Aquino to raise revenue, cut spending

   

TARLAC, Philippines  – Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, on course to win the Philippine presidential race, said on Tuesday he will work at cutting unnecessary spending in the national budget and increase perennially tax weak revenue.

Aquino, son of democracy icon Corazon “Cory” Aquino, also said he was not in favor of raising the rate of consumption tax, adding the government needs to raise more revenue from taxes already in place.

Raising revenue also entails going after smugglers and tax evaders, he said.

via ABS-CBN News Online Beta.

EARLIER:

Stocks surge on peaceful polls

MANILA, Philippines – Stocks surged on Tuesday as investors cheered the relatively peaceful local elections, and rally in overseas markets.

But shares of Sen. Manuel “Manny” Villar’s real estate firm, Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc., fell minutes after the presidential contender conceded to Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, who was leading in the partial tally of votes.

The benchmark Philippine Stock Exchange index rose 3.85% or 120.87 points to 3,262.93, its best percentage gain since August 24, 2009.

Via ABS-CBN News

AND:

MBC lauds Comelec for ‘successful’ elections

MANILA, Philippines – The Makati Business Club (MBC) lauded the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for the conduct of “successful” and “credible” elections that many investors hoped for.

“Despite the apparent lack of preparedness in case the automated system would fail on a large scale, the Comelec laid to rest many fears about automation,” it said in a statement.

Earlier, the MBC, along with other business groups, led calls for a parallel manual count of votes after glitches marred the testing of automated poll machines days before the actual elections.

Via ABS-CBN News

MEANWHILE: Noynoy vows to revive ‘Hello Garci’ probe

Aquino, Roxas top overseas absentee votes

   

MANILA, Philippines – Senators Benigno Aquino III and Manuel Roxas II of the Liberal Party topped the overseas absentee votes from Hong Kong and Singapore for president and vice president, respectively, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Tuesday.

The DFA-Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat (DFA-OAVS), in a statement, said election results transmitted by the Philippine Consulate General in Hong Kong and the Philippine embassy in Singapore were successfully transmitted to the Commission of Elections server in Manila Monday night.

In Hong Kong, 39,383 out of 95,355 registered Filipino voters cast their ballots in 96 clustered precincts.

Via Inquirer.net

ALSO READ:

Noynoy victory hinges on Pinoys’ sense of history

Benigno Aquino III sat through an impromptu press conference when he was about to vote in his home province in Tarlac. There was a glitch in the machine and he had to wait, about four hours as it would turn out, before he could cast his ballot in the country’s first automated elections.

He himself had to put order in the confusion of reporters grabbing his attention, answering questions one at a time. Does he know of any incidents of cheating? Of vote buying? Of violence? For him it was just the beginning of the day. There had been no sign of any threats of putting the elections to waste.

The other major candidates had done their thing of casting their ballots with no apparent major problem – the machines worked well although the lines were long and the heat was unbearable. Their body language spoke of their resignation (Gibo Teodoro), anger (Loren Legarda), dejection (Manny Villar), cautious and worry (Mar Roxas), confident and arrogant (Jejomar Binay), alone and superstitious (Joseph Estrada).

Via GMANews.TV

AND:

Ocampo, Maza: We’ll watch Aquino presidency closely

MANILA, Philippines–As they congratulated Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III for his clear victory” in the presidential race, militant senatorial candidates Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza on Tuesday said they would be watching how the incoming President will work to solve the country’s most pressing woes.

“We congratulate president-elect Noynoy Aquino for his clear victory in the May 10 elections,” Ocampo and Maza said in a statement.

The two ran under the Nacionalista Party of Senator Manuel Villar, but have failed to make it to the top 12 as of latest canvassing.

Via Inquirer.net

STATEMENT OF SENATOR MAR ROXAS

   

(As read by Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada)

“Magandang gabi po sa inyo. Gusto ko lang magpaabot ng mensahe sa ating mga kababayan: Hangga’t hindi pa tapos ang bilangan, hindi pa tapos ang laban.

“The race as between me and my closest competitor is indeed very tight. However, it is not for me, or anybody for that matter, to say if we’ve already lost, or if we will win in the end. It is up to the sovereign will of the people.

“The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting’s latest partial and unofficial tally as of this afternoon (as of 5:30pm –ed.) is based on roughly 85% of all election returns. This means roughly five million voters in more than 11,000 precincts have yet to be taken into consideration. Of this, roughly half are expected to come from our bailiwick regions. This just underscores that the fight is not yet over, and we should remain vigilant.

“At this point, I would like to thank: all our volunteers and supporters who have been guarding the people’s sacred right to vote; all the teachers and election officers who have been steadfast in their duty, in spite of the difficulty in navigating our new method of election.

