Latest Stories

TV spins of top bets ‘not Bible truth’

Credible message, not volume
or value, makes good ‘pol ads’

by Karol M. Ilagan

HE has racked up nearly a billion pesos worth of TV ad spots, by network rate cards, in the last three months alone, but indications are that Nacionalista Party standard bearer Senator Manuel ‘Manny’ Villar Jr. can comfort himself that so far every centavo of that has been money well spent.

Read more... | Posted Wednesday, February 17th, 2010

Pre-campaign clutter or spin central?

War on the air waves: 6 top
bets spend P1-B on ‘pol ads’

by Che de los Reyes

IF the law on campaign spending and political advertising were imposed before the official campaign period began last week, one presidential candidate would have already overspent in the past three months alone, even as he joins four others who would have exceeded the broadcast limit for TV.

Read more... | Posted Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

Money & politics: The truth (not) well told

Poll expense reports of Erap, Arroyo,
wanna-be presidents shot full of holes

by Malou Mangahas

The popular perception is that running an election campaign has the potential of reducing a candidate to penury. Yet none of those who had served or today want to serve as president and vice president has come close to breaching the spending limit – or even to going shirtless and hungry – according to the separate “Statements of Electoral Contributions and Expenses” they had filed with the Commission on Elections (Comelec) over the last 12 years.

Read more... | Posted Monday, February 15th, 2010

Alarm bells for May 10 elections?

Sharp spike in Maguindanao,
ARMM population a big riddle

by Roel R. Landingin

A RECENT conference of the Philippine Population Association had none of the media frenzy that usually attends the ongoing bail hearing for ex-Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., the prime suspect in the massacre of 57 people, including 32 media workers, in Maguindanao last November 23.

Read more... | Posted Wednesday, February 10th, 2010

10 Ampatuans implicated
in massacre are candidates

by Carolyn O. Arguillas, MindaNews

DAVAO CITY – Only two of the 12 prominent Ampatuans implicated in the November 23, 2009 massacre in Maguindanao are not running for any posts in this year’s elections: Datu Unsay mayor Datu Andal “Unsay” Ampatuan, Jr., and ARMM governor Datu Zaldy Ampatuan. Just as well, their wives and a daughter are running, records of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) show.

Read more... | Posted Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

68 Ampatuans, 15 Mangudadatus
dominate Maguindanao elections

by Carolyn O. Arguillas, MindaNews

DAVAO CITY – The Ampatuans, Mangudadatus, Midtimbangs, Sinsuats, Masturas, Sangkis comprise the majority among Maguindanao’s 879 candidates running for 374 posts: two congressional representatives to Congress, one governor, one vice-governor, 10 provincial board members, 36 mayors, 36 vice mayors and 288 municipal board members or councilors.
The Ampatuans lead the list of candidates with 50 carrying [...]

Read more... | Posted Monday, February 8th, 2010

The mysteries of money & politics

Top bets for president grow
wealth despite poll expenses

by Malou Mangahas

A BILLIONAIRE and four other millionaires lead the pack of those who want to serve as the15th president of the Philippines, all invariably swearing by an anti-poverty platform, and with some purposely harking on their poverty roots to spin and curry favor with majority of voters who are poor.

Read more... | Posted Sunday, February 7th, 2010

Fear, terror, poverty mix in Maguindanao

Arroyo, Ampatuans mocked agencies in crafty power play

by Ed Lingao

A FEW weeks after the Maguindanao massacre, Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer, chief administrator of martial law in the area, received an unusual call on his cell phone.

On the other end of the line was a trusted aide of Datu Zaldy Uy Ampatuan, who was days earlier replaced as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). Zaldy was one of several members of the Ampatuan clan jailed on charges of rebellion, stemming from the November 23 carnage that left at least 57 people dead.

Read more... | Posted Thursday, February 4th, 2010

Why poor Maguindanao is awash with weapons of war

Ampatuans used public office
to amass mostly illegal guns

by Ed Lingao

IN JULY last year, Philippine National Police officers from the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (PNP-ARMM) met with representatives from the Arms Corporation of the Philippines (Armscor) for what should have been a fairly straightforward transaction.

The PNP was buying half a million rounds of 5.56-mm ammunition, the kind used by the police and military for the M-16 rifle. The purchase and delivery papers indicate that the bullets were meant for deployment to war-torn Sulu.

Read more... | Posted Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

Lawmakers urged: Ratify the Freedom of Information act now!

by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

With just five Congress session days to go, a broad coalition of over 100 media, civil society and nongovernment organizations yesterday urged senators and congressmen to set aside partisan politics this week and ratify the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act as a unanimous vote for good governance and stronger democratic institutions.
In a statement, the Right [...]

Read more... | Posted Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

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