Category: In the News

Lanao Sur: Zero incident so far in seat of ‘Hello, Garci’ scandal

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MARAWI CITY — Election reform activists and watchdogs, and election officials have expressed hope that the unusual calm in Lanao del Sur today, eve of election day, will not be the calm before the storm.

As of 4 pm Sunday, not a single election-related incident has been monitored by the Citizens’ Coalition for Electoral Reforms in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (C-CARE), except for an incident in Masiu town where supporters of a candidate for mayor tried to bar the transport of PCOS (Precinct Count Optical Scan) machines into one village.

Even then, no violent incident ensued.

On Friday, a woman in Marantao was wounded in a drive-by shooting but election monitors deployed in the town said that it was related to a rido case.

At the C-CARE election monitoring center, the incident tally sheets for 38 towns and one city in Lanao del Sur are empty. Only the Masiu incident was listed.

“We hope this trend continues until the end of the electoral exercise on Monday,” said women activist Samira Gutoc-Tomawis, a sectoral member of the Regional Legislative Assembly of the ARMM.

Gutoc-Tomawis credits the enhanced presence of military and police forces in the province for the unusual calm in the place that has been tagged among the areas of security concern in relation to Monday’s exercise.

C-CARE’s Salic Ibrahim told the Inquirer that five towns are the subject of intense security focus for the heated tension arising from the political contest. These are Kapai, Tugaya, Sultan Dumalondong, Lumbaca-Unayan and Butig.

Tensions rose in Butig after the reported presence of armed men in several areas of the town on Saturday, May 11.

The five towns are the same areas where security became a problem during the May 2010 general elections.

Violence and fraud had in past elections marred elections in Lanao del Sur, earning the province monicker of being “the cheating capital of the Philippines” following the “Hello, Garci” scandal where a top election official oversaw the rigging of the province’s presidential vote in 2004.

At the provincial capitol, the dispatch of election forms to the province’s 39 towns was very orderly, in contrast to previous periods when the atmosphered resembled that of a marketplace. The queuing for the forms was done per muncipality and supervised by policemen and soldiers.

By mid-afternoon, a total of 18 towns had already claimed the election paraphernalia. One concern related to the transport of the materials is the heavy rains that washed the province around late afternoon, expectedly delaying travel to the far-flung towns.

Another unusual feature of the elections here is the muted buzz of the vote-buying and vote-selling frenzy.

“This could be because many politicians are limiting spending owing to their losses in the investment scams,” according to Gutoc-Tomawis.

The province is ‘ground zero’ of the Coco investment scam that went bust middle of last year. This was followed by a similar racket, Aman Futures that also victimized many Maranao families.

However, in towns where narco-politics is believed to be present, by many accounts vote-buying remains as rampant as ever. In Marantao and Maguing towns, elections monitors have documented vote-buy offers in the thousands of pesos per voter.

In a bid to enter polling centers with the same privilege as accrredited poll monitors, election watchdog groups said some parties have resorted to “faking” their uniforms.

Zeny Ibrahim of C-CARE said they noticed that the design of the group’s T-shirts issued to its field monitors have been copied and worn by persons identified as partisan campaigners.

2 supporters of mayoralty bets shot dead, 1 hurt in N Samar

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CATARMAN, Northern Samar — Two persons were killed and another was wounded in three separate shooting incidents in three towns of this province on Saturday and Sunday, eve of election day.

The first casualty, a former councilor of Barangay Libho, Catarman town, was shot dead at around 9 am, May 12, at a spot just a few kilometers away from the provincial headquarters of the Philippine National Police. The victim was identified as Arturo ‘Boy’ Gallano.

The second victim, a supporter of a Liberal Party candidate for mayor was held up and shot dead by armed men in San Roque town on Saturday, May 11. The suspects fled with a bag full of cash that the victim was carrying.

In a third incident in Gamay town, the supporter of a re-electionist mayoralty aspirant was shot in the stomach by armed men wearing bonnets flagged down the jeepney he was driving and shot him at close range on Saturday. He has been rushed to the hospital.

Police Officer 1 Kennel Tafalla, officer-on-case in the first incident, said that at around 9 am, a black Nissan car with plate No. NR 999 arrived in Barangay Libho. One of its passengers alighted and inquired about the location of the barangay hall.

The car motored on when a man riding a motorcycle chased it and demanded that the car passengers get off. The car passengers reportedly opened fire. Some of the shots hit and killed Gallano on the spot, the police said.

