10-cornered fight in May
By Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star) Updated January 15, 2010 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - It will now be a 10-cornered fight for the presidency in May as the Commission on
Elections (Comelec) yesterday reinstated two aspirants in the official list of candidates.
The Comelec, in Resolution 8743, reconsidered the candidacy of independent Jesus Nicanor Perlas and
Vetallano Acosta of the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL).
Perlas is a known environmentalist while Acosta describes himself as a financial consultant.
Acosta listed himself as an independent in his certificate of candidacy but was eventually absorbed by the
KBL.
The two presidential aspirants filed a motion for reconsideration appealing Comelec Resolution 8713,
which included them among the 91 presidential hopefuls who were disqualified.
The Comelec said Perlas and Acosta were disqualified for failing to show that they are capable of waging a
nationwide campaign.
In a 26-page resolution, the Comelec said they were later “convinced” by Perlas that he has the “capacity to
launch a nationwide campaign.”
The Comelec noted Perlas has a distinguished track record in public service and has received numerous
recognitions for his advocacy even from abroad.
“Also, the manner by which (Perlas) presented his detailed platform of government and his active
participation in several fora support his bona fide intention to run for president,” the Comelec said.
Acosta was also declared qualified since he had been nominated by the KBL.
“If the COC (certificate of candidacy) of KBL nominees for vice president and senators were given due
course, there is no reason why this Commission should deny due course to Mr. Acosta’s COC,” the
resolution said.
Perlas and Acosta will now slug it out with other political heavyweights that include Sen. Benigno “Noynoy”
Aquino III of the Liberal Party (LP), Sen. Manny Villar Jr. of the Nacionalista Party (NP), former President
Joseph Estrada of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) under the United Opposition (UNO), Gilberto Teodoro
of Lakas-Kampi-CMD, Sen. Richard Gordon of Bagumbayan party, John Carlos delos Reyes of Ang
Kapatiran; and independent Sen. Jamby Madrigal.
The Comelec said the resolution “is without prejudice to the outcome of the disqualification cases” filed
against Aquino, Villar, Teodoro and Estrada.
Estrada still included
Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said the poll body would not likely exclude Estrada from the list of
presidential candidates even with a ruling on the former president’s disqualification case.
Sarmiento said the Comelec is expected to come up with a ruling on the disqualification case against
Estrada anytime next week or days before the printing of ballots.
“We will have our ruling on the disqualification case out by next week, but we also expect the case to be
elevated before the Supreme Court due to constitutional issues,” Sarmiento explained.
“Since the case would still be pending before the High Court by the time of the printing of ballots, we have to
include the name of Mr. Estrada in the list of presidential candidates,” Sarmiento added.
Sarmiento pointed out the Comelec cannot exclude Estrada from the list since it might preclude any
decision from the Supreme Court.
According to Sarmiento, the Comelec must come out with the list of candidates in the coming elections
before the Jan. 25 deadline for the printing of official ballots.
Due to poll automation, Sarmiento said, the Comelec is now required to print all the names of the
candidates on the ballots.
The printing of the names of candidates on the ballots is now causing difficulty for the Comelec, particularly
in the matter of substitution of candidates, Sarmiento said.
Under the substitution law, an official candidate for national and local positions can be replaced by another
member of his or her family in case of death, disqualification and disability.
The replacement would just file a petition before the Comelec anytime until election day.
However, Sarmiento stressed that at this time, the law on substitution cannot be applied in the automated
elections.
“There is a pending bill which provides that a vote for the substituted would be considered a vote for the
substitute but this is yet to be passed,” Sarmiento pointed out.
Sarmiento urged Congress to pass the proposed measure to enable the poll body to resolve cases of
substitution.
“We have so many cases of substitution in the past so we must have a new law on substitution for
automated polls,” he said.
More senatorial candidates
Comelec said the vice-presidential candidates still stand at eight.