“Most especially, I would like to thank the Filipino people for coming out to vote, despite the scorching heat of the sun; despite the long lines; and despite terror being sowed by some elements to compromise our democratic process.

“And at this point, I would like to make one more request: tuloy ang pagbabantay. Patuloy na maging mapagmatyag, hanggang sa kadulu-duluhan ng halalang ito. Sama sama po tayo, hindi natin pababayaan ang isa’t isa, tuloy ang laban.”

May 11, 2010

Roxas: VP fight not over yet

   

MANILA, Philippines – Liberal Party vice-presidential candidate Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas on Tuesday said he is not giving up the fight for the second highest elective post in the country after trailing opposition bet Jejomar Binay in the vice-presidential tally by less than a million votes.

In a statement read by Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada, Roxas admitted that the fight between him and Binay was very tight. The latest Commission on Elections’ partial and official tally as of 3:57 p.m. showed Binay leading the race with 12,921,315 votes compared to Roxas’s 12,072,145 votes.

“Hangga’t hindi pa tapos ang bilangan, hindi pa tapos ang laban. (As long as the counting isn’t over, the fight isn’t over.) It is not for me, or anybody for that matter, to say if we’ve already lost, or if we will win in the end. It is up to the sovereign will of the people,” he said.

via ABS-CBN News Online Beta.

ALSO READ:

US, EU hail democratic milestone of Philippine polls

MANILA, Philippines – The United States and the European Union on Tuesday hailed the overall conduct of the Philippines’ first automated election and said it looked forward to working with the new leader of a key Asian ally.

The US Embassy in Manila said it sent 120 observers across the country “to witness Philippine democracy in action.”

“While there are always lessons to be learned, our overwhelming impression is that the Philippines has much to be proud of today. Philippine citizens served their nation by volunteering at the polls, exercising their right to vote, and taking every step necessary to ensure all ballots were counted,” the embassy said.

Via ABS-CBN News

Voters hope Aquino lives up to family name

MANILA, Philippines – Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, who looks set to be confirmed as Philippine president Tuesday, has ridden a wave of popular support not seen in the country since the “People Power” movement led by his parents.

Supporters are now hoping the 50-year-old bachelor, who had shied away from the limelight until deciding to run last year, will complete the family’s mission by tackling the poverty and corruption that have robbed the nation of its economic potential.

“It’s a well-deserved victory, the unfinished business of Ninoy and Cory (Aquino’s parents) will finally be completed,” said financial consultant Albert Gamboa.

Via ABS-CBN News

Partial unofficial tally of returns from Comelec

   

(as of 3:57 pm, via ANC Alerts)

The presidential race

Vice Presidential race

READ:

Erap won’t concede, waits for official canvass

MANILA, Philippines – Former president Joseph Estrada on Tuesday said he will not concede to frontrunner, Liberal Party presidential bet Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III, until after Congress finishes the official canvass of the results of the country’s first ever nationwide automated elections.

“Lest my silence following the recent presidential elections be misconstrued for 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 read by his son, Sen. Jinggoy Estrada.

Via ABS-CBN News

ALSO:

4 presidential bets concede defeat

Legarda concedes in VP race

NEWSFLASH! Edu Manzano concedes VP race. Details to follow.

Binay, Roxas dead heat in SWS exit poll

   

MANILA, Philippines – The vice-presidential election could go down to the wire, based on the partial results of an exit poll conducted by Social Weather Stations (SWS).

Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay and Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas ended up tied in the SWS exit poll sponsored by TV5 and conducted in cooperation with the Ateneo School of Government (ASoG).

The partial results of the exit poll, uploaded on the SWS website on Tuesday, had Binay and Roxas in a dead heat, with both getting 40% support from respondents.

Sen. Loren Legarda came in third with 10%, Bayani Fernando was fourth with 3%, Edu Manzano and Perfecto Yasay were tied for 5th place with 2% each. Dominador Chipeco and Jose Sonza got less than 1%.

via ABS-CBN News Online Beta.

FROM SWS website:

President

Exit polls Vice President (TV5-SWS)

Aquino grateful to supporters, backs beleaguered VP bet

TARLAC CITY, Tarlac – Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III thanked the voters for the “significant lead” he is enjoying in the presidential race but at the same time called for vigilance in ensuring that every vote for his runningmate, Senator Manuel “Mar” Roxas would be counted “fairly and honestly.”

“Based on a partial election results, it’s clear that I have a significant lead over the next contender in the presidential race. I’m grateful to the Filipino people for the support and to our loyal supporters in our people’s campaign who made this achievement possible,” Aquino said at a press conference here, reading from a prepared statement, shortly after his rival Senator Manny Villar conceded the presidential race.