Witnesses described one of the suspects to be about 33 years old, with curly hair and tattoos all over his body. Three empty shells of a 9-millimeter pistol and one empty shell of a .45-caliber pistol were recovered from the crime scene.

The police tagged the case as an election-related incident because the victim was a political leader of Catarman mayoralty candidate Francisco Rosales, a former mayor of Catarman.

In the second incident in San Roque town, a campaign leader of Liberal Party mayoralty candidate Jocelyn Uy-Curso was reportedly held up and shot dead by armed men at around 3 pm on Saturday.

The San Roque poiice said Uy-Curso’s campaign leader, a certain Nestor “Entong” Surio, was riding a habal-habal motorcyle with five other passengers enroute to Barangay Pagasangjan.

Upon reaching Sto. Mukidbukid in Barangay Bantayan, several armed men wearing bonnets reportedly stopped the motorcycle, grabbed a bag full of cash, and shot Surio in the head. Witnesses said the suspects fled to different directions.

Meanwhile in Gamay town, re-electionist Mayor Timoteo Capaquian of reported that one of his supporters was also shot in the stomach by still unidentified armed men Saturday evening, May 11. The victim was rushed to Catarman Doctors’ Hospital.

A relative of the victim who requested not to be identified said that at around 9 pm, the victim was driving his jeepney on his way to a nearby barangay to ferry some passengers when several armed flagged down the vehicle and shot him at close range.

The suspects reportedly fled toward the direction of Lapinig town.

Mayor Capoquian called the case a election-related incident saying that he had received information earlier that his political opponent was planning to sow trouble.

Soldiers, rebels clash in Samar town

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CATBALOGAN CITY — Philippine Army soldiers escorting the transport of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines and election paraphernalia exchanged fire with about 15 armed men believed to be members of the New People’s Army in the vicinity of Barangay Nawi, Paranas town, Samar last Friday.

Lt. Colonel Cerilo Balaoro Jr., commanding officer of the 87th Infantry Battalion said his men were passing by the village to transport election materials when they chanced upon a group of armed men reportedly extorting money and campaigning in favour of the NPA-backed candidates and left-leaning party-list groups.

After a brief exchange of fire, the soldiers reportedly recovered a .45-caliber pistol, a .38-caliber revolver, three magazines and ammunitions for M-16 rifle, a blasting cap, a flag and documents of the NPA, seven combat packs, assorted medicines and personal belongings.

The rebels fled after the brief clash. No casualty was reported from both sides.

Capt. Amado Gutierrez, chief of the 8th Infantry Division Public Affairs Office, said the encounter occurred two days after the arrest of alleged NPA leader Renato Abadiano aka Tiboy by men of the 87th IB and police in Barangay Dolores, San Sebastian.

According to Gutierrez, the rebel leader was arrested while he was waiting for some candidates to pay permit-to-campaign and permit-to-win fees. The military reportedly seized a .45-caliber pistol, improvised explosive devices, blasting caps, and documents from Abadiano.

Maj. Gen. Gerardo Layug, commanding general of the 8th ID based in Catbalogan City, in a press statement said security operations “will continue even after the elections in order to promote and achieve a peaceful and secure environment conducive to economic development in the Samar provinces, which all Samaranons aspire for.”

The 33 candidates for senator: Can they explain their wealth?

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ARE THEY RICH, or are they poor? Were they born to wealth, or did they make money on their own labors? Did they bare all the facts of their assets, or mask the important details? What money and which donors make up their power base?

Can the 33 candidates for senator explain their wealth?

As the nation prepares to vote tomorrow, May 13, 2013, the baseline data on the wealth of the candidates should be clear at the outset to all the voters. This way, once the lucky ones get into office, the people could discern the rise or fall in their personal fortunes. In short, a status quo ante record.

Our latest offering, The Wealth of the 33 Candidates for Senator, is a four-part story on the business interests and financial connections of the candidates for senator.

For this report, the PCIJ reviewed all the relevant public records (Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth or SALNs, election spending reports, and reports on use and disbursement of pork barrel funds) of the candidates with tenure in public office.

The PCIJ also conducted a reverse search of registry records at the Securities and Exchange Commission to check in which corporate entities all 33 candidates have significant or controlling interest.

Authored by PCIJ Research Director Karol Ilagan and PCIJ Researcher-Writer Rowena Caronan, this report consists of four parts:

* The re-electionist senators, or those seeking a second term of office.

* The members of the House of Representatives who are now aspiring to sit in the Senate.

* The former senators who want to return to the Senate.

