Making PWD votes count

Voters registration

Voters registration

Lawyer Harry Roque tried last Wednesday to withdraw P100,000 to pay the tuition fees of his children and was told that he couldn’t because of the stupid Comelec Resolution 9688 which prohibits “the withdrawal of cash, encashment of checks and conversion of any monetary instrument into cash from May 8 to 13, 2013 exceeeding P100,000 or its equivalent in any foreign currency.”

Comelec Commissioner Sixto Brillantes, Jr. said Resolution 9688 was to prevent vote buying and vote selling which have intensified with the computerization of the elections. He said they released it only Tuesday “so that no one would know about it.. because if they know about it, everyone would withdraw.”

Brillantes, who was a much sought-after election lawyer (President Aquino and former Maguindanao Governer Andal Ampatuan Sr., were his clients) before he joined his elections must be joking. Or could it be that he precisely knew that by now the silly money ban is useless.

PWD list-up

PWD list-up

There are many other worthier concerns that Comelec should attend to. One is the implementation of Comelec Resolution No. 9485 making voting easier for Persons with Disabilities.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of PWDs and the country’s Magna Carta for PWDs guarantee the right of PWDs to to vote and stand for election to public office as part of their participation in public and political life.

VERA Files, a member of Fully Abled Nation-, a project spearheaded by The Asia Foundation with support from the Australian Agency for International Development, which aims to increase the participation of PWDs elections and other democratic processes- said there are 362,113 PWD registered voters.

Sign language

Sign language

Asia Foundation has come up with a checklist to find out the actual implementation of Comelec Resolution No. 9485.

Here are some which persons without disabilities can help to make voting less difficult for PWDs:

-Is the polling place elevated? If elevated, is there a ramp for wheel-chaired bound PWDs to reach the ground level? Does the ramp have rails on each side? Is the ramp sturdy and non-slippery?

-If without a ramp, what provisions are there for wheelchair-bound PWDs?

-For large polling places, are there parking spaces specially designated for PWDs?

-For voting centers with PWDs, are the polling places of precincts at the ground floor?

-For clustered precincts with PWDs, is there a waiting area established specifically for PWDs? Is there a Special Board of Election Inspectors and support staff assigned to the polling center?

- Is there an express lane dedicated to PWDs? Is there a sign inside the polling place indicating the location of this express lane and who could avail of it?

-Do the tables and desks to be used for voting have sufficient leg-space for wheel-chair bound PWDs? Are the toilet facilities suitable for wheelchair-bound PWDs in terms of adequacy of turning spaces?

-Are there sufficient signages for PWDs from point of entry to connecting destination?

-Are there sufficient communication devices for deaf/mute PWDs such as paper and pen, interpreters, large prints and guides?

Let’s make every vote count. Including that of our PWD countrymen.

How to package a candidate

Dr. Prospero de Vera. Photo by  Amiel Mark Cagayan

Dr. Prospero de Vera. Photo by Amiel Mark Cagayan


By Lucille Sodipe, VERA Files

CEBU City–Just like any brand of shampoo, diaper, energy drink or deodorant, candidates need to be properly ‘packaged’ to become sellable to the Filipino voters. With the help of image builders, they employ various marketing strategies to convince voters they are the best brand in the market.

Political analyst Prospero De Vera dissects these techniques in these four webisodes on packaging and spins created by political candidates and their team of strategists.

Click here (VERA Files) for lessons from an expert on how to effectively package a candidate.

Grace Poe wants electorate to learn from 2004 cheating in Cebu

Grace Poe: lessons from 2004 elections should be used for lasting electoral reforms.

It’s good that Grace Poe, daughter of the late Fernando Poe, Jr and Susan Roces, brought up the issue of cheating during the 2004 elections in Cebu in the meeting of Team PNoy in that province last Wednesday.

The people should be reminded of that again and again because no one has been punished for that crime against the Filipino electorate.