They are Sen. Manuel “Mar” Roxas of LP; Dominador Chipeco Jr. of Ang Kapatiran; former Metropolitan
Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Bayani Fernando; Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay of PDP-
Laban and UNO; Sen. Loren Legarda of Nationalist People’s Coalition (NPC); actor Edu Manzano of Lakas-
CMD-Kampi; broadcaster Jose Sonza of KBL; and former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
chairman Perfecto Yasay Jr.
On the other hand, the number of senatorial candidates increased to 62 after the Comelec reconsidered the
candidacy of former Scout Ranger commander Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim, former Cebu governor Emilio Mario
Osmeña, Nanette Espinosa of KBL and Adz Nikabulin, a guest candidate of Bangon Pilipinas.
The resolution showed the national elective positions of president, vice president and senators now have a
total of 277 candidates.
Comelec reconsidered Lim by allowing his nomination by the LP as its senatorial candidate.
The former Army general, currently detained after being implicated in the February 2006 coup attempt, stated
in his COC that he was running as independent.
Lim supported the Comelec in its decision to include him in the senatorial candidates.
“I knew that entering into this fight would not be easy. I did not suffer any illusions that there would be no
opposition to my candidacy. But I have laid my trust in the system and in the law, and on this day, we can see
we have trusted well,” Lim said.
Comelec, however, upheld the disqualification of lawyers Oliver Lozano, Elly Velez Pamatong and former
Manila congressman Mario Crespo also known as Mark Jimenez.
The Comelec rejected Lozano’s argument that the poll body has no authority to cancel his candidacy.
“He has not satisfactorily shown that he has a bona fide intention to run for the office for which the certificate
of candidacy had been filed. (Lozano) has also not shown, among others, that he is capable of waging a
nationwide campaign, that he belongs to or has been nominated by any registered political party of national
constituency,” the Comelec said.
The Comelec added it could not reconsider Pamatong since his credentials and the documents “were
insufficient to show capability to pursue a presidential aspiration stand.”
In the case of Jimenez, Comelec said the former Manila congressman merely attached “numerous
newspaper clippings attesting to his financial capacity in waging a nationwide campaign” in his appeal.
The Comelec said newspaper clippings “fail to impress” as “what campaigning requires is a definite
political strategy and platforms as to ensure nationwide name retention.”
The disqualified bets have five days to question the Comelec ruling before the Supreme Court. - With Mayen
Jaymalin, Aurea Calica
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Andal Sr., son tagged in slays by vice mayor
By Mike Frialde (The Philippine Star) Updated January 14, 2010 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - The first witness to testify against Datu Unsay Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. in connection
with the Maguindanao massacre said yesterday the father and namesake of the accused was involved in the
killings and might have actually ordered them.
Rasul Sangki, Ampatuan town vice mayor, said that while the elder Ampatuan was not at the massacre site,
he heard him radioing instructions to his son shortly before the convoy carrying the 57 victims was waylaid.
“Ama, they are here,” Sangki quoted Ampatuan Jr. as telling his father over a hand-held radio in the local
dialect. Sangki said he later heard a voice he recognized as the elder Ampatuan’s radioing back also in the
local dialect: “You know what to do.”
But as Sangki was recounting the events leading to the massacre before Judge Jocelyn Solis-Reyes, a
policeman who was supposed to be a prosecution witness recanted and said in an affidavit executed in
Davao City that it was Sangki who masterminded the murders.
Sangki’s testimony came on the second day of the trial of Ampatuan Jr.
The Datu Unsay mayor, the only one indicted so far in the massacre, has pleaded not guilty to the murder
charges. His father and several other close relatives have been implicated but not formally charged in the
killings. They also face separate charges of rebellion.
The victims in the Nov. 23 carnage were journalists, lawyers as well as the wife and some female relatives
of Buluan town Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu, who was challenging Ampatuan Jr. for the governorship of
Maguindanao in the May elections.
Sangki told the court he witnessed the killings after Ampatuan Jr. summoned him to a road checkpoint
where police officers stopped the caravan of the victims.
