Archive for March, 2010

Liberal Party presidential candidate Senator Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III joined girlfriend Shalani Soledad in Barangay Marulas, Valenzuela City on the first day of campaign for local positions. Shalani Soledad is a candidate for councilor in Valenzuela City.

“Paborito kong konsehal sa buong Pilipinas (My favorite councilor in the Philippines),” Aquino said about Soledad, amid wild cheers from the the crowd gathered inside a basketball court in Barangay Marulas.

Egged by the crowd to kiss Shalani, Noynoy said he couldn’t because he still needed to take a bath as he had just came from a campaign sortie.

“Mamaya na lang ho… Kami na lang ho pagkaligo ko (Maybe a little later, when I am able to take a bath),” Aquino said in jest.

Full story: Noynoy joins girlfriend Shalani in Valenzuela campaign

See complete list of national candidates
See complete list of Valenzuela City candidates

Nagsimula nang magkampanya si Batangas Governor Vilma Santos for reelection noong Biyernes, March 26, sa municipality ng Sto. Tomas, Batangas. Kasama ni Governor Vi sa pag-iikot ang asawa niyang si Ralph Recto na tumatakbo for senator at si Vice Governor Mark Leviste.

Nagulat ang marami na simulan ni Governor Vi ang kanyang kampanya sa Sto. Tomas municipality, balwarte ng mga Sanchez, kung saan kasalukuyang mayor si Edna Sanchez, ang asawa ni Armand Sanchez. Si Armand ay karibal ni Vilma sa posisyon na gobernador ng Batangas.

Full story: Batangas Governor Vilma Santos starts her campaign in rival’s territory

See complete list of candidates in Sto Tomas, Batangas
See complete list of candidates in Batangas

Bangon Pilipinas presidential candidate Eduardo “Eddie” Villanueva vowed to work for the establishment of a tertiary hospital in every province if elected.

“The public health sector is already in the ICU (intensive care unit) and must be given a shot to come alive. My personal vision is to establish a tertiary public hospital in every province in the country to bring the best health care to those who need it the most,” Villanueva said.

“Health is one of the top agenda of the Bangon Pilipinas Party. We will prioritize increasing the budget for the public health sector by following the ideal budget allocation set by the World Health Organization (WHO) to the equivalent of six percent of the country’s gross domestic product,” Villanueva explained.

A tertiary hospital is defined as a large major hospital that offers a full complement of services, including pediatrics, general medicine, and the different branches of surgery.

Full story in Bro. Eddie vows to build a tertiary hospital in every province

See complete list of national candidates

Gubernatorial candidate and political kingpin Luis ”Chavit” Singson bared his support behind the presidential bid of Nacionalista Party standard-bearer Sen. Manny Villar. Singson declared he resigned from the Lakas-Kampi-CMD party to support the NP bet.

Singson who is known for his command vote and a highly-respected Ilocos Sur political leader,declared that Lakas-Kampi-CMD local leaders in the province will follow suit in the coming days to throw their support behind Villar. Singson said in a jest he is currently under the ”Lakas-loob” party.

Full story at Chavit, Ilocos leaders leave Lakas for Villar

See Complete list of Ilocos Sur Candidates

Councilor Joey Calderon, a mayoralty candidate in Taytay town in Rizal province is now facing disqualification charges for allegedly posting political materiasl a day before the start of the campaign for local candidates. The complainant, Pepito Salangsang, a resident and registered voter has filed charges against Calderon.

Salangsang also called on the Comelec to show some resolve in handling cases against politicians who brazenly violate the law. He said Calderon, who who is running under the Aksyon Demokratiko political party, allegedly posted election materials on the social networking sites Facebook and Youtube a day before the supposed start of the campaign period.

Details at Taytay mayoralty bet faces disqualification raps

See complete List of candidates for Taytay, Rizal

See complete List of candidates for Rizal province

Puwersa ng Masang Pilipino dared the Commission on Elections to disqualify any candidate who has violated the Omnibus Election Code, particularly the limit set on airtime for his or her campaign advertisements.

“This is an acid test for our poll officials, and if they fail this one, then the results of the May 2010 national elections will forever be put in doubt,” PMP spokesman Ralph Calinisan said.

Calinisan was reacting to the report recently by the advocacy group, Pera at Pulitika, and based on the data from the AGB Nielsen Media Research, which showed that Nacionalista Party president candidate Sen. Manny Villar has already exceeded his alloted airtime for TV campaign ads, totalling 2,054 minutes.

