Comelec pushing Congress to rely on automated count, not manual CoCs By Marie A. Surbano 05/13/2010

Comelec pushing Congress to rely on automated count, not manual CoCs

By Marie A. Surbano 05/13/2010 A president-elect proclaimed by Congress on the basis of electronically transmitted data appears to be the wish of the Commission on Elections, as the Comelec yesterday urged Congress to start counting the votes for president and vice president, despite the Senate not having received the manually prepared Certificates of Canvass (CoCs). Comelec spokesman James Jimenez urged Congress to do the count by making use of the electronically transmitted CoCs as its basis in coming up with the results and for Congress to quickly proclaim a president-elect. “Automation works. Automation is effective. All that is left is to see how many people can take advantage of it and its benefits, and, hopefully, Congress will also do that (rely on the automated count),” he said. He stressed that Congress can start counting the votes for the two highest positions as almost all election returns are already transmitted and that it will not take long before the provincial board of canvassers (PBoCs) can complete the canvassing. Senate sources, however told the Tribune yesterday that it is unlikely that the electronically transmitted data will be the basis of any presidential and vice presidential proclamation, as members of Congress prefer to wait for all the manually prepared CoCs before convening as a canvassing board, and use the manual CoCs as their basis for the proclamation of the president and vice president elect to ensure that the count is accurate and jibes with the electronically transmitted count.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100513hed2.html

HEADLINES GMA taps Corona for top SC post Comelec pushing Congress to rely on automated count, not manual CoCs 3 Pinoys onboard hijacked Taiwanese vessel — Meco Special ops target: A Roxas win by .1M votes Noynoy: No safe exit for Gloria Imelda vows to vindicate Marcos name

Special ops target: A Roxas win by .1M votes By Gerry Baldo 05/13/2010

Special ops target: A Roxas win by .1M votes

By Gerry Baldo 05/13/2010 The camp of leading vice presidential candidate Jejomar Binay called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino to act immediately and stop the reported manipulation of vote results in Mindanao and regions considered as bailiwicks of Sen. Manuel Roxas II, and the target is to win by 100,000 votes over Binay through vote manipulation. The Binay camp has received reports that a team of lawyers is trying to manipulate the canvassing of election returns in Regions 6, 7 and Mindanao to overhaul the lead of Binay. The name of former Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz has been mentioned, as well as other lawyers who are now scattered around these regions. They cited reports in Negros Occidental where Roxas’s lead over Binay surged by over 100,000 even when only 40,000 votes were left to be canvassed. Calls have also been made by key personalities to certain local officials asking for their participation in the special operations. “We call on Sen. Noynoy Aquino to try his very best to find out for himself if there is indeed an attempt to defraud the voters — and instantly put a stop to it. Jojo Binay believes that the good... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20100513hed4.html

HEADLINES GMA taps Corona for top SC post Comelec pushing Congress to rely on automated count, not manual CoCs 3 Pinoys onboard hijacked Taiwanese vessel — Meco Special ops target: A Roxas win by .1M votes Noynoy: No safe exit for Gloria Imelda vows to vindicate Marcos name

SC orders lower court to rule on $33.9-million Benedicto case By Benjamin B. Pulta 05/13/2010

SC orders lower court to rule on $33.9-million Benedicto case

By Benjamin B. Pulta 05/13/2010 A ruling by the Supreme Court (SC) has ordered the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Bacolod City to decide on the civil suit filed involving more 371 individual sugar workers and corporations seeking to recover $33.9 million from the estate of the late Roberto Benedicto and Traders Royal Bank (TRB). In a 23-page decision by Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta, the court’s third division turned down the suit filed by Benedicto and TRB seeking the reversal of the Court of Appeals (CA)’s decision issued on Sept. 30, directing that the civil suit be remanded to the trial court. The Bacolod City RTC Branch 44 earlier dismissed the civil complaint on the ground of forum shopping as the complainants failed to report in their anti-forum shopping certification in the Bacolod case that they had filed a similar case with the Pasig RTC even though the same had been already withdrawn by them. The case arose from a complaint filed by the sugar planters and agricultural corporations on Nov. 23, 1997 with the Bacolod RTC seeking to recover their unpaid share in the sugar export sales supposedly undervalued by the National Sugar Trading Corp. (Nasutra) and coursed through TRB. As president and concurrent chairman of both TRB and Nasutra, the complainants charged Benedicto with fraud and bad faith in refusing to furnish them accurate date on Nasutra’s export sugar sales and in under-reporting and underdeclaring the true prices of the shipments.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20100513nat1.html

