Philippines - News Archive

Philippines May 13, 2013

Posted: 05/13/2013
The Philippines held general elections on May 13, after President Benigno AQUINO called for elections halfway through his administration’s 6-year term. At stake in this election were 12/24 Senate (Senado) seats and 291 seats in the House of Representatives (Kalulungan Ng Mga Kinatawan). In the House of Representatives, 233 members are elected by a plurality vote in single member districts, and 58 are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system. In the Senate, members are elected by plurality vote in multimember districts (plurality-at-large). Although official results of the election are still to be announced, unofficial results show 6 leading candidates in the Senate to be from the pro-Aquino ‘Team PNoy’ coalition, consisting of the Liberal Party (LP), Nationalista Party (NP), Akbayan, Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC), and Struggle of Democratic Filipinos (LDP).

Source: ElectionGuide

New Philippine president sworn in

Posted: 06/30/2010
Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III is sworn in as the 15th president of the Philippines, promising to attack corruption.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Aquino unveils Cabinet, vows graft probe

Posted: 06/29/2010
MANILA: Philippines' President-elect Benigno Aquino III unveiled his Cabinet yesterday and said he would immediately form a commission to investigate allegations of corruption and abuses against his predecessor.

Read full story. Source: Straits Times Interactive - ASIA

Filipinos Hold General Election For President and Congress

Posted: 05/13/2010
Senator Benigno "Noynoy" AQUINO appears headed for victory following the Philippines' general election on Monday. Despite challenges in vote tallying, the magnitude of AQUINO's lead means final results from outstanding precincts are unlikely to change the result. New electronic voting machines performed better than some critics had feared despite a few glitches. An electronic voting machine malfunction, for example, forced AQUINO to wait for several hours before he could cast his vote. Observed incidents of violence were fewer than in previous elections, though there were reported bombings and gunfights in Mindinao, where violence has historically occurred in previous elections. Last November, warlords massacred 57 people, including 34 journalists, when one group tried to file a certificate of candidacy for a gubernatorial candidate in an area held by a rival clan.

Source: ElectionGuide

Philippine voters' voices

Posted: 05/11/2010
Philippine voters on the polls and their nation's future

Read full story. Source: BBC News | Asia-Pacific | World Edition

Philippine voters' voices

Posted: 05/11/2010
Philippine voters on the polls and their nation's future

Read full story. Source: BBC News | Asia-Pacific | World Edition

Aquino closes on Philippine win

Posted: 05/11/2010
Benigno Aquino closes in on victory in the Philippines' presidential poll as one rival, Manual Villar, concedes defeat.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

COMELEC: Glitches Will Not Derail Elections

Posted: 05/06/2010
Elections scheduled for May 10 in the Philippines will go ahead as planned, according to the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), despite some calls for a delay due to glitches with electronic voting machines. Testing of precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, which tally voter ballots, revealed flaws requiring the COMELEC to reconfigure data memory cards in all 76,000 PCOS machines in every polling station across the country. The COMELEC says it will be able to fix the machines in time and that some of the country’s largest companies have lent helicopters to assist in getting the replacement data memory cards to the polling stations. Some candidates are calling for voting to be postponed until the PCOS machines can be fully tested. These will be the Philippines' first automated elections, which the nation hopes will reduce fraud occurring during manual counts.

Source: ElectionGuide

Filipinos mourn death of former president

Posted: 08/01/2009
A 10-day period of official mourning began in the Philippines Sunday, following the death of former president Corazon Aquino.

Read full story. Source: CBC | World News

Philippine president vows not to seek fresh term

Posted: 07/27/2009
MANILA, Philippines (AP) -- Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, faced with the prospect of civil unrest unless she steps down at the end of her term, vowed Monday not to try to extend her time in office....

Read full story. Source: AP Top International News

Philippines' 2 biggest parties merge

Posted: 05/28/2009
MANILA - THE two largest political parties in the Philippines, which hold 60-70 per cent of all elected positions, merged on Thursday ahead of presidential elections in May 2010.

