Faces

FACES VS TERROR. Women delegates from the International Solidarity Affairs and Gabriela express solidarity with Basilan’s Moro women who fear the consequences of an all-out war in the province. INQUIRER/RUDY ESPERAS

Young and restless 1st termers set to rock House

By Norman Bordadora
Inquirer
Last updated 01:31am (Mla time) 07/29/2007

MANILA, Philippines—After the spice boys who made life difficult for ousted President Joseph Estrada during the 11th Congress and the so-called Bright Boys who were hand-picked by Estrada to act as a foil against the former, a group of very young first-time members of the House of Representatives is attempting to fashion a distinct identity for themselves in a chamber known for being a club of the old and the traditional.

 

Typically, the members of this neophyte group, the youngest of whom is only 25 years old, talk the language of reform and express confidence that change would start with them.

 

“I can categorically say that I am willing to sacrifice my pork barrel for a national agenda that I believe in and which might run counter to that of the administration,” said 28-year-old Valenzuela Rep. Rexlon Gatchalian.

 

Samar Rep. Sharrie Ann Tan, at 25 the youngest member of the House, said she was quite willing to do that, too, but asked if it would be necessary at all.

 

“Standing up for the national interest doesn’t mean sacrificing the interests of your constituency,” said Tan.

 

Gatchalian, who with Tan and Buhay party-list Rep. Erwin Tieng met with Inquirer editors and reporters over dinner late Thursday, said there were about 20 first-termers like themselves who come together regularly and go to “places people our age go to,” mostly bars or restaurants, for fun or to talk shop.

 

Martini’s

 

He said the group usually goes to Martini’s, a watering hole for the young and wealthy at the Mandarin Oriental hotel.

 

All three are members of the majority coalition in the House. Gatchalian is a Nationalist People’s Coalition member while Tan, who seconded the nomination of Speaker Jose de Venecia during last Monday’s election for the speakership election, is a Lakas member.

 

Tan administered De Venecia’s oath as the record-breaking five-term Speaker.

 

Other members of the group are Biliran Rep. Glenn Chong, 32, and Caloocan City Rep. Mitch Cajayon, 29.

 

Chong dealt the Espina family, the dominant political clan in Biliran province, its first electoral loss by defeating the patriarch Gerardo. Cajayon beat Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice.

 

“We got together because we have common friends. Naturally, we got together because we are of the same age bracket,” said Gatchalian who is a son of the ethnic Chinese businessman William Gatchalian.

 

Rexlon’s older brother, Kenneth, 32, was a candidate of the Anak party-list group which failed to get the required number of votes. Another brother, Sherwin, 36, is the mayor of Valenzuela, Bulacan.

 

Bills filed

 

Gatchalian acknowledged that with the group of newcomers’ diverse political affiliations and agendas, they might still be far from forming a formidable bloc.

 

“We talk about politics but we don’t impose our politics on one another. If we do that, there might not be a group to speak of now,” Gatchalian said.

 

“Perhaps, with our group we can more easily ask each other to support our pet bills,” Gatchalian said.

 

He has already filed three bills for the welfare of overseas Filipino workers while Tan is set to file her version of a bill setting up a one-stop shop for land registration.

 

Anti-dynasty bill discriminates

 

Gatchalian and Tan acknowledge being members of political dynasties but don’t see it compromising their independence or reform agenda.

 

“My mother and I think differently. And besides the local government and the legislature are two different worlds,” said Tan, who is a daughter of Samar Gov. Milagros Tan.

 

“An anti-dynasty bill is a regressive bill. It discriminates … How would you feel if you and your brother both want to write but because you’re already a writer people would tell your brother he could no longer do so?” Gatchalian told an editor.

 

All three are eager to learn how to be effective in the House from their betters. Gatchalian and Tan look on Sen. Francis Escudero, a former Sorsogon congressman and one of the Estrada “Bright Boys,” as a role model.