NATION SC orders lower court to rule on $33.9-million Benedicto case Lapid wants parallel manual count stopped Families of victims of ComVal NPA ambush demand justice PNP downgrades alert status Padaca losing grip on Isabela gov post GSIS reminds members, pensioners of UMID-compliant eCard enrollment AFP back to addressing insurgency

Lapid wants parallel manual count stopped By Charlie V. Manalo 05/13/2010

Lapid wants parallel manual count stopped

By Charlie V. Manalo 05/13/2010 Saying that the parallel manual count being conducted to check the accuracy of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines does not actually reflect the true result of the elections, reelectionist Sen. Lito Lapid called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to immediately put a halt to the parallel count. Currently ranked 11th among the senatorial candidates, both in the Comelec and media reports of the results of the May 10 elections, Lapid called for the immediate cessation of the publication or broadcast of the parallel count which pictured him to be losing. “The parallel count,” the senator claims, “which is being made at random to check the accuracy of the PCOS figures manually does not, in any measure, reflect the actual results of the election as it does not cover all the precincts. To make it appear so would only confuse the public since the random ‘parallel count,’ which is limited pict to a number of precincts, may contravene with the totality of the tally based on all results transmitted directly from the precincts to the Comelec and the PPCRV.” Lapid was reacting to the ABS-CBN/STI count at 7:30 a.m. (May 11) which placed him at the 15th place with 354,797 votes..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20100513nat2.html

NATION SC orders lower court to rule on $33.9-million Benedicto case Lapid wants parallel manual count stopped Families of victims of ComVal NPA ambush demand justice PNP downgrades alert status Padaca losing grip on Isabela gov post GSIS reminds members, pensioners of UMID-compliant eCard enrollment AFP back to addressing insurgency

Padaca losing grip on Isabela gov post By Ted Boehnert 05/13/2010

Padaca losing grip on Isabela gov post

By Ted Boehnert 05/13/2010 BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — The “Padaca magic” seems to be wearing off, this after reports indicated incumbent Isabela Gov. Grace Padaca of the Liberal Party (LP) is apparently trailing her closest rival, outgoing 3rd District Rep. Faustino Dy III of Lakas-Kampi-CMD in the race to the governorship of the country’s third largest province. Certain results showed Dy, scion of the political family which lost grip on the governorship in 2004 when then Gov. Faustino Dy Jr. lost to Padaca by more than 40,000 votes, winning by an edge over Padaca, 253,718 to her 249,311, or by some 1,500 votes. Five election returns still have to be canvassed, however.  Other reports surprisingly show Padaca leading over Dy at least 133,000 to 125,000. On the other hand, Dy’s running mate, outgoing 1st District Rep. Rodito Albano, was leading over Padaca’s partner on the LP-Bigkis Pinoy ticket, outgoing 2nd District Rep. Edwin Uy, 279,263 to the latter’s 202,089. .... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/nation/20100513nat5.html

NATION SC orders lower court to rule on $33.9-million Benedicto case Lapid wants parallel manual count stopped Families of victims of ComVal NPA ambush demand justice PNP downgrades alert status Padaca losing grip on Isabela gov post GSIS reminds members, pensioners of UMID-compliant eCard enrollment AFP back to addressing insurgency

1986 all over again EDITORIAL 05/13/2010

1986 all over again

EDITORIAL Click to enlarge 05/13/2010 It isn’t 1986 but 2010, but it might as well be 1986 all over again. Sen. Noynoy Aquino, when he is proclaimed President-elect by Congress, plans for the first 100 days to start prosecuting corrupt officials, saying “I will not only not steal, but I’ll have the corrupt arrested.” With all the problems the country faces, Noynoy will be prioritizing going after the corrupt, and presumably, creating a commission to investigate the past misdeeds of Gloria and Mike Arroyoand their cronies. He is following in the footsteps of his mother, Cory Aquino, whose first act was to create a commission, known as the Presidential Commission on Good Government that immediately declared Ferdinand Marcos guilty of having stolen the wealth of the Filipino people — even then to the tune of some mind-boggling $10 billion. This was done without any investigation, any hearing and any evidence of the vast amount of money taken from the coffers. In other words, no due process. Cory was judge and jury.... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100513com1.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL 1986 all over again FRONTLINE Too soon the poll praises FEATURE Tokyo’s samurai women punish fat with sword workout BLURBAL THRUSTS Lim, Isko win big in Manila PROFILE David Cameron: Britain’s youthful new prime minister VIEWPOINTS Now what? focus For crew of doomed US rig, a night of flames and terror

