Gov. Ebdane implicated by former Zambales Police Director in Election fraud to favor Arroyo in 2004

SPECIAL REPORT

‘We switched ERs for Gloria Arroyo’

PNP team admits breaking into Batasan building

By Nancy C. Carvajal
Philippine Daily Inquirer

A police officer and his “boys” have come forward saying they stole original election returns (ERs) then kept at the Batasang Pambansa building and replaced these with fake ones to make sure Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo would still emerge the winner of the 2004 presidential election in the event of a recount.

Senior Supt. Rafael Santiago, now assigned at the Philippine National Police Directorate for Operations in Camp Crame, presented to the Inquirer envelopes bearing the seal of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and containing what he said were original ERs from various areas in Mindanao.

Prior to his appointment in Camp Crame, Santiago was relieved as police director of Zambales province.

At a meeting on Tuesday evening attended by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima and Inquirer editors and reporters, Santiago described their coming out as “providential.”

“After I was relieved as Zambales police director, I realized now is the time to come out and tell the truth. I expect there would be mudslinging [against] me, I would be accused of sour graping, and there would be threats because we are going against a powerful man. But I am ready to face it and tell what we know,” he said.

Acting on orders

Santiago said the documents presented to De Lima were among the original ERs stuffed in more than 100 Marlboro cigarette boxes taken by his team from the Batasan main building.

He said he and his boys acted on the orders of then PNP Director General and now Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr., which were coursed through the then Special Action Force (SAF) director, Chief Supt. Marcelino Franco.

Santiago also implicated Roque Bello, a former Comelec supervisor, his son El Bello, and 10 other men who purportedly took part in producing the fake ERs.

He tagged as an accomplice Chief Insp. Ferdinand Ortega, then chief of the SAF unit in charge of security at the Batasan complex.

According to Santiago, the operation was prompted by the election protest filed by Susan Roces, widow of the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., who was Arroyo’s closest opponent in the 2004 election.

At the time of the operation, Santiago headed the Intelligence Division of the National Capital Region (NCR) command of the SAF unit based in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City.

Santiago said he and his boys had mustered the courage to go public after hearing De Lima and Sen. Francis Escudero call on those who had knowledge of past election fraud to come out.

Speaking on behalf of the other policemen involved in the operation, PO2 Rudy Gahar said: “We are tired of being used and ridiculed by our colleagues for what we have done, and we also believe that now is the right time to come out because according to Justice Secretary De Lima, we could be admitted as state witnesses.

“We also want the truth to come out.”

Highly confidential

Santiago said he planned and implemented the “special operation” which was based on orders issued by Franco and originating from Ebdane, and carried out between January and February 2005.

“It was the first week of January 2005 when I was called to Franco’s office and ordered to choose my most trusted men for a highly confidential operation in the Batasan Pambansa building based on instructions from PNP chief Ebdane at that time,” he told the Inquirer.

He identified the men he later selected aside from Gahar, Senior Inspectors Raffy Lero (now assigned at the NCR’s Northern Police District), Samson Kimmayong (now posted in Central Mindanao) and Warly Bitog; Insp. Ramon Garcia (retired); Special Police Officers 2 Rommel Pahang (retired) and Paterno Gamba; Police Officers 2 Alan Layugan, Rodel Tabangin and Trifon Laxamana; and PO1 Norman Duco.

“The objective of the operation was to get the original ERs and replace them with manufactured ones prepared by El Bello and his people to ensure that the ERs reflect the same number of votes indicated in the certificates of canvass that greatly favored Arroyo,” Santiago said.

But this piece of information was not disclosed to his men before the operation.

“They found out [that the operation was all] about switching ERs when it was already ongoing,” he said.

Meeting in coffee shop

Santiago said he met with Ebdane, Franco and El Bello at a coffee shop on Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City in the same week he was ordered by Franco to form his team for the operation.

He said the meeting was held “to discuss the project and familiarize ourselves with the personalities involved.”

Santiago said the operation was scheduled to be carried out on Jan. 23 and 29 and Feb. 5 and 27, 2005, starting at around 11 p.m. up to around 2:30 a.m. the next day.

To ensure that no one else would be at the Batasan main building when his team moved in, a bogus bomb threat was announced, he said.

Ortega, being in charge of Batasan security, was tasked to make sure that Santiago’s team as well as El Bello’s civilian group would have unhampered access to the lobby where the boxes were kept in an area enclosed by screen dividers.

Santiago said that on each of the four nights they worked, “not less than 20 Marlboro cigarette boxes were transported, first filled with manufactured forms collected from a house in Brookside Subdivision in Cainta, Rizal province, and then with the original ERs taken from inside the complex.”

SMOKING GUN. Justice Secretary Leila de Lima examines election returns turned over to her by Senior Supt. Rafael Santiago, who says he and his men have come forward after De Lima was quoted in media that those who know about the poll fraud could be admitted as state witnesses. Santiago says he has 50 original ERs from Mindanao. PHOTOS BY ARNOLD ALMACEN

Assigned tasks

Santiago said 15 men were tapped for the operation and divided into four groups.

One group was assigned to guard the perimeter of the building to prevent anyone from getting near the area while Bello’s men were inside “opening ballot boxes, taking out the original [ERs] and replacing them with fakes.”

A second group ensured that all lights and closed circuit TV cameras were turned off during the operation. This group under Garcia also included some of El Bello’s men who took positions in the dark corridors of the building.

Santiago said Garcia had a camera in his bag and recorded the switching of the ERs: “It was Garcia who took the video of Bello’s men while they were in the restricted area, for insurance.”

The third group, composed of a van driver and a number of security escorts, was in charge of transport.

The fourth group was made up of Santiago’s team.

Santiago said two vans with SAF markings were used in the operation “to avoid being flagged down or inspected at checkpoints.”

He reiterated that his men had no knowledge of the nature of the operation: “My only instruction [to them] was to secure and transport the boxes. They did not know at first what were inside the boxes.”

First night

Gahar recounted that at around 9 p.m. of Jan. 23, 2005, the first night of the operation, he received an order to go to Ortega’s office.

On getting there, he said, he saw Franco, El Bello, Ortega, Lero, Kimmayong, Garcia and some members of the PNP’s explosive and ordnance disposal (EOD) unit.

He said his team was told to go to Bello’s house in Brookside “to load some important boxes [in the van] and bring these to the Batasan complex.”

Gahar said a civilian accompanied them to Bello’s house: “There was no talking, no [mention of] names. [The civilian] just spoke to Duco, our driver.”