“I went with him because I was scared,” Sangki said. “If I did not follow him, he might get mad at our family.
He is feared in our province.”
He said the victims were ordered at gunpoint to lay face down and then were divested of money, cell phones
and TV cameras.
They were then herded back into their cars and led to a hilltop clearing several kilometers away, Sangki said.
As gunshots rang out, the victims pleaded for their lives, some on their knees and women screamed, he
said.
One of the journalists, Jimmy Palak, pleaded with Ampatuan to spare his life, Sangki said.
Armed with a shotgun, Ampatuan shot him as well as Mangudadatu’s sister Eden and wife Gennalyn.
“They finished them to make sure they were dead,” Sangki testified.
After the slaughter, Sangki said that Ampatuan Jr. told him to return to the checkpoint “and tell the people
they saw and heard nothing.”
Meanwhile, Mangudadatu said he didn’t walk out of the hearing at Camp Crame but was asked to leave so
he wouldn’t hear Sangki’s testimony. Mangudadatu said he himself is a witness in the case.
About face
In Davao City, Anwar Dimaudtang Masukat of the 1508th Provincial Police Mobile Group in Maguindanao
recanted his earlier statement accusing Ampatuan Jr. of leading the massacre and said it was Sangki who
masterminded the murders.
Masukat presented his affidavit of recantation at a press conference called by Philip Pantojan, one of the
lawyers of the Ampatuans.
Pantojan denied he had anything to do with Masukat’s affidavit.
Masukat claimed he signed his first affidavit at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group headquarters
in Camp Crame on Dec. 12 because he was just forced to do so by a certain SPO2 Larry Diaz and lawyer
Armado Fabros.
Masukat said that during interrogation, he constantly mentioned Sangki and several militia members as the
ones who blocked and stopped the victims’ convoy at a checkpoint in Sitio Malating, Barangay Malansay in
the morning of Nov. 23.
“And that Vice Mayor Sangki and his CVOs (civilian volunteer organization) manhandled and beat with the
butts of their guns the passengers of the vehicles of the convoy, and further that I never reached the crime
scene at Sitio Sanyag, Barangay Salmag, Ampatuan were not alleged in my counter-affidavit and I noticed its
absence only when the affidavit was presented to me by SPO2 Diaz and Atty. Fabros for my signature,”
Masukat said in his latest affidavit.
The witness said he initially refused to sign the first affidavit but Fabros and Diaz threatened to include him
in the murder charges.
“That if I refused them, the CIDG will detain and will not release me until I will be convicted of murder. They
will however set me free if I listen to them,” Masukat said.
“Under these obtaining circumstances, I took heed of their insistence forcing me to sign the affidavit in
Tagalog on Dec. 12, 2009 and the English version on Dec. 23, 2009,” his affidavit read.
Another affidavit by Sangki’s sister, Amina Sangki Ampatuan, dated Jan. 11 supported Masukat’s latest
claim.
“During our talk, Rasul told me that he indeed knew of the plan to kill the Mangudadatus as early as Nov. 19,
2009 and that there is no other choice but to point to the Ampatuans, including my husband Bahnarin and
Mayor Unsay Ampatuan as participants to spare him and our father, Zacaria, from suspicion of being part of
the group that actually killed the 57 persons,” Amina said.
Amina said Rasul was a user of cocaine and shabu “which has affected the way he thinks and acts.”
“Rasul’s violent nature has also caused some of our relatives, including myself, to keep away from him. This
is also why it took me a long time to say everything I know about the crime, who actually participated in that
crime, and why Rasul was part of it yet narrated lies about the Ampatuans,” she said.
“It pains me to make public all these things about my brother, but I have to for the sake of my innocent
husband and my children,” she said.
The massacre is considered the world’s deadliest single attack on media workers. The carnage has
sparked international outrage, prompting President Arroyo to briefly impose martial law in Maguindanao to
crack down on the powerful clan - a key political ally - and its private army.
