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Winalanghiyang halalan

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Nagmamalinis at nagmamang-maangan ang Commission on Elections sa chorva nitong ang mga palyadong marker, SD card, vote counting machine at maging ang transparency server ang pangunahing dapat sisihin sa pinaka-palpak na automated elections nitong dekada.

Akala malamang nina Commissioner Rowena Guanzon na sa pamamagitan ng pagbabantang huwag nang bayaran ang mga supplier ng marker at SD card ay sa mga ito mababaling ang sisi sa mga kapalpakan noong Lunes.

Sa totoo lang, matagal nang palpak ang Comelec at kung sinuman ang nagdesisyong maaring kumandidato sa party list elections ang mga pekeng marhinalisado. (Sino-sino sila? Ito pa. At ito pa.) Walang kakibo-kibo ang mga opisyal ng Komisyon sa kawalanghiyaan ng mga nominado ng mga pekeng partylist. Kasabwat na silang malinaw nito sa panloloko sa taumbayan.

Wala ring halos narinig mula sa Comelec sa lantarang paglabag sa lahat ng panuntunan hinggil sa tamang paggasta sa eleksiyon, patalastas, paglalagay ng poster at maging sa mga sukat nito, pangunahin ng mga kandidato ng administrasyon. Bulag, bingi’t pipi sila o kasabwat na rin sila sa kawalanghiyaang naganap sa buong panahon ng kampanyahan at halalan.

Sa araw mismo ng halalan, hindi mabilang ang ulat ng vote-buying, pangangampanya sa mga presinto at iba pang porma ng dayaan. Sa Lanao del Sur, bugbugan at barilan pa rin ang uso. Maging ang pulisya at militar ay aktibo rin sa pangangampanya sa mga ayaw nilang manalo. Hindi rin kumikibo ang Comelec sa mga ito.

Paanong hindi iisiping kasabwat ang Comelec sa kawalanghiyaan sa halalan, samantalang hindi ito pumayag sa anumang panukala na ipakita nila ang source code ng automated election system. Hindi rin ito tumutugon sa rekwes ng Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) na silipin ang programang ito kung nagtutugma ba ang mga numero sa main server at sa transparency server. Ano ba talaga ang nangyari sa pitong oras na patay ang transparency server? Kung walang itinatago, bakit hindi ipakita sa PPCRV, Namfrel, Kontra-Daya at iba pang poll watchdog?

Tatanggapin na lamang ba ng taumbayan na walang kasalanan ang mga opisyal ng Comelec sa lahat ng ito? Kapag sinabi ba ng mga komisyoner na tayo’y bulag na magtiwala at sila na ang bahala ay ayos na ang lahat? Ano ang gagawin ng Comelec sa malinaw na paglabag sa paggasta ng karamihan ng mga nangungunang kandidato sa pagka-senador at party list?

Tama naman si Komisyuner Guanzon na kaduda-duda na ang resulta ng halalan noong Lunes. Pero hindi ba dapat ang unang hinala ay sa
sa mga walanghiyang politiko at sa Comelec mismo? #

Neri says he will not concede defeat to ‘abnormal elections’

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Makabayan senatorial bet Neri Colmenares said he will not concede defeat in the face of massive fraud in Monday’s national polls.

Citing “brazen” illegal partisan activities by the police and military against Makabayan’s national and local bets, Colmenares said he remains undefeated by the elections that are “not normal.”

“How can I concede to a rotten electoral exercise that has basically deceived, bribed, intimidated and manipulated our people into electing the worst kinds of leaders imaginable? I cannot,” he said.

“It would have been easy to concede had I lost in a fair and honest elections. But this year’s elections were hardly fair or honest. Besides, this is no longer about me but about giving our people a fair chance to exercise their constitutional right to suffrage,” Colmenares explained.

The former Bayan Muna representative, who has remained at the 24th spot since the start of the canvassing, accused Rodrigo Duterte government of unleashing intensified, tokhang-style police and military operations in Bicol, Eastern and Western Visayas that are known progressive bailiwicks meant to prevent Makabayan supporters from voting.

