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Pitiful Abalos

MR. EXPOSE

Amb. Ernesto Maceda

05/17/2007

At a press conference, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. proudly declared that opposition claims of massive cheating as in 2004 were belied by the reports of orderly elections on May 14, election day.

Hello, Mr. Chairman. The cheating in 2004 was done after voting day, in the canvassing centers with the substitution of election returns (ERs) and pre-fabrication of the certificates of canvass (CoC). Cheating starts after the polls are closed.

The sale of CoC and ER forms in Mindanao and the theft of such forms from the Comelec warehouse right next to the Comelec offices are definitely signs the same wholesale cheating strategy is set to be attempted. This time, however, there are a lot of people watching and will not be caught off-guard. Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, media, watchdog groups numbering over a million people are watching.

With the landslide vote the top seven non-administration candidates are getting in Luzon, the dagdag-bawas scheme can push up only one candidate of TU, not four such as what happened in 2004. Will it be Recto, Zubiri, Pichay or Defensor? It will depend on Malacañang’s telephone call.

The torching of Pinagbayanan Elementary School in Taysan, Batangas, resulting in the death of a teacher and a poll clerk and the injury to 12 others is the loudest testimony to the incompetence of Abalos and PNP Director General Oscar Calderon, whose jobs were to prevent election violence. Even before election day, there was hot conflict in Taysan because the incumbent mayor lost in the election protest but refused to give up his post resulting in demonstrations. Abalos and Calderon should have put a special watch on Taysan. They did not. Now, teachers Nellie Banaag and Leticia Ramos are dead while their grieving relatives are watching Calderon congratulating himself for the “most peaceful elections ever.” Thirty-two policemen have died — that’s peaceful? Señor Abalos and General Calderon, get your feet back on the ground before more deaths are hung on your necks.

Looking for scapegoats. The rich campaign managers and spokesman of Malacañang are now accusing media of mind--conditioning and trending in favor of the Genuine Opposition. In 2004, they were praising media and pointing to surveys and quick counts to validate their victory. They have to look for scapegoats because they assured GMA and FG Team Unity (TU) will win majority of the seats.

And for their assurances, they were given huge amounts of money. Fire them all, Madam President.

New stars. Chiz Escudero, Darlene Antonino-Custodio, Alan Peter Cayetano and Antonio Trillanes are the new stars of Philippine politics. Against all the forces and pesos of Malacañang, they performed excellently in the mid-term elections.

Chiz, Darlene and Alan led the House of Representatives floor fight for the impeachment of GMA. Other pro-impeachment congressman — Roilo Golez, Rodolfo Plaza, Noli Fuentebella and TG Guingona are sure of reelection in their districts.

The ignominious defeat of boxing champ Manny Pacquiao should be a good lesson to him. He is being used and manipulated by people close to him who encouraged him to run. He should now dismiss and distance himself from all of those who convinced him to run, got his money and fed him to the dogs. Most people comment that Pacquiao deserves his fate because he was hard-headed and too “mayabang na.”

The voters of General Santos and the 1st District of South Cotabato should be congratulated and commended for their intelligence. Darlene’s performance in Congress is most outstanding and should be rewarded with another term. Congratulations to Darlene and to her parents Adel and Lou Antonino.

It is easy to predict that Darlene will be a senator in 2010.

Tidbits. Alvin Vergara, nephew of Cabanatuan City Mayor Jay Vergara, has upset Gov. Tommy Joson in the fight for mayor... Present trend shows three other Josons are losing... Vicente “Bart” Belmonte, UNO candidate, has defeated the Badilles, Quibrauza and Dimaporo clans in the battle for congressman of Iligan City and the 1st District of Lanao del Norte... LP Gov. Niel Tupas of Iloilo City is way ahead in his reelection bid... Fake Comelec en banc resolutions surfaced in Pampanga. Fake P500 peso bills were all over Mindanao... Tweleve ballot boxes were snatched in Arayat, Pampanga... Sonny Escudero, father of Chiz, won his bid for Congress in Sorsogon... Michael Marcos Keon defeated Rudy Fariñas for governor of Ilocos Norte. The GO senators won eight slots in Ilocos Norte together with two TU bets and two independents... Reports say the Espina clan is losing in Biliran... Iglesia ni Cristo-backed candidates won in the six districts of Manila: Atong Asilo (1st District), Jimmy Lopez (2nd District), Zenaida Angping (3rd District), Trisha Bonoan (4th District), Amado Bagatsing (5th District) and Benny Abante (6th District)... Ching Plaza lost her bid to go back to Congress due to allegedly massive vote-buying by her opponent Joe Boy Aquino... The GO senators won 11-1 in Naga City.

Batangas update. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, DoTC Secretary Leandro Mendoza and Sen. Ralph Recto are the top administration leaders in Batangas. Thirty-three out of 34 mayors are with the administration. The Lakas fielded Vilma Santos-Recto for governor. The incumbent Gov. Arman Sanchez is with Kampi, the opposition had no candidate for Congress in the 3rd District. Batangas was one of the many provinces where the administration was in full control and predicted a TU result because of command votes.

With 22 out of 34 towns in Batangas reporting, the result for the senatorial race was 8-2-2 for GO. The winners are 1) Chiz Escudero, 78,000 rounded; 2) Loren Legarda, 64,000 3) Lacson, 57,000 4) Noynoy Aquino 56,000 5) Alan Cayetano, 44,000 6) Villar 43,000 7) Pangilinan, 41,000 8) Recto 39,000 9) Angara, 37,000 10) Trillanes, 32,000 11) Honasan 32,000 12) Pimentel, 28,000.

Local boy Ralph Recto placed 8th getting only half of Escudero’s vote. That partly explains his low national ranking.

Vilma Santos is a sure winner. Ricky Recto is fighting for dear life in view of Larry Mendoza’s massive vote-buying. Eileen Ermita-Buhain is also hanging in the balance with Raymund Apacible drawing good support even in Balayan, the hometown of the Ermitas. In the televised quick count, Apacible is leading. It looks like Christopher de Leon will not win the vice governor’s seat.