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“Fight for genuine independence!” This is the call of the various progressive groups as they marched to US Embassy in commemoration of the 112th declaration of Philippine Independence Saturday, denouncing US imperialism and the US-led war against terrorism.
As part of the victory and thanksgiving celebration of Gabriela Women’s Party in relation to the success it achieved in the May elections, a restaging of the satirical fashion show Project RunAway was held on Friday at the Amoranto Theater in Quezon City. Project RunAway Season Finale not only tackled the anomalies in the recently concluded national elections but also focused on the challenges the Aquino administration will face. The show is an allusion to Noynoy’s 'daang matuwid' campaign slogan, a dare for him to take the lead by action, not by abstract rhetoric.
The Families of the Disappeared for Justice (Desaparecidos) held a press conference today challenging presumptive president Noynoy Aquino to take the straight path to justice and help surface all the victims of enforced disappearances under the term of Ms. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.
BANGUED, ABRA -- Theodore C. Lopez of the US Embassy together with three other companions were in Abra during the elections. Theodore C. Lopez approached a delegate of the PIOM while waiting for the opening of the canvassing area in the Provincial Capitol. The PIOM team asked Vanessa Roncal, supervisor of the Comelec in the region, if she knew about the presence of US embassy personnel in Bangued. Roncal replied that the US embassy personnel came right after the PIOM paid a visit to the Comelec Regional office.
MANILA -- The transmission of election results did well in Quezon City High School in Kamuning, Quezon City. The transmission of results only took one to two minutes per transaction. The Board of Elections Inspectors told Bulatlat on Monday night that there were no major problems encountered with the Precinct Count Optical Scan machine, unlike in other areas.
MAGUINDANAO -- Residents push their way inside a polling precinct in Buldon town. Hundreds of voters are getting impatient -- shouting, shoving, banging the doors of the precinct, demanding that they be allowed in. An army soldier tries to break a scuffle while poll watchers and the BEIs insist that voting should be one at a time. This year's elections, will serve as a test to Philippines’ fragile democracy. Once an inspiration to emerging democracies for its “people power” overthrow of the American-backed autocrat Ferdinand E. Marcos, the Philippines has suffered from poor governance in the past decade.
MAGUINDANAO -- Despite the rain, voters in Tugaig, a village in Barira town, continue to line up. ‘See these people? They line up to vote. But will the politicians do to them after being elected? They will ignore them,’ says a woman beside me.
DAVAO CITY -- Voting in Barangay Centro Agdao is going at a snail's pace. Lines are long and at the rate the automated voting is progressing, observers fear many will not be able to cast their ballots by the time polling centers close. Voters who have agonized waiting in line grudgingly call the PCOS machines "tikas machines", with pun intended. Workers, who still have to report for work and those who find the long lines and the wait much too daunting, have already left the precincts without casting their votes.
Bangued, ABRA -- In other precincts, people are complaining of the very slow process -- from checking the names of the voters to submitting the ballot to the PCOS machine. Some even went home because they cannot handle the extreme heat. At Precinct #7, BEIs manually collected the ballots. The PCOS machine cannot process the ballots due to defective CF card. The BEI said, they are still waiting for the replacement CF cards to arrive from Manila. A voter told Bulatlat in an interview that the glitches might disenfranchise the votes.
MAGUINDANAO -- Hundreds of people line up outside Buldon Elementary School since early morning to vote. While no untoward incident occurred, it’s a bit chaotic here as voters jostle to enter the voting precincts. "Magulo pero masaya," says Kabiba Tomawis, a voter.
The final testing and sealing (FTS) in Marikina City was held on May 6, earlier than the announced May 7 testing. Board of Election inspectors and watchers are waiting as early as 10am but machine arrived after lunch. No ballot boxes were delivered.
In the final testing and sealing in Palatiw Elementary School in Pasig City on May 8, the common problem was the startup of the PCOS machine. The machine in Precinct 107 displayed the COMELEC logo for a long time. The machine had to be turned on and off. Many other machines unexpectedly shut down.
CAVITE -- Delegates of the People's International Observers’ Mission participated in the mock elections in San Labrador Town in Dasmariñas, Cavite today, May 9, 2010. In Dasmariñas North National High School, one precint experienced glitches when votes for some local candidates were not counted by the PCOS machine. The problem was solved when the CF card was replaced.
DAVAO CITY -- The Alliance Against Impunity in Mindanao, Kalinaw Mindanao, Sisters Association in Mindanao and Bagong Alyansang Makabayan led the people's outrage in Davao City over Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra's callous decision to drop charges against the two of the suspected perpetrators of the Ampatuan Massacre. The protest was part of the commemoration of the 5th month of the Ampatuan Massacre.
At San Jose Elementary School in Guadalupe Nuevo, Makati City Monday, the machine count does not tally or register votes for mayoralty candidate Ernesto Maceda. In one precinct, election returns reflected 3 votes for mayoralty candidate Erwin Genuino and 1 vote for Edmundo Tagalog.
On Monday, Machine and manual count results did not tally in the clustered precincts in Cembo Elementary School for the mayoralty post and the Sangguniang Panlunsod.
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