UPDATE: Editor’s note: Readers who previously registered for the Eleksyon 2007 blog no longer need to sign up again for the Philippine Elections blog, and may continue using their existing usernames and passwords.
WHY should you let the candidates do all the talking?
Make your voice heard. With the launch of the Eleksyon 2007 Philippine Elections Blog, we are reserving virtual space for you to tell the whole world what you think are the important issues that should decide the outcome of the Philippine elections in May 2010.
What do you think of the candidates? Which issues should be tackled? How can we improve our ongoing coverage of Eleksyon 2007? Listen to our Eleksyon 2007 podcasts, and tell us which questions we should ask candidates in future sessions, or what points you would like them to expound on in future articles. We don’t want to just read your feedback. We want to give you the opportunity to keep the conversation going, not just by posting comments but also by writing your own entries on this blog.
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We’ll also feature Philippine election-related posts in the blogosphere and other online resources, so if you have an election blog or site, post a comment here so we can pay a visit.
Now tell us what you think.
May 25th, 2007 at 10:07 pm
Your partylist tally page has not been updated since two days ago. It is disappointing to readers interested in the progress of partylist canvassing.
May 25th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
In your 25 May 2007 issue, the NSC chief claimed that “their camp’s own account had shown Aurora winning by about 1,000 votes but she began losing in the middle of the official tally”. Yet he claims that his daughter loss because of vote-buying.
Sir, if the reason is vote buying then there is absolutely no way your daughter could be winning by 1,000 votes by your own count since they would not have voted for her when they casted their vote
May 25th, 2007 at 4:50 am
To Elected Officials:
I humbly challenge them to propose and approve the following measures to improve the electoral process:
1. Prohibiting the barangay officials especially the chairmen from electioneering activities
2. Absolute limitation on the term of elected officials to only three terms in the same position
3. Outlawing the public release of results of pre- election surveys of candidate standings that does not identify the sponsor and the full statistical data of the survey
4. Banning senators from returning to their posts after losing in an election bid during their term of office
5. Setting up of an agency exclusively tasked to monitor election campaign advertising limitations / violations and initiate prosecution of culpable candidates and advertisers
6. Illegalizing the publicity of endorsements of candidates by private entities including religious groups without the actual document that clearly shows the endorsement signed by their administrator
7. Extension of duration of electioneering ban on public officials to six months before election day
8. Outlawing the use of roving candidates public address systems near public schools and churches
9. Preparation, printing and distribution by Comelec of a better candidates guide
May 24th, 2007 at 2:56 am
Deteriorating performance it seems but our 13th Congress was the worst performing Congress so far since 1986. Going back to the events that have happened during the past months, what had been prioritized was to calm the opposition of its clamor for impeachment, to regain power, obviously backed by the “one” who was impeached himself the last time. The first venue, of course, as always been the modus operandi since Marcos, was the press, the media, to stir up public clamor. “People powerâ€Â? had been the coveted tool to once again remove the one occupying the highest office in the land. But the people did not buy the issue. It was not actually because the spirit of “people powerâ€Â? died as part of political evolution; it might be that the issue laid on the public was not so much convincing and most of the people thought it was just a waste of time and money. Given that Arroyo cheated the 2004 elections, it did not mean that she lost the elections. Different exit polls conducted at that time by some organizations that are anti-Arroyo today, agree with this (even Solita Monsod would). The fact remains that she won the 2004 elections. Undoubtedly, many who voted for her last 2004 may have changed his mind today, and even if he was included in the survey that sends a message for Arroyo to step down, his vote last 2004 did not change at all.
The unverified “people power� (I say unverified since no legal documentation at all, like the ballots and obvious participation by majority of the people except the surveys) was used by the opposition to pursue with the impeachment (again), not minding the future impact of this in the Philippine economy. So for the third year, the budget was reenacted (although for the meantime) even after we felt the effects of the reenacted budget of the last Congress (which is due to the long process of impeachment procedure). For two years, the opposition was looking back at the last 2004 elections, instead of looking forward for the future of the economy, like building more roads to at least benefit the people from Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan who are working in NCR, of the everyday mind boggling and exhausting traffic. What was obvious in their outlook? POWER PLAY. Instead on deliberating and using their nicely, properly, well-said, emotion-appealing speeches on the issues of the proposed budget to pump prime the economy, they spend more time on issues that did not benefit the lives of the people. Of course, common people would not notice this, being fed by the media everyday by these “no-benefit� issues, and moved subliminally by them. Recent political events being watched as similar to soap operas, pleasant to their senses, and obviously affected their decisions like in their votes. What is “popular� is being equated right now to what is “right� as too much democracy being exercised here.
Watching this midterm elections offshore (obviously I was not able to vote due to family-over-country hierarchy), as I can see the perpetrators of the “looking-back� attitude are now elevated to the Senate, joining hands with other ambitious fellows of the highest office of the land, I can only sit back in frustration and say, how poor educated Filipinos are being used by traditional politicians, only that they have new faces, as the more deserving candidates are being left out. Why choose Allan Cayetano who spoke more on Tagalog (obviously to win the common people to his side), who just raised issues like the “lack-of-evidence� German bank account instead of raising issues on how does the DPWH will spend its allocated budget, than Mike Defensor who has proven his worth as part of the Cabinet? Obviously because Defensor is identified with Arroyo. And so what is actually the obvious fight here, in this election, is between Arroyo and Estrada. So another question, Why choose the “stealer of the money� than the “stealer of the elections�? Obviously, the “stealer of the money� is more popular and therefore “right� (?) than the “stealer of the elections�. And the people will buy more on faces who shout out loud emotionally in front of the camera (this influence more the soap-opera mind of the common Filipino).
No wonder Filipinos in Singapore, Malaysia, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, UAE, etc. would rather stay in where they are rather than going back in the Philippines. And they have no interest in voting.
May 23rd, 2007 at 12:37 pm
TO KAICEE
You are indeed an intellectual voter and I wish other Filipino voters would be just like you. Fact of the matter is most Filipino voters are poor who think with their hearts and not with their minds.
If you’re suggesting the President should step down then all politicians should step down (except a few good men of course) because they all lied/cheated the country in one way or another with their empty promises.