Comelec sets 2010 ‘Cohesive Strategy’

The Commission on Elections is forming a body that will manage and oversee the implementation of a “cohesive management strategy” for the 2010 elections and has started identifying groups that will be under it, a spokesman for the Commission on Elections said Monday.

The Project Management Office (PMO) will be composed of groups for allocation, printing, verification, packaging and shipping, site preparation and media information, said lawyer James Jimenez.

Jimenez said these groups would submit their plans for the approval of the Comelec en banc.

Jimenez said senior staff from the poll body's different departments met last Friday to streamline the pre- and post- operations of each department under PMO during elections and draft contingency plans in case problems occurred.

The group identified coordination of departmental functions, security and voters' education as the top factors that could affect the success of the 2010 polls, said Jimenez.

This is why each group drafted plans to address this in ensuring a "coherent management strategy" for 2010, he said.

The Election and Barangay Affairs Department (EBAD) is now working on the Project of Precincts (POPs) to identify the precincts established and for clustering, which will be needed to account for the required election paraphernalia in 2010, said Jimenez.

The allocation department will handle the operational requirements of precincts including ballots, election supplies, logistics of board of election officers and the total cost of per precinct operation based on the POPs submitted by EBAD, he said.

The printing group is tasked to make sure ballots per municipality or city will contain the right number and names of candidates and will not lack in number so that no voter gets disenfranchised, he said.

The verification group will verify that each of the pre-printed ballots will be read by the machine to avoid fraudulent results and that any misaligned item, like the oval opposite the name of the candidate, could affect the machine reading of the votes and finally, affect voting results, he said.

After all ballots and election paraphernalia have been verified, the packaging and shipping committee would seal the items and deliver it from the Comelec Manila office to the municipal or city treasury office, which will keep the ballots, ballot boxes, and other paraphernalia until election day when BEI officers would claim the precinct supplies at 3 a.m. of election day, he said.

The site preparation group will identify the precincts which are secure, big enough to accommodate the voting machines to be used by the voters. This group will also assist persons with disabilities to vote at the ground floor of each school building.

The media information group will handle the voters’ information such as details of precincts for voters and voters’ education, which include topics why people should exercise their right to votes.

"2010 is just around the corner. It is our first time to automate in a national scale and it needs a lot of planning and streamlining processes to ensure success. It is important that we begin today so we draft a coherent strategy for 2010; in 2008 [ARMM] elections, we have only three months to prepare," said Jimenez in a separate interview Friday.

In case the budget will not get approved, Jimenez said the PMO staff was considering a reduced scope for automated elections or manual voting so the commission would not get "flat-footed" during the 2010 polls.

In 2008, the Comelec issued Resolution 8464 that formed a PMO body, which managed and handled the automated elections in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

NPC has Winning Team for 2010 -- Solon

The Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) is confident of winning in the 2010 presidential elections and will only support proposals to amend the economic -- not political -- provisions of the Constitution, a party stalwart has said.
Pangasinan Representative Mark Cojuangco, the son of NPC chair and business mogul Eduardo "Danding" Cojuangco, said on Monday the NPC was not interested in changing the form of government or in extending the terms of incumbent officials, as it had a winning presidential team in Senators Francis "Chiz" Escudero and Loren Legarda for the 2010 elections.

"My party has very strong presidential candidates for 2010: Chiz-Loren, Loren-Chiz. So, why would we want to upset our chances? We believe we can win," Cojuangco said in an interview with the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

"Why would we want to upset our chances to have our party's candidate sit as President? Why would we want to shoot ourselves in the foot?" he said.

Cojuangco, who signed the House resolution to amend the constitutional provision against foreign ownership of land, said however, there might not be enough time for a plebiscite to ratify any changes to the national charter, with the 2010 elections only a year away.

"I don't think there's time to have a special election. If you're going to have it amended at the same time as the (presidential) elections, it's moot. It's going to be for the next administration," he said.