Northern Dispatch also reported that Makabayan supporters received death threats to dissuade them from campaigning and voting in Cagayan Valley.

In addition to Mindanao still languishing under Martial Law, the massive human rights abuses also resulted in at least two massacres and a state of terror in communities during the campaing period, Colmenares said.

The activist candidate also said the Philippine National Police were caught red-handed distributing black propaganda materials against Makabayan in various polling centers in Metro Manila on election day.

‘Duterte as first violator’

Colmenares said it was President Duterte who led in the violation of various election laws.

“We saw how the President, using his presidential platform, led the vilification of the opposition and progressive candidates, dishing out insults and lies at every opportunity. This year, honesty as a qualification for public office was openly thrown out the window. And vote buying was justified by the highest official of the land,” Colmenares said.

He added that Duterte and his allies threatened and intimidated local politicians into supporting their candidates and denying the opposition and progressive candidates the opportunity to campaign at the grassroots.

“I have never seen so fearful a set of local politicians than now,” he revealed.

Colmenares also cited how the Duterte administration used government resources, funds and facilities to promote pro-Administration candidates, especially those favored by the President.

Widespread violations by administration candidates

Colmenares said pro-administration parties and candidates openly broke election rules that should not have been allowed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec)

“We saw how the rules – from postering and other campaign activities to widespread vote buying – were being flouted with impunity up to election day, and the Comelec blind or helpless about it,” Colmenares said.

He said he saw how candidates were already campaigning, spending hundreds of millions on TV and radio advertisments prior to campaign period.

“But that was nothing compared to the deluge of ads during the campaign period, skirting whatever limits we’re supposed to have on campaign spending and advertising,” Colmenares said.

Machine failure

There were unprecedented failures in the vote counting machines and SD cards used to run those machines on election day itself, Colmenares said.

He also cited the withholding of transmitted results from the public for seven hours Monday evening on “some flimsy technical glitch that had never happened in the past three automated elections.”

“Many of us slept and woke up to the TV screen showing 12 winning senators, not knowing what happened,” he revealed.

He also recalled that he filed resolutions to investigate election fraud in the automated election in his three terms in Congress as Bayan Muna representative.# (Raymund B. Villanueva)

NUJP on Duterte’s insult of Tordesillas

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14 May 2019
Once again, the foul-mouthed misogynist who is the leader of our nation turns to personal insults when he will not or, most likely, cannot offer a credible explanation to his badly concocted and fictitious accusations against critics.

Asked by reporters in Davao City to explain the so-called “matrix” purporting to show a plot to oust him, which his spokesman Salvador Panelo at first attributed to him only to later claim it came from an unknown source, President Rodrigo Duterte insisted it was “authentic” as “Bikoy,” the erstwhile hooded character who appeared in a series of videos accusing the chief executive and members of his family of involvement in the drug trade and was later claimed by Peter Joemel Advincula.

He then vented his ire on veteran journalist Ellen Tordesillas of Vera Files, one of those implicated in the matrix, who he called “every inch a prostitute.”

And while he did not name them, Duterte was apparently referring to other journalists included in the document when he referred to “professional twisters” who “are bayad sa (paid by the) Western …”

There is no question Duterte’s tiresome habit of spewing personal insults is intended to intimidate his targets into silence or submission.

Alas for him, his fits and tantrums speak more about his character than those he would smear.

His are the tactics of the thug who resorts to the bludgeon because he cannot reason, and even then he fails miserably.

We know for a fact that Ellen possesses more courage than he can ever hope to have beyond his macho posturing. So, too, do the other journalists he vilifies. As do all those who comprise the community of independent Filipino journalists.

Mr. Duterte may choose to ignore the lessons of history but does so at his own peril.

But of one thing we are sure, as history has amply proven. Despots come and eventually go. The truth and freedom will always outlast them.

The NUJP National Directorate

Protesta ng mga aktibista kontra sa malawakang pandaraya sa halalang 2019

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Nagtungo sa Commission on Elections o COMELEC ang iba’t-ibang grupo para magprotesta kaugnay sa naganap na dayaan sa nakaraang eleksyon noong Mayo 13.