Too soon the poll praises FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 05/13/2010

Too soon the poll praises

FRONTLINE Ninez Cacho-Olivares 05/13/2010 Almost everyone is praising the speed with which the election results were recorded, with all the elation centered on the automated count. Almost. While the speed with which the electoral count was refreshing, the question to ask is whether the results transmitted were accurate. We may well have an electronically elected president, but one that may not reflect the sovereign will of the people. There are just too many doubts despite the elections being over. Smartmatic should no just be let off easy and neither should the Commission on Elections (Comelec). The fact is, the possibility that the 2010 polls were marked with electronic fraud is there — especially as Smartmatic, just a few days before the scheduled polls, pulled out all the flash cards — all 76,000 of them — and replaced all in just two days, getting new ones from Taiwan and elsewhere. The point is, if only 2,000 or so machines had defective cards, why were all the flash cards pulled out?.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune   URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100513com2.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL 1986 all over again FRONTLINE Too soon the poll praises FEATURE Tokyo’s samurai women punish fat with sword workout BLURBAL THRUSTS Lim, Isko win big in Manila PROFILE David Cameron: Britain’s youthful new prime minister VIEWPOINTS Now what? focus For crew of doomed US rig, a night of flames and terror

Tokyo’s samurai women punish fat with sword workout FEATURE 05/13/2010

Tokyo’s samurai women punish fat with sword workout

FEATURE 05/13/2010 OKYO — Japan’s ancient samurai swords were once used to slice apart enemies, but in a new fitness craze they serve to slash away at extra pounds and cut down on modern-day stress instead. “Cut down!”, a sword-wielding instructor shouted during a recent “Samurai Camp” gym session in Tokyo as a squad of sweat-drenched women warriors followed suit, slashing the air with their shiny blades. “Put your right foot forward, cut down straight, thrust out your chest, no bending of the back,” the instructor yelled to the sound of a techno dance beat and swooshing weapons. “Punish the extra fat with this!” To avoid turning the health workout into a bloodbath, the swords are made of wood and urethane foam, but the determination of the participants is steely: the goal is to shed five kilograms (11 pounds) in about a month. The popularity of the course, which comes amid a resurgence of interest in Japan’s medieval warrior class, surprised even its inventor Takafuji Ukon, a 31-year-old choreographer, dancer and fitness expert.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100513com3.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL 1986 all over again FRONTLINE Too soon the poll praises FEATURE Tokyo’s samurai women punish fat with sword workout BLURBAL THRUSTS Lim, Isko win big in Manila PROFILE David Cameron: Britain’s youthful new prime minister VIEWPOINTS Now what? focus For crew of doomed US rig, a night of flames and terror

Lim, Isko win big in Manila BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 05/13/2010

Lim, Isko win big in Manila

BLURBAL THRUSTS Louie Logarta 05/13/2010 In handing reelectionist Mayor Alfredo Lim and running mate Vice Mayor Francisco Domagoso (a.k.a. Isko Moreno) an unprecedented landslide victory in the hotly-contested City Hall derby in the country’s premier metropolis last Monday, Manila voters lived up to their decades-old reputation of inherently being anti-establishment, or in the language of politics, oppositionists. How else do you explain Lim’s riding roughshod over his most worthy opponent former Manila mayor and former Environment Secretary Lito Atienza by some 220,000 votes, and Moreno’s burying his strongest rival for the vice mayor’s post Councilor Bonjay Isip by an even bigger 370,000, based on the partial tally of the Commission on Elections a day later with 88 percent of all election returns accounted for? What made the feat all the more remarkable, according to the pundits, was that the Lim-Moreno tandem, who are the incumbents, were suddenly transformed into underdogs going into the final days of the campaign, that had turned acrimonious with both sides throwing all the muck they could lay their hands on at each other, when the leaders of an influential religious sect which had an estimated voting strength in Manila of more or less 200,000, denied them the support they were hoping for in favor of their rivals Atienza and Isip..... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100513com4.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL 1986 all over again FRONTLINE Too soon the poll praises FEATURE Tokyo’s samurai women punish fat with sword workout BLURBAL THRUSTS Lim, Isko win big in Manila PROFILE David Cameron: Britain’s youthful new prime minister VIEWPOINTS Now what? focus For crew of doomed US rig, a night of flames and terror

