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#EleksyonSerye: The Presidentiables Among these nuisance candidates were ‘Intergalactic Earth Ambassador’ Allan Carreon and ‘Archangel Lucifer’ Romeo Ygonia.
of the Interior and Local Government Manuel “Mar” Roxas, neophyte Senator Grace Poe and veteran Senator Miriam Santiago.
These dizzying political oddities reflect the lack of a definite process for selecting and grooming future leaders of the country, thereby highlighting the continuing decline of the Philippine political system where it seems that surveys, money and ambition determine who gets to run for public office.
Voters in the 2016 Elections, not provided with clashing platforms, had complained for the lack of real choice.
Legit Candidates For a long while since the deadline for filing of COCs, it appeared that there were four serious presidential contenders including the opposition leader Vice President Jejomar Binay, former Secretary
Flaws blemish the candidacy of these contenders. Binay is a very experienced politician but his name is tangled with a major corruption scandal. Roxas is the grandson of former president Manuel A. Roxas but he is deemed incapable of distinguishing himself from the shadow of current president Benigno Aquino III. Poe is the “adopted” daughter of movie stars and seen as honest and gentle but still, a newbie in politics, spending only
5 years as senator, with 5 disqualification cases trying to drag her down. Santiago is notable for serving in all three branches of Philippine government and is competitive enough in the presidential race despite her health conditions but this is her second time in the race after she lost in the 1992 presidential elections due to allegations of impropriety. Game-changer However, on November 27, the toughtalking Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, involved in the allegations of extrajudicial killings, formally filed his COC for president through his lawyer Salvador Medialdea while his daughter, Inday Sara Duterte-Carpio substituted him in running for mayoral position in their hometown. He declared his plan to run for presidency on November 21 following the Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) decision that Poe is a natural-born Filipino.
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“I cannot accept an American President,” Duterte said, referring to Poe, who renounced her US citizenship to be able to serve in the government under the Aquino administration in 2010. “Give me an Igorot, a Bagobo, as long as he or she is Filipino.” Accordingly, other candidates accepted the mayor in the race. “This strengthens our democracy given that people will have more options and choices,” Senator Francis Escudero, the running mate of Poe, said in a text message to GMA News Online.
Photo Source: http://media.philstar.com/Jejomar-Binay.jpg | http:// newsinfo.inquirer.net/files/grace-poe-0401.jpg | http:// newsinfo.inquirer.net/files/miriam-santiago.jpg | https://www.google.com.ph/mar+roxas.jpg | http:// assets.rappler.com/rodrigo-duterte.jpg
Nineteen File For Vice Presidency Rocker-on-duty: Eric Christian Fabian Photos compiled by David Uy III
M
ANILA - 19 individiuals have filed their Certificate of Candidacy (CoC) for the position of Vice President in the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Central Office at the Palacio del Gobernador in Manila as of October 16, 2015, the final day for the filing of candidacy.
The qualifications of the vice presidency requires that the candidate must be a natural-born citizen of the Philippines, a registered voter and is capable of reading and writing. He/she must be atleast 40 years old on the election day and a resident of the Philippines for 10 years. The 2016 elections are unusual due to it having the most vice presidentiable bets, forming half a Senate slate. These six senators are the more popular candidates, they are: Poe’s running mate Senator Francis “Chiz” Escudero, Camarines Sur representative Leni Robredo (Liberal Party), Senator Gregorio Honasan II (United Nationalist Alliance) and Nacionalista Party members Senators “Bongbong” Marcos (Miriam Santiago’s vice president), Alan Peter Cayetano, and Antonio Trillanes IV. The election is favorable for Escudero, Cayetano, Trillanes and Honasan because their terms end in 2016, meaning they can return to the Senate if they lose. Senators in the midst of their 6 year terms can bid for higher office while the chamber is still adjourned. Earl G. Parreño, of the Institute for Political and Electoral Reform comments, “Running for a vice presidential position is much cheaper than a presidential campaign. Because senators know they can go back, they do not have much risk. They don’t have to spend much but they have the chance to go one rung higher.” Trillanes and Cayetano do not belong to any tandem. Trillanes has expressed his support for Senator Grace Poe’s candidacy and Cayetano has gotten the approval of Davao City mayor Rodrigo Duterte, a crowd favourite but did not
file a CoC for the presidency, instead he filed for the Davao City mayoralty. The Nacionalista Party where Cayetano, Marcos and Trillanes belong has implemented a ‘free zone’, meaning the three are on their own, and their co-members can freely choose who they will support among the three. Senator Cynthia Villar said that this is a show of the party’s deep bench but according to De La Salle University political analyst Gladstone Cuarteros, it shows the party’s weakness. “The NP cannot even discipline its own members. They just allow their members to run without a guidance on what to do, and what platform to pursue”, she said. Other less notable candidates for the vice presidency are former Ifugao District representative Zosimo Paredes, Albert Alba (Rizalito David; Ang Kapatiran), Teodoro Malangen ( Roy Señeres; Partido ng Manggagawa at Magsasaka), Raul Barbasa (Philippine Green Republic Party), Neil Aldea ( Bigkis Rizalista Philippine Military Divine Government), Vicente Camilon (PMP), Nid Anima (Aasenso Sabongero Partylist) security guard Angelito Baluga, 59-year old seaman, Rolando Tibayan, housewife Myrna Mamon, Orlando Suerte, , Diego Palomares Jr., and Hermito De Asis from Northern Samar. The COMELEC will release the final list of candidates on December 10, 2015, after removing “nuisance candidates” and those who are not capable of a nationwide campaign. The election will be on a Monday, May 9,2016.