Gloria Arroyo is out on bail for the crime of electoral fraud but it’s in connection with the 2007 elections, when she was not a candidate. That case is so weak, it would not be a surprise if Arroyo gets acquitted in that case.

Arroyo cheated big time in 2004 but the crime of electoral fraud was enacted only in 2007. She can be charged with the lesser crime (it’s bailable) graft but even that, it has not been done.

Poe, who is a senatorial candidate, said “This is the reason I didn’t stand on another stage in Cebu City, because it still hurts,” referring most probably to Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia and the rest of the Garcia political clan who were die-hard supporters of Gloria Arroyo.

The Cebuanos took pride in 2004 that they gave Arroyo over one million lead over FPJ which defied logic and normal practice.

In many precincts in remote barangays in Cebu, voters turnout was over 90 per cent, which is impossible. We have to remember that in 2004, Comelec was using the old list of registered voters. An almost 100 percent voters turnout means that nobody died all these years. Nobody also left for abroad? No OFW in those places?

When the FPJ camp questioned Arroyo’s record one million win, the Garcias, gloating, quipped, “Cebuanos are intelligent voters.” That condescending remark on FPJ was the recurring message of the Arroyo camp during the campaign.

How the impossible one million lead happened was explained by investigative reporter Miriam Grace Go in her article “Cheats Inc.” Which was published in Newsbreak in Sept. 2005.

Here’s the portion on the Visayas operation:

“ The wholesale switching of pre-fabricated election forms was done in a few provinces in Luzon, particularly Ilocos Sur and the Arroyo’s home province of Pampanga, and in the entire Visayas. The Visayas operation, particularly in Cebu, was considered more sophisticated because the administration effected an artificial dramatic increase of voters’ population and registered “ghost precincts.” This was to justify the lopsided share of votes that operators would enter into the prepared election forms.

“The regional and provincial election officials whose cooperation was needed for this operation were planed in to Manila and billeted either at the Aloha Hotel or at the Grand Boulevard Hotel, both along Roxas Boulevard. The ‘production line,’ sources said, was in safehouses in the target provinces.

“’Nobody would be too stupid to bring in those bulky ERs and COCs in the hotels,’ one of them said. He said that the safehouse in Cebu was rented for six months, but was occupied only from March to June 2004. The safehouse in Iloilo was located in a private subdivision.

The forgers of signatures (called ‘golden arms’) and those who thumbmarked the forms (called ‘pianistas’) were flown in from Manila, the sources said.

“ The master operator, or the one who gave direction to negotiators and bagmen, for the three regions in the Visayas, was said to be Victor Rigor, who was a liaison between Malacañang and the then Ministry of Local Government during the Marcos regime. This means that Rigor, now in his mid-50s and known in the political circle as “Blackjack,” was connected to the agency in the same years that Ronaldo Puno, Ed Soliman, and Gabriel Claudio were there. The three worked in Arroyo’s campaign, either officially or in the shadow campaign teams. Puno is a strategist closely identified with the First Gentleman, and is now congressman of Antipolo City. Soliman is an undersecretary of the Department of the Interior and Local Government. Claudio was the campaign manager of the President last year and is at present the presidential adviser on political affairs.

“ NEWSBREAK was unable to reach Rigor, but one of his operatives confirmed the information.

“ This operator said Rigor differentiates his work from cheating, which is ‘the changing of the election results.’ He said Rigor would maintain that what he does is just ‘influencing’ the outcome of the election by a vote-delivery system.

“ The Arroyo camp was confident that with the fixed votes coming mainly from the Visayas, the President would be able to win by at least one million votes. However, when the results from Poe’s bailiwicks in Luzon came in, the President’s strategists estimated that the votes could wipe out her margin from the Visayas.”

“ Dagdag-bawas was then carried out in the Muslim region and a few neighboring provinces in Mindanao.”

