The Standard - 2016 May 31 - Tuesday

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VOL. XXX NO. 108 3 Sections 32 Pages P18 TUESDAY : MAY 31, 2016 www.thestandard.com.ph editorial@thestandard.com.ph

Only half of 30 posts in Cabinet filled up

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WITNESSES TELL OF QUEZON SCAM

‘Roxas, Robredo, Drilon beneficiaries of cheating’ By Macon RamosAraneta, Christine F. Herrera and Sara Susanne D. Fabunan

ASIDE from administration standard bearer Manuel Roxas II and his running mate Leni Robredo, Senator-elect Franklin Drilon was the biggest beneficiary of vote manipulation orchestrated by the Liberal Party in the May 9 elections, three whistleblowers from Quezon province said Monday. Concealing their faces behind scarves and sunglasses, the three witnesses told a press conference at the Senate that they participated directly in the rigging of election results upon the order of a top LP official, whom they declined to name. At the start of the press conference, a man who described himself as a logistic supervisor, said they faced the media and sought the help of Council on Philippine Affairs (Copa) secretary-general Pastor Saycon to expose the whole truth. He also said they wanted to reveal all the circumstances around the manipulation and cheating that occurred in the counting of votes. Saycon, who earlier questioned the Comelec’s refusal to conduct a manual audit of votes, joined the witnesses during a press conference at the Senate. He underscored the need to look into the votes from Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Zamboanga, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Maguindanao and Sultan Kudarat. He also said they have testimony to back up their assertions that there was vote buying and disenfranchisement of voters in the May Whistleblowers. Three men claiming that the Liberal Party orchestrated a massive cheating operation during the May 9 elections talk to reporters at 9 election. Next page the Senate in Pasay City on Monday. LINO SANTOS

Drilon could retain top post

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Without Digong, Congress proclaims Leni CONGRESS on Monday proclaimed Rodrigo Duterte the nation’s next president following his landslide election win this month, but he snubbed the high-profile event. A joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate in Manila endorsed the official count of the ballots, which saw Duterte win by more than six million votes. Du-

terte declined to attend, remaining instead in his southern hometown of Davao. Duterte’s refusal to attend broke tradition and disappointed even some of his supporters, reinforcing the foulmouthed politician’s reputation as a maverick who is happy to offend the political establishment. “I am not attending the proclama-

tion. I’ve never attended any proclamation all my life,” Duterte told reporters on the weekend in Davao, a city that he has ruled as mayor for most of the past two decades. Duterte, who won largely due to an incendiary law-and-order platform headlined by a vow to wipe out crime within six months, is due to be sworn in on June 30. Next page


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