 

Role models

 

In Gatchalian’s view, Escudero has shown that “wisdom doesn’t necessarily come with age.”

 

Among the present crop of congressmen, Gatchalian said he wants to learn most from Makati Rep. Teodoro Locsin Jr.

 

“I didn’t think he was a lawyer because he is able to present his ideas in a way that is easily understood,” he said.

 

Tan, a seatmate of constitutionalist La Union Rep. Victor Ortega during the first session days, said the veteran politician has already begun mentoring her.

 

“I like his views,” Tan said.

 

There are 100 first-termers in the 224-member House, if you include the “returning veterans,” or those who have already served three consecutive terms and have returned to reclaim seats that were being warmed by relatives. Excluding this group, there are 80 outright first-termers in the 14th Congress.

 

Edsa I, II

 

Gatchalian, Tieng and Tan are much too young to remember a key event in the country’s recent history, the assassination of opposition leader Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino in August 1983 and the ouster of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos that followed from it.

 

“I was just one year old in 1983,” said Tan.

 

Tieng said he was just three years old in 1983 and can’t recall what he was doing.

 

Gatchalian said he was four in 1983, but remembers his family taking part in the first People Power revolution of 1986.

 

“People from all walks of life, even apolitical individuals like [members of] my family came out and supported the cause,” he said.

 

Tieng remembers being with his family and praying during the first Edsa.

 

“We were all at home. I remember we were all praying for peace,” he said.

 

Tan and Tieng remember taking part in the protests against Estrada during the second people power revolution in January 2001.

 

“I went to Edsa and brought food to show my support,” said Tieng, a son of Solar Entertainment president Wilson.

 

“I remember there were no classes. We wore black shirts and went to Fuente Osmeña to attend a rally,” said Tan, who graduated from Cebu’s University of San Carlos with a degree in pharmacy.

 

Gatchalian, whose father was a friend of Estrada’s, said the second Edsa was “too politicized.”

More party-lists may still take House seats

More party-lists may still take House seats
By Jerome Aning
Inquirer
Last updated 08:38pm (Mla time) 07/21/2007

MANILA, Philippines — A few more party-list groups might still be able to join the House of Representatives as the Commission on Elections wraps up its canvassing of votes in the party-list elections.

 

“Whether or not we can proclaim more party-list groups depends on the results of the canvassing. We’ll see. But there are still votes that are being canvassed,” Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. said Friday.

 

He said it was possible that Anak Mindanao and An Waray, which ranked 16th and 17th, in the latest Comelec official tally, bagged about 2.01 percent of the votes cast and might still be proclaimed winners after the completion of the canvassing.

 

So far, the Comelec has already proclaimed 14 party-list groups that obtained more than two percent of the votes cast for party list. These were Buhay, Bayan Muna, Cibac, Gabriela, Apec, A-Teacher, Akbayan, Alagad, Butil, Anak Pawis, Coop-Natco, ARC, Agap and Abono.

 

Among the winners, the first-placer Buhay will occupy three seats in the House. Four — Bayan Muna, Cibac, Gabriela and Apec — were given two seats each while the rest of the winners got one seat each.

Miriam

SUDDENLY at the Comelec, Sen. Miriam Santiago swears in son Archie Santiago as party-list representative, catching his own party Alliance for Rural Concerns by surprise. REM ZAMORA

First 13 party-list winners proclaimed

By Nikko Dizon, Jocelyn Uy
Inquirer
Last updated 03:42am (Mla time) 07/10/2007

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections Monday proclaimed the first 13 winners in the party-list elections held on May 14, allowing at least their first nominees to finally sit in the 14th Congress.

 

In a six-page resolution, the Comelec, sitting as the National Board of Canvassers, proclaimed Buhay with 1,163,218 votes; Bayan Muna, 927,730; Cibac, 760,260; Gabriela, 610,451; Apec, 538,971; A Teacher, 476,036; Akbayan, 470,872; Alagad, 423,076; Butil, 405,052; Coop-Natco, 390,029; Anakpawis, 376,036; Alliance of Rural Concerns, 338,194, and Abono, 337,046.

