Vinia Datinguinoo Mukherjee: Congratulations, PCIJ! Mabuhay kayo!
Lead Philippines: But without credible mass media there, what is left to protect the people..?
vonjobi: it's juned sOniDo.
Lead Philippines: Can't believe this is still happening in the country. If the government does nothing, I won't be...
Keith Bacongco: who could we forget Alecks here in Mindanao... aside from PCIJ trainings, he also helped us a lot...

Latest Message 3 days, 18 hours ago

hopeless_race : Sana itreat naman po ng media ang hacienda luisita at mendiola massacre na parang MAGUINADANAO MASSACRE. Ipublicized ang mga katotohanan at ipakita sa tao ang karumaldumal na pinaggagawa sa mga farmers dun. Untouchable po ba sila cory at danding at hindi magawang batikusin ng media about these two massacres?
hopeless_race : Kapag napaguusapan ang mendiola at hacienda luisita massacre ay parang walang nangyari at parang hindi big deal. Anu po ba ang pinagkaiba ng dalawang nabanggit na massacre sa maguindanao massacre?
hopeless_race : Its sad that we pinoys are blind to the fact of what had happened in mendiola and hacienda luisita. Ang tanong..bakit ang media ay hindi manlang matackle ang ganitong usapin? Takot ba sila kay cory at danding?
hopeless_race : Wilkins" brand, for P1.4 billion.-1999 Sugarland Multi-Food Corp. for P2.9 billion 2001- Purefoods Corp P7 billion P60 billion Coca-Cola ... See More 2002- Cosmos Bottling Corp. from RFM Corp. for P14.1 billion October 2008- GSIS' shares in Meralco worth PHP30 Billion. December 2008- country's biggest oil refiner, Petron Corporation. international company shopping spree: Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000. $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd $35.5 mi
hopeless_race : Gud am..glad to be back.
jr_lad : rip mr. alecks pabico. you'll be greatly missed!
sevens21 : Dati input mo lng name at SSS ID makukuha mo agad STATIC INFO...
sevens21 : tawag ka sa HOTLINE nila walang ANSWER grrr we need pa namn ng static info SSS Gising!!!
sevens21 : Gawa naman po kayo ng article about SSS. Pangit ng site nila dali ma blocked ng account
guest_899 : we must check the background of each potential candidates to avoid having another big mistake like GMA
guest_899 : congratulations to PCIJ, more power and God Bless !
jazzymuver : how did Arroyo swallow that kind of things!! how come that she just spend the money our countrymen for her own sake!!
guest_3664 : i would be glad if u can include the investigation of the manner public officials announce infra projects as per COA regulation. It is frustrating to see their faces on the tarpaulin instead of the prescribed information like name of project, date of implementation,amount of contract, source/s of fund, among other things. This is very rampant here in Marikina. Thanks and more power on your noble endeavors. We need people like you to have make our country great again.
jhanz_08 : im making research on R.A 9136...with rgards to the privatization of NPC..could someone out there can let me understand more bout this matter?why was monopoly dismantled?email me..jhanycem@yahoo.com...thanks much
erika marie : P.S.:) my paper is due next week and i do hope someone could provide me these reports coming from reliable resources thank you ulit.
erika marie : P.S.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study regarding political killings in the philippines. could someone out there please send me human rights reports under Aquino and Ramos administration. you could send it at my email: erikamariet@yahoo.com your response would surely be very much appreciated. thank you everyone. god bless.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study for my paper regarding political killings in the philippines. i noted that there are no human rights reports during the Aquino and Ramos administration. could someone out there please send me reports regarding these matter? i do hope these reports came from reliable resources you could send it in my email; erikamariet@yahoo.comyour response would surely be appreciated. thanks everyone. god bless.
jayson bourne : gusto ko po maging member ng PCIJ, panu po ba? may application po ba? sana mapadalhan nyo ako ng info sa email ko... www.jboxpenshoppe@yahoo.com
jayson bourne : cory is OK, but kris & Noynoy sensationalize masyado...
guest_9891 : LABAN pa rin!
meow : boycotts worked during marcos years. how about doing it now against the businesses of the con-ass congressmen?
meow : aside from 168, what other establishments can we boycott that belong to the arroyos and their cronies?
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Foreign observers disappointed with ARMM polls

Posted by: Glenys Banal | May 16, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Filed under: 2007 Elections, Civil Society, Comelec Watch, In the News

ASIAN foreign observers expressed deep regret over the failure of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to conduct peaceful, honest and orderly elections last May 14 in the six provinces of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Reporting its findings at a press conference today, the 21-member delegation of the international observer mission coordinated by the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) deployed in Muslim Mindanao said the ARMM polls had been marred by widespread violence, blatant vote-buying and election irregularities.