* The new, and not-so-new, candidates who want to be senators, even as many of them have no significant record of public service as yet.

You may read the PCIJ’s report in MoneyPolitics Online:

* THE RE-ELECTIONIST SENATORS:
SALNS bare some, mask other details
* Sidebar:
Wealth + donors + clans = power base

THE HOUSE’S WANNA-BE SENATORS:
* Propped by rich clans, big donors
* Sidebar:
Sons & daughters

* THE WANNA-BE SENATORS AGAIN:
No paupers despite break from politics

* The WANNA-BE SENATORS, TOO:
Family wealth, spouses’ assets boost a few newbies

The individual profiles and datasets on the 33 candidates, by their SALNs, election spending reports, and corporate records from the SEC, may be viewed on MoneyPolitics Online and the PCIJ portal.

Malaysian voters being denied rights to free, fair information

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AS MALAYSIANS go to the polls on Sunday, May 5, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) has expressed concerned that voters are being denied their rights to fair and credible sources of information.

A network of independent media organizations in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia, SEAPA in an alerts report said that, “for any electoral process to be meaningful in a democracy, citizens must be able to access fair and accurate information, from diverse sources, so that they can make informed choices.”

The PCIJ, the Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR), the Thai Journalists Association (TJA), the Alliance of Independent Journalists of Indonesia (AJI) and the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information in Indonesia (ISAI), and the Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) in Malaysia comprise the SEAPA network. Journalists’ associations in Timor-Leste, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Burma are SEAPA partners.

In its report, SEAPA noted that the 13th general elections in Malaysia on Sunday “has been described as a tough election” between the incumbent ruling coalition, Barisan Nasional, which has governed the country for more than 50 years, and the Pakatan Rakyat coalition led by former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim.

SEAPA, through its Executive Director Gayathry Venkiteswaran, cited preliminary results from a media monitoring activity undertaken by the University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus and the Centre for Independent Journalism. The study found “mainstream media coverage of the elections campaigns were significantly biased towards the incumbent, Barisan Nasional.”

However, online portals “were found to be more balanced in the number and slant of stories of the contesting parties and candidates.”

“Yet, even with a high internet penetration rate of over 60 percent in the country,” SEAPA said, “there are large segments of society that do not have regular and affordable access to online information.”

The downside is, according to SEAPA, “the broadcast and print media, which have wider reach, are strongly controlled by the government.”

“The state broadcaster, Radio Television Malaysia (RTM), mainly broadcasts campaign information for the incumbent government. Giving in to public pressure, it offered 10 minutes of broadcast time for political parties in the opposing coalition, for the first time, to air their pre-recorded party manifestos,” SEAPA reported.

“Political parties in the Pakatan Rakyat coalition have rejected the offer, saying it made a mockery of fair and adequate media access to all parties contesting in the elections.”

SEAPA also expressed concern about “incidents of intimidation of journalists in the run up to the elections.”

Citing reports from the electoral reform group, Bersih, SEAPA said at least four reports of intimidation or obstruction in the work of the media workers, notably:

* “8 April: A reporter, who made inquiries about vehicles belonging to the Information Department that were reported to have facilitated the launch of Barisan Nasional’s command center in Kuala Lumpur, was threatened by a party official.”

* “22 April: Media personnel covering nominations for the Sibuti parliamentary constituency in the state of Sarawak, were allegedly prevented from entering the nomination centre despite showing their official media passes.”

* “24 April: A reporter with the Chinese daily Nanyang Siang Pau said she was attacked by BN party workers at an operations centre in Kuantan, Pahang. The police had not only refused to take her report, they also told her to delete photographs she took of the attacks.”

* “25 April: A photojournalist from China Press was punched by a man from a group of motorcyclists wearing blue 1Malaysia T-shirts who were disrupting a public talk organised by the Democratic Action Party (DAP) in Bukit Gelugor, Penang.”

SEAPA urged all the media outlets in Malaysia to “apply the highest standards of professionalism and ethics in their coverage of the general elections and the campaign.”

It also called on members of the National Union of Journalists of Malaysia to heed a resolution passed at its Extraordinary Delegates Conference on 3 March 2012, “to subscribe to fair reporting which is also in line with NUJ’s Code of Ethics, and endeavour to ensure that balanced reports are published.”

SEAPA likewise urged the Election Commission, and the political parties, candidates, and their supporters to “respect the rights of the journalists in their duties to report during the elections and refrain from using any means of intimidation, harassment or violence towards media personnel.”