 

This is “without prejudice to the proclamation of the other party-lists which will get 2 percent of the total number of party-list votes,” it said.

 

The resolution, read before the national canvassing began at around 4 p.m., caught everyone at the Comelec session hall in Intramuros, Manila, by surprise.

 

Even Bayan Muna’s third nominee and legal counsel, Neri Colmenares, had to ask the NBC if this was indeed the official proclamation of the party-list groups.

 

“We were not even invited or notified about our own proclamation. This proves once again the Comelec’s dismissive and discriminatory attitude toward the party-list system,” said Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros in a text message to journalists.

 

‘Party, not nominee’

 

Explaining why the poll body did not invite the nominees to the proclamation, Comelec Chair Benjamin Abalos Sr. said in a press conference early Monday night: “It’s the party that has been proclaimed and not the nominee.”

 

The Comelec proclaimed those that had already garnered at least 334,462 votes, the equivalent to 2 percent of the projected maximum total party-list votes pegged at 16,723,121.

 

Only the winning groups’ first nominees are recognized at the moment, Abalos said. But he added that it would be safe to say that Buhay, which garnered more than a million votes, bagged three seats.

 

The Comelec resolution cited the first-party rule, or the Veterans Federation of the Philippines (VFP) formula in determining the additional number of seats for the party-list groups after Buhay. Also known as the Panganiban formula, the VFP formula means that the additional number of seats of a party-list group is pegged on the number of votes of the first, or No. 1, party.

 

The Supreme Court upheld the formula in April, which was derived from its ruling of the VFP case in October 2000.

 

VFP formula

 

Cibac has explained the scheme, through Dr. Felix P. Muga II of the Mathematics Department of the Ateneo de Manila University:

 

The formula allocates one seat to the parties with at least 2 percent of the total party-list votes. The additional number of seats is computed by dividing the number of votes of the concerned party by the number of votes of the first party. The quotient is multiplied by the additional number of seats of the first party.

 

The integer part or the whole part of this computation is the additional number of seats of the concerned party.

 

The Supreme Court refers to the “first party” as the party-list group that obtained the highest votes in the party-list election. The first party has one additional seat if it garnered at least 4 percent but less than 6 percent of the total number of party-list votes, or it has two additional seats if it obtained at least 6 percent of the total number of party-list votes.

 

The formula imposes a three-seat cap consistent with the provision of the Party-List System Act, or Republic Act No. 7941.

 

Colmenares told reporters Monday that Bayan Muna will ask the Supreme Court to declare the first party rule unconstitutional.

 

Various party-list organizations had been asking the Comelec to proclaim those that had already reached the 2-percent threshold. They stressed that the marginalized sectors had become “disenfranchised” in the 14th Congress, which has begun important activities such as the selection of the next House Speaker.

 

Buhay factions

 

Even if it was already assured of three seats in the House of Representatives, Buhay still has to contend with a problem of which of its two factions will represent the group.

 

“Only the Commission on Elections, acting as a court of law, can decide on that matter and there can only be one decision — either they grant our petition or the other group’s petition,” Buhay Rep. Hans Christian Señeres told the Philippine Daily Inquirer by phone Monday.

 

Two sets of nominees have been submitted to the Comelec. Buhay president Mel Robles, an El Shaddai leader who heads the Light Rail Transit Authority, sent one list naming Rene Velarde, son of the Catholic charismatic movement’s top personality Bro. Mariano “Mike” Velarde, Ma. Carissa Coscolluela, William Irwin Tieng, Melchor Monsod and Teresita Villarama.

 

The other list was submitted by Señeres, Buhay acting secretary general who represented the group in the 13th Congress together with the young Velarde. Robles, he noted, was already considered resigned when he forwarded his own set of nominees before the elections.