Arroyo’s political backing of the clan, which helped her win crucial votes during the 2004 elections, had
allowed the Ampatuans to maintain a long-standing iron grip on Maguindanao, the International Crisis
Group, a prominent think tank, said.
Mrs. Arroyo’s officials have acknowledged her close alliance with the Ampatuans but said that did not
authorize them to commit crimes.
Meanwhile, a regional police official in Cagayan de Oro City said the retraining and reorientation program for
the 28 policemen from Maguindanao sent there is proceeding smoothly despite reports that some of them
may not be qualified to be members of the Philippine National Police.
P/Supt. Jomaira Estrada said the 28 policemen are currently undergoing a debriefing and re-training
program at the Special Training Unit-10 facility in Damilag, Manolo Fortich, Bukidnon before they are
reassigned to the different police units in the region’s five provinces.
Freedom down
The massacre has nudged freedom on a downward spiral in the Philippines, said Freedom House, a
Washington-based non-government organization that promotes the growth of freedom worldwide.
In its latest assessment of the state of political rights and civil liberties throughout the world, Freedom
House for the fourth year in a row rated the Philippines as a “partly free” democracy and for the first time
indicated a downward trend arrow in the country’s scorecard.
It attributed the downward trend to a general decline in the rule of law in the greater Mindanao region, and
specifically the massacre of 57 journalists, lawyers and other civilians on their way to register a candidate in
upcoming elections.
The Freedom in the World 2010 report released on Tuesday showed the Philippines scored four points in
political rights and three points in civil liberties. One point represents the best score and seven points the
worst score.
The Philippines was rated a free democracy from 2002 to 2005 and had a political score of two and a civil
liberty score of three.
It was downgraded to a partly free democracy in 2006 because of credible allegations of massive electoral
fraud, corruption, and government intimidation of political opposition. A partly free country has limited respect
for political rights and civil liberties. With Sandy Araneta, Rose Tamayo-Tesoro, JB Deveza, Jose Katigbak, AP
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Comelec exempts militias from gun ban
By Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star) Updated January 13, 2010 12:00 AM
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MANILA, Philippines - Amid efforts to eliminate private armies and the controversies surrounding the
involvement of the Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVO) in the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre, the
Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday exempted the Civilian Active Auxiliaries (CAA) from the total
gun ban.
Comelec Commissioner Lucenito Tagle said the CAA, which used to be known as the Citizen Armed Force
Geographical Unit or CAFGU, are allowed to carry firearms as they are considered units of the Armed Forces
of the Philippines (AFP).
“When we issued the certificate of authority to AFP, it says ‘all units,’ and CAFGU is a unit of the AFP. It’s now
up to the AFP to police their ranks,” said Tagle, chairman of the Committee on the Ban of Firearms and
Security Personnel.
Government militia forces earlier expressed apprehension over the Joint Letter Directives (JLD) between the
Comelec, the AFP and the Philippine National Police (PNP), which directs the implementation of the
firearms ban and the dismantling of partisan armed groups.
That was put to test after the police questioned the CAA and the Special Civilian Active Auxiliary (SCAA),
which were trained and provided firearms by the military. The CAA operates alongside government forces
while private business and local government units tap the SCAA to secure their respective areas.
Under Comelec Resolution 8742 promulgated last Jan. 11 amending Resolution 8714, the CAFGU was
exempted from the gun ban along with members of the Presidential Security Group, Bureau of Fire
Protection, Optical Media Board, the treasurers and deputy treasurers and members of the Internal Security
Division of the Bureau of Treasury.
Tagle added that security personnel of accredited foreign diplomatic corps and establishments are not
covered by the firearms ban.
Earlier, Rear Admiral Alexander Pama, commander of the Naval Forces Western Mindanao (NFWM), raised
concern over the gun ban as hundreds of the SCAA were tapped by fishing companies to secure their
venture in the South.
“If we are to follow the JLD in the aspect of implementation of gun ban they are affected because they are not
exempted,” Pama said. “At the moment, the SCAA are in limbo whether they will go out on their regular
security function.”
