ROXAS WANTS EARLY VOTERS' LIST / PALACE TO NOYNOY: SHOW ABILITY TO LEAD
MANILA, JANUARY 17, 2010 (STAR) By Aurea Calica – Sen. Manuel Roxas II called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday to make public the list of registered voters nationwide to prevent syndicated cheating and make it easier for voters to exercise their right of suffrage in the May 10 national and local elections.Roxas said ensuring public access to the list this early would deter cheating and lessen the usual bedlam in polling places on election day due to the usual complaints, such as transfer of names to another precinct, double registration and worse, deletion of names from the list of registered voters.
He said timely information as to where and which precinct individual voters could vote would deter cheaters from tampering the list or padding it with fictitious names.
In a letter addressed to Comelec Chairman Jose Melo, the senator said the voters’ list would be instrumental in informing, guiding and preparing the electorate as to the particulars for the exercise of their voting rights.
“Needless to say, having the voters’ list at the soonest time possible would help prevent disenfranchisement of voters and minimize, if not eliminate, unnecessary confusion during election day,” Roxas said.
He said the voters’ list could be made available through the Internet and by posting the list at all Comelec offices nationwide, “ready for access and viewing anytime of the day, especially during office hours.”
Roxas said it was important for the public to have access to the voters’ list because there are already 49.2 million registered voters for this year’s national and local elections, four million more than the number of registered voters during the 2007 polls.
The figure excludes the additional number of new registrants during the extended registration ordered by the Supreme Court last December.
He also noted earlier Comelec announcements that it purged four million names from the 2007 voters list. Melo had said that a total of 3.879 million voters were “deactivated” after failing to vote in the last elections, while 192,648 others had died.
Angara: “Be vigilant”
Sen. Edgardo Angara, on the other hand, urged the public to vote wisely and stay watchful of any anomalous actions in voting precincts in the coming May elections.
He said despite the automation of this year’s national elections and the lower risks of rigging, everyone would still be responsible for keeping the elections free from fraud and violence.
Angara also called on Filipino voters to actively participate in familiarizing themselves with the dynamics of the automated elections, which would be a first in the country.
He also agreed that the cleansing of the voters’ list should be prioritized, “because purging the voters’ list would save us from a ‘garbage in, garbage out’ scenario in this year’s elections and in the future.”
Show ability to lead nation, Palace tells Noynoy By Marvin Sy (The Philippine Star) Updated January 17, 2010 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang called on presidential aspirant Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III to show his ability to lead the nation instead of waging a hate campaign against President Arroyo.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said Aquino should engage in a positive campaign that highlights his own accomplishments rather than going after Mrs. Arroyo in what could be seen as a smear campaign.
“It would be better if he would just focus on his capability to lead, his track record and especially his platform of government,” Remonde said.
“In other words, people will appreciate him more if he will be more constructive rather than wage a campaign of hate against President Arroyo,” he added.
Aquino figured in a heated debate with his opponents in a recent televised debate when he declared his campaign would focus on the supposed administration lapses of Mrs. Arroyo.
Remonde, however, said there is not much to criticize the Arroyo administration for since it has already achieved its goals in terms of improving the economy and infrastructure development.
But the opposition, Remonde said, is expected to continue building lies against Mrs. Arroyo and her administration.
“This is what we should avoid because waging a hate campaign is really lamentable. I mean, hate by any form or by any reckoning is negative,” Remonde said.
“It’s not really good for anybody. I think we should really be positive in this election,” he added.
Remonde said the administration is standing by its accomplishments in the past nine years and would just let the people decide on who is telling the truth.
Aquino, the presidential bet of the Liberal Party (LP), has been leading the surveys after announcing his bid for the presidency following the death of his mother, former President Corazon Aquino, who succumbed to colon cancer last August.
Aquino, however, has seen his lead over Nacionalista Party (NP) candidate Sen. Manuel Villar Jr. narrow.
Villar has also taken potshots against Aquino.
Even the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL), the political party that reigned during the Marcos regime, criticized Aquino for initiating a disqualification case against its presidential candidate Vetellano Acosta.
The LP, through Aquino’s lawyer Sixto Brillantes, urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to declare Acosta as a nuisance candidate
Brillantes claimed the KBL might have been hired to put up Acosta and confuse the voters in the May 10 elections.
KBL chairman Vicente Milliora, however, said the disqualification case has no merit since Acosta filed his candidacy ahead of Aquino.
“How could he be considered a nuisance when (Acosta) filed his candidacy on Nov. 20, 2009 ... when Noynoy was still consulting with his sisters what to do with himself?” Milliora pointed out.
Milliora also said that being a relatively unknown in politics should not be a ground for disqualification since an election is not a popularity contest.
Milliora also maintained the KBL is a major political party in the country with a nationwide constituency.
He also dismissed allegations that Acosta was paid to be a KBL candidate.
“Acosta was adopted by the KBL executive committee after he appealed to the party and showed his credential as an international financial expert economist and consultant to various ASEAN nations,” Milliora said. – With Perseus Echeminada
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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