 

When asked if he was willing to accept or offer an amicable settlement with Robles’ group, Señeres said: “The party-list law is very strict; we can’t just change the nominees even if someone asks for a negotiation.”

 

He said the Comelec could not even offer such idea because it was not a mediation board.

 

But Señeres was optimistic that it will uphold his list of nominees composed of himself, Hermenigildo Dumlao, Antonio Bautista, Victor Pablo Trinidad and Eduardo Solangon Jr.

 

‘Better late than never’

 

In a press statement, detained Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran, the group’s first nominee, was relieved over the Comelec’s announcement and called for the immediate formal proclamation and swearing in of the winners.

 

“Better late than never. There have been strong suspicions that the Comelec has been deliberately sitting on the results of the party-list polls and delaying the announcement of winners in acquiescence to some scheme of Malacañang and the National Security Council to deny the progressive party-lists Bayan Muna, Anakpawis and Gabriela Women’s Party (GWP) of their hard-earned victory,” said Beltran.

 

“The Comelec should immediately expedite the process of the swearing in of the nominees of the winning party-lists. No time should be wasted. There has been too much delay already. We fought long and hard for our victory, and it’s an insult against our members and supporters that we have yet to be proclaimed,” he added.

 

The proclamation of the party-list group Batas was deferred pending the Comelec’s resolution of a petition to cancel its registration.

 

The list of proclaimed winners will be forwarded to the House of Representatives.

Copyright 2007 Inquirer. All rights reserved. This m

Abducted militant faces rebellion raps

By Jeoffrey Maitem
Mindanao Bureau
Last updated 09:25pm (Mla time) 06/30/2007

KORONADAL CITY — A militant leader, who was abducted but later freed by people he identified as government agents, faces rebellion charges, an official of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) said Saturday.

 

Supt. Henry Dazo, CIDG chief in South Cotabato, told the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net, that provincial prosecutor Alfredo Odi has acted on the rebellion charges they filed against Gilbert Rey Cardiño, chairman of the Bayan Muna in the province.

 

Dazo said that the charges against Cardiño were filed as early as last year, long before the militant leader was abducted and eventually released.

 

Cardiño, 27, was on his way to the Bayan Muna office here when abducted by van-riding gunmen around 11 in the morning of June 6 in Barangay Sto. Niño.

 

He was released by his captors after more than 24 hours in captivity “somewhere in Davao.”

 

Cardiño later said his captors tortured him into confessing he is a member of the communist movement.

 

He said they later told him he should spy on other militants.

 

Cardiño said he was forced to sign a document indicating that he accepted the job.

 

Cardiño also claimed that his captors, “who were from the region (regional police office)” threatened to harm him and his family if he refused.

 

Dazo said the rebellion charges had nothing to do with Cardiño’s claim.

 

“The case was filed in November last year prior to his alleged abduction,” he said.

 

Dazo said the charges were the result of “an inter-agency probe” of Cardiño’s activities.

 

“He [Cardiño] surrendered as member of New People’s Army before,” Dazo said.

 

Dazo said Cardiño was only being made to explain about the charges now because of the delay in the action of the fiscal’s office.

 

“Because of so many cases they are attending to, there was delay in the legal action against him. In fact, the fiscal holding the case last year, has already retired from the government service,” he said.

 

South Cotabato Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes said she had no idea that Cardiño faced rebellion charges.

 

“That’s what others are saying. But we have not been able to verify it because we are busy in the preparation for mass oath-taking of elected officials. Hopefully, next week, we can extract information,” she said.

 

When the Inquirer told her the CIDG has already confirmed the filing of the charges, she said: “Unlike the police, the CIDG is directly reporting to Manila.”

 

Lito Campo, media relations officer of Bayan Muna Southern Mindanao, said Dazo’s claim about Cardiño’s supposed link with the underground movement was trumped up.

