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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)

Vote buying remains rampant, poll watchdog reports

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Poll watchdog Kontra Daya said that vote buying remains rampant in today’s elections, a practice that has in fact started as early as January.

The group in its mid-afternoon report said it has received allegations of vote buying in the provinces of La Union, Bataan, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Camarines Norte, Negros Occidental, Aklan, Leyte, Samar, Cebu, Davao, Agusan del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur.

Amounts reportedly range from P200 to as much as P4,500.

In Metro Manila, Kontra Daya received reports on vote buying in Quezon and Taguig cities.

Volunteers on the ground described the vote buying as “widespread,” “massive,” “brazen,” and “insulting”, Kontra Daya said.

“There were several reports detailing how vote buying is coursed through their respective barangay officials. Others are reportedly ‘helping’ voters find their precincts in exchange of votes,” the watchdog said.

In Moises Padilla town in Negros Occidental, police have reportedly arrested those allegedly involved in vote buying.

Among those confiscated are sample ballots with P1,000 each attached.

As many as 28 suspects have been arrested, a separate report sent to Kontra Daya said.

Moises Padilla is under Comelec control following the murders of of reelectionist Councilor Jolomar Hilario and a relative last March 31.

In Samar, vote buying reportedly began as early as January, Kontra Daya said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Kontra Daya urges Comelec to probe PNP on poll violations

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“Red baiting is a different level of negative campaigning. It poses risks to those who are red-tagged and might result in extrajudicial killings.”

By RONALYN V. OLEA

Election watchdog Kontra Daya called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to investigate reports of partisan activities of elements of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

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

“The reports are very alarming,” Arao told Bulatlat. “They’re [PNP] supposed to be non-partisan. Comelec should investigate these complaints,” he added.

The PNP’s Police Community Relations Group (PCRG), in its Twitter account, denied that the newsletter being distributed constitute black propaganda.

The PCRG even posted a link of the publication.

Arao, also a journalism professor at the University of the Philippines (UP), noted that a report in the PNP’s newsletter claims that subversive documents and high-powered rifles were seized along with campaign materials of Bayan and Kabataan Partylist.

This, Arao said, is red baiting.

“Red baiting is a different level of negative campaigning. It poses risks to those who are red tagged and might result in extrajudicial killings,” Arao said.

Jose Mari Callueng, Karapatan paralegal and Kontra Daya volunteer, pointed out that the police violated the Omnibus Election Code and Civil Service Commission’s resolutions.

Section 261 (i) of the Omnibus Election Code (Intervention of Public Officers and Employees), states, “Any office or employee in the civil service, except those holding political offices; any officer, employee, or member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, or any police force, special forces, home defense forces, barangay self-defense units and all other para-military units  that now exist or which may hereafter be organized who, directly or indirectly, intervenes in any election campaign or engages in any partisan political activity, except to vote or to preserve public order, if one is a peace officer, shall be guilty of an election offense.”

The Omnibus Election Code prohibits unlawful electioneering it defines as soliciting votes or undertaking any propaganda on the day of registration before the board of election inspectors and on the day of election, for or against any candidate or any political party within the polling place and with a radius of thirty meters.

Meanwhile, CSC Memorandum Circular (M.C.) No. 30, s. 2009 cited publishing or distributing campaign literature or materials designed to support or oppose the election of any candidate; directly or indirectly soliciting votes, pledges, or support for or against a candidate, among others, as partisan political activities.

CSC Memorandum Circular No. 9, series of 1992 also prohibits posting and distributing of campaign materials, leaflets, banners and stickers designed to support or oppose the election of any candidate; utilizing properties, supplies, materials, and equipment of the government for political purposes, among others.

Callueng said negative campaigning can be considered a partisan political act. 

The Karapatan paralegal said Comelec has jurisdiction over these cases.

“Comelec should investigate and penalize the violators,” Callueng said.

Administrative cases may also be filed with the Ombudsman against police officers violating the election code.

Government employees found guilty of engaging directly or indirectly in partisan political activities may face a penalty of one month and one day to six (6) months suspension for the first offense; and dismissal from the service for the second offense, according to the 2017 Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service. #

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)


Cops caught campaigning against Makabayan groups on election day

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Police officers continued red-tagging progressive parties and candidates while elections are already ongoing.

Uniformed Manila Police District officers distributed copies of Pulis Serbis Balita, the official newsletter of the Philippine National Police (PNP), on election day inside PN Geronimo Elementary School, Sampaloc, Manila, poll watch dog Kontra Daya reported.

The newsletter’s banner story, “Kabataan, nanguna sa pagkondena sa legal fronts at political parties na sumusuporta sa CPP/NPA” tagged Bayan Muna, Kabataan, Gabriela Women’s Party, Anakpawis and ACT Teachers parties as communist fronts.

Kontra Daya said the police officers violated civil service laws and rules against partisanship during elections.