This was how Gahar recounted the turn of events:

The team members went to Brookside in a three-vehicle convoy composed of a closed SAF van, a Nissan Frontier pickup, and a private car owned by Pahang.

They stopped in front of a house from which emerged five men carrying 20 Marlboro cigarette boxes that were loaded into the van.

They proceeded to the Batasan complex.

Gahar noticed that while they were in transit, the civilian kept turning his head to look at them, apparently to check if they were looking into the boxes.

At the Batasan complex, Gahar, Duco and Layugan were ordered to stay in the van to guard the boxes.

Another five civilians together with Garcia, Santiago, Ortega and some EOD members then entered the building.

In less than an hour, the boxes were brought back to the van and the team returned to Brookside where the first set of five civilians took the 20 boxes and brought them inside the house.

From Brookside, the team went back to base at Camp Bagong Diwa.

Curiosity

This sequence was repeated on Jan. 29, 2005, Gahar said.

But by the third night, Feb. 5, the team members had become curious about the contents of the boxes.

“It was so hot inside the van. There was no ventilation because all the windows and doors must be closed at all times. We were instructed to avoid being seen while in transit so as not to arouse suspicion,” Gahar said.

“But we got more and more curious about our cargo,” he said.

At one point, Gahar said, they noticed that one of the boxes had been left open.

He recalled: “I reached inside and took out some envelopes that we could use to fan ourselves. We were shocked to see that they were [envelopes] for original ERs.

“We later took some of the envelopes we brought from Cainta and compared these [with those taken from the Batasan].

“The manufactured forms looked clean, while the originals were a bit crumpled. The marks on the fake appeared to include [prints] from the smallest finger, while the original bore only the thumb print.

“More than 100 boxes of original ERs were taken out of the Batasan complex. Most of them were from Mindanao.”

P10K ‘bonus’

Gahar said he and his team were able to pilfer more than 50 original ERs from the boxes that were turned over to Santiago for safekeeping.

There was to have been a fifth operation, Gahar said, but it was aborted because members of the team had to respond to an attempted jailbreak by Abu Sayyaf terror suspects at Camp Bagong Diwa on March 14.

In the end, the team members received P10,000 each from Garcia.

“This is our bonus. Just keep your mouths shut,” Gahar quoted Garcia as telling them.

Reasons to be voted

Pulse Asia asked their respondents why they were voting for a particular candidate. The five top reasons cited were:

“Hindi kurakot/malinis” (Does not steal/is clean) (21.2 percent);

“May nagawa, may magagawa” (Has done a lot/can do a lot) (14 percent);

“Para sa mahirap, galing sa mahirap” (Pro-poor/comes from the poor) (12.2 percent);

“Tumutulong” (Helps a lot) (12 percent);

“Reputasyon ng pamilya” (Family reputation) (4.2 percent).

Palace puzzled at Ebdane's bid for president

By Christine Avendaño, TJ Burgonio - Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines--Why only now?

The ruling coalition’s choice of its presidential standard-bearer has yet to be finalized and President Macapagal-Arroyo herself has told him the post is open to everybody.

So said Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane who acknowledged on Friday that he is indeed interested in running for president in 2010.

“I have become interested,” said Ebdane, a former national police chief, speaking to reporters at a Senate hearing yesterday into the use of the road user’s tax.

“I think under the circumstances, I can join the fight,” he said.

Officials of the ruling Lakas-Kampi-CMD are baffled by Ebdane’s sudden interest in running for president, saying they had no hint that the secretary was harboring any political ambitions.

“Why only now?” said Gabriel Claudio, the party secretary general and presidential political adviser. “If he can tell us formally what his plans are, then we’ll see how the party can help.”

He said Ebdane, who is not a party member, has not formally informed the Lakas-Kampi-CMD about his plans nor made any move to join the administration party.

“Party members are perplexed by his timing,” Claudio said, adding that Ebdane had not tried to sound off either Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, the Lakas-Kampi-CMD president, or himself about his plans.

Print advertisements praising Ebdane’s qualities and proclaiming him to be a good alternative to professional politicians have appeared in several broadsheets in the past few days.

The ads ask: “Di kaya si Jun Ebdane ang Tamang Daan sa 2010?” (Could Jun Ebdane be the right way in 2010?)

Last Thursday, Surigao del Sur Gov. Vicente Pimentel Jr. announced that about 15 governors from Mindanao were pushing for Ebdane’s selection as the ruling party’s presidential standard-bearer.

The governors are said to favor him because of the infrastructure and development projects that he has brought to the region which supposedly shows his concern for Mindanao.

Request rejected

It was learned from reliable source, however, that Ebdane had made a last-minute attempt to have the Sept. 16 meeting of the ruling party’s national executive committee postponed. But his request was rejected.

In that meeting, the committee members endorsed Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro as the administration presidential standard-bearer in 2010.

Asked what party he would align himself with, Ebdane said that would depend on “developments,” adding that he had other “alternatives.”

Ebdane said that even as early as a year ago, people and groups “from several sectors, in the national and barangay levels” had been asking him to enter the race for Malacañang.

The public works secretary said he told the groups urging him to seek the presidency that running for president was no walk in the park and that they should truly support him and not abandon him in the end.

Asked whether he had informed the President about his interest in the presidency, he said: “I insinuated to her that there were people convincing me to run and she said that the position was open … for everybody.”

'Presidency or nothing’

He evaded a question about being pitted against Teodoro, saying that the administration coalition has not finalized its choice of presidential standard-bearer.

Ebdane also would not say who his choice of running mate would be, repeatedly saying that many things were still bound to happen since the filing of candidacy papers was not till November.

He also refused to answer questions on whether he thought Teodoro would make a good presidential candidate.

“Let’s respect everybody. I respect Gibo. He’s a good man,” he said.

Asked whether he was optimistic about getting Ms Arroyo’s support, he said the question was too “personal” and declined to answer.

Asked to comment on the tendency of some politicians to float the idea that they are running for president when what they actually want is to seek a Senate seat, Ebdane said that for him “it (was the presidency) or nothing.” He added that he was not a politician.

But should he decide not to run for public office in 2010, Ebdane said he could always return to his Zambales home province and engage in farming as well as “help whoever may be there.”

Claudio, however, indicated it might be too late for Ebdane to seek the party’s endorsement as presidential standard-bearer.

He pointed out that the party’s endorsement of Teodoro, while it has yet to be ratified, was the consensus of the national executive committee, the party’s highest governing body.