 

“It’s a big lie. I personally know Cardiño. He is not an NPA,” Campo said.

 

But Dazo said all Cardiño has to do is to submit evidence he is not a rebel.

 

“Once Cardiño submits his counter-affidavit, the fiscal will examine if there is probable cause in issuing an arrest warrant against him,” he said.

Maguindanao CoCs authentic — Comelec

Bedol critical to solving poll mystery By Jerome Aning
Inquirer
Last updated 01:34am (Mla time) 06/22/2007

MANILA, Philippines — Elections indeed took place in Maguindanao province because the municipal certificates of canvass (CoCs), which a Commission on Elections task force had examined, were authentic, Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer said Thursday.

 

Ferrer, head of Comelec’s Task Force Maguindanao, said the copies of the municipal CoCs that were presented by Maguindanao election officers to him and Comelec Chair Benjamin Abalos Sr. in General Santos City the other day appeared to be genuine.

 

“There is no basis for the claim that they were manufactured. They were carefully stocked and padlocked. I kept them and will turn them over to the en banc,” Ferrer said.

 

The 21 municipal CoCs examined by the Comelec were the second copies that were posted on precinct walls, as well as the fourth copies. Maguindanao has 22 towns.

 

Ferrer said the task force would also look into the accountability of provincial election supervisor Lintang Bedol over the loss of original copies of the municipal CoCs in his custody. If warranted, Bedol could face criminal prosecution, Ferrer said.

 

Bedol is key to solving the weeks-old mystery of the missing municipal CoCs.

 

A Comelec fact-finding mission flew to General Santos City to retrieve the vote tallies that could determine who between Genuine Opposition (GO) candidate Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and Team Unity (TU) candidate Juan Miguel Zubiri would be the 12th winner in the senatorial race.

 

Pimentel on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to order the Comelec to exclude the vote tallies from Maguindanao and to proclaim him the winner.

 

Watchdog groups and teachers claimed that the elections in the province were marred by cheating.

 

Zubiri, for his part, wanted the poll body to proceed with the canvassing because the vote tallies in Maguindanao would allow him to displace Pimentel from the 12th slot.

 

TU lawyer Romulo Macalintal on Wednesday said in General Santos that the documents retrieved from Maguindanao seemed authentic, but the opposition’s lawyer Leila de Lima said the figures on the documents were “revolting.”

 

Discrepancies

 

Ferrer said the municipal election officers would answer before the Comelec en banc and the lawyers of the political parties and candidates all queries about discrepancies in the municipal CoCs that would be canvassed.

 

Bedol told the Comelec in Manila on June 11 that the municipal CoCs, the bases of the provincial CoC in which TU scored a 12-0 victory, were missing.

 

Earlier, Bedol had told reporters that the municipal CoCs were stolen from the Comelec office at the provincial capitol in Shariff Aguak on May 29.

 

Bedol’s first and only appearance was when he presented the Maguindanao CoC to the Comelec en banc sitting as the National Board of Canvassers.

 

Bedol has to explain

 

Ferrer said the recommendations of the task force, which would be forwarded to the Comelec en banc on Friday, would focus on whether elections were held in the province and on the culpability of local officials led by Bedol.

 

But Bedol has lots of explaining to do because he repeatedly defied Comelec’s summons to appear and his belated reporting of the theft of the municipal CoCs, according to Ferrer.

 

“Did he report this to the proper authority? Certainly, he didn’t report to the Comelec. He didn’t even write an explanation as to why he did not show up,” Ferrer said, adding that Bedol was given “more than enough time” to do so.

 

If found responsible for the loss of the municipal CoCs, Bedol would be criminally charged with infidelity in the custody of public documents, Ferrer said.

 

“This offense carries an administrative liability that can be punished by removal from office,” he said.

 

Disobedience

 

Asked what he made of Bedol’s attitude, Ferrer said, “That’s disobedience already.”

