The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has detected 41 suspected “nuisance” candidates running for local positions in the 2013 polls, one of them claiming to own the Philippines, while another saying he has superpowers. According to Minute Resolution 12-1101, the Comelec en banc ruled to uphold the decision of the Comelec Law Department, which detected the candidates – 13 from the National Capital Region (NCR), 27 outside NCR, and one from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).
Among these were six aspirants for the House of Representatives, three gubernatorial bets, 21 running for mayor, four for vice mayor, six for Sangguniang Panlungsod/Bayan, and one for Sangguniang Panlalawigan. Commissioner Lucenito Tagle told GMA News Online that these candidates are just wasting the time of the Comelec. “’Pag mga unusual, ‘pag talagang abnormal, talagang tinatanggal namin ‘yan. Makakagulo lang ‘yan. Mahahalata mo naman kung abnormal,” he said. Comelec Resolution No. 9523 defines a nuisance candidate as someone “who filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) to put the election process in mockery or disrepute or to cause confusion among the voters by other acts or circumstances is clearly demonstrated to have no bona fide intention to run for office…” One of them is Norgene Jongay Santos, a Sangguniang Panglungsod member aspirant of Parañaque City, who was deemed nuisance because of his “actuations and demeanor.” The Comelec Law Department said that in several instances, Santos was caught talking to himself and saying “ Dapat iyong mga lobo pinapalipad tuwing umuulan para mas magandang tingnan,” and “Magpapa-presscon ako, abangan niyo.” Another is Adolfo Nabayra Padalhin Sr. a mayorial aspirant for Mandaluyong City, who attached in his certificate of candidacy a 1x1 picture instead of the required 2x2 passport size. When told to submit a 2x2 picture, Padalhin reportedly got another 1x1 picture and pasted it beside the already attached picture and “reasoned that 1x1 plus 1x1 equals 2x2.” “We did not accept his reasoning so he was forced to go home to secure the right size of picture,” the Comelec law department said. Meanwhile, mayorial bet Charlie Bucao Talledo of Surigao City claims to have supernatural powers given to him by God. A Sangguniang Panlalawigan bet Eustaquio Buena from Abra meanwhile may lose his chance to run because he allegedly indicated in his COC that he would like to be named in the ballot as “Boy Bueno Aspacio Taking Tacsi” – a name the Comelec found as “weird.” The Comelec law department added that “the Provincial Election Supervisor who is his (Buena) professor caught him talking alone several times and that he often causes irritation even to his classmates as he spreads of nonsense things in class.” Another suspected nuisance candidate is Norberto Ambong Mijares, gubernatorial bet of Davao Del Norte, whose “state of mental health is questionable” because he claims to own the Philippines. He also allegedly indicated in his COC that he works as an “Attorney-in-Fact of Taal Estate.” One snagged his chance to run due to spelling errors in his COC – Bulacan mayorial bet Emmanuel Nicolas Meneses, in his COC, indicated that he works as a “bussines woman.” “[He also] ticked both boxes of natural born and naturalized Filipino citizen referring to his citizenship,” the Comelec said. Meanwhile, Francis Ruedas Monte, vying for Las Piñas representative, was reportedly waiting for her formal nomination with the Lakas-CMD party. “After having filed her COC, she even said ‘Sige ha, hinihintay na ako sa Senate,” Comelec said in the resolution. Others deemed nuisance for various reasons are the following: National Capital Region
Marino Dela Peña Magallanes, mayorial bet for Manila Fidel Carido Cruz, mayorial bet for Manila Onofre Estrada Abad, mayorial bet for Manila Benjamin Polidario Rivera, mayorial bet for Manila James Jaime Marquez Tan, Manila district bet