“The committee is the highest ruling body of the party. A consensus has been reached. A clear preference has been expressed. Gibo has the formal endorsement of the national executive committee,” he said.

If Ebdane were to suddenly express a desire to join the party and seek its endorsement, this would be “tossed” to the national executive committee for deliberation, according to Claudio.

But he noted that the deadline for non-party members to join the party and submit to the selection process for standard-bearer was Sept. 15.

“The deadline did not apply only to Vice President Noli de Castro but to all aspirants who were seeking the party’s endorsement. Everyone was aware of the deadline,” he said.

‘Outstanding contributions’

Claudio doubted Ebdane’s bid, if it pushes through, would cause cracks in the party, pointing out that officials endorsing Ebdane have vowed to abide by the party’s choice of standard-bearer.

“Even those endorsing or giving recognition of his qualifications are declaring that they will abide by the final decision,” he said.

Claudio said he and Ermita would talk to Ebdane, whom he described as a “valued Cabinet member” with “outstanding contributions,” about his political plans.

A spokesperson for the Department of Public Works and Highways yesterday said Ebdane’s campaign for president was gaining ground.

More ads coming

Undersecretary Romeo Momo said Ebdane had the support of local officials who he said had paid for the advertisements that appeared in newspapers endorsing Ebdane’s candidacy. He said more ads are expected to come out in the next few days.

Momo said the ads, which appeared in several national dailies, were “voluntarily done by the local leaders because they wanted to encourage the secretary to run following the greater demand to lead the country within.”

There have also been radio commercials featuring Ebdane. Some DPWH employees have also started wearing orange shirts, with the message, “We want a new face in 2010!” With a report from Kristine L. Alave

Gordon: Pay for debates to end premature campaign

SENATOR Richard J. Gordon (Ind.) yesterday reiterated his proposal calling on the government to sponsor televised debates fore presidential hopefuls to prevent politicians’ form prematurely spending for political ads.

Gordon said that many politicians who are planning to run for national posts in the May 2010 Elections are already gearing up through political ads disguised as infomercials.

“We have politicians spending P300 to 400 million for TV ads alone that are already clogging the airtimes though the campaign period has yet to start. We also have appointed officials suddenly coming out with infomercials,” he said.

The senator noted that the Omnibus Election Code (OEC) prescribes a 90-day campaign period before Election Day for national candidates. However, months before the filing of certificates of candidacy, political ads have already filled the tri-media.

Although the OEC defines “candidate” as a person seeking an elective public office who has filed a certificate of candidacy; Gordon said it would be an insult for the people to make them believe that infomercials of politicians are not part of their campaign strategy.

“These people are insulting our citizens. Do they really expect us to believe that their expenditures which amount to hundreds of millions just for TV is not campaigning?” he said.

--Tonight

Comelec delists 6M dubious poll registrants

Nearly 6 million voters were removed from the voters list of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Teopisto Elnas Jr., Comelec director for Election Barangay Affairs Department, said the 5.644 million “deactivated” registration covers only the first four months of the year.

Elnas, in a telephone interview with the Tribune, said for January alone, they removed a total of 3.9 million voters, while in April, about 1.2 million were delisted.

He, though, noted that under the law, the number of delisted voters should be less than a thousand, or 940 to be exact.

Elnas said the bulk of the deactivated voters came from the National Capital Region with more than 1 million.

Voters whose names were stricken from the list were those of persons who failed to vote in the two previous elections – in the May 2007 senatorial polls and the October 2007 barangay elections.

Other reasons for the delisting of voters includes loss of Filipino citizenship, death and double registration, Elnas said.

He said in January, the Comelec removed a total of 162,000 “dead” registrants and another 58,000 of such in the second quarter.

“The basis of our election officers in the delisting of dead voters is the certification coming from local civil registrars,” he said.

But Elnas said they expect the number of those to be stricken off from the voters list to decline in the third and fourth quarter of the year.

“The number has gone down, from 3.9 million in January, it went down to 1.2 million. (So) we expect that in the next two quarters, this will further drop,” he noted.

The Comelec has asked Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno yesterday to direct all judges in the regional and metropolitan trial courts to fast-track the resolution of the petition for inclusion and exclusion of registration to give the commission time to print the names of the qualified voters for the first-ever automated national elections next year.

Citing the Voters Registration Act of 1996, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the court has been given a 15-day reglamentary period to rule on the petition for inclusion and 10 days for the petition for exclusion.

Jimenez said the Comelec, through a resolution it issued last May 28, adjusted the filling of petitions for inclusion and exclusion in order to “cope with the timelines of the commission in the configuration of the machines (PCOS), printing of the elections day computerized list of voters, official ballots and other accountable forms” for the automated elections next year. Marie A. Surbano - Tribune

De Castro may contend in 2010

Vice-President said he can serve the country if given a ‘longer term’

By Francis Earl A. Cueto, Manila Times Reporter

VICE-President Noli de Castro strongly hinted on Sunday of his intentions to drop his hat into the 2010 presidential race, stating that he can still serve the country better on a longer term.

In a statement, de Castro said that there are still more and bigger things that he can still do.

“In my three years of serving as Vice-President, I’ve identified the leading problems of the country and those that need to be solved for the welfare of our people,” de Castro said.

However, de Castro said that it is not yet the time for him to make a categorical statement if he will run or not in the 2010 elections.

“If I declare my intention to run as president, I expect that it would be hard for me to fully perform my duties. I expect that some political sectors would put political color on all my goals and civic activities,” said de Castro.

De Castro made the statement after Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez said that the vice-president is the most formidable foe the opposition can face.

Talks about possible contenders for the country’s top post in 2010 have been going around recently, with Senate President Manuel Villar, Senators Manuel “Mar” Roxas 2nd, Loren Legarda and Panfilo Lacson among the names being dropped.

Other presidential aspirants are Metro Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando, Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

Talks about contenders for the 2010 presidential elections became loud after former President Joseph Estrada undertook various medical missions in remote areas in Metro Manila in what critics see as a move to win back his popularity in preparation for another run for the Palace in 2010.

United opposition wants caution

Meanwhile, United Opposition (UNO) president and Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay over the weekend cautioned presidential aspirants of the 2010 elections, saying that talks and speculations at this point are premature. He added that political parties should instead focus their energy on pressing problems.

“Every one of us should bear in mind that notwithstanding all the noise there are still many problems that has yet to be resolved. The focus should be on how to solve the country’s problems such as poverty, crime incidence, peace and order problem, human rights violation among others,” Binay said.