The Comelec sought clarification on the SCAA’s status.
Lt. Gen. Ben Dolorfino, chief of Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom), said that as far as they are
concerned, the SCAA and CAA are part of the military organization.
Dolorfino also clarified that not all SCAA forces are used in partisan activities since most are being utilized
as security forces of private companies operating in remote areas.
He warned that local leaders who will use the SCAA as private security face disqualification.
Asked about the mounting complaints from local government officials and private individuals against the gun
ban, Tagle reiterated that the scheme was intended to minimize poll-related violence.
Erap: It’s useless
Meanwhile, former President Joseph Estrada said yesterday there is no need for a national security
commission that would address private armed groups and loose firearms in the country.
Estrada’s opinion was included in his position paper submitted to the National Security Council (NSC)
meeting held in Malacañang yesterday.
He said the task to be performed by the commission is already included in the mandate of the Department
of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), the Department of National Defense (DND), the AFP and the
PNP.
“Adding another layer through this commission is like adding red tape, it just prolongs the process instead
of speeding it up,” Estrada said.
He said instead of creating a commission, there is a need for more intensive intelligence to be conducted by
the AFP and the PNP, which has an intelligence listing or Order of Battle of private armies.
“All these must be conducted in accordance with the rule of law and without fear or favor,” Estrada said.
He added that mayors and governors must also be held responsible for the existence of private armies in
their areas because it is their duty to monitor and report the existence of the same in their province or
municipality.
“In this task of ensuring that the voice of the sovereign people is heard through the ballot, we must not fail.
Having peaceful, orderly, clean and credible elections this coming May will be the first step towards the
national unity that both our leaders and people seek,” said the former leader.
Estrada also asked the Comelec officials during the NSC meeting if they were prepared for possible
hackers, citing recent reports that various government agencies’ websites have been hacked.
Malacañang defends independent commission
But Malacañang once again defended the creation of the independent commission.
Estrada’s words fell on deaf ears as President Arroyo personally defended her decision to create the
commission headed by retired Court of Appeals justice Monina Arevalo-Zenarosa.
Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, quoting the President, said that the commission does not supplant the
AFP and PNP and would actually help them in their work to dismantle the private armed groups.
The President also shared the same view as Estrada that the authorities do not have to wait for the report of
the commission before acting on the problem.
On Estrada’s argument that it is the mayors and governors who should be held responsible for the
existence of private armed groups in their respective areas, Remonde noted that some of these have been
associated with local officials so they cannot be expected to fully cooperate on this matter.
“Nevertheless, his inputs were very well taken and in fact President Arroyo instructed both the Armed Forces,
the PNP and the commission to take the suggestion and observations of the former president,” he said.
Secretary to the Cabinet Silvestre Bello III, on the other hand, said that the creation of the commission
“underscores the desire of the President to dismantle perceived or actual existing private armies.”
“We have institutions like the PNP, the AFP that can go against private armies, that is under the law, but this
creation of the commission is precisely to underscore, to show the seriousness of the President in going
after these private armies because with these private armies you cannot expect ‘HOPE,’ which is Honest,
Orderly and Peaceful Elections,” Bello said.
It was the first time in nine years that Estrada was able to step inside Malacañang after he was ousted from
office in the 2001 Edsa II Revolution.
He was escorted to the Heroes Hall by Trade Secretary Peter Favila and was greeted by Executive Secretary
Eduardo Ermita. - Jose Rodel Clapano, Roel Pareño, Marvin Sy
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Power, water cut off near Mayon
By Cet Dematera (The Philippine Star) Updated January 01, 2010 12:00 AM
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LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines – Albay disaster management officials ordered yesterday the cutoff of electricity
and water supply in 32 villages in the danger zone around the restive Mayon volcano after thousands of
evacuees, mostly men, slipped back into their homes that were ordered abandoned, to cook food for the
traditional media noche midnight dinner to celebrate New Year’s Eve.
