by anyajulia | Sep 22, 2009 | Election 2010, Headlines, National News
The Department of Energy (DoE) denies issuing a warning on election cheating would be the result of “scheduled” power interruptions next year.
DoE Secretary Angelo Reyes said “I never said our (power) problem will lead to election cheating.”
In a memorandum submitted to the Office of the Press Secretary, Reyes clarified DoE’s warning on power interruptions was based on “simulation” from the agency’s Power Development Plan (PDP) 2008-2017.
Meanwhile, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said the Cabinet “never discussed any power shortage situation because providing electricity to all sectors is a priority of the Arroyo administration.”
Fajardo said, “the DoE warning should be taken as a wake up call to accelerate reforms in the energy sector.” She said it is meant to prod all sectors to accelerate the build up of capacities and distribution of energy nationwide. It is Reyes’ job to come up with measures to ensure that energy will be sufficient, especially on election day. (PIA)
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by anyajulia | Sep 18, 2009 | Election 2010, Headlines, National News
“Illegal” says former house speaker Jose De Venecia over Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro’s nomination as Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential standard-bearer for 2010 elections
“Why would they call a national executive committee meeting when there’s yet a Lakas- Kampi-CMD merger, so the meeting is illegal”, de Venecia harped.
Imagine choosing a presidential and vice-presidential candidate when the party is not yet accredited, registered and recognized by the Comelec,” said the former president of Lakas-CMD.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has yet to officially recognize the party, which merged with Kabalikat sa Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI) recently.
On De Venecia’s point, Presidential Adviser on Political Affairs Gabby Claudio explained that the September 17 gathering was not a convention but only a part of their selection process.
“The meeting of the national executive committee of Lakas-Kampi-CMD yesterday was not a convention. That was very clear. It’s part of the selection process of the party and we said the essence of that selection process is in the conduct of democratic consultations among the leaders of the party,” he said.
Calaudio, Lakas-CMD secretary general said he is optimistic that the poll body will grant their petition to accredit the merger of the two parties.
“We expect the Comelec to be fair and just in giving due favorable action to the petition of Lakas-Kampi for the immediate registration and accreditation,” he said.
Claudio noted that he finds it ironic that De Venecia is the one questioning the merger when he was the one pushing for it before.
“He was the prime mover of the merger. He signed a document on the merger of the two parties as early as 1998. Since then, he had been pushing for the official merger of the two parties until he lost the speakership and the presidency of Lakas,” Claudio said.
The Comelec is set to issue its decision on the Lakas-Kampi-CMD merger within the month. (PIA)
by anyajulia | Sep 18, 2009 | Election 2010, Headlines, National News
Ninety members of the House of Representatives signed a manifesto endorsing Defense Secretary Gilberto “Gibo” C. Teodoro Jr. as presidential candidate and administration bet.
According to the organizers of the meeting,they are throwing their wholehearted support to Teodoro because they genuinely believed that he possesses the leadership, integrity, credibility, competence and capability to be the country’s next president.
Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay said that it is high time for the members of the House to have their voices heard as far as choosing the administration’s standard bearer is concerned.
Part of the manifesto signed by the lawmakers states that they “fully believe that he (Teodoro) is the leader who can most effectively carry out the vision, mission and ideology of the Party, best lead the nation in the coming years, who can reform and transform Philippine society and bring about lasting peace, justice and meaningful progress in our nation.” (PIA)
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by anyajulia | Sep 11, 2009 | Election 2010, Headlines, National News
Malacanang On Thursday hailed the Supreme Court decision junking a petition to stop poll automation of the 2010 national elections. The petition was filed by the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) led by UP professor and lawyer Harry Roque Jr.
Earlier, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) likewise welcomed the decision after having been informed the majority of the High Court justices voted in favor of poll automation.
Based on reports, the Supreme Court voted 11-3 in favor of the P7.2-billion automation contract which Comelec awarded to the Smartmatic Corp., a joint venture of a Netherlands-based company and Total Information Management, Inc. (TIM), a Filipino owned firm.
The High Court is scheduled to release the decision this afternoon.
In a media briefing, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson for Economic Affairs Gary Olivar said: “Poll automation is one of the 10-point agenda of the President under the BEAT The ODDS. So I imagine this is a welcome development.”
Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Anthony Golez added: “This is one obstacle on the road to automation”. He said the SC decision should be respected even as some quarters are said to be planning to file a motion for reconsideration. (PIA)
by anyajulia | Sep 10, 2009 | Election 2010, Headlines, National News
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) hailed the decision of the Supreme Court ruling on poll automation. The SC has junked the petition filed by the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) for the nullification of the P7.2-billion project to automate the May 2010 elections.
Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said that with the ruling of the High Court, the poll body will continue implementing the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines that will be used in next year’s polls. The machines will be supplied by the consortium of Total Information Management Corp. (TIM)-Smartmatic, which was declared the winning bidder last July 10 by the Comelec. (PIA)
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by anyajulia | Jul 24, 2009 | Election 2010, Headlines, National News
The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) will be training the teachers who will be serving in the country’s first-ever automated elections in May 2010. The training will be from January to April next year.
At least one teacher serving in a voting precinct next year should be knowledgeable on Information Technology, even as the COMELEC is aiming to train 2 teachers on IT per precinct in case the one assigned will be unable to serve on the day of the elections due to sickness or other reasons.
From 250,000 precincts utilized during the last political exercise in 2007 nationwide, the figure will be trimmed to 80,000 for next year’s elections. The voting time for the upcoming election will be extended beyond 3:00 pm unlike in the past elections.
Teachers will be getting P1,000.00 for a day of service, based on latest pronouncements by the COMELEC Central, foreseeing an easier and faster voting process. (PIA)
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