The Wutz Up in the Philippines!

Manila Philippines - What do you think are the pros and cons of having an automated election? There are several issues and benefits regarding this automation of election. The question is, are you in favor of this automated election, are you satisfied in what you have paid in a billion pesos? Would you rather consider the short line for manual voting rather than than of long lines because it became a clustered precinct? As of May 11 We have partial results came from the PCOS machine and being announced by chairman melo of COMELEC, or would you choose the manual voting that the output might result in less than a week?

There are things that needs adjustments at first just like the PCOS machine, because things that are first tested are not guaranteed a 100% full accuracy sometimes it has bugs and other errors which are very usual to machines, but the thing is that the Smartmatic should put IT professionals or Technician who knows well of the PCOS machine and the Smartmatic should test the machine first before they distribute and if lack of time is the reason for this bugs in the PCOS machine, the thing that the Smartmatic should do is to hire more people in their company even for a month only just ti verify that the smartmatic is working great and reliable in counting of votes. The more people that works on the smartmatic the more productive or the more reliable the PCOS machine will be. The smartmatic should also foresee some of the risk that might happen when using the machine so that the technician will know what are the things that he needs to do to be able to fix it as soon as the election starts. Well In the manual voting there are several watchers and teachers that are need to be present just to be able to count the votes that sometimes none of them seem to do their task. The advantage of the PCOS machine is that it makes the counting easily, is makes less people involve in election counting, less effort and many more compared to manual voting that requires opposite of the automated election. A little advice is that before releasing of the machine be sure that it is working and complete in everything that is needed in the election and there should always be a person or technician or IT professionals who knows how to troubleshoot and Be sure to know what are the error and later on fix or enchance the PCOS machine for the next election.

Cardinal Rosales

After receiving flak on the matter, Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales blinked and clarified he is not against the use of people power if the elections are thwarted.

At the same time, Rosales said he did not mean to hurt anyone when he branded calls for people power at this time as “crazy,” and that he should have reflected on the matter.

“He was not against People Power, by itself, against dictators and injustices, for which he prayed much during the first EDSA 1986. The interview words he used should have been well reflected on, words he (lately and now) admittedly did not mean (much less to hurt the sensibilities of others),” a statement from Rosales’ office said.

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Relatives of victims of the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre are not impressed with (even if they welcome) the turnaround of Justice Secretary Alberto Agra on the murder charges against two members of the Ampatuan clan.

Human rights lawyer Harry Roque Jr. on Thursday said the victims still do not expect justice under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo rule, and would rather wait for the next administration to pursue the case.

Agra earlier cleared suspended Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Governor Zaldy Ampatuan and suspended Mamasapano Mayor Akmad Ampatuan from the case, saying there was no probable cause against them for murder.

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The Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc has upheld the decision unseating Pampanga Governor Ed Panlilio in favor of former board member Lilia Pineda, a poll body official said Thursday.

Comelec Commissioner Lucenito Tagle confirmed that the en banc, in a split decision, upheld the decision of the second division saying Pineda actually won in the 2007 Pampanga gubernatorial race.

In a telephone interview on Unang Balita, Panlilio said they were very surprised by the decision. He also said that one of their lawyers, Atty. Sixto Brillantes, has yet to receive a copy of the decision, despite his office being merely five minutes away from Comelec.

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Abu Sayyaf tagged in simultaneous attacks

ZAMBOANGA CITY—Abu Sayyaf bandits took their campaign of terror to the heart of Basilan on Tuesday, setting off bombs at a Roman Catholic cathedral, school grandstand and three other places, and clashing with government forces in Isabela City.

At least 15 people, including the brother of Abu Sayyaf leader Purudji Indama, were killed in the attacks staged by armed men wearing police and military uniforms, reports said Monday night.

Basilan Bishop Martin Jumoad appealed to local residents to stay calm and pray as he called on military and police officials to run after those responsible for the attacks, which happened for the first time in the city after more than 20 years.

“This is definitely the handiwork of terrorists out to sow fear among the people of the province,” Senior Supt. Antonio Mendoza, Basilan police chief, told reporters in Manila.

