Elections
Celebrating Generations of Filipino Liberal Struggle for Freedom and Democracy: The Life and Times of Jovito R. Salonga
Jul 1st
(A TRIBUTE TO A FILIPINO LIBERAL: Delivered on June 28, 2010 at the Dusit Hotel, Makati during at tribute to Former Senate President and Liberal Party leader Jovito Salonga given by the Liberals in the Philippines on the occasion of his 90th birthday)
I would like to extend my warm welcome to all of you most especially to our international visitors from the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, the Liberal International and the Friedrich Naumann Foundation.
You come here during a most historic occasion. After more than a half a century, we will be inaugurating, two days from now, the next More >
Case dismissed!
Apr 27th
I welcome the Commission on Elections (Comelec) decision dismissing the disqualification case against me.
In a nine-page resolution on Monday, the poll body ruled that there is no constitutional provision barring me from running in the May 10 senatorial elections. The poll body cited the Socrates case wherein the Supreme Court said that a three-year hiatus was “sufficient” in order to successfully “hurdle” the two-term limit.
I have always maintained that the law was on our side and this case was merely one of the many harassment suits filed by the Arroyo administration against opposition figures like me.
The disqualification case More >
Please encourage our OFWs to vote
Apr 26th
I call on the country’s foreign service officers abroad to intensify their efforts to encourage eligible Overseas Filipinos Workers to vote and exercise their right of suffrage during the May 10 elections.
There is still enough time for Philippine embassy officials abroad to step up the overseas voters information campaign to improve on the sixteen percent (16%) voter turnout in the 2007 elections.
Officials and personnel of the Commission on Elections, the Department of Foreign Affairs, the Department of Labor and Employment and other government offices based in Philippine embassies abroard can very well promote absentee voting among OFWs.
Just to refresh your More >
To GMA: Reverse Agra’s order
Apr 24th
I challenge President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to reverse the controversial order of Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra dismissing the murder charges against two members of the Ampatuan clan to dispel public suspicions that she herself was setting up a whitewash of the case.
Under existing procedures, the president can review and reverse decisions made by the Justice Secretary in cases involving heinous crimes. I therefore challenge President Arroyo to reverse and set aside the controversial decision of Secretary Agra that has triggered so much public outrage in order to dispel public suspicions that she was the one who directed Agra to clear More >
Is NP-NPC “coalition” truly representative?
Apr 21st
Appointing the Nacionalista Party (NP) and its questionable coalition with the Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC) as the “Dominant Minority Party” in the coming elections was like designating a “company-sponsored union” to look after the interest of workers during negotiations for a Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with management.
Given the unholy alliance between the Villars and the Arroyos, the forthcoming decision of the Comelec to appoint the NP-NPC coalition as the Dominant Minority Party is like naming a company-sponsored union to represent the interest of employees in the workplace.
I welcome the Supreme Court order on Tuesday stopping Comelec from enforcing its resolution More >
Concern for unrealistic ARMM voting population
Apr 20th
I am concerned over what I describe as “improbably high voting population” in the Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). I urge the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to cleanse the region’s voters’ list to ensure fraud-free elections in May.
The recommendation of Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra to drop the murder charges against suspended ARMM Gov. Zaldy Ampatuan and his cousin Akmad Ampatuan, the former acting vice governor of Maguindanao Province, in connection with the Maguindanao massacre has revived fears that the Arroyo administration might again resort to massive fraud in the ARMM to have its candidates win in the More >
Ask CA to reverse Agra’s decision
Apr 19th
I urge government prosecutors to defy the order of Acting Justice Secretary Alberto Agra to drop the murder charges against two members of the Ampatuan clan in connection with the November 2009 massacre of 57 people, including 31 media workers, in Maguindanao.
The Department of Justice prosecutors should disown Agra’s order dropping the murder raps against Zaldy Ampatuan, the suspended governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, and his cousin Akmad Ampatuan, the former acting vice governor of Maguindanao Province, for being unjust and grossly erroneous.
If necessary, the prosecutors should ask the Court of Appeals to reverse the justice More >
Overhaul party-list system
Apr 18th
Once voted into office, I will make it my priority to amend and strengthen the law governing the party-list system. People have the right to representation, and true representation can only be achieved when the elected representative of every party-list system is the perfect personification of that party-list, not someone who clearly has a hold on power.
As the Supreme Court has stated, it is not enough for a party-list nominee-candidate to claim representation of the marginalized and underrepresented, because representation is easy to claim and to feign.
The party-list organization or party must factually and truly represent the marginalized and More >
We should amend election laws
Mar 16th
We need to amend election laws to effectively regulate campaign expenses of candidates seeking public office.
I have been involved in seven national elections and this year’s election campaign is the most expensive that I have ever witnessed. It is deplorable how rich candidates achieve greater media mileage with loads of TV infomercials and political advertisements shown prior to the official campaign period, placing the poorer candidates at a great disadvantage when the official campaign period starts.
If elected back to the Senate, he would propose the amendment of existing election laws to cover the loopholes that are being gravely abused by More >
NP-NPC coalition bogus
Mar 2nd
The LP has filed an opposition to a pending application with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) seeking to establish a coalition between the Nacionalista Party (NP) and the National People’s Coalition (NPC) in the May elections.
The August 17, 2009 Comelec deadline for filing certificates of coalitions has already lapsed with only the LP as having submitted a petition for coalition with the Kapayapaan, Katarungan, Kaunlaran (KKK) political party of Manila.
There is no such party as the NP-NPC Coalition. That is a bogus coalition. As per COMELEC approval, only the LP was granted a Certificate of Coalition as the party was More >
