratulations

NO HOLDS BARRED Armida Siguion-Reyna 05/12/2010 As it turned out, the first automated election process wasn’t as bad as expected. Not perfect, for there were glitches: PCOS machines either just suddenly stopping or not at all working; Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) who had no idea how to work the danged machines; volunteers confusing more than clarifying; disenfranchised voters with names all along on the Supplemental List of Voters that very few BEIs knew about — horror stories a-plenty, from Batanes to Jolo, to all over the world for overseas absentee voters such as my three grandchildren, none of whom received their voting packets in the US. The most wondrous aspect of it was knowing the likely winners shortly before midnight of election day. It’s still no way as fast as Barack Obama finding out he won in the US in 2008, but remembering how the count of our last presidential elections stretched long enough for Gloria Arroyo to call up Garci, heck: This one was a piece of cake. It ain’t over yet, but even as I write new information comes in, this is how fast it’s going. Gloria Arroyo’s men appear to have been summarily rejected by the electorate, in their respective bailiwicks. Former Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita lost the congressional seat he once held in the first district of Batangas, to Tomas Apacible. Former congressman, Justice secretary and premier Arroyo apologist Raul Gonzalez, is not going to make it as Iloilo City mayor, against Jed Mabilog.  Also still another former solicitor-general, former Justice secretary and rumored wannabe Supreme Court justice Agnes Devanadera, running with 66,315 votes against Wilfredo Enverga’s 88,080, for congressman in the first district of Quezon. Also emerging as talunans in their respective runs are former Armed Forces chief and also of Garci name-drop fame Hermogenes Esperon and former Agriculture Undersecretary Joc-joc Bolante. What can I say, but since you all put Mrs. Arroyo ahead of country, buti nga!.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100512com4.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL GMA wins FRONTLINE Usurping Congress’ canvassing mandate focus Radiation death exposes India’s waste disposal failures NO HOLDS BARRED Congratulations FEATURE China’s human rights lawyers face uphill struggle HE SAYS Sacrifices and expectations SHE SAYS Voting day

China’s human rights lawyers face uphill struggle FEATURE 05/12/2010

China’s human rights lawyers face uphill struggle

FEATURE 05/12/2010 BEIJING — Tang Jitian has had to move several times after authorities pressured his landlords. He hardly ever sees his wife and daughter. And he has now lost his livelihood for defending the Falungong. The 41-year-old is one of a rising number of lawyers in China who have risked their jobs and even their families to fight for those whose rights have been violated, amid what activists say is a widespread official clampdown. “The issue of human rights is not an abstract one. It exists in our lives in a big way. But in the minds of many officials, it is considered insignificant,” Tang, a slight but jovial man, told AFP. He and colleague Liu Wei have had their licences revoked for “disrupting court order,” after they defended a member of the spiritual movement Falungong, which is banned in China, in April last year. They say they walked out of court due to constant interruption of their defence by the judge..... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100512com5.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL GMA wins FRONTLINE Usurping Congress’ canvassing mandate focus Radiation death exposes India’s waste disposal failures NO HOLDS BARRED Congratulations FEATURE China’s human rights lawyers face uphill struggle HE SAYS Sacrifices and expectations SHE SAYS Voting day

Sacrifices and expectations HE SAYS Aldrin Cardon 05/12/2010

Sacrifices and expectations

HE SAYS Aldrin Cardon 05/12/2010 Voter No. 100 spent four hours before he could cast his vote as No. 607 in the line of about a thousand registered voters at precinct177-A to E in Molino, Bacoor in Cavite, and was 490th to receive an automated congratulatory note, devoid of smile and warmth, from the PCOS machine. It was worth the wait, I should say, despite the heat, which made others leave their lines for the comfort of their homes. Many of them did not return anymore, leaving the fate of their country at the hands of those who persevered for hours if only to make their voice counted by machines we are left with no choice but to trust. The presidential candidates labeled Monday’s polls as fair, with fair finally a word that was refreshing to hear from a field which I earlier doubted would be able to stand up from the murky sea of negativity that pervaded their respective campaigns. I don’t believe that any candidate did not employ a wrecking crew to bring down his rivals. The recent campaigns were the dirtiest in the history of Philippine elections. Noynoy, Erap and Villar bore the brunt of the negative publicities, which hurt their families more than the candidates themselves, as they came ready to face the worst that came their way. This was Philippine politics by the way. They have sacrificed themselves for a political oasis that only the winner would be able to enjoy, while the nation would continue to offer itself in support and defense of whoever would become the country’s next president, especially when the one he’s going to succeed happens to be the worst and most hated leader the Filipinos ever had..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100512com6.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL GMA wins FRONTLINE Usurping Congress’ canvassing mandate focus Radiation death exposes India’s waste disposal failures NO HOLDS BARRED Congratulations FEATURE China’s human rights lawyers face uphill struggle HE SAYS Sacrifices and expectations SHE SAYS Voting day

Voting day SHE SAYS Dinah S. Ventura 05/12/2010

Voting day

SHE SAYS Dinah S. Ventura 05/12/2010 In a way, all the dire predictions made days before May 10, 2010 helped Filipinos become less irritable. Expecting the worst, many came to their polling precincts ready with a vast — if not limitless — supply of patience. The lines were long and the waiting, of course, excruciating. But it was heartening to note that people were willing to spend long hours waiting to exercise their right to suffrage (or as one voter quipped, “right to suffer and rage”). Anyway, whatever the outcome, we would all have demonstrated once more how hopeful we remain as a nation. Or are we? There’s no telling what could happen if, by today, we still have no idea who will be occupying Malacañang next. After all, the promise of automation was faster results. They told us votes would have been counted just two days after elections. It was one of the main points raised before it was decided that the Philippines would have its first-ever automated polls. Government even spent over P11 billion for it! As it happened, elections came and went, Philippine-style. Until the voting day itself, PCOS machines had yet to be delivered to certain areas, although its supplier, Smartmatic-TIM, reported that all machines had already reached their destinations nationwide. Some places in Metro Manila experienced long delays because of defective machines, however. In Lanao del Sur, failure of elections was declared in four towns by 12 noon, and in Maguindanao, violence erupted..... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100512com7.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL GMA wins FRONTLINE Usurping Congress’ canvassing mandate focus Radiation death exposes India’s waste disposal failures NO HOLDS BARRED Congratulations FEATURE China’s human rights lawyers face uphill struggle HE SAYS Sacrifices and expectations SHE SAYS Voting day