to the House of Representative Romeo Acebedo, mayorial bet for Quezon City Allan Dilim Bantilo, vice-mayorial bet for Quezon City Fermin Idea, vice-mayorial bet for Quezon City Pilar Fajardo Ebarrete, vice-mayorial bet for San Juan City Cebu Junan Umacob Arenasa, Cebu first district representative aspirant Pablo Doronio, Cebu first district representative aspirant Lea Remedios Ong, mayorial bet for Cebu City Bert Leo Abella, Cebu second district representative aspirant Eliseo Sanjorjo Tumulak, Cebu first district representative aspirant Gumersindo Canoy Cañete, Cebu second district representative aspirant Erlinda Sy Sollano, Cebu second district representative aspirant Ricardo Nacor Adlawan. Cebu first district representative aspirant Jose Cida Cane, Cebu second district representative aspirant Miguel Gonzalve Selim, Cebu City mayorial bet Karina Cabahug, mayorial bet for Lapu-Lapu city, CebuPangasinan Jones Basbas, mayorial bet for Sison, Pangasinan Felipe Gorospe, vice-mayorial bet for Sison, PangasinanIsabela Francisco Flores, mayorial bet for Cabagan, IsabelaBulacan Jaime Almera, gubernatorial bet for BulacanTarlac Marciano Pulido, mayorial bet for Mayantoc, TarlacQuezon Marjorie Asensi, Sangguniang Panglungsod bet of the Liberal Party for Lucena City, QuezonRizal Alejandro Ignacio, mayorial bet for Rodriguez, Rizal Nestor Palugod, mayorial bet for Rodriguez, RizalMisamis Occidental Elsie Cose Monares, mayorial bet for Don Victoriano, Misamis Occidental Benedicto Patiño, mayorial bet for Don Victoriano, Misamis OccidentalSurigao Del Sur Alfonso Godito Cuanan, mayorial bet for Cortes, Surigao del SurBasilan Arsad Kabukisan, mayorial bet for Al Barka, BasilanAbra Joel Bersamina, gubernatorial bet for Abra The Comelec said it is giving these candidates a chance to justify their candidacy not later than three days upon receiving a copy of the resolution. — KBK, GMA News
Reelectionists and incumbent officials' kin shared the lineup of 12 senators that would have won if elections were held in the last week of November, a new Pulse Asia survey showed.
Senators Francis "Chiz" Escudero and Loren Legarda sat on top of the list of senatorial preferences based on a survey of 1,200 adults aged 18 and above from Nov. 23 to 29.
Escudero would have notched the votes of 74.1 percent of respondents if the midterm polls were during the survey period, while Legarda would have also won a seat with the votes of 69.3 percent of respondents.
"[T]he rest of the list of probable winners is evenly split with five candidates coming from the coalition led by the Liberal Party (LP) and five others belonging to the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA)," Pulse Asia said.
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Another reelectionist, Senator Alan Peter Cayetano, landed in the 3rd to 4th spot with 60.1 percent of respondents saying they would have voted for him.
Meanwhile, San Juan City Representative JV Ejercito Estrada, whose brother Jinggoy is also in the Senate, was ranked 3rd to 6th with 57 percent voter preference.
Sharing 4th to 7th places are Cagayan Representative Juan Ponce Enrile, Jr., the son of Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile (53.2 percent); and former Las Piñas Representative Cynthia Villar, the wife of Senator Manny Villar (52.2 percent).
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Senator Aquilino Pimentel got an overall voter preference of 50.2 percent, ranking 5th to 8th.
His colleague Senator Gringo Honasan, meanwhile, was ranked 7th to 12th with an overall voter preference of 44.9 percent.
Rounding out the list of the 12 probable winners are Senator Antonio Trillanes IV (43.2 percent), Vice-President Jejomar Binay's daughter Nancy (41.3 percent), Aurora Rep. Edgardo Angara (40.8 percent) and former Senator Miguel Zubiri (40.5 percent), who all shared the 8th to 12th spots.
Included in the survey, meanwhile, but unable to make it to the top 12 are:
Former Senator Jamby Madrigal (34.4 percent)
Former Senator Dick Gordon (29.7 percent)
Former Senator Ramon "Jun" Magsaysay, Jr. (28.8 percent)
Bam Aquino, the President's cousin (27.9 percent)
Former MTRCB Chairman Grace Poe-Llamanzares (24.7 percent)
Former Akbayan Party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros (21.2 percent)
Former Senator Ernesto Maceda (16.7 percent)
Former Tarlac governor Margarita "Tingting" Couangco (14.2 percent)
Puerto Princesa City Mayor Edward Hagedorn (8.8 percent)
Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay (7.7 percent)
Bayan Muna Party-list Rep. Teddy Casino (5.3 percent)
Samson Alcantara (4 percent)
Mon Montano (3.3 percent)
Former presidential aspirant JC de los Reyes (2.7 percent)
Bal Falcone (1.9 percent)
Dick Penson (1.8 percent)
Greco Beljica (0.7 percent)
Marwil Llasos (0.7 percent)
Christian Seneres (0.5 percent)
Less than four out of 10 Filipinos (39 percent) have decided on a complete slate of 12 senators to vote for in the midterm elections on May 2013..