Read full story. Source: Straits Times Interactive - SE ASIA

Philippine opposition wins Senate

Posted: 06/06/2007
Opponents of Philippine President Gloria Arroyo's administration win a majority in the Senate.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | Asia-Pacific | World Edition

Violence mars Philippine count

Posted: 05/15/2007
The marathon vote count in the Philippine elections continues as reports come in of fraud and further violence.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Local and congressional polls marred by violence

Posted: 05/15/2007
Filipinos voted on May 14 to elect local officials, 12 senators, and 275 members of the House of Representatives. The elections were marred by continued violence, voter intimidation, and irregularities. More than 125 people died because of election-related violence. Final results are expected in a few weeks as votes are counted by hand.  

Source: ElectionGuide

Philippines vote draws to a close

Posted: 05/14/2007
Voting ends in the Philippines for mid-term elections that have been marred by months of violence.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | World | UK Edition

Attempt to impeach Arroyo fails

Posted: 08/24/2006
Philippine President Gloria Arroyo survives an attempt to impeach her over claims of corruption and fraud.

Read full story. Source: BBC News | Asia-Pacific | World Edition

Phillippines' Incument President Wins Second Term

Posted: 06/22/2004
On June 20, Philippines congressional officials confirmed that incumbent President Gloria Macapagal ARROYO of the Coalition for Rights and Experiences for the Future (K4) won the May 10 presidential election with 12,905,808 votes over Coalition of United Filipinos (KNP) candidate Fernando POE Jr., who received 11,782,232 votes. A recount of the ballots had been ordered by the Congress after opposition parties charged that the election results were manipulated. Official results will not be released by the Philippine Congress until June 25, followed by ARROYO's inauguration which isslated on June 30.

Source: ElectionGuide

Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces Announce Security Plan

Posted: 02/02/2004
On February 2, Philippine National Police (PNP) director Avelino RAZON announced that the PNP and the Armed Forces of the Philippines will establish a security plan in response to concerns regarding election violence. According to the official announcement, the PNP will train and deploy about 80,000 police officers to 493 cities and municipalities nationwide that have had a record of electoral-related violence in the past.? Presidential, legislative, municipal and local elections are scheduled on May 10 but there are concerns regarding conflicts by insurgent groups and political families who are known to own private armies in various regions.

Source: ElectionGuide

Philppine Supreme Court Rules Against COMELEC Contract

Posted: 01/20/2004
On January 14, the Philippine Supreme Court ruled that the contract between the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) and a South Korean manufacturer of ballot counting machines was illegal because COMELEC failed to follow proper procedures in procuring the machines from the South Korean-based company. The court’s decision throws into doubt COMELEC’s ability to hold elections in May due to its reliance on the ballot counting machines to tabulate results of the election.

Source: ElectionGuide

Philippines Supreme Court to Issue a Ruling on COMELEC Contract

Posted: 01/12/2004
On January 12, the Philippine Supreme Court was asked to issue a ruling on allowing the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) to utilize counting machines instead of counting ballots manually for the upcoming presidential, legislative and local elections on May 10.  Several opposition groups have questioned the validity of a contract made between COMELEC and a South Korean company which would supply the automated counting machines. There is concern that the polls might be cancelled if the Supreme Court rules against the automated voting process.

Source: ElectionGuide

Philippine's Incumbent President Registers for the Presidential Election

Posted: 01/05/2004
On January 5, incumbent President Gloria ARROYO officially registered as a candidate for the presidential election. According to the Philippine election commission (COMELEC), President ARROYO will represent the National Unity of Christian Democrats-United Muslim Democratic Party (LAKAS-NUCD). She will compete against independent candidate Fernando POE, a popular former actor and Democratic Action (Akyson) party candidate Raul S. ROCO.  Presidential elections will be held on May 10 at the same time as the country’s legislative elections.

Source: ElectionGuide

Phillippines' President Announces She Does Not Seek Re-election

Posted: 12/30/2002
On December 30th, President ARROYO announced that she will not run for re-election in 2004.  Ever since her ascension to power in January 2001, ARROYO has faced problems such as unemployment and economic stagnation as well as dealing with political infighting within the government. Presidential elections in the Philippines are scheduled for May 2004, with primaries to select candidates slated sometime in 2003.

Source: ElectionGuide

Philippines Announces Preliminary Results of Senatorial Elections

Posted: 05/25/2001
With nearly 73% of the Certificates of Canvass counted, the Philippines Commission on Elections (COMELEC) official tally shows the People's Power Coalition winning 8 of 13 Senate seats being contested.  Joseph Estrada's Strength of the Masses coalition has 4 seats with one independent accounting for the remaining seat.

Source: ElectionGuide

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