Ayon sa Bayan Muna, dapat ipaliwanag ng COMELEC kung bakit madaming pumalya at nagka-aberya na precint count optical scan o PCOS machine sa ibat-ibang presinto. Marami ring reklamo ng vote buying, pananakot at paninira laban sa mga progresibong partylist at kandidato.

Nais nila na managot ang COMELEC dahil sa kapalpakan nito sa pangangasiwa ng eleksyon. Hinayaan din umano nito na makapamayagpag ang administrasyon at magbuhos ng rekurso ng taumbayan para manalo lalo na sa Senado.

Nauna namang nagprotesta ang mga kabataan sa Philippine International Convention Center o PICC noong Mayo 13 dahil sa napaulat na paninira ng PNP sa mga progresibong partylist. Iniulat na namamahagi ng babasahin ang ilang pulis sa mga botante na laban sa mga nasabing partylist. (Bidyo ni: Joseph Cuevas/ Kodao)

PNP, AFP fail to stop Bayan Muna from winning

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Furious campaigning by state forces and online trolls against progressive parties failed to stop Bayan Muna (BM) from gaining lost ground in yesterday’s midterm national elections.

BM is at the second spot with about 1.08 million votes as of 8:12 am today in partial and unofficial tallies by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

BM’s votes represent 4.05% of 93.6% of election results tallied by the Comelec thus far, assuring the 2001 top party list group of at least two seats in the next congress.

“Despite many reports of fraud, the Rodrigo Duterte regime cannot defeat the people’s will,” BM second nominee Ferdinand Gaite told Kodao.

Gaite was referring to partisan election activities by the Philippine National Police (PNP) aimed at discouraging voters from choosing BM and other progressive parties in yesterday’s polls.

Officers of the Manila Police District were caught distributing PNP’s official newsletter “Pulis Serbis Balita” in various polling centers yesterday containing articles maligning BM and Kabataan Party.

Poll watchdog Kontra Daya also received reports of death threats and harassments against volunteers and supporters of the progressive parties in many parts of the country.

“The Duterte administration utilized its entire machinery—time, resources, power, influence as well as the military, police and others—to also push for its rotten candidates and parties for the partylist elections. We are not surprised that the parties Duterte openly endorsed are those charged with graft and corruption,” Gaite said.

Meanwhile, Gabriela Women’s Party and ACT Teachers Party are poised to win seats in the next congress.

Gabriela is currently at 12th spot with 434,319 votes representing 1.63% of party list votes cast.

ACT is at 17th place with 380,760 votes, representing 1.43% of party list votes cast.

Kabataan Party and Anakpawis are in the middle tier of the party list race  at 48th and 62nd places, respectively.

Kabataan has 189,830 votes, representing 0.71% of the votes with Anakpawis has 140,567 votes, representing 0.53 of the votes.

Member organizations of Kabataan Party are set to hold indignation rallies throughout the country this afternoon to protest fraud in yesterday’s polls as well as the delayed posting of results by Comelec’s faulty servers.# (Raymund B. Villanueva)

State security forces resort to death threats, red tagging against Makabayan party-list groups, supporters

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Members and supporters of senatorial candidate Neri Colmenares and Makabayan partylist groups received death threats, harassed and labeled as communists and supporters of New People’s Army (NPA). The Makabayan bloc has been critical of the Duterte administration.

By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com

Election watchdog Kontra Daya received reports of death threats, harassment and red tagging of Makabayan party list groups and their supporters from all over the country.

Makabayan bloc is composed of partylist groups Bayan Muna, Gabriela Women’s Party, Kabataan Partylist, ACT Teachers Partylist and Anakpawis.

In Caloocan City, Makabayan volunteer Manuel Ferrer received death threats and was tagged as a supporter of the New People’s Amy (NPA).

In Baybay, Leyte, voters were told that the vote receipts can reveal those who voted for the progressive partylist groups. Supporters were threatened they could be tailed to their homes and become targets of the Synchronized Enhanced Management Police Operations (SEMPO), which was responsible for the death of 14 people in Negros last month.