"With about a half a year before the next midterm elections, Filipinos are already naming nine preferred senatorial bets on average," Pulse Asia said.
The biggest winner in the latest Pulse Asia survey arguably was the daughter of Vice President Jejomar Binay.
Riding primarily on the popularity of her high-profile father, Nancy Binay jumped to fourth to ninth places, trailing only incumbent Senators Loren Legarda, Francis Escudero and Alan Peter Cayetano. She was 12th in the Social Weather Stations survey last January.
The 39-year-old candidate on Saturday acknowledged what she called the “Binay factor” for her sudden surge. But learning from her father, a veteran politician, she said she remained wary about complacency and the possibility of peaking early.
“Actually, I’ll be working harder now that I’m No. 4,” she told the Inquirer.
It’s a lesson she learned during her father’s successful vice presidential run in 2010. Trailing front-runner Mar Roxas for most of the campaign, the elder Binay made a strong surge toward the end to snatch the victory.
No complacency
“The moral of the story is never be complacent,” the daughter said.
Binay is on unfamiliar territory, having spent the past several years accompanying her father in his own campaign. “Usually I was just in the sidelines, but now I’m up there on stage, campaigning for myself,” she said.
Binay placed high in recent surveys despite the “baggage” of being her father’s daughter.
The Binays have been accused of building a political dynasty in Makati City, a highly urbanized city that has never had a mayor other than a Binay since Edsa People Power I. The purported dynasty now appears to be moving toward the national stage, with no less than the patriarch occupying the second-highest position in the country. And his daughter is now running for senator.
March 29, 2013 to May 11, 2013: Campaign period for candidates for the House of Representatives and elective regional, provincial, city and municipal officials
April 13, 2013 to May 13, 2013: Casting of votes by overseas voters
May 13, 2013: Election day
Prohibited acts during the election period:
Starting January 13, 2013
• Bearing, carrying or transporting firearms or other deadly weapons
• Use of security personnel or bodyguards by candidates
• Suspension of elective local officials
Starting February 12, 2013
• Giving donations or gift in cash or in kind
• Appointment or use of special policemen, confidential agents or the like
Starting March 29, 2013
A NEW feature of the machines that voters will use on May 13 is designed to remove one more doubt on the results of the elections.
As soon as the board of election inspectors (BEI) switches on the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS), the machine will immediately require that the date be entered.
The date will also be reflected in the election returns.
Provincial Election Officer Ferdinand Gujilde said this is one new feature that was brought up during the training of the PCOS trainers, which started last Feb. 25 and will end today.
Gujilde said this is another way to erase doubts among voters and candidates.
In the May 2010 elections, which was the first time elections in the Philippines were partially automated, some of the election returns were not dated, which led candidates to doubt the results.
Gujilde clarified, however, that the absence of the date did not affect the election results.
"That's the beauty of automation, because even if the PCOS units fail, we still have the manual results to refer to," Gujilde said.
If the BEI has to cancel the date-setting, Gujilde said there will be other queries from the machine as follow-up. He also assured the PCOS units are user-friendly, and that BEIs need not worry about them.
Earlier, the Provincial Comelec announced that priority numbers will no longer be given on Election Day, to prevent accusations that BEIs favor certain voters or candidates.
The BEIs, however, are still given the freedom to decide how to manage the lines and crowds in their precincts.
Gujilde also reminded voters to check their ballots upon receiving these from the BEI.
If there is any ink smudge or unusual print, they can have the ballot replaced by the BEI.
"There are no second chances (once the ballot has been filled up). One voter, one ballot," he said.
The training sessions for election supervisors, officers, assistants, and personnel of the Department of Education and Department of Science and Technology will be on March 3, 4 and 5.