 

He said the municipal election officers would also be summoned one by one to explain why they, too, failed to appear when initially summoned by the Comelec and to verify if they gave their copies to Bedol.

 

Besides a 12-0 win by the TU, the provincial CoC showed several opposition candidates getting no votes at all — a fact that the Comelec later described as “statistically improbable.”

 

The Maguindanao CoC was set aside while Bedol was instructed to present his copies of the municipal CoCs that would back up the numbers in the provincial CoC.

 

When Bedol did not show up, the municipal election officers were invited to come to Manila to present their own copies, which were supposed to be used for a recanvass.

 

The officers also did not show up so the Comelec ordered the proclaimed winning local candidates to present their own copies of the election documents. Only one was able to do so.

 

Much later, Bedol appeared in a hearing of Task Force Maguindanao, and admitted on record that the municipal CoCs in his possession were stolen.

 

Ferrer and Abalos went to General Santos to collect another set of copies of the municipal CoCs because the election officers said they did not have money to go to Manila.

 

Ferrer said Bedol was not invited during the presentation of the election documents because “he might exert moral influence on the election officers.”

Buhay party-list urged to settle ‘nominees’ row

By Jerome Aning
Inquirer
Last updated 07:13am (Mla time) 06/08/2007

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Elections on Thursday urged Buhay Hayaang Yumabong (Buhay), which is currently at the top of the official count of party-list votes, to resolve internal differences itself and not wait for the poll body to decide which of the group’s two different sets of nominees is entitled to sit in the House of Representatives.

 

“It should be an internal matter. It’s the party-list organization that solves that,” Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez told reporters in a briefing.

 

Although Comelec has been asked by each of the feuding Buhay factions to deny due course to the other side’s certificates of nomination, Jimenez said Comelec was reluctant to step into the feud.

 

Buhay, identified with the influential Catholic charismatic group El Shaddai founded by evangelist Bro. Mike Velarde, is poised to win three seats in the House in accordance with the Constitution, once it is formalized that it topped the votes.

 

The group, however, had presented two slates of nominees to Comelec. One is led by Hans Christian Señeres, the party’s acting president and secretary-general. The other was submitted by his predecessor Melquiades Robles, its slate led by Velarde’s son, Rene.

 

The Señeres list also included Hermenigildo Dumlao, Antonio Bautista, Victor Pablo Trinidad and Eduardo Solangon Jr.

 

Aside from Rene Velarde, Robles’ nominees are Ma. Carissa Coscolluela, William Irwin Tieng, Melchor Monsod and Teresita Villarama.

 

Señeres said Robles could no longer participate in the group’s affairs because the latter was appointed administrator of the Light Rail Transit Corp. He added that since government officials might not join political parties, Robles’ term as president had also expired.

 

Robles contended that he could not be forced out of Buhay because he still had the right to join an association even if he were a government official.

 

Señeres, however, argued that as secretary-general and acting president, he had the sole authority to submit the nominations.

 

Jimenez said Buhay members should resolve the feud quickly so that Buhay nominees could take their seats in Congress by June 30 and participate in the election of the House speaker.

 

“It’s all up to them, really. If they won’t settle this among themselves, then their congressional seats will remain unoccupied until the dispute is settled,” the spokesperson added.

new polls in Maguindanao set

By Edson C. Tandoc Jr., Jerome Aning, Jocelyn Uy
Inquirer
Last updated 07:45am (Mla time) 06/07/2007

MANILA, Philippines — On the second anniversary of the “Hello Garci” scandal and 23 days after the midterm elections of 2007, the wait was finally over for six Genuine Opposition (GO), two Team Unity (TU) and two independent senatorial candidates, but not for three candidates whose fate may be determined by the special elections in Maguindanao scheduled for June 20.