“It has been an honor to share this humbling experience with all of you as we begin to accept the responsibility of leading our nation of over 90 million Filipinos. However, our commitment to get integrity from this election was and remains that the vote of each and every Filipino be counted fairly and honestly,” he said.

Via Inquirer.net

NEWSFLASH! Jun Yasay concedes VP race. Loren Legarda to hold presscon within the next hour. Jojo Binay claims cheating in Mindanao but doesn’t offer proof, just rumors.

Roxas should not yet concede, wait for ARMM votes—analysts

   

MANILA, Philippines – Analysts agree that the remaining 8 million votes yet to be transmitted are crucial in determining who between Makati mayor Jejomar Binay and Sen. Manuel Roxas will snag the Vice Presidential seat.

“In the case of Mar (Roxas) and Jojo (Binay), they need to watch out for ARMM because it’s still around a million votes,” Ateneo College of Law dean Antonio La Vina told ANC on Tuesday.

Binay and Roxas have been in a tight battle for the second highest position as initial Commission on Elections (Comelec) results showed that Binay leads the race with 39.51% of votes while Roxas closely follows with 36.84%.

Via ABS-CBN News

ALSO READ:

Most Arroyo ex-Cabinet men second-placers in local polls, unofficial tally shows

Most of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s former Cabinet members who are seeking local elective posts have yet to catch up with their rivals, partial and unofficial results of the May 10 polls showed.

GMA Network’s tally as of 9:31 a.m. on Tuesday showed that former Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, former presidential chief legal counsel Raul Gonzalez, former Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera and former presidential peace adviser Hermogenes Esperon placed second to their rivals.

Ermita, who is seeking a House of Representatives seat in Batangas’ first district, received 92,207 votes. His sole rival, Tomas Apacible, got 116,357 votes.

via GMANews.TV.

Villar concedes

   

MANILA, Philippines—(UPDATE) A day after the election, Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Senator Manuel Villar has given up the fight for the presidency, conceding to Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and urging the people to work behind him.

“Nagpasya na ang mga mamamayang Pilipino. Malinaw na sa kabila ng ating pagpupunyagi, hindi tayo nabiyayayaan ng tagumpay sa halalan noong Lunes (The Filipino people have decided. It is clear that despite our efforts, we were not blessed to win in Monday’s elections),” Villar said, reading a prepared statement before members of the media in his headquarters at the Starmall in Mandaluyong.

“Humaharap ako sa inyo ngayon upang tanggapin ang pasyang ito, upang igalang ang boses ng sambayanang Pilipino (I face you now to accept this decision, to respect the voice of the Filipino people),” he added.

via INQUIRER.net.

Comelec failure of change management rued

   

MANILA, Philippines–It’s the queues, stupid!

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) was more concerned with debugging a high-tech computer system it overlooked a basic age-old problem—a heavy voter turnout and resulting long lines to the precincts, officials said Monday.

Comelec consultant Marvin Beduya said the plan on the “queuing process” for Monday’s balloting was not followed Monday.

“The BEIs (Board of Election Inspectors) did not have enough rehearsals for such a major change. This is a failure of change management in applying a major innovation like automated elections in a very constrained environment of clustering (the precincts),” Beduya said.

via INQUIRER.net.

ALSO READ:

No Binay? Estrada says case of oversight, not wearing glasses

MANILA, Philippines—Was it a simple oversight or did he deliberately junk his very own running mate?

Former President Joseph Estrada Monday cast his ballot in the country’s first nationwide automated elections but apparently did not vote for Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay, his own running mate.

Estrada failed to pick anyone for the position as shown in a photo taken by the Inquirer’s Niño Jesus Orbeta while the ousted leader was feeding his ballot into the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine at Pedro Cruz Elementary School in San Juan City.

Via Inquirer.net

RELATED NEWS: You can’t show Erap’s ballot on TV-Comelec

Poll results as per this morning’s Comelec presscon

VIA ANC ALERTS:

Aquino leads in 30 million of votes cast (of estimated total 50 million registered voters.)

Partial Comelec tally as per 615 am

Results before the presscon:

As pf 5:22 a.m.

As per Comelec chairman Jose Melo, they will be able to proclaim the winner in the presidential race by 12 noon. For president, vice president, senators, “We have 30 million of estimated 50 million registered voters,” as per Melo. Anthony Taberna of DZMM/ANC results so far are based from 90% of NCR ballots cast, Panay region 60%. In Capiz, Roxas wins in all districts except for two.