Photo Source: http://images.gmanews.tv | https://c2.staticflickr.com | https://upload.wikimedia. org/Antonio_F._Trillanes_IV.jpg | http://www.filipinostarnews.net/LeniRobredo. jpg | https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/0b/Chiz.jpg | http://4. bp.blogspot.com/Alan+Peter+Cayetano+002.jpg | https://societyofhonor.files. wordpress.com/
BuCor Raids NBP; Drugs, Sex Toys and Firearms Found Rocker-on-Duty: Vicente Maduay III Photo compiled by Theresa Ann Deseo
N Photo Source: https://jackandjillofalltrades.files.wordpress.com/2011/02/mmda.jpg http://blogs.r.ftdata.co.uk/photo-diary/files/2013/07/RUSH-HOUR.jpg
Traffic Chaos Continues in Metropolitan Manila Rocker-on-Duty: Roselle Marie Maduay Photos compiled by Zapphira Sambas
M
ANILA, PHILIPPINES - Metropolitan Manila is infamous for its snarling traffic jams. The people of Metro Manila suffer being stuck for hours in its major thoroughfares, in sunshine or in rain. There is no respite, for not only in the rush hour do the streets clog, but even in the wee hours of the morning and the hours before midnight.
Online database Numbeo named the Philippines as the fifth country in the world with the worst traffic conditions in its Traffic Index for Country 2015 Mid-Year report. Traffic Index is a composite index of time consumed in traffic due to job commute, estimated time consumption dissatisfaction, estimated carbon dioxide consumption in traffic and overall inefficiencies in the traffic system. Numbeo is reportedly the world’s largest database of user-contributed data about cities and countries. Business group Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) have said that the traffic has already cost the Philippine economy an estimated PHP 6 billion daily for this year alone, three times higher than the estimation given by a 2013 Japan International Cooperation Agency study stating PHP 500 billion a year, or about PHP 2 billion is lost daily. Administration after administration, many solutions have been put forward and implemented but the traffic situation in Metro Manila remains bad. Schemes such as number coding (Unified
Vehicular Volume Reduction Program), mass transportation systems (Metro Rail Transit (MRT), Light Rail Transit (LRT), Philippine National Railways (PNR) railways, Pasig River Ferry Service (PRFS)) and consolidated collaboration of traffic enforcers of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Land Transportation Office (LTO), Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and patrolmen from the Highway Patrol Group (HPG) of the Philippine National Police (PNP) have produced mediocre and mostly short-term results. There has been an uproar amongst the residents of Metro Manila. President Benigno S. Aquino III, MMDA chairman Francis Tolentino and Department of Trade and Commerce (DOTC) secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya. People have gone to social media to raise their discontent on how the government’s mitigation efforts. Tweets and statuses about getting stuck in traffic are always trending topics online. The DOTC has argued that there are long term solutions, but they
will be completed by 2021. This has irked everyone, especially the business sector. The business sector has criticized the government’s slow action, demanding the President appoint a traffic czar, preferably Cabinet Secretary Rene Almendras. Eduardo Yap, chairman of MAP’s Traffic and Transport Committee said, “The key take away is that while we are undertaking the medium and long term solutions, immediate solutions shall be taken to address the severe traffic conditions and there are many that we have presented and these can be done in a matter of weeks.” The Asian Development Bank (ADB) also listed the following solutions: establish an efficient mass transport system, effective traffic management and assign lanes for cycling or pedestrians. ADB’s transport specialist Valerie Lisack said “No city has ever solved traffic congestion by building more roads.” According to the Wallace Business Group, traffic congestion and an inefficient transport system show the real state of a nation.
ovember 04, 2015 - Drugs, high calibre firearms and sex toys were confiscated by the Bureau of Corrections after raiding New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City. Teams from the Bureau of Corrections-Special Weapons and Tactics unit and Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency raided inside one of the maximum security compound of Manila only to find out illegal contrabands have been smuggled inside and out of the said prison. Superintendent Richard Schwarzkopf Jr. of the New Bilibid Prison headed the raid. Schwarzkopf said the raiders uncovered a cache of firearms – assault rifles, five 12-gauge shotguns, a 30 caliber carbine, .38 caliber revolvers,.45 caliber pistols, gun silencers, 50,000 bullets and 60 improvised bladed weapons – buried under the bunk of the Commando gang leader. Firearms were wrapped in plastics and discovered in the abandoned cell of the gang leader, Bureau of Corrections Director Ricardo Rainie Cruz said. In addition, Cruz says that they will conduct more surprise inspections regularly to confiscate firearms and contraband kept by the inmates. The team also confiscated shabu and other drug items, sex toys, wine-making dispensers and gadgets such as flat screen televisions, refrigerators, mobile phones, chargers and more than P400,000 in cash. It was one of their biggest hauls so far, starting when Department of Justice Secretary Leila De Lima issued onthe-spot inspections for maximum detention facilities such as the NBP.
Photo Source: http://media.philstar.com/images/thephilippine-star/nation/20151105/Bullets-atBilibid-Prison-1B.jpg