Binay is being touted upon as the opposition’s standard-bearer in the 2010 election.

The UNO president added that while there’s nothing wrong in political parties and figures to “sound-off” their plans for the 2010 presidential election, the opposition will continue its role as a fiscalizer and will not stop being a critic of the present administration.
-- With James Konstantin Galvez

Senators: electoral reforms before politicking

By Efren L. Danao, Manila Times Senior Reporter

Senator Richard Gordon said Saturday that the nation should focus on electoral reforms before discussing potential contenders for the presidency in 2010.

Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan, on the other hand, said that focus should be on who would be appointed to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

Meanwhile, Sen. Loren Legarda said that talks about 2010 are premature and serve as distraction to the solution of pressing problems like the spiraling oil prices and poverty.

Gordon, chairman of the Senate Committee on Electoral Reforms, said that the country should concentrate on electoral reforms to avoid electoral fraud in the upcoming August 8 elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and eventually in the presidential elections in May 2010.

“If the country has to change, [the electoral system] has to be reformed. This will be a good test if Filipinos have already acquired the moral backbone. If not, we will be like Haiti or Kenya or Pakistan, if we ever allow a convicted highest official to govern again,” he said.

He added that these reforms should start with President Gloria Arroyo showing transparency in the selection of the next chairman and commissioners of the Comelec.

“If there is transparency, people will have less doubt about the appointees and in the Comelec,” added Gordon, who has been pushing for automated elections to eliminate fraud since 2000.

Three vacancies in the Comelec are to be filled up in February with the resignation of Chairman Benjamin Abalos, and the retirement of Commissioners Resureccion Borra and Florentino Tuason on February 2.

Pangilinan echoed Gordon’s sentiments on the significance of the Comelec appointments.

“Political parties and their leaders must focus on ensuring that the Comelec appointees to be appointed in a few weeks’ time are men and women with integrity and capacity. Without an independent and [corruption]-free Comelec, all this talk about 2010 is a waste of time,” he said.

He noted that the search committee had reported that 56 names were being considered for the Comelec positions.

“We urge the search committee to make public the list of these nominees and to invite the public to submit position papers for or against these nominees. The list should be made public before it is culled or shortlisted,” he said.

Meanwhile, Legarda said that while there is nothing wrong for political parties to “sound off” and prepare for 2010, they may prove to be more of a distraction to the nation already beset with pressing problems like poverty and the spiraling prices of oil products.

She said that the political landscape could still change before the 2010 elections, but the pressing problems are already here and now.

“Based on my experience in the past three elections, line-ups are usually formed just months ahead of the election so, the pronouncements we are hearing at present may be just to test the waters,” Legarda added.

De Castro is best bet of administration

By Norman Bordadora - Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines--The opposition views Vice President Noli De Castro as the “most formidable” contender that the administration can field in the 2010 presidential election.

But even De Castro will be no match for anyone in the opposition’s crop of “presidentiables,” according to Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and lawyer Adel Tamano, both opposition stalwarts.

Rodriguez, former spokesperson of deposed President Joseph Estrada, the recognized leader of the opposition, made the fearless forecast at yesterday’s Kapihan sa Sulo news forum, saying: “We believe that our crop of ‘presidentiables’ can do better. As long as the opposition is not divided four or five ways, we will win.”

Tamano, the spokesperson of the United Opposition, agreed that De Castro was the strongest candidate that the administration could put up against the likes of Senate President Manuel Villar of the Nacionalista Party (NP), Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas II of the Liberal Party (LP), and Senators Loren Legarda and Panfilo Lacson.

“But he has the same built-in weakness in that he is with the administration,” Tamano pointed out.

Declared Rodriguez: “Vice President De Castro is the most formidable.

“But he is ‘beatable’ by a strong opposition. He is identified with the administration, and the administration trust rating is very low.”

The administration coalition, led by the Lakas-CMD, is reportedly looking to choose its standard-bearer in 2010 from among De Castro, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chair Bayani Fernando and Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte.

Administration Sen. Richard Gordon is said to be also considering a run for the presidency.

Lakas executive director Ray Roquero yesterday told the Inquirer by phone that the ruling party might “adopt” De Castro.

But Roquero added that De Castro had to surmount obstacles within Lakas in the persons of Fernando and Belmonte.

De Castro and Gordon, despite having proved an ability to win an elective post on the national level, are outside the fold of Lakas.

Fernando and Belmonte are Lakas members, but neither has mounted a nationwide electoral campaign.

Another administration stalwart reportedly being considered for a run for the presidency is Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro, a member of the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC).

Of the lot, only Fernando has categorically declared himself available for nomination as Lakas standard-bearer.

“Yes, I want to run,” he told the Inquirer on Friday. “You can’t be too coy about this. You have to let people know what you want.”

Liability

Tamano said that for many qualified senatorial candidates in the 2007 midterm elections, their affiliation with the administration coalition proved to be a liability.

“Team Unity had many good candidates who lost because of the badge that they are part of the administration ticket,” he said.

But despite the opposition’s declared winning stance, Tamano cautioned its stalwarts against dwelling too much on 2010.

“Let us not be too arrogant ... [If we don’t come to an understanding] we may very well lose,” he said.

Tamano also appealed to members of the opposition “to lower the political noise.”

“It’s too early [for it],” he said, adding:

“The people want the opposition to address the country’s problems ... Don’t forget why the people voted for the opposition in the first place.”

The opposition fielded 11 candidates and won seven of 12 seats in the 2007 elections.

The 12th opposition candidate would have been the LP’s Sen. Francis Pangilinan, but he chose to run an independent campaign.

Estrada had earlier said he wanted the opposition to field a common presidential candidate in order to avoid a repeat of the 2004 polls when the opposition’s votes were split between his best friend, the late actor Fernando Poe Jr., and Lacson.

He had said that he might run himself if the opposition forces failed to come together.

Loyalty

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, Lakas secretary general, explained De Castro’s apparent edge over other presidential aspirants allied with Malacañang:

“One of the factors that seem to be on Noli’s side is his loyalty to the administration in the last five years. That [partly] explains why some members of the party are pushing for his endorsement.”

Zubiri said De Castro had proven his capacity to assist in the implementation of the administration’s programs, especially in the housing sector.

De Castro, an independent candidate, was President Macapagal-Arroyo’s running mate in the 2004 polls under the administration coalition, K-4.

On Friday, Presidential Management Staff chief Cerge Remonde said his personal opinion was that De Castro would be the administration’s best bet for 2010.