Complete story : Erap camp to Comelec: Disqualify Villar over campaign ads

See complete List of national candidates

In a recent blogger event, QC Mayor candidate Mike Defensor laid out a strong challenge to Vice-Mayor (and QC mayoralty candidate) Herbert Bautista. He showed official documents showing that Herbert spent 30% of his 750M budget on food and drinks in the last 3 years. There were also waivers attached signed by Herbert saying that no inspection was needed to physically validate the orders. 30% of 750M is roughly 230M-240M pesos and that’s no small amount.

There are two questions Bautista should answer
1. Did you really spend 30% of your budget in the last year on food and drinks?
2. If yes, why?

See full story at QC Vice-Mayor Herbert Bautista should answer Mike Defensor’s allegations

In an interview with Karen Davila, Herbert Bautista’s responded it was spent on several government program. See story and video at QC Vice-Mayor Herbert Bautista answers Mike Defensor’s allegations on ANC

See Complete list of local candidates for Quezon City

Bandera recently interviewed candidates Lito Atienza and Alfredo Lim, mayoralty candidates for the City of Manila. Alfredo Lim was Manila Mayor from 1992 to 1998, and was re-elected in 2007. Lito Atienza was Lim’s Vice Mayor from 1992 to 1998, and became Mayor from 1998 to 2007. Lim is the incumbent Mayor, and official candidate of the Liberal Party. Atienza is with a different faction within the Liberal Party and running as an independent candidate.

Excerpts of the interview:
BANDERA: Ano ang dahilan kung bakit nais ninyong maging mayor ng Maynila?
LITO ATIENZA: Kailangan ng programang pangkabuhayan para sa mga Manileño kaya muli akong tatakbo. Noong panahon ko ay mayroon tayong itinulak na “buhayin ang Maynila” which helped the city.

BANDERA: Ano ang tatlong dahilan kung bakit kayo ang dapat iboto ng mamamayan ng inyong syudad?
LITO ATIENZA: May massive housing program kami at land for the landless, peace and order. Manila became most peaceful dati-rati. Number one kami sa peace and order pero nawala na. Laganap ngayon ang krimen. Graft and corruption ay dapat lutasin.

BANDERA: Anong dahilan kung bakit sa tingin ninyo ay kayo pa rin an iboboto ng mga taga Maynila?
ALFREDO LIM: Marami na rin akong nagawa at ang prayoridad ko ay health. Nagpatayo na ko ng mga ospital at may mga ipinapatayo pa kong ospital. Sa anim na ospital, lima na yung nabuksan yung isa ay under construction pa. May dalawang nabuksang school sa Maynila na libre ang pag-aaral at kahit anong bayarin ay wala ng babayaran ang mga estudyante.
BANDERA:Kung kayo ay mahahalal muli, ano ang tatlong bagay na inyong gagawin sa unang 100 araw ninyo sa inyong tanggapan?
ALFREDO LIM: Financial center sa likod ng Manila Hotel along Bonifacio drive hanggang sa Delpan Bridge. A 30-storey high rise condo ang gagawin ko para din sa financial center. Ipagigiba ang mga lumang establisimento doon at irerenovate yun para sa bagong financial center.Establishment of City Transport system, na iikot sa buong lungsod ng Maynila ang 10 aircon buses pero 50 porysento lamang ang pamasahe sa original na pamasahe. Build a high rise low cost condominium para sa mga pamilya na nasa squatters area

More details at Bandera Tapatan: Alfredo Lim, Lito Atienza
See complete list of Local Candidates for the City of Manila

Nacionalista Party vice-presidential bet Sen Loren Legarda said she is qualified to be the next vice president of the land.

When asked by fellow vice presidential candidate Bayani Fernando whether she is capable of handling a much different job, aside from lawmaking, she said she has enough experience to qualify her for the job. Legarda and Fernando, along with other vice-presidential bets, faced each other in the “Harapan” televised debate held late Sunday night at the La Consolacion College.

Legarda said that aside from crafting laws, she was involved in humanitarian projects like helping victims of calamities last year and assisting in the rescue of two military officers who were held hostage by the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels, and scholarships to dozens of deserving students.

In the same debate, Legarda also mentioned the laws she had authored like Clean Air Act, Free Vaccination Act, Senior Citizens Act and lately the Climate Change Act.

More at Loren cites qualifications for veep post

The 45-day campaign period for the local polls begins March 26, with  222 candidates for congressman, 80 for governor, 80 for vice governor, 762 for provincial board member, 120 for city mayor , 120 for vice mayor, 1,514  for municipal mayor, 1,514  for vice mayor, 1,346 for city councilor and 12,116 for municipal councilors.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) calling on a total of 49,996 candidates are vying for 17,874 local seats to observe election laws and regulations or face disqualification.

Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said local bets should observe the restrictions on campaigning to avoid disqualification or getting sued.

More at Local election campaign begins