 

In simple but “very Pinoy” (an analyst described to ANC) rites at the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City, the Commission on Elections Wednesday night proclaimed the 10 winners — Loren Legarda, Francis Escudero, Panfilo Lacson, Manny Villar, Francis Pangilinan, Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, Edgardo Angara, Alan Peter Cayetano, Joker Arroyo and Gregorio “Gringo” Honasan.

 

Ninth-placer Arroyo did not attend the ceremony.

 

The Comelec left hanging the fate of GO’s Antonio Trillanes IV and Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III and TU’s Miguel Zubiri — who were still locked in a fight for the last three slots of the Magic 12.

 

Hours earlier, the Comelec announced that special elections would be held in Maguindanao after it declared that the fraud-tainted polls in the province on May 14 had failed.

 

Maguindanao has 337,108 registered voters.

 

Irony of the day

 

Shortly after his proclamation, Senator-elect Cayetano noted the irony of the day.

 

“It is ironic that today is the second anniversary of the Garci tapes … I don’t know why we were proclaimed today,” he said in a televised interview.

 

Cayetano was referring to the alleged wiretapped phone conversations between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and former Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano dealing with rigging the 2004 presidential election to ensure Ms Arroyo’s victory — an allegation denied by both the President and by Garcillano.

 

As of the latest tally, Pimentel was still in 12th place, leading Zubiri by 127,147 votes.

 

Still untabulated votes from the provinces of Surigao del Norte, Basilan, Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao — which have a combined total of 1.2 million registered voters — will be crucial in determining who will claim the 12th spot.

 

The 11th placer could be known by Friday, when the election body sitting as National Board of Canvassers shall have finished tabulating the vote tallies from Surigao del Norte, Basilan and Lanao del Sur.

 

As the proclamation ceremony opened with an invocation and the singing of the national anthem, the Comelec commissioners stood on a dais in black robes. The senators-elect stood in a semicircle in front of them.

 

Abalos read out the names of the winners, starting with Legarda, who received a spatter of applause.

 

“Now, therefore, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution … the Commission on Elections, sitting en banc as the National Board of Canvassers, hereby proclaims the above named Senate candidates as the duly elected senators of the Republic of the Philippines … to serve for a term of six years beginning on June 30, 2007,” Abalos said.

 

Cory Aquino

 

The audience included former President Corazon “Cory” Aquino, who was dressed in yellow.

 

She was happy that her son won, but the former President said a lot of things still needed to be fixed in the electoral system.

 

She described the canvassing as “slow motion” and told reporters her friends from abroad had been calling her asking what was taking the proclamation of winners so long.

 

She thanked the people who kept vigil and sacrificed so that elections would be fair.

 

“I pray that there will come a time we will know within the day the results of the elections so there would be no fears of fraud,” Aquino said.

 

Need for electoral reforms

 

Cayetano also spoke about the need for electoral reforms.

 

“Praise God and thank you to everyone for supporting and allowing me to overcome all the challenges. They will be my inspiration to correct what is wrong in our system,” he told reporters.

 

Two Cayetanos ran in the Senate: he and Joselito Cayetano of the Kilusan ng Bagong Lipunan party, who used the nickname Peter.

 

Alan had sought Joselito’s disqualification and it is still pending in the Supreme Court.

 

“That is the purpose why I faced a lot of challenges, so I can give emphasis on the loopholes in our electoral law and how to strengthen our weak institutions,” Cayetano said.

 

He said he won because he stood by his principles. “This elections were about people seeing character and principles,” he said, adding that his clash with President Arroyo’s husband, Jose Miguel Arroyo, also boosted his campaign.

 

“People got to know me because of that. Though many local officials did not support me because Malacañang had talked to them, I got the sympathy of our people,” Cayetano said.

 

VIPs

 

Other dignitaries included Senators Franklin Drilon, Juan Ponce Enrile, Cayetano’s sister Pia, GO campaign manager Sen. Sergio Osmeña III and movie producer Lily Monteverde.

