Hey, it is your country not mine; I have my own problems here with my rotten stink government.
If the Filipinos accept it, so will I.
"Automated polls to test democracy in Philippines today" by Associated Press | May 10, 2010
MANILA — Despite scattered violence and a rush to fix a computer glitch, officials said yesterday that the Philippines’s first automated presidential and local elections this week will be a successful test of its fragile democracy.
Oh no!
Opposition Senator Benigno Aquino III, the son of revered prodemocracy icons, has topped preelection surveys in the nine-way race for the presidency. His rise reflects the longing to fill a moral vacuum in a country exasperated by decades of corruption, poverty, and violence.
Aquino’s closest rivals include ousted president Joseph Estrada and Senator Manuel Villar, the country’s wealthiest politician. A blistering 90-day campaign ended Saturday, with most candidates promising to steer one of Southeast Asia’s economic laggards back to the path to stability.
About 50 million of the country’s 90 million people will vote to elect a new president, vice president, and officials to fill nearly 18,000 national and local posts.
By the eve of today’s vote, thousands of workers on board military and private aircraft — and some on foot — delivered optical counting machines to 98 percent of about 76,300 precincts across the Southeast Asian archipelago, Elections Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said.
America's experiences haven't been too good with those.
Gregorio Larrazabal, another commissioner, said the difficulty of tampering with the automated machines — though many have experienced glitches — may have prompted some people to resort to violence and intimidation to bolster their electoral chances. Police have reported more than 30 poll-related killings — a figure that does not include an election-linked massacre in November.
Also see: Filipino Fascism Based on False Flag
Reconfigured memory cards for the machines have been delivered to regional hubs after a defect prompted a massive recall last week, according to Smartmatic, the consortium that supplied the machines.
Rigged, I mean, reconfigured cards, huh? Pfft!
Late delivery and final testing may delay vote-counting in some far-flung areas, the Elections Commission said.
Translation: the rigging may take longer than anticipated.
--more--"
"Aquino leads in Philippines on anticorruption platform; Ex-leader’s son has 40% of vote" by Jim Gomez, Associated Press | May 11, 2010
MANILA — The son of two Philippine democracy icons widened his lead today in presidential elections after campaigning on a promise to begin prosecuting corrupt officials to restore credibility to the country’s graft-ridden government agencies.
Despite counting machine glitches and violence that claimed at least nine lives, election officials hailed yesterday’s vote as a success in a country where poll fraud allegations have marred previous contests.
Senator Benigno Aquino III — whose father was assassinated while opposing a dictatorship and whose mother led the “people power’’ revolt that restored freedoms — was leading the nine-candidate presidential race with 40.19 percent of the votes from about 78 percent of the precincts, while his closest rival, Joseph Estrada, a former president, had 25.46 percent.
There is no runoff in the Philippines and whoever has the most votes is declared winner.
Aquino’s sudden political rise bolstered hopes among his supporters for a clean leadership after nine years of a scandal-tainted administration that was rocked by coup attempts and protests....
Voters wanting "change" again, huh?
Good luck, Filipinos.
Hope yours is better than ours (or Greece's, etc).
Computer problems and campaign-related violence, which has killed more than 30 people in the past three months and an additional nine on election day, were the main concerns in the voting, which officials hope will set a new standard for the country’s fragile democracy. Turnout was 75 percent among about 50 million eligible voters, the Elections Commission said.
“The people came in droves, the turnout was very encouraging. The machines worked more than we expected,’’ said commission chairman Jose Melo. “I would say it was successful.’’
For the first time, optical scanning machines counted the votes in 76,000 precincts. A software glitch discovered a week ago nearly derailed the vote. Still, some machines malfunctioned in the tropical humidity, including in Aquino’s hometown of Tarlac, north of Manila, where the senator had to wait nearly five hours to cast his ballot.
Yeah, it was the weather, right.
Can't come up with anything better than that?
--more--"
A couldn't steal it from the kid, 'eh?
"Aquinos’ son likely to win Philippine presidency" by Jim Gomez, Associated Press | May 12, 2010
MANILA — Philippine Senator Benigno Aquino III, whose parents fought to topple a dictatorship, promised yesterday to fulfill his campaign promise to fight corruption as he headed for a landslide victory in the presidential elections....
Massive corruption has long dogged the Philippines, tainting electoral politics and skimming billions of public funds in a country where a third of the population lives on $1 a day....
Typical U.S. project.
Despite glitches with new computerized counting machines and violence that claimed at least 12 lives, election officials hailed Monday’s vote as a success in a country where poll fraud allegations have marred previous contests....