“Targeting progressive parties and candidates is a blatant disregard of the non partisan role of state forces during elections,” Kontra Daya convenor Giovanni Tapang said.

“Any office or employee in the civil service, except those holding political offices; any officer, employee, or member of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, or any police force, special forces, home defense forces, barangay self-defense units and all other para-military units  that now exist or which may hereafter be organized who, directly or indirectly, intervenes in any election campaign or engages in any partisan political activity, except to vote or to preserve public order, if one is a peace officer, shall be guilty of an election offense,” Section 261 (i) of the Omnibus Election Code (Intervention of Public Officers and Employees) orders.

The Civil Service Commission also reminded government personnel last January 24 from participating in partisan political activities.

“No officer or employee in the civil service, as well as any member of the military, shall engage, directly or indirectly, in any electioneering or partisan political activity, except to vote,” the CSC said.  

Kontra Daya volunteer Katrina Yamson uploaded videos of volunteers confronting Manila Police District officers distributing copies of the newsletter. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Technical glitches mar elections

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Kontra Daya has called for the suspension of pilot testing of the Voter’s Registration Verification Machine (VRVM), saying it has caused delays in the voting.

By RONALYN V. OLEA
Bulatlat.com

MANILA — Anti-fraud watchdog Kontra Daya has called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to suspend the pilot testing of the Voter’s Registration Verification Machine (VRVM), saying it has caused delays in the voting.

The Comelec identified 10 vote-rich areas for the use of 25,000 VCRMs. These include Pangasinan, Nueva Ecija, Caloocan City, Quezon City, Manila City, Cavite, Cebu, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Davao del Sur and the new Bangsamoro Region.

Kontra Daya reported the following:

  •  4 VRVMs not functioning in Roxas High School in Quezon City. BEI said machines did not recognize log-in details of BEI Chair.
  • VRCM not functioning in T. Paez Integrated School in Manila. Comelec Technical Team cannot troubleshoot the problem.
  • 4 VRVMs in Judge Juan Luna High School in QC are not working properly. Electoral board switch to manual verification of voters’ in the EDCVL.
  • VRVM in precint cluster 326 in Dasmariñas East Integrated National High school, Cavite not working
  • All VRVMs in Mabolo Elementary School, Cebu City are not working. Teachers resorted to manual finding of voters’ names in the list.
  • VRVMs in 3 precincts in East Bagong Barrio Elementary School, Caloocan City not working. Teachers resort to manual search on EDCVL
  • VRVMs in Silangan Elementary School, Caloocan City
  • VRVMs in Cielito ES Caloocan City

Danny Arao, Kontra Daya spokesperson, said the VRVM must be suspended as it causes unnecessary delays in the voting process. “We can afford to have it suspended because it is just pilot testing phase,” he said.

Kontra Daya also monitored malfunctioning of vote counting machines in the following:

  • Precinct 1332 Ismael Mathay Senior HS
  • Precinct 001A Sto Nino Elementary School, Lumban, Laguna.
  • Precinct No. 1289A , Cielito High School, Caloocan City
  • Precinct No. 451B, Tondo High School, Manila
  • Precinct 3A-3B, 4A, 4B San Manuel, Tarlac
  • Precinct No. 25, Ruperto Zubia Elementary School, Baler, Aurora
  • Precinct No. 43B Brgy. Bagong Buhay, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan
  • Jose Fabella Memorial School in Mandaluyong City
  • Maypajo ES, Maypajo HS, Silangan ES, Caloocan City

Pens were also found defective in Bagumbayan Elementary School in Laguna, Pasong Tamo Elementary School

Kontra Daya said the malfunctioning of machines resulted in long queues, with some voters opting not to vote. #

Makabayan Coalition holds final gathering before polls

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Idinaos ng Makabayang Koalisyon ng Mamamayan o Makabayan ang kanilang Miting De Avance noong Mayo 7 sa Plaza Miranda sa Quiapo sa Maynila.

Dumalo ang mga tagasuporta, organisasyon at kasaping mga partylist sa ilalim ng Makabayan. Kabilang na dito ang Bayan Muna, ACT Teachers, Gabriela Women’s Party, Anakpawis at Kabataan.

Inihapag ng mga partylist ang kanilang plataporma para sa susunod na kongreso kabilang na dito ang tuluyang paglaban sa TRAIN Law, tunay na reporma sa lupa, ganap na libreng edukasyon, pag-giit sa mataas na sahod at pagbasura sa kontraktwalisasyon.

Ayon sa Makabayan, sa kabila nang matinding atake ng administrasyon, kawalan ng pondo at paninira mula sa mga kalabang partido, naitaas nila ang laban sa elektoral na pakikibaka sa nakalipas na mga buwan.