Coalition-building

Also on Friday, Zubiri said Lakas would kick off the selection process for its standard-bearer for 2010 in a two-day national directorate meeting to be held in Manila in the third week of January.

He said Ms Arroyo herself had requested that Lakas “start the process.”

Yesterday, Zubiri told the Inquirer that both the NP and the NPC had actively been courting Lakas’ support.

He said the “possible” presidential contenders were Belmonte, Fernando and De Castro, but quickly added:

“Even Manny (Villar of the NP) and Loren (Legarda of the NPC) have spoken to me personally on a possible coalition”

But the Legarda camp was quick to deny this.

Said Zubiri: “As of now, there is a large field [of presidential aspirants] for Lakas to choose from.”

He said that “although not very high in the surveys,” Belmonte and Fernando were “respected in terms of performance.”

He also said he gave the NP and NPC “suggestions on how to proceed with a possible coalition partnership between our party and their party.”

According to Zubiri, what is important in coalition-building is “our ideologies as political parties are in sync with each other.”

“Among the political parties today in the Philippines, we are similar in ideology with the NP as well as the NPC. So that’s Loren and Manny,” he said.

He added that Lakas’ political ideology was centrist: “We are not Right or Left. We are similar in ideology to the political parties of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy, and in Asia, the Golkar party of Indonesia.”

‘Defending champion’

Roquero pointed out that the forthcoming Lakas meeting was for “strategic planning,” and that there was no rush to name a standard-bearer.

As the party with the largest machinery, “we should be the last one to declare our candidate,” he said.

Roquero said Lakas members and possible election coalition partners should proceed from this basic assumption.

“We are the defending, reigning champion. We won back-to-back [in the 2004 polls],” he said.

“As the dominant majority party, we will be the one to choose. They should go through a process. All others are miniscule parties. They simply want to attract new members, so they float names.”

But Davao Rep. Prospero Nograles, Lakas’ regional vice president for Mindanao, hinted that the party could merge with other parties with strong presidential contenders to survive 2010.

“I think Lakas right now is very fluid, and anything is possible at this point,” said Nograles.

He said Lakas and Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino, Ms Arroyo’s party, “must get its act together as soon as possible.”

“Too early to tell [if Lakas will remain intact]. We all must talk to our allies first, so that we can emerge strong,” he said.

With reports from Michael Lim Ubac and Dona Z. Pazzibugan

Timeline: Barangay and SK elections

Manila Times SPECIAL REPORT: Barangay, SK polls

Timeline: Barangay and SK elections


April 15, 1975
The Kabataang Barangay (KB) was created by virtue of then-President Ferdinand Marcos' Presidential Decree No. 684, which provided for the organization of KBs in all barangay units nationwide.

On May 1, 1975
About 3 million Filipinos, age 15 to 18 years old, participated in the first national KB elections.

April 1980
The second KB national elections
were held.

March 25, 1982
Batas Pambansa Blg. 222, an act providing for the election of
barangay officials, was approved.

May 17, 1982
For the first time, barangay
elections were held in the
country's 42,000 barangay units.

March 28, 1989
The second barangay elections were held.

October 10, 1991
Republic Act 7160, also known as the Local Government Code of 1991, was approved. R.A. 7160 abolished the Kabataang Barangay and replaced it with the Sangguniang Kabataan.

December 2, 1992
The first Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections were held.

May 9, 1994
The third barangay elections were held.

May 6, 1996
The second SK elections were held.

May 12, 1997
The fourth barangay elections
were held. Famous Namfrel
Chairman Jose Concepcion Jr.
ran for the position of barangay chairman of Forbes Park, Makati
City, and won.

March 19, 2002
Republic Act 9164, an act providing for synchronized barangay and SK elections, was approved in Congress.

May 21-22, 2002
Poor turnout in the young voters' registration prompted calls for the abolition of SK.

July 15, 2002
Barangay and SK elections were held simultaneously for the first time.

September 22, 2005
Republic Act 9340, an act resetting the barangay and SK elections, was approved. The said republic act states that the subsequent synchronized barangay and SK elections shall be held on the last Monday of October and every three years thereafter.

July 31, 2007
The last day of voters' registration for barangay elections.

August 5, 2007
The last day of voters' registration for SK elections.

September 5 to 7, 2007
Student leaders, educators, top officials of the League of Municipalities and League of Cities of the Philippines, among other groups, called for the abolition of the SK.

September 17, 2007
The House of Representatives passed House Bill 2417, postponing the barangay and SK elections, originally set October 29, to the first Monday of May 2009.

September 23, 2007
Sen. Manuel Villar said the Senate does not agree with the postponement of the barangay and SK elections and instead pushed for polls to go ahead on the October 29 polls. Villar also assured that the Senate would not file its own version of the bill for the postponement.

September 28, 2007
The filing of candidacy for the synchronized elections started.

September 29, 2007
The Philippine National Police began its implementation of the mandatory 45-day gun ban in preparation for the upcoming barangay and SK elections.

October 1, 2007
Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. resigned. The poll body, however, assured the upcoming barangay and SK elections will be held as scheduled.

October 3, 2007
President Gloria Arroyo asked members of both chambers of Congress to support the House proposal seeking a two-year postponement of the October 29 synchronized barangay and SK elections.

October 18, 2007
The deadline of the filing of candidacy for both elections

Student leaders, educators want youth council scraped

By Rommel C. Lontayao, Manila Times Reporter

Student leaders, educators want youth council scraped
First of two parts

Student leaders from various schools nationwide and supervisors from the Department of Education (DepEd) have recently called for the abolition of the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK).

The no longer meets its purpose and that the re-allocation of its funds will help augment the budget of the public school system, they said.

In a proposal drafted during a national leadership training attended by some 6,000 students and educators from all over the country, representatives from the Federation of Supreme Student Governments and regional education supervisors in Social Studies urged Congress to pass a law abolishing the SK.

SK inefficient

In a statement, student and teacher groups said, “The SK, whose primary objective is to enhance the social, political, economic, cultural, intellectual, moral, spiritual and physical development of the youth of the country, has lost the bases of its existence with its miserable performance or nonperformance.”

They added that programs and projects being implemented by the SK, consisting mostly of construction of waiting sheds and signposts bearing the names of SK officials, are too insignificant and irrelevant.

These programs and projects are wasting precious resources that could have funded more important and urgent concerns such as public education, they said.