The death toll rises, 'eh?
In a statement, the US Embassy said it looked forward to a smooth transition to the new government to “deepen the friendship and partnership between our two nations.’’
Yeah, the Japanese prime minister found out what happens when you try to change things.
Filipinos were also voting for a vice president, senators, congressmen, as well as provincial, town, and city officials. Flamboyant former first lady Imelda Marcos won a seat in the House of Representatives. Boxing star Manny Pacquiao was leading in the count for a House seat in the southern province of Sarangani.
Also see: Filipino Politics
To save money, Aquino told the Associated Press, he will avoid foreign trips and trim the Cabinet.
I like him.
MANILA — Nearly a quarter-century after Imelda Marcos and her dictator husband fled the Philippines in disgrace — leaving a debt-ridden country but a lavish collection of shoes — the 80-year-old and two of their children are poised to revive the family’s political fortunes.
At first sight, the outcome is surprising in an election that also looks set to award the son of the Marcoses’ nemesis, “people power’’ President Corazon Aquino, the country’s top office.
Not if you consider the MACHINES!
Benigno “Noynoy’’ Aquino III campaigned heavily against corruption — endemic in the Philippines and allegedly practiced by the Marcos dictatorship on a massive scale. But the Marcos family name still holds clout....
Yeah, right -- along with some memory cards.
Imelda Marcos is forever remembered for her collection of eye-popping diamonds and 1,220 pairs of shoes discovered in the abandoned presidential palace after Ferdinand Marcos and his family were sent into US exile, ending his 20-year dictatorship and leaving the country’s economy faltering under huge debts.
Yeah, the U.S. abandoned him.
We do that to dictators that fall out of favor sometime.
Also see: Maurice Greenberg: Companies
Yeah, somehow I knew the CIA had a hand in it all.
He died in 1989, and his widow returned to the Philippines in 1991 with her children, twice ran unsuccessfully for president, and won a seat in the House of Representatives in 1995. She retained her supporters despite her reputation for extravagance, including shopping trips to the world’s poshest boutiques and lavish beautification projects in an impoverished nation where a third of about 90 million Filipinos live on $1 a day.
Despite about 900 civil and criminal cases she has faced in Philippine courts since 1991 — ranging from tax evasion to embezzlement and corruption — she has emerged relatively unscathed and has never served prison time. All but a handful of the cases have been dismissed for lack of evidence and a few convictions were overturned on appeal.
The Marcoses and the Aquinos are the most prominent of the Philippines’ wealthy political dynasties and are inextricably linked. A court found that Aquino’s father, an opposition leader, was assassinated in a military conspiracy during Marcos’ rule.
I guess that is s close as my AmeriKan newspaper will come to an admission.
Aquino’s mother then led the mass protests that swept away the strongman and restored democracy. Only after his mother died last year of cancer did Aquino, a quiet senator and former House member, decide to seek the presidency.
If Aquino wins, “I will pray for his success because his success will be for our country and the Filipino people,’’ Imelda Marcos said. She said she hoped Aquino will be successful in fulfilling his campaign promise to fight corruption, while she rejected as “lies’’ allegations that her husband engaged in massive kleptocracy, graft and human rights abuses.
Yeah, either/or.... only the name changes.
“The Filipino people have not forgotten because even in this campaign they continuously resuscitate the lies about the Marcoses and they keep repeating that, but the Filipino people are getting to know more and more the truth,’’ Marcos said.
Well, yeah, people are waking up to that all over.
--more--"
So how is the kid starting out?
"Philippine leader rejects oath with judge" by Associated Press | May 15, 2010
MANILA — The president-apparent of the Philippines, Benigno Aquino III, refused yesterday to take an oath of office before the new chief justice, alleging impropriety in the appointment by the outgoing president in the dying days of her term.
The move would be a symbolic first blow against the scandal-tainted President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo if Aquino takes office.
The son of Philippine democracy icons questioned Arroyo’s appointment on Wednesday of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona, who was her chief of staff and spokesman....
Presidential spokeswoman Charito Planas warned the refusal of the incoming president to recognize the chief justice appointed by Arroyo could lead to a constitutional crisis.
Rough start!
--more--"
Philippines to start teaching sex education
I guess there is no crisis.
Related: 6.0 Magnitude Earthquake Rocks Southern Philippines
Huh.
Never saw a report about that in the Globe. WTF?
In all honesty, folks, I'm sick of agenda-pushing filler fluff and figurehead politics posing as news in my paper.