Albay Gov. Joey Salceda appealed to residents to evacuate their homes during a late night radio broadcast
last Wednesday.
Salceda held consultations with other concerned agencies and announced their move to cut off power and
water supply inside the danger zone to discourage unauthorized stay of evacuees in the supposed no-man’
s land zone.
“Electricity and water are not necessary inside the danger zone since nobody is supposed to be staying in
those barangays where mass evacuation of close to 50,000 people was already ordered,” Salceda said.
The Albay governor said that if necessary, roads leading to these villages would also be barricaded to
prevent entry of any type of vehicle.
Salceda said that the efforts are intended to prevent any casualty while alert level four is hoisted and the
possibility of a hazardous eruption remains very high.
“We are doing these actions to make sure that no one gets hurt while Mayon is very abnormal. We need to
show to the whole world that we could attain our zero casualty goal amidst calamities such as this one,”
Salceda told the evacuees.
He also announced the distribution of media noche food packs in the 29 evacuation centers across Albay,
the daily allocation of 24 liters of potable and bath water for every evacuee, the distribution of firewood, and
the evacuation of farm animals which cost Albay an initial P4 million.
Cedric Daep, chief of Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (Apsemo), said that a free New
Year’s Eve concert inside the Albay Astrodome was facilitated by the provincial government for all the
evacuees to welcome the new year.
“We distributed concert tickets free to all the evacuees. Gary Valenciano, backed up by local artists, would
perform songs for our displaced residents. Gov. Salceda will be attending the concert and celebrate New
Year with the Mayon evacuees,” Daep told The STAR.
No ash explosion in last 24 hours
Volcanologists reported that no ash explosions were recorded at Mayon volcano in the last 24 hours but alert
level 4 has been maintained over the volcano, which means that a hazardous eruption is still imminent.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said Mayon has calmed down with no ash
explosions taking place during the past 24 hours, and it emitted a very weak to moderate volume of white
steam from the crater summit.
Phivolcs director Renato Solidum said Mayon volcano’s activity was characterized by extrusion of lava and
rolling down of incandescent lava fragments along the Bonga gully.
He said the summit of the volcano was obscured by thick cloud cover most of Wednesday.
Volcanic earthquakes rose again to 60 tremors yesterday from 16 last Wednesday.
Seismic instruments detected 267 rock fall events related to the detachment of lava fragments at the volcano’
s upper slopes yesterday, from 150 the other day.
Sulfur dioxide emission rate was lower yesterday at 1,158 tons, from 4,397 tons last Wednesday.
“The volcano edifice remains inflated as indicated by the electronic tilt meter installed at the northeast sector
of the volcano,” Solidum said.
Solidum said this means that magma continues to build up at Mayon.
He reminded the public of the Extended Danger Zone (EDZ) covering eight kilometers from summit on the
southern sector of the volcano and seven kilometers on the northern sector.
He said these areas should be free of all human activity.
Solidum added that areas outside this EDZ should prepare for evacuation in the event hazardous eruptions
intensify.
Likewise, active river channels and those perennially identified as lahar prone in the southern sector should
also be avoided, especially during bad weather conditions or when there is heavy and prolonged rainfall, the
Phivolcs chief said.
UN donates more relief goods
The United Nations World Food Program (WFP) has sent 20 metric tons of high-energy biscuits for nearly
50,000 evacuees affected by Mayon Volcano.
The biscuits, packed with vitamins and energy, will nourish refugees living in temporary shelters in schools
and government buildings.
WFP assisted the government in dealing with theemergency, providing rice and high-energy biscuits to
displaced people.
A mobile storage hub has been set up at a nearby Navy base in Legazpi City, providing warehousing for
relief items. The government and the international humanitarian community are working to position
additional tents at evacuation centers in the region as well as latrines and water and sanitation facilities.
“With WFP resources at their disposal the Filipino government and its people are now better prepared to
respond in the event of an eruption,” WFP said. With Helen Flores, Pia Lee-Brago
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