Give funds to education

The proponents calling for the abolition of the SK drafted a manifesto, which says “funds intended for the SK, if and when re-allocated for public education, will certainly help solve its problems.”

The public education system “needs all the resources to address prevailing gaps in education-related resources such as quality books, fully-equipped classrooms and competent teachers,” according to the manifesto.

DepEd has estimated that, by the end of school year 2008, there would be a shortage of 1,390 classrooms, 524,237 school seats, 2,733 teachers and 44.2 million textbooks.

This would not be resolved if the government continue to allocate insufficient funds for public education, according to DepEd sources.

The education department estimated that some P4.3 billion is still needed to cover the shortage. DepEd has an allocated budget of P137 billion this year.

According to IBON Foundation, the government now spends more for debt service of interest payments alone per Filipino than it does for education.

In the proposed 2008 budget, the Philippine government allocated P3,269.48 per capita for interest payments, while it allocated only P2,010.39 per capita for education.

The research group also said government support for the public educational system has been declining in the past years and this is manifested by the severe shortages besetting the sector.

The 2006 budget of the DepEd has fallen by almost 6 percent from budget allocations five years ago. This means that, based on school year 2005-2006 enrollment figures, each public school student is allocated a share of only P5,082 of the DepEd budget, down 11 percent from P5,726 in 2001.

Declining allocations for education are reflected in the severe shortages of teachers and teaching materials that have crippled the public education system, which, according to the law, should receive the highest share of the national government budget.

Several weeks ago, the Commission on Elections said it had already received P664 million as initial fund for the conduct of the synchronized barangay and SK polls.

“Since 1992, billions of pesos coming from scarce government resources have been spent to cover for the elections of SKs in practically all barangays in the Philippines, whether urban or rural,” Antonio Morales, a columnist of an online local media organization, said.

“SK officials receive remuneration for attending SK sessions from barangay funds. SK receives a 10-percent apportionment from the barangay budget. With that, they spend their share for their pet projects that are not necessary, not beneficial to the youth, and simply a drain to the coffers of the government,” Morales in an article posted in samarnews.com.

In previous reports, President Gloria Arroyo was quoted as saying that the 10-percent share of the SK could be used by the barangay council for building farm-to-market road instead

Barangay polls becoming deadly

League leader says 30 have died so far in the run up to the Oct. 29 polls

By Nora O. Gamolo, Manila Times Senior Desk Editor

This year’s barangay elections just might be the bloodiest in history, the head of the national federation of 41,995 barangay units said, adding that the polls should have been postponed on this basis alone.

As it is, the synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections are scheduled to push ahead on October 29.

James Marty Lim, president of the Liga ng Mga Barangay ng Pilipinas, said that while everybody is now preparing for the barangay polls, “there is still a flicker of hope [in the league] that it will be postponed.”

“We have already recorded 30 deaths of barangay officials right after the May 15 election. We have recorded one barangay captain killed in Quezon City, one in Valenzuela and four in Batangas, and these are just media reports,” Lim said. The actual figure could be higher, as many cases go unreported.

He added that the league and the barangay units do not have police powers to prevent and investigate cases of election-related violence.

This election is too close to the previous polls, Lim said. “The wounds of the last election have not yet healed.”

The same people who contested each other in the last election five months ago, either as a candidate or political supporter of the contenders, will now have another face-off in this contest, Lim added.

Today, people are still angry, Lim explained. “The contestants are still hot, and many electoral protests are not yet resolved.”

Prayer for postponement

Even though the Senate begins a four-week recess on Monday, Lim said he is hopeful the lawmakers will convene a special session on Tuesday. Even with four senators out in Geneva for the meeting of the International Parliamentary Union, there are still 11 senators in the country—enough for a quorum.

“Whether they want it or not, there should be a voting on the issue,” Lim said.

“It’s all about respect. The president has endorsed it as urgent There is a counterpart bill to this effect from the House,” he recalled.

“We in the Liga simply want to know who wants to have the [barangay] election, and who do not,” Lim said, adding that the Senate is “fence-sitting.”

“They are dribbling the issue to death.”

Lim said that in the Senate’s session last week, the senators practically barred Sen. Miguel Zubiri from defending the counterpart postponement measure in the Senate so there was no discussion.

Zubiri is a co-sponsor of that measure and could have defended it in the absence of the main sponsor, Lim said.

Wish unlikely

Lim conceded, however, that the senators “would most likely get it their way,” decrying that Senate President Villar is practically a hostage of his senatorial peers, and his leadership is compromised by senators who do not want a postponement of the barangay polls.

But Lim insisted that the barangay league does not want to have the elections postponed simply because it means an extension of their term of office.

“We believe that the automation [of the barangay polls] is important. If they want to test [the automation measure], why should it be tested only in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao? It should be tested in two cities and two provinces,” Lim said.

He conceded that only Mayor Marides Fernando of Marikina offered to make her city a pilot area, but no other political leader came forward.

Conduct of polls

Lim said he is optimistic about barangay polls, however, insisting that vote-buying is practically nonexistent in the baran­gay level. “Nobody will tamper with the barangay election because they are neigh­bors. Well, maybe, in only one percent.”

Failure of election is another thing, though. Just the same, “the failure of elections happen in ARMM, not in Luzon and Visayas and Metro Manila,” he asserted.

Among others, failure of elections can be declared by the Commission on Elections in extreme cases when the election materials are lost and when there is preponderant violence involving the election officers.

“If a failure does happen, there is protection for the [electoral] process and the parties. An election will be held later, but it will be held,” Lim said.

Speedy tabulation

Polls at the barangay level are much quicker to process, though. With face-to-face counting, winners are known almost immediately after votes are cast, and they proclaimed immediately “even before the night is over.”

Lim insisted that there was really no two years postponement of the barangay polls, as contended by many.

“What happened was that we just went back to the status quo before when barangay leaders serve for more than five years for every term, even six years. Nobody complained before.”

He explained that the Constitution says that local government leaders serve for three years, except barangay officials as may be determined by law. But this was not invoked in the Local Government Code, which adopted a three-year term for barangay officials based on what the Constitution prescribes for the rest of local government officials and the members of the House of Representative who represent electoral districts. The exception clause for barangay leaders was not invoked.

Lim decried that the term of office of barangay leaders has become a political issue, even while barangay leaders are officially not members of political parties and are banned from express partisan politics that has wracked the nation

Barangay polls pushing thru as scheduled

DESPITE being certified as urgent by Malacañang, the bill seeking to postpone the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections is dead after the Senate failed to act on it before it adjourned.