Nevertheless, Cojuangco strongly believed that the Constitution's economic provisions should be amended, particularly the ban against ownership of land by foreigners.

"I'm against foreign ownership if it's speculative because we cannot compete with money from abroad," he said. "But if [foreigners] invest here, create wealth, employment... they add value to the local economy," he explained.

While personally believing that a simple three-fourths vote of all members of Congress would be enough to change the Charter, Cojuangco said the Supreme Court should clear up the matter on whether the Senate and the House of Representatives should vote jointly or separately in amending the Constitution.

"It’s not in our hands but in the interpretation of the Supreme Court. But we will only support [changing] the economic provisions. If there are other changes, we will go against it," Cojuangco said.

Lakas meeting to map 2010 strategy

The Lakas Christian Muslim Democrats (CMD) party will hold an expanded executive committee meeting on January 29 to begin mapping out its strategy for the 2010 elections, a party official said.

Lakas officials will discuss "securing party cohesion, preparedness and dominance" and "probably" tackle the criteria for choosing its standard bearer in 2010, Lakas senior deputy secretary general Gabriel Claudio said.

"Generally, [the party will] assess present and prospective political conditions," said Claudio, who is also political adviser to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Arroyo is chairman of Lakas-CMD, which is allied with the party she founded, the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi, Partner of the Free Filipino).

An announced merger between the two parties, intended to field a single standard bearer and senatorial slate, and improve administration chances of bagging next year’s elections, has been put on hold because of reported Kampi infighting

Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando is so far the only Lakas member who has declared his intention to run for president next year.

Vice President Noli De Castro, who is leading in performance surveys, is also reportedly being eyed to be the administration standard bearer. But he is an independent.

Lakas members reportedly being considered as candidates for vice president include Batangas Governor Vilma Santos and Senator Ramon Revilla Jr.

The Lakas was founded by former president Fidel Ramos in 1992 as the vehicle for his presidential bid that same year.

Villar: Puno Run Would Improve 2010 Race

Senator Manuel Villar is unfazed by the possibility of Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno joining the 2010 presidential derby, saying the chief magistrate would be a “very competent” person to lead the country.

In fact, Villar, who has declared his intention to seek the highest office in the land next year said, a Puno bid would improve the “quality” of the presidential race.

“Well, sa ngayon naman kasi, parang this is a time na lahat ng names ipu-float, lahat ng possibilities ime-mention. Darating ang time na magdedesisyon na lahat iyan so, sa ngayon, open naman tayo sa lahat [Well, for now, this is a time when all names are floated, all possibilities mentioned. The time will come when all of them will have to decide so, for now, we are open to everyone],” he told reporters after attending the 12th Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP) conference in Makati City on Monday.

“Chief Justice Puno certainly is a very competent person and he certainly can lead this country so that is good that many capable people are being mentioned as possible presidents of our country,” the former Senate president said.

Asked if he would be threatened by Puno’s entry into politics, Villar answered: “You know, for now, if there are names like that, we really do not know what people will look for at the proper time. So we only want to run [but] if it isn’t your time, it isn’t your time, so everybody is welcome.”

“Ako nga, natutuwa, at least, pagka mga ganyan ang kasama mong kandidato, maganda ang quality [I am personally glad, at least, if these are your fellow candidates, the quality of the contest is improved],” he also said.

Villar, who is president of the Nacionalista Party, said if corruption is to be curbed in the country, the next president should not be corrupt.

“A new president must not be corrupt. That is a need. You must be the example and the people close to you must not be involved in corruption,” he said.

He admitted, however, that eradicating corruption would be almost next to impossible.

“Everybody will say that when he is elected he will get rid of corruption. I don’t think we should trust [anyone who makes this claim]. Either he’s lying or he does not know what he’s talking about,” he said.

source: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20090119-184273/Villar-Puno-run-would-improve-2010-race