Muling ipinakilala at hiniling ng Makabayan na suportahan ang 11 kandidato nito sa eleksyon sa Mayo 13. Ito ay sina Atty. Neri Colmenares, Atty. Chel Diokno, Atty. Florin Hilbay, Erin Tañada, Leody de Guzman, Atty. Sony Matula, Senador Grace Poe, Senador Nancy Binay, Senador Bam Aquino, Samira Gutoc at Serge Osmeña.

Ayon sa Makabayan ito ang magiging “Independent Senate” na siyang tunay na magsusulong ng interes at kagalingan ng taumbayan. (Bidyo nila Maricon Montajes, Carlo Francisco at Joseph Cuevas/ Kodao)

KODAO ASKS: Anong katangian ng kandidato ang nais mong mahalal sa senado?

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KODAO ASKS: Ano nga ba ang mga katangian ng kandidato ang nais mong mahalal sa senado ngayong Eleksyon 2019? Panoorin ang bidyo at alamin ang opinyon ng madla!

Co-workers condemn murder of Batangas election officer

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Commission on Elections (Comelec) employees condemned the murder of an election officer in a Batangas town Monday, saying the killing highlights the culture of impunity prevailing in the country.

The Comelec Employees Union (EU) in a statement said it condemns in no uncertain terms the brutal killing of Mabini, Batangas election officer Noel Miralles who was gunned down by two still unknown assailants in Bauan town.

Miralles, 53, was about to board a tricycle in Barangay 4, Poblacion in Bauan when shot by “riding in tandem” assailants, killing him on the spot.

Comelec-EU president Mac Ramirez said the victim was a cheerful person who loved karaoke.

“I could not imagine Noel having enemies,” Ramirez said.

A former journalism colleague said the victim previously worked as a writer with the Philippine Information Agency and as a broadcaster with defunct Batangas City radio stations Radio DZBR and DWAM AM in the 1990s before joining the poll body as election officer.

“[He was] humble, unassuming, kind. I can’t even imagine why he should be killed, unless work related in Comelec, especially Bauan and Mabini areas,” Miralle’s friend and colleague Nomer “Bong” Macalalad told Kodao.

Macalalad said he hopes Miralles’s murder will be an exemption to the “notorious” string of unsolved murders in Bauan for the past 18 years.

Another source told Kodao that Miralles handled several electoral fraud cases when he served as election officer of Bauan.

Bauan has been ruled by the Dolor dynasty led by its patriarch Ryan for decades.

Municipal officials of Bauan have yet to issue a statement on Miralles’ killing.

Comelec-EU said the killing of Miralles highlights the prevailing culture of impunity in the country.

Comelec-EU noted that Miralles’s murder came at the heels of the killing of Office of the Ombudsman assistant special prosecutor Madonna Joy Tanyag in Quezon City and Fr. Richmond Villafor in Zaragoza, Nueva Ecija.

“The killings must stop. The culture of impunity in the country must end. We demand no less than justice,” the group said.

Election officers and employees nationwide will wear black tomorrow, June 13, to call for justice for Miralles as well as all other victims of senseless killings in the country, Comelec-EU said. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)

Caraga Reds declare ceasefire for barangays polls

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The New People’s Army (NPA) in Caraga Region has announced it has suspended military operations against government forces during the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

In a press statement, the NPA-North-East Mindanao Region said that in deference to the people’s right to vote freely during the polls, its local command has directed its units as well as its People’s Militia to “temporarily suspend the launching of tactical offensives against Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) and CAFGU forces from May 14 until May 18, 2018.”

The NPA said the directive is in response to popular calls for the free, orderly and safe conduct of the elections being held today.

The communist guerrillas said that despite the “reactionary elections” controlled and run by big politicians, it hopes that the people could fully exercise their sacred right of suffrage without the influence and pressure on whom to vote for.

They also expressed hope that despite the torrent of money intended for vote-buying, intimidation and coercion, it is possible for “sincere and well-meaning candidates who truly serve the interests of the people to win in the elections.”

The NPA, however, cautioned that the reactionary elections is not the solution to the Filipino’s social problems.

“All the machinery of the reactionary government only function to serve their selfish interests and continue to gain back the victories attained as a result of people’s struggles,” the NPA said.

The NPA challenged the AFP, PNP, CAFGU and paramilitary units to desist from harassing voters and interfering in the elections, especially those encamped within communities or near polling precincts.

Meanwhile, the PNP has recorded 27 deaths and 20 election-related incidents a few days before the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls.

Last May 12, former La Union Rep. Eufranio Eriguel, 58, was assassinated while addressing a campaign rally in Barangay Capas in Agoo town.

In a visit to Butuan City on Saturday as part of his inspection tour of Mindanao before the elections, PNP Director General Oscar Albayalde said police units have been alerted on potential vote-buying incidents.

The PNP has identified 5,744 election hotspots in the regions. # (Raymund B. Villanueva)