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Pharmacy SIGs :: View topic - 2007 SAFP Elections... af-pharmacists.org |
Legislative and local elections were held in the Philippines on May 14, 2007. Positions being contested include half the seats in the Senate, which are elected for six-year terms, and all the seats in the House of Representatives, who are elected for three-year terms. The duly elected legislators of the 2007 elections will join the elected senators of the 2004 elections and will comprise the 14th Congress of the Philippines. Most representatives win seats by being elected directly, the constituency being a geographical district comprising of about 250,000 voters. There are 220 seats in total for all the legislative districts. Some representatives are elected under a party-list system. Only parties representing marginalized groups are allowed to run in the party-list election. To gain one seat, a party must win 2% of the vote. No party-list party may have more than 3 seats. After the election, in a controversial decision, COMELEC changed how it allocates the party-list seats. Under the new formula only one party will have the maximum 3 seats. It based its decision on a formula contained in a Supreme Court decision.Alinor Sarip Local elections for governor, vice governor, provincial board seats and mayoral, vice mayoral and city/municipal council seats in Metro Manila and the provinces are up for grabs as well.
[edit] Official candidatesOn March 19, 2007, the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) released Resolution No.7832 which finalized and approved the official candidates for the senatorial election. On March 29, 2007 the Commission on Elections certified 37 Senatorial Candidates:[2] [edit] Background[edit] COMELEC issues and COMELEC building fire On March 11, 2007, the Old COMELEC Building in Intramuros, Manila was burned by a blazing fire ruining several ballot boxes and election protests at the time of 12:57pm (UTC +8). The Genuine Opposition considered the fire as political act which ended in burning of several election protests and contested ballot boxes. Investigators found out that instead of arson, it was the generator of the building which caused and since the building was built with tar and wood it would easily razed by fire. The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) is facing scrutiny because of the fire that hit its old building on March 11 resulting in speculations of conspiracies to cheat on the May 14 elections [2]. The COMELEC was also lambasted for publishing on the internet the names, addresses and details of registered voters. [3] [edit] The Aquino issueThree people with the name Aquino filed their candidacies (Benigno Aquino III, Teresa Aquino-Oreta and Theodore Aquino), and there was confusion as to who is credited with a vote if someone wrote only "Aquino" on the ballot. Since Theodore Aquino was disqualified because he had dual citizenship and former Sen. Teresa "Tessie" Aquino-Oreta has the last name Oreta, COMELEC ruled that all votes with only the name Aquino would go to Tarlac Rep. Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III. All three Aquinos are related to each other. [edit] The Cayetano issueThe matter was the same as the Aquino issue. Taguig City-Pateros Rep. Alan Peter Cayetano found out that a certain Joselito Pepito "Peter" Cayetano belonging to the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan filed his candidacy with the nickname "Peter" which was really "Jojo". Alan therefore filed a disqualification case (SPA 07-019) against Jojo. Jojo was declared a nuisance candidate by the COMELEC resolution on March 27, 2007. Jojo then filed for a motion for reconsideration which was eventually rejected on May 11, 2007 but COMELEC did not remove his name from the Official List of Senatorial Candidates and ruled on May 12, 2007 that all votes with only the name "CAYETANO" will be stray votes (discarded) and therefore not counted to either the candidates until Supreme Court resolved the matter. The COMELEC said that Jojo could file a motion for reconsideration at the Supreme Court within five days. [edit] Automated electionsSen. Richard J. Gordon and his fellow Senators succeeded in passing Republic Act No. 9369 or the Amending the Election Modernization Act but it was too late since it was passed three months before the elections but since the law was passed, the elections for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao Regional Governor and Vice-Governor later in August 2008 it will be used for the test-run for computerization and the general elections in 2010 for the nationwide computerization of elections. [edit] Lakas vs. KAMPILakas-CMD President and House Speaker Jose de Venecia was challenged by Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino or KAMPI Cebu 2nd District Rep. Pablo P. Garcia for the speakership in the incoming 14th Congress of the Philippines which has caused a battle between Administration allies. Recently, Garcia was accused by Parañaque City 1st District Rep. Eduardo Ziacita and Manila 6th District Rep. Bienvenido Abante, Jr. both under the party Lakas-CMD of using Government Service Insurance System or GSIS pension funds care of Garcia's son GSIS Vice-Chairman, General Manager and President Winston Garcia to bribe congressmen of PHP 300,000 to 400,000 to support his father's speakership bid.