Opinions on poll automation

   

Rage against the machines
THERE’S THE RUB By Conrado de Quiros

I’M WRITING THIS THE DAY BEFORE THE elections and don’t quite know what’s going to happen. As I said before, ours is a very strange case. It’s not that the surveys could be wrong about the elections, it’s that the elections could be wrong about the surveys.

I never thought I’d be saying this—truly GMA has stood everything on its head—but this is the first time I’ve really been thankful for the surveys. Particularly with the Comelec being what it is, and particularly with automation being what it is feared to be, can you imagine this election taking place without the surveys? Anyone could be the winner—including GMA herself by the voters insisting on making her stay—and no one would be the wiser. Or since everyone would be the wiser, no one would be in any position to protest. Or since everyone would be in a position to protest, which really means the same thing, no one would be in a position to do something about it.

Click Conrado de Quiros

Poll automation lessons
AS I WRECK THIS CHAIR By William M. Esposo

After all the glitches that were encountered in this election, it is now clear that Gus Lagman and all those who were advocating for partial automation were right. And all those like Teddyboy Locsin and Dick Gordon who embraced the full automation mode we used should accept their mistakes.

It is too early to say whether we will have credible election results. Let’s hope we do because the possible consequences if we do not are scary, to say the least. The way the public has been conditioned by the many fumbles in the automation process — fueled by all the speculations on automated cheating — hardly allows the Comelec (Commission on Elections) elbow room for error. A major failure can only sharpen public perception that this poll automation was conceived to perpetuate the status quo

via William M. Esposo.

Whoever the winner is, let us rally around him
POSTSCRIPT By Federico D. Pascual Jr.

CLARK FIELD (PLDT/WeRoam) — Despite our being a nation of procrastinators who dash to the finish line only at the last minute, it seems that by and large we have survived yesterday’s experience with a computerized gizmo touted to speed up the vote count a zillion times.

The elections saw some candidates and campaigners getting shot, the usual thugs vandalizing or running off with the counting machines, some PCOS (a new word added to our vocabulary) units conking out or rejecting ballots — but sweating voters still stood in line to be part of that historic first semi-automated election in this country.

Click Federico Pascual Jr.

Waste of P11B in taxpayers’ money
FRONTLINE By Ninez Cacho-Olivares

Comelec and its partner, Smartmatic, aren’t likely to admit that the conduct of 2010 automated polls was a big mess, and a failure in automation.

It is almost certain that all the reported mess in various precincts nationwide, whether it was the breakdown of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, or their non-functioning machines which led to more and more delays for the voters to exercise their right, the disenfranchisement of many voters, and even oversized ballots, plus the wrong ballots surfacing in certain precincts, along with many more instances of snafus, is going to be dismissed as “isolated incidents,” and not reflective of the “success” of automated polls nationwide.

Click Ninez Cacho-Olivares

Surviving election day
AT LARGE By Rina Jimenez-David

AS I WRITE THIS, THE FAMILY HAS JUST ARrived from the Mayamot (Antipolo) Elementary School where we have cast our votes for the last 20 years or so. We left the school bathed in sweat, hair disheveled but holding up proudly our index fingers marked with the unmistakable purple indelible ink, a sign that we had done our civic duty.

It was also a badge of perseverance. We left the house past seven (no thanks to one member who took her time getting out of bed and showering— you know who you are) and arrived at the school after hurdling terrible traffic caused mainly by people lining the sides of Sumulong Highway selling bottled water and giving away sample ballots. We could barely make out the school’s entrance, since it was hidden by a virtual waterfall of streamers and posters hung from power lines. Walking from where we parked our vehicle, we waded through piles of discarded sample ballots, flyers, posters and other election paraphernalia. More campaign volunteers blocked our way, and it was a struggle just reaching the place where our clustered precinct was to be found.

Click Rina Jimenez David

Editorials

   

Inquirer: Leadership

A study by James Kouzes and Barry Posner (“The Leadership of Challenge’’) showed that people look for four characteristics above all others in selecting leaders: they must be honest, forward-looking, inspiring and competent. Above all, they must be viewed as having unimpeachable integrity. Do the leaders we’ve just chosen have these characteristics? Or have we again chosen lemons?

Via Inquirer

BusinessMirror: 3 hours to be part of history

THE usual problems associated with the age-old manual voting had an ample presence, as expected, in Monday’s first nationwide automated polls, proving that technology can only do so much, and that much of the reforms in the way we do things will rest on human conduct—or folly.

via BusinessMirror.