In Quirino, Isabela and Cagayan Valley provinces, Makabayan coordinators received death threats from four cellphone numbers: 0975-9366202, 0945-2934843, 0933-1836156 and 0997-5497428, according to a report by Northern Dispatch.

Agnes Mesina, regional coordinator and national council member of Makabayan, said their leaders and members received messages threatening them not to vote or something bad would happen to them and their family.

Rowena Hidalgo, Makabayan coordinator in Quirino, received this message from 09350682166, “Sika met Rowena ti ammum mailasat mu dagita aramid mu nga maka-NPA? Agbaliw kan habang nasapa pay ta litagen daka man inya man nga banda dita quirino.” (You Rowena, are you thinking that you can survive your pro-NPA activities? You should change while you have time because we can kill you anywhere in Quirino.)

The municipal coordinator of Neri Colemenares and Anakpawis party-list in Lallo, Cagayan received a letter warning him of his support for the group along with a live bullet.

Three days before the elections, Ted Lazaro, deputy campaign officer of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Quezon City and Makabayan coordinator, received in his home a funeral flower arrangement. On the same evening, May 10, plastic containing blood was thrown at his house in barangay Sta Lucia, District 5, Quezon City.

At the Bambang East Elementary School in Nueva Vizcaya, suspected intelligence officers were reportedly taking photos of precincts as voters cast their votes.

Red-tagging, disinformation

Elements of the Philippine National Police (PNP) were seen distributing copies of their newsletter, tagging Makabayan party-list groups as communist fronts at Geronimo Elementary School in Sampaloc, Manila.

Similar incidents of distribution of materials red-tagging progressive partylists were documented in Siquijor, Palawan and Cebu, according to Kontra Daya.

Leaflets urging voters not to vote for Makabayan party-list groups were also distributed in Tamauini and the cities of Ilagan and Santiago in Isabela, Tuguegarao City in Cagayan, and the towns of Solano and Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya, according to a report by Northern Dispatch.

In Baguio City, police station 5 shared a false information on its Facebook account about the supposed disqualification of Makabayan party-lists. Baguio Pulisya Singko posted an image masquerading as a news that said the Commission on Elections disqualified Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela, Act Teachers and Kabataan party-lists for the 2019 elections for allegedly destabilizing the government, Northern Dispatch reported.


Image uploaded by Philippine National Police Station 5 based in Baguio City (Photo courtesy of Northern Dispatch)

Also in Baguio City, people’s organization Tontongan Ti Umili reported that non-commissioned military police are spotted roving the vicinity of Fort Del Pilar Elementary School before noon. The group said that although the school is inside the Philippine Military Academy, police and military forces are expected to be 50 meters away from the polling center.

Tongtongan ti Umili:
“Campaign paraphernalia of senator-wannabe Bong Go was seen being used by a voter at Camp 7 Elementary School, 11:56 AM. We would like to remind voters that any campaign paraphernalia is not allowed within the polling centers. “

Anakpawis Regional Coordinator Isabelo Adviento said that elements of the 17th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army openly campaigned against Neri Colmenares and party-list members of Makabayan.

Poll watchers of senatorial aspirant Neri Colmenares and Anakpawis Partylist were barred from entering the precinct in Brgy. Centro Norte, Sto. Nino, Cagayan Valley. (With reports from Sherwin de Vera of Northern Dispatch)


NUJP: Malacañang’s ‘new’ matrix ‘a badly-concocted fiction’

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The new “matrix” presented by presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo linking the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) as among those involved in the “deliberate attempt to discredit” the Rodrigo Duterte administration is nothing but “a piece of unadulterated crap,” the media group said.

Dismissing Malacañang Palace’s new latest accusation, the NUJP said the new diagram is another badly-concocted fiction meant to scare the administration’s perceived enemies, including independent journalists.

In his briefing Wednesday, Panelo presented diagrams showing the NUJP as involved in an alleged destabilization and link with political groups such as the Liberal Party and the rightist Magdalo Party.