[3] [edit] The 14th Congress of the PhilippinesMain article: 14th Congress of the Philippines The COMELEC has proclaimed 12 senators for the Incoming 14th Congress. Last slot was given to Former Rep. Juan Miguel Zubiri who is the first Senator from Bukidnon. His rival Aquilino Pimentel III has filed already an election sabotage case against COMELEC at the Supreme Court and on July 24, 2007 and an electoral protest at the Senate Electoral Tribunal. [edit] Incoming SenateThe top 12 candidates are elected into the 14th Congress of the Philippines and will comprise one-half of the 24-seat Senate. They will have 6-year terms and will serve up to the 15th Congress. However, the Senate seat of Alfredo Lim will be ipso facto vacated for the next 3 years of his unexpired term beginning June 30, 2007 owing to his election as mayor of Manila. Eminent Justice Isagani Cruz suggested that the 13th placer in the senatorial elections be proclaimed as winner for the 3-year term not served by Senator Lim.[4]
[edit] Coalitions and political parties[edit] TEAM UnityTEAM (Together Everyone Achieves More) Unity is a coalition composed mostly of supporters and erstwhile critics of current Philippine president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. TEAM Unity seeks to take several Senate seats in order to ensure the passage of President Arroyo's legislative programs and also to protect her from any impeachment attempts by the political opposition after the midterm elections. Team Unity is composed by different major political parties in the country such as the Coalition of Administrative Political Party (CAPP), Lakas-Christian-Muslim Democrats (Lakas-CMD), Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI), Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), and the Partido Demokratiko Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP). The campaign team of TEAM Unity is headed by veteran political strategist Reli German (campaign manager), Tourism Secretary Ace Durano (spokesperson) and Ike Rodriguez (campaign director). TEAM Unity has recently held its proclamation rally at the Cebu Coliseum last February 17, 2007. [edit] Genuine Opposition (GO) The United Opposition Coalition was created by Makati City Mayor Jejomar Binay on June 2005 to unite all politicians who wish to impeach Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The UNO started scouting candidates for the Senate as early as October 2006 to claim a large share in the Senate seats. On January 2007, UNO started short listing its nominees after a large number of interested personalities wanted to join the opposition. The UNO changed its name on February 12, 2007, at the Club Filipino in San Juan, Metro Manila to "Grand and Broad Coalition" (GBC). On February 15, 2007, the group changed its named again to "Genuine Opposition" (GO) after a meeting with Senate President Manny Villar in his office in Las Piñas. Though Senate President Manny Villar is running under the Opposition, he remains an independent candidate as in the 2001 election. On February 28, 2007, the Genuine Opposition dropped Francis Pangilinan as its Adopted Candidate due to his insistence to run as an Independent and his failure to join opposition sorties. The GO had its proclamation rally at Plaza Miranda, Quiapo, Manila on February 25, 2007.[5] [edit] Timeline2007
2009
[edit] IssuesAmong the issues are the on-going efforts by the Administration and others to amend the Philippine Constitution to shift the country from an bicameral and presidential system to a unicameral and parliamentary system, and by the opposition led by the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC), the PDP-Laban and the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) to oust President Arroyo through various means. The opposition in this case includes the UNO as well as other groups and individuals not in the UNO. The UNO is now known as the GO (see above). [edit]In the lead up to the election and on election day, 126 people were killed and 148 others wounded by election-related violence.[6] This is less than the 2004 election, when 189 people were killed. The New People's Army has been implicated in the destruction of polling booths and the murder of election officials.[6] The election was regarded by Director General Oscar Calderon of the Philippine National Police as relatively peaceful, "We have noted a relatively peaceful situation nationwide, and I am confident that this will be the ultimate outcome until after the entire election process is completed".