Majority Leader Arthur Defensor said that the House of Representatives is already resigned to the idea that the proposal of the House Committee on Suffrage to postpone the elections to May 2009 will not get the Senate’s nod.

It is already certain the elections set on October 29 this year will push through.

“Because the Senate has suspended its session already, there is no chance to act on the postponement. In fact I have given up hope already,” Defensor said.

According to Defensor, the members of the Lower House were very disappointed over the failure of the Upper Chamber to act on the bill, which is the first legislative measure passed by the lawmakers in the 14th Congress.

The Lower House proposed that the barangay and SK elections should be moved from October this year to May 2009 in order to give the Commission on Elections ample time to prepare for computerized polls. Jester P. Manalastas - Journal

Migz, Nene row over bgy polls

By: Bernadette E. Tamayo - Journal online

THE consideration of Senate Bill No. 1660 calling for the postponement of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on October 29 was stalled due to “a technicality” raised by Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr.

Sen.Juan Miguel Zubiri made this clear amid inquiries from barangay leaders concerning the status of the proposed measure postponing the twin polls to next year.

Zubiri said that he was prepared to defend the measure but Pimentel invoked Section 71 (b) of the Senate Rules dealing with “sponsorship by the committee chairman (of bills on second reading), or by any member designated by the committee.”

Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate committee on constitutional amendments, revision of codes and laws, had asked Zubiri to sponsor SB 1660 last Monday before Gordon left for Geneva, Switzerland for the International Red Cross board meeting.

Zubiri said that he respects the will of the Upper Chamber to defer consideration of the measure as it began its four-week break yesterday. Congress will resume session on November 5.

He was prepared to sponsor the measure for second reading last Tuesday, explaining he was doing so as “a good soldier” requested by a senior colleague to undertake the task.

Pimentel then said that that was not the way to designate a sponsor of a measure on second reading as stipulated in Section 71 (b) of the Senate Rules and moved for the deferment of the consideration of SB 1660, which Sen. Francis Pangilinan, the majority leader, did not oppose.

Gordon was also ready to sponsor the measure last Monday but the number of signatures required for the committee report to be considered on second reading was met only after the session had already been adjourned.

Ari-arian ng mga bgy chair ipinaiimbentaryo ng DILG

IPINAIIMBENTARYO ni Department of the Interior and Government (DILG) Secretary Ronaldo Puno ang lahat ng financial records at property ng mga da-ting chair ng bawat barangay bago umupo ang mga mananalong halal na opisyal.

Sa ipinalabas na mem-randum sa pamamagitan ni Undersecretary Austere Panadero, inatasan nito ang mga Alkalde ng munisipyo at mga siyudad na pangasiwaan ang isasagawang inventory ng mga kagamitan at mga financial records para sa maayos na pagsasalin sa mga bagong uupong mga punong barangay.

Ayon sa DILG ang lahat ng barangay officials ay nararapat aniyang kumuha muna ng kanilang property clearance sa kanilang mga barangay treasurer, para naman sa pormal na pagsasalin nito sa mga bagong punong barangay.

Sakali naman aniyang nawala o nasira ang mga naturang government property dulot ng kalamidad, ay dapat maghain muna sa kanilang city o municipal auditor ang mga accountable officers ng pagkawala sa loob lamang ng 30 araw para sa accounting nito.

Dapat aniyang kalakip ng mga requests ay kinabibi-langan ng affidavit ng accountable officer at two disinterested persons; 2) final investigation report ng office of department head at proper go-vernment-investigating agency; at 3) listahan at description ng mga properties na nawala na sertipikado ng bawat provincial at city general services officer, municipal or barangay treasurer. Arlene Rivera - Journal online

DILG to local execs: Ensure turnover of barangay records

By: Jun Icban-Legaspi - Journal online

IN view of the forthcoming synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections on Oct. 29, 2007, Secretary Ronaldo Puno of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) called on all city and municipal mayors to ensure the proper turnover of all financial records and property inventory in the barangay by the outgoing punong barangays before the assumption to office of the incoming barangay officials.

Puno, in a memorandum issued through Undersecretary Austere A. Panadero, reiterated a memorandum circular issued by the department earlier, enjoining all city and municipal mayors to direct their respective punong barangays to conduct property, financial and records inventories, and turn-over the same to the incoming punong barangays on or before their assumption to office.

“As city and municipal mayors have a supervisory role over barangays, they are expected to make sure that outgoing punong barangays under them should effect a proper turnover of records, properties and equipment,” he said.

Earlier, the DILG issued Memorandum Circular 2002-122 which provides for the systematic and smooth turnover of records and properties by the outgoing punong barangays.

The DILG secretary said all outgoing barangay officials, as the primary accountable officers for all government property assigned or issued to his office, shall also be required to secure property clearance from the barangay treasurer, who shall in turn secure the same from the incoming punong barangay.

Senate to oppose House bill resetting village, youth polls

By Veronica Uy - INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines -- The Senate has agreed in a consensus to oppose moves to postpone barangay (village) and the Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council) elections, the Minority Floor Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. has disclosed.

Pimentel said this was discussed in a caucus where he and his colleagues were also deliberating on what to do over Malacañang’s refusal to allow Cabinet members attend Senate inquiries.

On Monday, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading a resolution that reset the village and youth council elections from October 29 to the second Monday of May 2009.

The House bill is expected to be sent to the Senate for adoption.

Cabinet and military officials who were invited Tuesday to the Senate inquiry on the national broadband network project did not attend for various reasons.

Irked over the Palace response, the senators agreed to issue subpoenas to force these officials to attend the ongoing investigation.

Delay in village, youth polls unconstitutional--Tañada

By Delfin Mallari Jr. - Inquirer

LUCENA CITY, Philippines -- Quezon Representative Lorenzo Tañada III insisted on Tuesday that House Bill 2417 postponing the scheduled barangay (village) and Sangguniang Kabataan (youth council) elections, is "unconstitutional."

"While the legislature can fix the term of local officials, it cannot extend their tenure," he said in a statement sent to the Philippine Daily Inquirer, parent company of INQUIRER.net.

He called on his fellow solons to start the 14th Congress “by being real representatives of our people."

“Let not this shameful bill blemish the very image that we are starting to rebuild for the House of Representatives,” he stressed.

He noted that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) has already declared that they are ready to oversee the village and youth polls originally scheduled next month.

Citing the position of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reforms, Tañada lamented that the first postponement of the village elections in 2005 already gave sitting barangay and SK officials two years of “un-mandated” leadership and another postponement would only extend the “credulity” of their mandate even more.