Screengrab of RTVM’s video of presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo’s briefing Wednesday morning.

“The Office of the President, the President himself, has received intelligence information that has been validated and appears to show that there is deliberate attempt to discredit this administration as well as to boost the candidacies of the opposition—senatorial candidates. And it appears that there are certain groups who are working together to achieve this goal,” Panelo said.

“This group appeas to be the Liberal Party, some personalities identified as advocates who are very active on social media dishing out anti-Duterte statements and sentiments, and validated to be allied with the Liberal Party. Also, working together with groups in the matrix presented to you the other week,” Panelo said.

The NUJP said that Panelo’s statement linking the group to Rodel Jayme, arrested last week for uploading videos accusing members of the first family as well as senatorial candidate Christopher “Bong” Go, as having links with the illegal drug trade is criminal endangerment of people “without an iota of evidence.”

“But we say let them try their worst. They cannot scare the community of independent Filipino journalists into silence,” the NUJP said. (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Karapatan, RMP at Gabriela, naghain ng petisyon sa Korte Suprema

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Nagtungo sa Korte Suprema ang mga grupong Karapatan, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines at Gabriela noong Mayo 6 para maghain ng petisyon na writ of amparo at writ of habeas data.

Ito ay kaugnay sa paninira, red-tagging at pananakot na ginagawa ng administrasyon at Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

Sinamahan sila nang kanilang mga abugado mula sa National Union of Peoples’ Lawyer o NUPL.

Kabilang sa kanilang mga respondent ay sina Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana at AFP Civil-Military deputy chief M/Gen. Antonio Parlade Jr.

Ayon sa Karapatan, tugon nila ito sa tumitinding atake at pananakot laban sa mga human rights defenders.

Sunod-sunod ang atake laban sa kanila kabilang na ang pagpaslang sa upisyal ng Karapatan sa Negros na sina Bernardino “Toto” Patigas na pinatay nito lamang Abril 23.

Para naman sa Gabriela, target na sila ng ganitong paninira simula nang maitatag ito noong dekada 80.

Dapat na umanong matigil ang ganitong atake laban sa kababaihan at mamamayan.

Umaasa sila na tutugunan ito nang Korte Suprema tulad ng inilabas na utos nito pabor sa NUPL na dumulog noong nakaraang buwan para sa katulad na petisyon. (Bidyo ni: Joseph Cuevas/ Kodao)

Rights, religious, women’s groups seek protection vs govt red tagging

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By Visayas Today

The human rights group Karapatan, the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, and women’s organization Gabriela have filed a petition asking the Supreme Court to issue writs of amparo and habeas data against their continued vilification by President Rodrigo Duterte and officials of the government and security forces.

The petition, filed Monday, May 6, with the help fo the National Union of People’s Lawyers, “is a response to the worsening attacks, terrorist-tagging by the Philippine military and the ongoing smear campaign against human rights defenders,” Karapatan chair Elisa Tita Lubi said in a statement.

It names Duterte, National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon Jr., Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo, General Benjamin Madrigal Jr., Brigadier General Fernando Trinidad, Major General Erwin Bernard Neri, Lieutenant General Macairog Alberto, Major General Antonio Parlade Jr., Alex Paul Monteagudo, Vicente Agdamag, Senior Superintendent Omega Jireh Fidel, and Undersecretaries Joel Sy Egco, Severo Catura and Lorraine Marie Badoy.

The petition sought the high court’s protection for the petitioners “who are constantly threatened and harassed, red-tagged and maliciously terrorist-labeled only because of their advocacies in various fields of human rights work” and to order the respondents to “produce and, if necessary, to update and rectify, or to suppress and destroy, data, information, and files in their possession, under their control, or contained in their data base that relate to or which concern (the) petitioners.”

It cited six speeches in which Duterte himself accused Karapatan of being a “communist front.”

Karapatan pointed out that, from 2001 to 2019, 48 of its human rights workers have been killed. These include three under the Duterte administration.