[7] [edit] Party-list allocationUnder the Abalos commission, the Panganiban formula was applied. It stemed from Case VFP v. COMELEC where the formula gives three seats to the party with the highest number of votes. Party-list candidates BANAT and Bayan Muna filed separate complaints on the proper allocation of seats in the party-list system. On April 23, 2009, the Supreme Court declared the two percent threshold clause of Republic Act No. 7941, otherwise known as the Party-List System Act and the Panganiban formula unconstitutional. Before the elections, there are 220 district representatives up for election. There are 16,024,795 votes cast for party list. With the SC decision, that makes 55 seats reserved for sectoral representatives. It increased the membership by 33 seats. The disqualification of the party-list group Filipinos for Peace, Justice and Progress Movement (FPJPM) in July 2008 has lowered the votes cast in the party-list race from 16,024,795 to 15,723,764. Votes for FPJPM have been deducted from the total votes cast. Based on the SC ruling, FPJPM was entitled to one seat, ranking 19th among the party-list groups. FPJPM got 301,031 votes. But the Comelec cancelled its registration on the ground that the group does not actually represent the marginalized sector. The SC has upheld the Comelec decision. COMELEC however declared that there are only 219 district representatives (with the Supreme Court decision of the election of the congressional seat of Shariff Kabunsuan void and the restoration of the first district of Maguindanao), reducing seats to 54. The updated computation only affected the ranking of some of the winning party-list groups. But the reduction in the number of legislative districts proved to be fatal for the party-list Cocofed (Philippine Coconut Producers Federation Inc.) Under the SC ruling, Cocofed was entitled to one seat. But Comelec ruled that “although Cocofed was included in the decision of the SC entitled to the last 55th seat, the number of available party-list distribution, which has now been reduced to 54, could no longer accommodate Cocofed.” [edit] CampaignCandidates continue to make use of different campaign platforms to win. Prospero Pichay, Manny Villar, Mike Defensor, and Loren Legarda have been very visible in TV ads. Kiko Pangilinan preferred to run as an Independent and decided not to participate in sortees and campaign of the Genuine Opposition, even though he was initially drafted as a guest candidate. Tessie Aquino Oreta has raised different reactions in her TV ad campaign asking the people’s forgiveness being the “dancing queen” during the impeachment of deposed President Joseph Estrada. Some candidates like Chiz Escudero, Vic Magsaysay, Kiko Pangilinan, Joker Arroyo, Antonio Trillanes and Koko Pimentel made use of the internet by joining networks sites like Friendster; making or updating Wikipedia entries, establishing blogs and websites and airing the commercials on YouTube. After a month on the campaign trail, financial problems are hounding both the administration and opposition candidates. Team Unity senatorial bets Cesar Montano and Sultan Jamalul Kiram III are reportedly backing out of the race. Both of them said that they are not backing out of the race and its was just that they are having some financial problems. Likewise, Genuine Opposition campaign manager JV Ejercito said that their resources are already running out because only his father, deposed President Joseph Estrada is funding their campaign. Another problem for the GO is the frequent cancellation of their provincial sorties due to lack of local coordinators that will bring people into their rallies. During the day of the elections itself, it was reported that many voters' names were mixed up or removed from the registries at ballot stations, causing much consternation. It was also reported that several areas in Maguindanao were completely overrun by vote-buying, both on the local and national levels. [edit] Failure of electionsThe following areas will be having special elections after the COMELEC designated the following areas as failure of elections:
[edit] Election resultsOfficial COMELEC results for national results aren't expected to be completed until early June. [edit] Senatorial resultsHere are the different summaries of the results in the senatorial elections. Only the COMELEC tally is official.
It is interesting to note that no unofficial tally correctly predicted the 7-3-2 result. [edit] COMELEC count
[edit] Per coalition
[edit] Media countsPrior to the start of the official COMELEC count and the COMELEC-accredited NAMFREL quick count, media counts were conducted by ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corporation in concurrence with STI Colleges and GMA Network in concurrence with AMA Computer University. The media counts lasted until May 16, when NAMFREL started its quick count. Both media counts ended with about 1.5 million votes for the topnotcher. COMELEC through its chairman Benjamin Abalos then ordered the networks to stop their "unauthorized" quick counts for it "confuses our people. It shows trending and we do not allow trending because they might be reporting from places favorable to their candidates of choice."[16] However, the media count conducted by ABS-CBN & STI reflected the final tally (8-2-2) of NAMFREL quick count.[17] [edit] House resultsAll winning candidates will serve at the 14th Congress of the Philippines for 3-year terms. The representatives are chosen by two means:
[edit] Local electionsAll local positions are disputed in the elections, with the candidate with the most number of votes for governor, vice-governor, mayor and vice-mayor being declared as the winner. Winners for the positions for board members and councilors depends on the size of the assembly. Administration Candidates won the majority of the local positions. [edit] See also[edit] Sources
[edit] External links
[edit] Media websites
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