 

Also present were TV talk show host Kris Aquino, sister of the newly elected senator and Sandra Cam, “jueteng” whistle-blower.

 

The lobby from the Gate 3 entrance of the PICC going to the proclamation hall teemed with Comelec employees, who took turns having pictures with the newly elected senators and other famous politicians.

 

Cayetano and Escudero got the most attention, until Kris Aquino and her husband James Yap entered.

 

A female employee was overheard saying: “I wanted to have pictures with Chiz, but he was with his wife!”

 

Policemen were seen posing for pictures with Lacson, a former national police chief. Employees were waiting for singer-actress Sharon Cuneta, but only her husband Pangilinan showed up.

 

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay also arrived with his daughter Abigail, a newly elected representative of the city.

 

Improbable

 

In ordering special elections, the Comelec said canvassers in Maguindanao could not produce the documents crucial to the retabulation of tallies in the province.

 

The recanvassing of tallies, believed to be based on ballots that teachers filled up under duress with the names of administration candidates, was ordered by the Comelec on May 30 when it ruled that it was “statistically improbable” for 19 senatorial candidates to get zero votes in the 22 towns of Maguindanao.

 

Should the candidate on the 12th slot fail to widen his lead even if votes from Basilan, Lanao del Sur and Surigao del Norte had been counted by Friday, the Comelec would have to wait for the results of the special elections in Maguindanao before it could proclaim the 12th winner.

 

Abalos announced the special elections after the special board of canvassers, which the poll body created to tally the certificates of canvass (CoC) at the municipal level, ended its work Wednesday.

Drive against militant party-list groups failed

Inquirer
Last updated 01:51am (Mla time) 06/05/2007

This is in reaction to the article titled, “Admin drive vs militant party lists succeeding.” (Inquirer, 5/29/05)

 

First of all, the headline is not accurate. I never said that the administration’s drive against Bayan Muna and other progressive parties is succeeding. On the contrary, the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration has failed miserably in its six-year campaign to annihilate and marginalize our parties. Three of our parties — Bayan Muna, Gabriela and Anakpawis — are most likely to succeed in maintaining six seats in Congress despite the brutal campaign of extrajudicial killings, abductions, political intimidation, electoral fraud and violence being conducted by Malacañang and the military against our ranks.

 

While admitting that the last elections saw our toughest campaign so far, I pointed out that our good showing, despite the administration’s all-out effort to dislodge us, was a feat in itself. In fact, it was noted in the news report that I “hesitated to admit” that the vilification campaign against our parties had succeeded.

 

Second, I would like to stress that the so-called “Admin drive” against us is not simply a vilification campaign aimed at reducing our votes. Since 2001, the Arroyo administration and its armed forces have tried to annihilate our parties altogether. At least 180 of our key leaders and supporters have been killed by suspected state security forces. Scores have been abducted and many remain missing till this day. At the same time, a legal offensive has been launched at the national and local levels, using trumped-up charges of rebellion, murder, sedition or whatever they could concoct against our members and supporters. Even our congressional representatives have not been spared from warrantless arrests, trumped-up charges and assassination threats.

 

Not content with its deadly campaign, Malacañang and the Armed Forces used government funds and state machinery in the last elections to field and support its own party-list groups. Government-backed political operators were engaged in massive vote-buying, vote-padding, vote-shaving and other forms of cheating to dislodge us and undermine the party-list system as a whole.
Given this concerted, all-out effort by the executive and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to physically, legally and politically obliterate us, the performance of the progressive party lists in the recent elections was nothing short of sterling and a victory in itself. We consistently topped all surveys, raised crucial issues and campaigned effectively nationwide, and we guarded not only our votes but also those of our allies in the opposition.

 

Despite all odds, we are still in fighting form and ready to do battle when the next Congress opens. This is proof that the administration’s campaign against us has utterly failed.

 

REP. TEDDY CASIÑO, Bayan Muna Party List