ANFREL said all the mission members from Indonesia, Malaysia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Thailand were witnesses to the “rampant disrespect of suffrage rights of the voters” in the region, pointing to several instances of cheating and unethical practices of candidates and election officers that, it said, were conducive environments for fraud.

The presence of the international election monitors, ANFREL noted, did not even deter vote buying, threats and intimidation of voters by the candidates’ supporters.

Amin Shah Bin Iskandar, coordinator of the National Institute for Electoral Integrity (NIEI) in Malaysia, said that some voters received P100 allegedly from Tawi-Tawi gubernatorial bet Hadji Sadikul Sahali. Aside from P100 cash, bribes, he said, came in various forms like free gasoline.

Iskandar also narrated his experience in a Tawi-Tawi precinct where he saw one poll watcher dictating the names of candidates to a voter who dutifully wrote them down on his ballot.

ANFREL delegates also observed how some members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) were involved in irregularities as they did not follow the proper procedures in the distribution of ballots, and in the casting and canvassing of votes.

“During the canvassing of 195 precincts in a gymnasium, as the BEI chairman read the local candidate’s names on the ballots, the other two members were already tallying the results of the national elections (senatorial level),” narrated Steven Rood, country representative of The Asia Foundation, assigned to Sultan Kudarat.

“The tally sheets were spread on the floor and there can never be enough room to do the counting (of votes). But at least we saw three precincts doing it the right way.”

In Maguindanao, some BEI members were seen filling up the ballots for the voters and mass-thumb printing them.

Peace-keeping measures around the polling precincts in some major provinces of the ARMM proved ineffective, claimed Malaysian Mohamad Yunus Lebai Ali, NIEI director, deployed to the province of Shariff Kabungsuan.

“(When) I was in Shariff Kabungsuan, I encountered two armed groups in a heated situation and that made me feel physically unsafe (in the precincts). My colleague Somsri even experienced two bombings only a few meters away (from her)” said Ali, referring to companion Somsri Hananuntasuk of Thailand, ANFREL director, who was also in Maguindanao last Monday.

Despite the low quality of elections in ARMM, ANFREL expressed hope of seeing significant reforms in the election process, and the legal and political environment to ensure free and fair elections in the future. Educating the electorate, it said, can destroy the clannish governments in ARMM and eradicate fraudulent practices.

Iskandar suggested that NGOs be involved to create programs that will inform the voting population of the basics of the electoral system. He added that if the trend of political dynasties in the Philippines is allowed to continue, “violence will reign in the region, massive fraud will remain to wallow, and politics will eventually lose its credibility.

“In the future, no one will believe the elections anymore,” the Malaysian delegate warned.

ANFREL explained that a review and a more careful study of the system can be used to magnify the ill trends of politics in Mindanao, especially those utilizing arms in order to intimidate the public. This, ANFREL said, must be stopped.

The group also said that the Comelec must strictly enforce election laws and that it prioritize transparency to erase any influence on its operations. Secrecy must also be practiced to ensure a free and effective election, it added.

Glenys Banal, a journalism student at the Kalayaan College, is currently doing her internship with the PCIJ.

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 16th, 2007 and is filed under 2007 Elections, Civil Society, Comelec Watch, In the News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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[...] PCIJ also reported the disappointment of foreign observers in the ARMM polls. ASIAN foreign observers expressed deep regret over the failure of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to conduct peaceful, honest and orderly elections last May 14 in the six provinces of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). [...]

Foreign Observers: Still Disappointed In Philippine Elections - The Voice of The Filipino - Tingog.com wrote on May 17, 2007 - 7:43 am | Visit Link

[...] As reported in PCIJ, [...]

Eleksyon 2007 » Foreign observers still dismayed wrote on May 17, 2007 - 5:03 pm | Visit Link