The three are Elisa Badayos, Karapatan Negros Oriental coordinator, who was killed on November 28, 2017 by motorcycle-riding gunmen along with peasant leader Eleuterio Moises while they were with a fact-finding mission; Mariam Uy Acob, a paralegal of Karapatan member-organization Kawagib Moro Human Rights Alliance, who was shot dead by two gunmen while riding a motorcycle home on September 23, 2018; and Bernardino Patigas, councilor of Escalante City, Negros Occidental and a founder and former officer of the North Negros Alliance of Human Rights Advocates, who was murdered on April 22 this year.

“Human rights advocacy is not a crime, yet human rights workers are being killed, threatened, harassed, and jailed on trumped up charges,” Lubi stressed, noting that Duterte and his officials’ “dangerous rhetoric,” accusing Karapatan of being a rebel “front,” has led to murder and other abuses against human rights workers.

“Most, if not all, of our human rights workers, even our former colleagues, are subjected to threats, surveillance, harassment, red-tagging, and judicial harassment,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

“These attacks can only come from those who see our work and advocacy for people’s rights, our monitoring and documentation of human rights violations, our direct assistance to victims and kin, and our provision of platforms for human rights education as threats to the current status quo. Human rights defense and activism is not a crime; it is a right protected by international covenants and agreements as well as the Philippine Constitution,” she added.

The petition said the Duterte and his officials have persisted with their vilification of activist groups despite concerns raised by United Nations special rapporteurs, particularly “over the impression that such alleged statements, which distort the public narrative on human rights defenders and conflate their work with threats to national security, may have on the public and civil society, especially when delivered by the Head of State.”

In fact, the government went so far as to send a delegation to Europe where they accused several activist organizations, including schools for indigenous people in Mindanao, of being communist fronts.

Reacting to these, a number of Belgian NGOs spoke up in defense of their vilified partner-organizations. #

Employers can afford Php750 minimum wage—IBON

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Employers can very well afford to raise the minimum wage to Php750 which only entails a small cut in their profits, research group IBON said.

The Rodrigo Duterte administration should support this hike which will help millions of Filipino households dependent on wages and salaries cope with the rising cost of goods and services, said the group.

Current minimum wages are far from IBON’s estimate of the family living wage (FLW) needed by a family of five.

The current minimum wage in the National Capital Region (NCR) of Php537 is already the highest in the country, but it is Php467 short of the Php1,004 FLW as of March 2019.

IBON said that raising the minimum wage to Php750 will significantly raise the incomes of Filipino workers.

The group’s computations also show that employers can afford to increase the minimum wage they pay to Php750.

In the NCR, raising the average daily basic pay (ADBP) of Php562 to Php750 will add Php4,095 to the monthly income and Php53,231 to the annual income (including 13th month pay) of employees.

IBON pointed out that this will only cost Php115 billion out of the Php1.17 trillion in profits of the 14,414 establishments in NCR, which is equivalent to just 9.8% of their profits.

Raising the ADBP of Php401 nationwide to Php750 will in turn add Php7,649 to employees’ monthly income and Php99,432 to their annual income (including 13th month pay).

This will cost the 35,835 establishments nationwide just Php465 billion or only 21.5% out of their Php2.16 trillion in profits, as per IBON computations.

The group stressed that meaningful wage hikes are doable if only companies were willing to accept a small cut in their profits.

IBON also pointed out that raising wages will not be inflationary if companies share a little more of their profits with workers instead of passing the wage hike on to consumers as higher prices.

These were estimated using the latest Annual Survey of Philippine Business and Industry (ASPBI) data of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) for enterprises with 20 or more workers.

IBON however underscored that the government can help micro, small and medium enterprises afford the wage hike by providing them tax breaks and incentives, cheap credit, subsidized utilities, and technology and marketing support.

The growing productivity of Filipino workers is among the main drivers of economic growth and they deserve a significant wage increase, IBON said.

The richest individuals and biggest corporations in particular have more than enough for granting wage increase.

It is the government’s responsibility to ensure that workers get a fairer share of the gains from economic growth rather than have these gains concentrated in the hands of a few, concluded IBON.#