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MANILA, Philippines - (The 23-year-old son of actor Cesar Montano died in an apparent suicide in their home in Quezon City on Friday morning.

Initial police reports said Christian Angelo Manhilot, the actor’s son with his first wife, shot himself in the head with a .45 pistol inside their home along Yakal Street, Tivoli Royale subdivision in Barangay Batasan Hills around 6:18 a.m.

Superintendent Chris Mendoza, commander of the Batasan Police Station, said police investigators could not immediately conclude that it was suicide.

“Puwede nating sabihing suicide pero we will investigate deeper para malaman kung ano ang pangyayari (We can say that it’s suicide, but we will investigate deeper to determine what really happened),” Mendoza said.

The police commander said Manhilot was rushed to Malvar Hospital in Quezon City and was declared dead at 6:40 a.m.. The boy died of a single gunshot wound in the head.

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Villar gains support of Garcias, 3 other solons

MANILA, Philippines—While Malacañang was not looking, Nacionalista Party (NP) presidential candidate Sen. Manuel Villar has quietly gained the support of the biggest political party and the most powerful political family in vote-rich Cebu, according to well-placed party sources.

Villar met with congressmen and local officials belonging to One Cebu and the Garcia family behind closed doors at Marco Polo Hotel in Cebu City on Wednesday.

Although details of the meeting were not disclosed to local journalists, Alvin Garcia, who is seeking to regain the city’s mayoral post, announced an alliance between his party, Kugi Uswag Sugbo (Progress for Cebu) or Kusug, and the NP in a press conference at the same hotel.

His position was different from that taken by his cousin, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn “Gwen” Garcia, who founded One Cebu and has expressed support for Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard-bearer Gilbert Teodoro.

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HACIENDA LUISITA, the Philippines — Like his father before him, Buenaventura Calaquian worked the sugar cane fields at Hacienda Luisita, a plantation owned by the family of former President Corazon C. Aquino. In the long-running, sometimes bloody battle over control of the land here, Mr. Calaquian, 58, has come out better than most.

For the last few years, he has illegally occupied 3.7 acres on which he cultivates rice and vegetables. He spends most days watching his fields from a makeshift shack whose thatched roof is patched with flattened cardboard boxes. Small profits from tomato sales have allowed him to buy 50 ducks that now swim in a nearby creek.

“I never want to go back to sugar cane,” Mr. Calaquian said as his wife, Maria, 46, used a single bucket to carry water from the creek over to several uneven rows of tomato vines. “This is better.”

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Brownouts in Mindanao worsening

MANILA, Philippines — President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo plans to declare a power crisis in Mindanao in the next few days to give the government more leeway in dealing with the worsening supply shortage on the island, Malacañang announced Thursday.

The announcement came as the power supply in the Luzon and Mindanao grids further worsened on Thursday. Since Monday, Metro Manila and other parts of Luzon have been suffering from rotating brownouts.

Ms Arroyo said she concurred with Energy Secretary Angelo T. Reyes on his proposal to declare a crisis and allow the government to contract for generation sets for Mindanao.

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The El Niño dry spell has been causing losses in agriculture and tourism across the country, from farmlands up north to poultry farms and tourist destinations down south.

In Benguet in northern Philippines, water sources for mountain farmlands planted to potato, cabbage and other temperate vegetables have began to dry up due to El Niño, threatening huge agricultural losses for the country’s “Salad Bowl” and a rise in the prices of vegetables.

“There will be changes in the characteristic of plants. Pests and diseases are also possible,” said Lolita Bentres, provincial agriculturist of Benguet.

In Ilagan, capital town of Isabela province also in northern Philippines, the Pinsal Falls in the Ilagan Sanctuary, a popular tourist attraction among locals, has begun to dry up also due to El Niño.

“Kung dati ang lapad niya isang buong kurtina, ngayon siguro kalahating kurtina na lang siya. Parang kalahati po ‘yung tubig na nawala po (If before it was as wide as an entire curtain span, now it’s probably just half a curtain wide. It’s like half of the water has been lost),” said Billy Perez of the Ilagan Sanctuary.

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