What happened was when the votes from Central Luzon, mostly from Pangasinan came in, it was an avalanche for FPJ. Arroyo had to call in then Comelec Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano and the Filipino people got all the more screwed.

Grace Poe stressed during the rally that she was not taking it against the Cebuanos: “Hindi niyo kasalanan kundi kasalanan ng iilan.”

Electoral reforms is one of Grace Poe’s advocacies which she promised to pursue if and when she makes it to the Senate.

Six ways to keep fit during election campaign

By Ellen Tordesillas, VERA Files

Photos and video by Mario Ignacio and Mario Espinosa

More important than winning the election, candidates should make sure they are able to survive the grueling 90-day campaign.

The same reminder applies to the staff of political parties and members of media who are covering the campaign.

An election campaign is exciting and exhausting. Candidates try to maximize their provincial trips by meeting as many groups as they can squeeze in their waking hours. Rallies last up to midnight even early morning.The next day, members of the campaign caravan rush to the airport for the next destination.

Almost always after election, many of those involved in the campaign end up overweight due to irregular and unhealthy meals and lack of exercise.

In last year’s presidential election campaign in the United States, stand-up comedian and fitness guru Tony Horton came up with exercises for the candidates. He designed a 15-minute workout without any use of equipment, consisting of push-ups, running, crunches, lunges and squats. Horton’s more rigorous P90X workout program is being used by Paul Ryan— the fitness buff Republican vice presidential candidate.

In the next 12 weeks of the current political campaign, senatorial candidates and their entourage will be crisscrossing the country to the 80 provinces in their bid to win the hearts and minds of over 52 million voters.

Physical therapist Christian S. Cerezo, who is also a fitness personal trainer, suggests six simple exercises that candidates and campaign workers can do to keep fit. They can do these exercises anywhere: in the airport while waiting for their flight or their baggage to come out of the carousel. It can also be done during rallies.

Christian S. Cerezo demonstrates:With the bottled mineral water as weight, one can do biceps exercise while standing or sitting down or doing the tip toe (exercise for calf muscle), anytime, anywhere.

Bottled mineral water, which comes in different sizes, is a basic item in the bags of campaign workers and reporters. Cerezo said they can make use of it as a weight when doing biceps curl.

To make the exercise effective, Cerezo recommends doing each exercise 15 times in three sets. He said a 20-second pause should be enough in between sets.

1. Biceps curl using mineral water bottle.

This exercise works out the biceps muscle.

Instruction: Standing or sitting down on a chair, flex and extend the forearm. Do the three sets for each of the arm.

2. Dips to work out the triceps muscle.

While in a sitting position, place both hands beside the butt. Slightly move the butt into the edge of the chair or bench. Position the legs together. Align the ankles to the knee, flexed at 90 percent. Then slowly bend elbows about 90 per cent. Then extend it again slowly.

3. Standing up and sitting on the chair to work out butt area and thigh.
Stand up slowly. Sit down slowly. Place hands on waist or let them hang on the sides.

4. Tip Toe. This exercise, which is done while standing, works out the leg muscle, especially the calf muscle.

5. Shoulder front raise to work out the shoulder muscle.

Standing or sitting down, slowly raise arms forward and slowly put them back to the starting or resting position on the side.

6. Knee- to-chest position to work out core (primarily abdominal) muscle.

This exercise is done sitting down. Position the butt near the edge of the chair or bench. Place hand on the back, holding the chair then lean the body backward. With legs in front, raise feet together then slightly bend knee toward the chest. Maintain the leaning backward position for balance.

Regardless of the numbers come election day, the priceless victory is staying fit and healthy.

(VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.”)

Check out related links:

http://www.ellentordesillas.com/2012/07/25/zumba-makes-exercise-easy-and-sexy/

http://www.ellentordesillas.com/2012/06/13/why-go-to-the-gym/

http://www.ellentordesillas.com/2013/02/10/made-for-tv-campaign-rallies/