David Cameron: Britain’s youthful new prime minister PROFILE 05/13/2010

David Cameron: Britain’s youthful new prime minister

PROFILE 05/13/2010 LONDON — Conservative leader David Cameron, Britain’s new premier, is a media-savvy modernizer often compared to Tony Blair for transforming his party to make it electable after years in the wilderness. Unlike Blair, who swept into Downing Street on a landslide in 1997 and stayed a decade, Cameron had to hold his nerve over five tense days of haggling to forge a power-sharing deal with the Liberal Democrats. But the 43-year-old has the edge over the former Labour premier in at least one sense: He is a few months younger as he takes office, becoming Britain’s youngest government leader for around two centuries. The smooth rise to power of Cameron, who was singled out early as a star of the party once led by Margaret Thatcher, was given a jolt by the Conservatives’ failure to win an outright majority in last week’s general election. Though he eventually got his wish to become prime minister, the man who has never even served as a minister must now hold together a potentially unruly coalition and grapple with Britain’s record public deficit. Cameron was educated at the elite Eton College, Princes William and Harry’s old school, and Oxford University, where he was a member of rowdy student dining society the Bullingdon Club alongside Boris Johnson, now London’s mayor.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100513com5.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL 1986 all over again FRONTLINE Too soon the poll praises FEATURE Tokyo’s samurai women punish fat with sword workout BLURBAL THRUSTS Lim, Isko win big in Manila PROFILE David Cameron: Britain’s youthful new prime minister VIEWPOINTS Now what? focus For crew of doomed US rig, a night of flames and terror

Now what? VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 05/13/2010

Now what?

VIEWPOINTS Archbishop Oscar V. Cruz 05/13/2010 No, it is not over. The fact is that it just begun. The national elections recently concluded showed the worst and the best in Philippines politics. Lives were lost. Rights were violated. Fear was sown. But the Filipino voters sweated it all out. The sun was fierce and for wind, there was none. But they persevered and registered their electoral will. As to the political candidates, some of them stood for what is right and just — although these were admittedly few and far between. Most of them, however, even sold their souls, and did every vicious conceivable trick simply to win their coveted public offices. At the end, the country now as the usual mixed of good and bad politicians already proclaimed or about to undergo proclamation as celebrated winners — as the losers in the elections cry their hearts out. Now what? Would the old timers — and there is one gloriously standing by the wayside even but for the moment — simply continue cultivating the culture of graft and corrupt practices in government? Would they still make the already structurally damaged institutions even more dysfunctional — the Judiciary in particular? Are they now well poised to make their public offices more effective in enslaving the poor and exploiting the ignorant? Or may the Filipino now expect a far better government, more honest and honorable politicians? It is reasonable for the people to look forward to governance that is not only ethically upright but also imbued with a morally sound value system?... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune   URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100513com6.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL 1986 all over again FRONTLINE Too soon the poll praises FEATURE Tokyo’s samurai women punish fat with sword workout BLURBAL THRUSTS Lim, Isko win big in Manila PROFILE David Cameron: Britain’s youthful new prime minister VIEWPOINTS Now what? focus For crew of doomed US rig, a night of flames and terror

For crew of doomed US rig, a night of flames and terror focus 05/13/2010

For crew of doomed US rig, a night of flames and terror

focus 05/13/2010 NEW ORLEANS — The nightmare began with a geyser of mud and water that shot 300 feet (100 m) into the air. Before anyone could react, gas from deep below the sea found a spark and the Deepwater Horizon was ablaze. One explosion, then a second, shook the offshore drilling rig. Louder than a jet, louder than a bomb, they threw sleeping workers from their beds and tossed men up into the air like grains of sand. Alarms sounded, and all around workers scrambled to escape. Flames erupted from the rig’s derrick, spewing thick smoke into the air, Christopher Choy recalled in an interview with NPR radio. “I knew we weren’t going to put that out,” he said. “And that was just the worst feeling in the world.” He wasn’t one to be afraid of anything, but the flames terrified him.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100513com7.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL 1986 all over again FRONTLINE Too soon the poll praises FEATURE Tokyo’s samurai women punish fat with sword workout BLURBAL THRUSTS Lim, Isko win big in Manila PROFILE David Cameron: Britain’s youthful new prime minister VIEWPOINTS Now what? focus For crew of doomed US rig, a night of flames and terror