The solon chided the Comelec for its plan to use the village polls as a “guinea pig for election automation,” saying it “smacks of hypocrisy."

He dismissed the arguments of local officials that the lack of funds justifies the postponement.

“That lack of funds, not by Comelec, but by those who would bankroll the campaigns of barangay captains and Sangguniang Kabataan, should actually be a strong reason why the October barangay elections should not be postponed,” he stressed.

“At least, somehow, performance and not money politics would determine the outcome of the village elections,” he added.

On Monday, voting 149 for, 50 against, and with four abstentions, the House of Representatives approved on third and final reading House Bill 2417 which reset the synchronized village and youth elections.

Under the proposed legislation, the scheduled October 29 election will be moved to the second Monday of May 2009.

The 2007 General Appropriations Act gave the Comelec P9.17 billion budget, almost half of this, or P5.2 billion, spent for the May polls.

The village and SK elections will cost P2.131 billion.

House Bill 2417 has been forwarded to the Senate for its concurrence.

Senate President Manuel Villar, Jr. has indicated he would facilitate consideration of the bill by the senators. Villar said he recognized that House members were in the best position to feel the pulse of their constituents.

The poll body has issued Resolution Number 8264 enumerating the calendar of activities in relation to the October 29 elections.

The resolution states the election period will start September 29 and end November 13.

Scrap ‘useless’ SK, says Nene

By: Bernadette E. Tamayo - Journal

SENATE Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. yesterday said he supports the abolition of the Sangguniang Kabataan, noting that it no longer serves its purpose as a training ground for youth leaders and as means for them to be involved in the community.

He cited persistent reports that officials of SK in various barangays have neglected their duties, although they continue to get allowances.

However, he said an alternative mechanism should be created to ensure continued youth representation in local government units.

In several cases, the SK chairmen and other officials are oftentimes not around in their respective towns because they are studying in colleges and universities in Metro Manila and elsewhere, Pimentel said.

But the worst cases are the SK leaders who commit corrupt practices, unable to resist the temptation to which they are exposed in handling public funds that are entrusted to them.

“Given these unsavory reports, we should now consider the abolition of the Sangguniang Kabataan and replace it with some other mechanism,” Pimentel said.

“While I am for abolition of the SK, it is not right that we should dissolve it without a replacement because I believe that the youth should not be deprived of representation in the government,” he added.

He said even some mayors whose sons or daughters are SK officials have endorsed the scrapping of the SK because it is not delivering any services while continuing to receive funding from the government for its operations.

Pimentel said he is disturbed over reports that SK officials are tempted to take advantage of their positions for monetary gains due to the absence of serious efforts to prevent fund irregularities.

“We should not tolerate a situation where they are exposed to or susceptible to wrongdoing especially since they are still in their formative years,” he said.

But he maintained his stand against the deferment of the barangay and SK elections from Oct. 29 to the second Monday of 2009 as contained in a bill already approved on third and final reading by the House of Representatives.

He said this is probably the last elections to be conducted for SK in view of the snowballing move for its abolition in both chambers of Congress.

Since the proposed postponement will automatically result in an additional two-year extension of the term of incumbent SK officials, Pimentel said this is a “ridiculous move” because practically all of them are past the age bracket -- 15 to 17 years old -- for youth and therefore legally speaking, no longer qualified for the posts.

Poll postponement all up to Senate

House rushes bill moving elections to 2009 Only 6 weeks left before Oct. 29 SK, barangay polls

By EDMER F. PANESA - Manila bulletin

The fate of the proposal to postpone the synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections slated on Oct. 29, 2007, now lies in the hands of the Senate.

While Speaker Jose de Venecia said yesterday that bill postponing the elections to May in 2009 is expected to be approved by the House of Representatives on third and final reading tomorrow, it needs quick Senate action and approval, or the elections set for Oct. 29 will proceed as scheduled.

Majority Leader Rep. Arthur Defensor of Iloilo and Senior Deputy Majority Leader Rep. Neptali Gonzales Jr. of Mandaluyong City both expressed confidence that the bill will hurdle third-reading approval by Monday. They said this will give the Senate enough time to move it through committee and plenary approval before Congress takes its first break starting Oct. 13.

"It will be up to the Senate to decide whether the polls should be postponed or not," Defensor said.

Sen. Richard Gordon, chairman of the Senate Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, had earlier said it is unlikely for senators to endorse the proposal to defer the barangay and SK elections to the second Monday of May in 2009.

Gordon said incumbent barangay and SK officials had already enjoyed a three-year term extension because the polls have been postponed twice. The last village and youth polls were held in 2002. Elections were scheduled for 2005 but these were postponed.

Similar views have also been expressed by other senators who want the elections held as scheduled.

Secretary Ronaldo Puno of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) had also said his department sees no reason for the postponement since funds are already available for the elections.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is also proceeding with all preparations for the Oct. 29 elections. It has already deputized the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police and other organizations to ensure the security of the elections.

It has reminded the candidates of the mandatory drug testing for all candidates.

It has announced that the same precincts used in the last elections will be open on Oct. 29.

With only about six weeks left before Oct. 29, observers said it now depends on the Senate whether it will go along with the House proposal for postponement. It will have to deliberate and approve the measure and then a bicameral committee will have to resolve any differences between the Senate and House bills.

Then President Arroyo will have to sign the bill into law.

All these many steps must be taken in the next six weeks, if the elections are to be postponed.

Barangay, SK polls postponement pressed

By: Jester P. Manalastas - Journal

SPEAKER Jose de Venecia yesterday announced that a bill on the postponement of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections will be approved on third and final reading at the plenary session tomorrow.

De Venecia said that the immediate approval of the bill is due to the strong support from the different political parties in the House of Representatives.

Earlier, the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms approved the postponement of barangay elections from October 2007 to May 2009.

Committee chairman Makati Rep. Teddy Locsin presented to the plenary the committee report stating that the Commission on Elections had asked Congress to give them at least two years to prepare for the computerized elections. It was approved at second reading.

If the Senate rejects the postponement the elections will proceed as scheduled on October 29.

House Majority Leader Arthur Defensor and Senior Deputy Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales both expressed confidence that the bill will hurdle third-reading approval tomorrow.

They said the Senate has enough time to move it through committee and plenary approval before Congress takes its first break starting October 13.

“It will be up to the Senate to decide whether the polls should be postponed or not,” Defensor said.