Phil. Star: Birth pains

Voting machines broke down, violence erupted in some areas, there were incidents of vote buying, and people had to wait in line for up to five hours, prompting the Commission on Elections to extend voting hours. As of early last night, the Comelec was planning to declare a failure of elections in at least 11 areas. But glitches notwithstanding, the country’s first automated elections pushed through as scheduled yesterday.

Via Phil. Star

Malaya: A warning to schemers and plotters

WELL, voting was not as bad as many feared it would be under the automated election system. The Commission on Elections said only about 300 precinct count optical scan machines suffered malfunction. That’s one-half of 1 percent of the 70,000 PCOS deployed nationwide. Many voters had to wait for hours to cast their votes, but all certainly could be accommodated with the extension of the voting period.

Via Malaya

Daily Tribune: Incompetence, thy name is Comelec

Every election year, the poll body, early in the voting game, always claims that there is a huge turnout of voters, something like 80 percent to 85 percent.

It is a source of amazement just how these Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials can easily give out the high percentage of voters turnout so early in the day, since voting has not been finished as yet when the percentages are given out and there really is no way for the poll officials to give out percentage estimates of the voters’ turnout. But they do. Everytime.

Via Daily Tribune

Gibo proposes de-synchronization of next presidential polls

   

MANILA, Philippines – Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential candidate Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. yesterday proposed to de-synchronize the next national and local elections after the glitches that occurred in yesterday’s polls.

Teodoro was the 151st voter in Precinct 0025-A at the Carabaoan-Caocaoayan Elementary School in Barangay Carabaoan, Tarlac. He finished voting in five minutes.

He complained that the ballot was too long.

via Philippine Star.

ALSO READ: Bro. Eddie won’t run again if he loses

First automated polls may be game changer in RP politics, says Gordon

MANILA, Philippines – Bagumbayan presidential bet Sen. Richard Gordon said yesterday the country’s first automated election could be the “game changer” in Philippine politics.

“If it will work, everyone will say they were part of it. But if it fails, they will blame me and the Comelec (Commission on Elections),” he said.

Gordon, who authored the country’s election automation law, earlier said he expected a few precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to fail but stressed there would be no failure of elections.

Via Phil. Star

Special elections for seniors proposed

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is studying proposals to allow local absentee voting for senior citizens and to stop the clustering of polling precincts to avoid delays in future elections like what was experienced in yesterday’s exercise.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Comelec Commissioner Armando Velasco said they received numerous reports that senior citizens caused long delays in polling centers because they were allowed to vote ahead of others and took a long time to fill up their ballots, resulting in long queues.

“There are proposals to include the elderly in the local absentee voting,” he said. “Maybe we can look into that.”

Via Phil. Star

Old names dominate Comelec’s partial tally for Senate

   

MANILA, Philippines (Update) – Incumbent and re-electionist senators were dominating the senatorial elections with only two or three new faces likely to make it in the top 12 winning senators, based on the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) partial tally released on Monday evening.

Similar to the pre-election senatorial survey results of Pulse Asia and Social Weather Stations, the Comelec’s partial tally had incumbents Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr. of Lakas-Kampi and Jinggoy Estrada as the top 2 senators in the 2010 senatorial elections.

The list, announced by Comelec chair Jose Melo, was based on the partial and unofficial tally of 57% of votes cast in 76,300 polling precincts nationwide.

Via ABS-CBN News

ALSO READ:

Delisted voters flood social media with election rants, queries

MANILA, Philippines – As a hot day dawned in the Philippines, some voters rose to discover an elections fraught with problems.

The obstacles faced by voters were varied and numerous, ranging from malfunctioning voting machines, to long and winding queues at the precincts, to gunshots fired near voting centers to scare voters away.

Long lines in the tropical heat has led to fainting fits and people who chose to forego voting rather than face the long wait. The over-all atmosphere was such as led foreign news agencies such as CNN to describe the elections as “jittery” and “marred by violence”.

via ABS-CBN News Online Beta.

AND: Junjun Binay proclaimed winner of Makati mayoralty race

Lim beats another Atienza in Manila mayoralty race

Partial results from Comelec

As of 12:22 AM via ANC alerts: (Pres.) Aquino 10.14M, Erap 6.4M, Villar 3.48M, Gibo 2.66M; (VP) Binay 10.72M, Roxas 9.24M, Legarda 2.6M, Fernando 720,791. (Senators) Revilla 13.1M, Estrada 13.03M, Santiago 12M, Drilon 11.02M, Enrile 10.88M, Cayetano 9.56M, Marcos 9.34M, Recto 8.55M, Sotto 8.34M, Osmeña 7.99M, Lapid 7.36M, Guingona 7.16M, (#13-Hontiveros Baraquel 6.47M).

This is based on 60% of election returns.