Election politics

Presidential race still fluid, analyst says

MANILA, Philippines – With just less than a month left before the May 10 elections, the outcome of the presidential campaign can still be anyone’s ballgame. Speaking on ANC’s "The Rundown" on Tuesday night, political analysts weighed-in on what will be a deal-breaker for candidates in the last three weeks before the polls. Read more… read more...

Lakas-Kampi defections: ‘Villaroyo’ or ‘Gloriaquino’?

MANILA, Philippines–Those who are saying that the exodus of administration candidates to the Nacionalista Party (NP) is proof that Manuel Villar Jr. is the secret candidate of President Arroyo should re-think their assumptions. The Liberal Party (LP) of Benigno Aquino III has practically the same share of defectors from the President’s party, the Lakas-Kampi, a headcount done by abs-cbnNews.com/Newsbrea read more...

JBC questions Supreme Court ruling

MANILA, Philippines – The Judicial and Bar Council (JBC) has questioned the Supreme Court (SC) ruling allowing President Arroyo to appoint the next chief justice, saying it was premature. The JBC’s executive committee drafted the comment, according to Midas Marquez, court administrator and SC spokesman. Read more… read more...

Nograles says Gibo’s defeat inevitable

MANILA, Philippines – House Speaker Prospero Nograles believes the defeat of Lakas-Kampi-CMD presidential bet Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro in the May 10 polls is inevitable. In an official statement, Nograles, a member of the ruling party’s National Advisory Board, warned Teodoro that although "many members of the Lakas-Kampi-CMD may still appear to be toeing the line" due to their " read more...

DFA: Overseas voting off to smooth start

MANILA, Philippines – Over 4,000 Filipino migrant workers were able to vote on the first day of voting under the overseas absentee voting scheme held over the weekend at various Philippine diplomatic missions abroad. The Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said a total of 4,141 Filipinos working overseas were able to vote without any glitches last Saturday. Read more… read more...

‘Poll automation a black hole’ – Nick Perlas

MANILA, Philippines – Presidential candidate Nick Perlas expressed serious concern over the seeming “last minute” changes being done by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on paraphernalia for next month’s polls, saying the automated system is proving to be the “black hole” of the elections. Perlas told The STAR editors and reporters during a roundtable discussion yesterday that the Comelec slip-u read more...

2 LP bets file disqualification vs Villar over ‘vote-buying’

Two Liberal Party (LP) senatorial candidates have filed a disqualification case against Nacionalista Party (NP) standard-bearer Sen. Manny Villar Jr. for alleged vote-buying. LP senatorial bets Nereus Acosta and Martin Bautista on Thursday afternoon trooped to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) main office in Intramuros, Manila, to personally file the 11-page petition. Read more… read more...

Online political campaigning: No rules or cap on costs

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) may be keeping tab on political ads in the broadcast and print media, but so far it has refrained from issuing guidelines on online campaigning. This has helped create a digital free-for-all among candidates in the upcoming polls who have made the so-called New Media yet another battleground for votes. These days, the number of Filipino Internet users is pegged at around 24 mil read more...

Villar demands apology from critics for saying he’s not poor

MANILA, Philippines – Nacionalista Party (NP) presidential candidate Manny Villar on Tuesday said his detractors and presidential "blue-bloods" should apologize for saying that his family was not as poor as portrayed in his TV ads. Villar issued the challenge after copies of the death certificate of his brother, Danny, as well as the transfer certificate of title (TCT) of the Villar home in San Raf read more...

Gibo quits as Lakas-Kampi chair to focus on campaign

Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard bearer Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro Jr. has quit as chair of the administration party to focus energies on his presidential campaign, days after various provincial allies defected to the camp of Nacionalista Party presidential bet Manuel Villar Jr. “Effective immediately I am resigning as chairman of our party to focus all my efforts campaigning for the presidency of the country as t read more...