The Commission on Elections (Comelec) goes cyber in educating the public about the 2010 automated elections.

Comelec and its machine provider Smartmatic launched on Friday night two websites not only to disseminate information on changes in the voting process, but also to increase the automation’s acceptability with the public.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said the use of the Internet for voter education “is the most efficient way of disseminating information.”

He said it is less costly to put out information on the web, where it stays longer, compared to scheduled print, radio, and TV advertising. “Information has to be available to people all the time.”

Focus on the ballot

The first website, IBA Na Ngayon, is designed to teach the public on how to fill up the modern ballot and how the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines work. The “information website” aims to project the notion that elections are better with automation.

Instructions and demonstrations are featured in through photos and videos. Video presentations are delivered in English and Filipino versions.

Jimenez said that the focus of the website is “on the ballot, and not so much on the machine.” He explained that the teachers will mainly operate the machines, and voters only need to feed their ballots in the machines.

“What the voters need to be comfortable with and be competent with is how to use the modern ballot,” he said. (Click here to read “Expect multi-colored ballots in 2010)

Other features in the site include downloadable Comelec resolutions and a profile of Smartmatic.

Community site

The second website, Bagong Botante, is a “community website” that involves the public in creating awareness of the automated elections through “interactivity and community building.”

The site incorporates the use of social networking sites like Facebook, Friendster, Tweeter, and Plurk. It and features forums, polls, and comments, and an SMS component to encourage public participation in the discussions and information dissemination.

There also is a section where visitors can buy Bagong Botante items like shirts, mugs, and pins that are either pre-designed or they themselves can design and customize.

According to Maan Tolentino, Smartmatic consultant for social media, they incorporate a sense of “customer engagement” in the site so as to give it a “hip” feel.

Enabler

Internet usage in the country is still limited in the Philippines, however. A survey by AC Nielsen in 2009 shows that about 28% of 35 million urban population have access to the Internet. Internet usage still proves to be confined to the urban areas.

Comelec and Smartmatic are well aware of this, thus the “offline component” of the information drive. They will be organizing and conducting local meet-ups in public places like malls and restaurants, and continue with their cross-regional roadshows.

Also, according to Ricky Cuenca, voter education website coordinator, they are expecting the population of those with Internet access to relay the information to other people.

The AC Nielsen survey shows that 51% of Internet users visit social networking sites, a key component of the Bagong Botante site.

Cuenca is expecting this small population to help disseminate information on the automated election. “We teach people, and then they teach others. We are just the enabler,” he said.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will soon come out with a ruling on the petition to disqualify former President Joseph Estrada from running in the May 2010 presidential race.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the commission is aware of the importance of an early decision on Estrada’s case.

He said the commissioners want to decide on the case immediately because they are expecting the issue to reach the Supreme Court.

“We want to give the SC more time to tackle it. The sooner it is out of the Comelec’s hands, the sooner the SC will have time to resolve it,” Jimenez explained.

A second petition calling for the disqualification of Estrada was filed before the Comelec last Saturday.

Lawyer Evillo Pormento said Estrada should be disqualified from running as president because it violates the 1987 Philippine Constitution, particularly Article VII Sec. 4, which states that the president shall not be eligible for any re-election.

The complainant said Estrada should be declared a nuisance candidate and be excluded from the official list of candidates to be printed in the ballots.

The complainant said that allowing Estrada to run is a clear violation of the 1987 Constitution and a bad precedent because other former presidents might also seek re-election.

Lawyer Oliver Lozano had earlier asked the Comelec to disqualify Estrada, but his petition was dismissed because the former president had not yet filed his certificate of candidacy.

The Comelec is hoping to finalize the list of candidates before the end of 2009, since printing of ballots starts in January 2010.

Clad in his trademark green shirt, presidential candidate Gilberto Teodoro Jr has the makings of a champion: mestizo good looks, a commanding but amiable presence, and an esteemed educational background. When he swaggers through the room, people turn. When he talks, everybody listens.

But despite the demeanor, political analysts say he lacks the so-called masa appeal that will win him the presidency. Another major drawback is his association with the current administration, which is faring negatively in net satisfaction ratings.

Teodoro is barely figuring in the polls. His ratings in recent popular surveys were lower than 1% and even after being endorsed by the ruling party Lakas-Kampi-Christian Muslim Democrats, his ratings barely increased to 4% in the latest Social Weathers Stations survey. Results from the October Pulse Asia survey also showed Teodoro’s rating as a meager 2%.

The executives of the ruling party, however, seem unfazed by the figures. According to Regie Velasco, secretary general of Lakas-Kampi-CMD, the vast machinery of the party will bring Teodoro victory in 2010. “Local [candidates] will bring the national candidate. No other party could claim the same advantage as Lakas,” he says.

Formidable as it may be, analysts agree that the administration party can work as both Teodoro’s ace and disadvantage.

The merged Lakas-Kampi-CMD brings together around 1,677 incumbent local executives under its roof. According to reports, 71 governors, 62 city mayors, and 984 municipal mayors are under the Lakas banner. There are also 139 out of 216 Lakas-Kampi members in the House of Representatives.

Some of its members, however, are leaving to join the Liberal Party and Nacionalista Party, whose standard bearers are topping the surveys. “The party is big but it has no power. Survey ratings will come first before local chiefs support Teodoro,” Ramon Casiple of Institute of Political and electoral reforms, says.

With five months to go before the May 2010 elections, Senator Benigno 'Noynoy' Aquino III has kept his double-digit lead in the presidential surveys, but Senator Manny Villar and former President Joseph Estrada are catching up.

"Senator Benigno C. Aquino III continues to lead other presidential candidates by a sizeable margin," polling firm Pulse Asia said in its latest December 8 to 10 survey.

Aquino kept a big 22% lead over Villar (who was preferred by 23% of respondents), and has a 26% lead over Estrada (who was preferred by 19% of respondents).

However, Aquino gained only 1% from the October 2009 survey, while Villar gained 4%. Estrada was the biggest gainer with an 8% jump from October 2009.

In an interview with ABS-CBN, Pulse Asia President Ronald Holmes attributed the increase in the ratings of some of the presidential aspirants, especially Estrada's, to the moves of Senator Francis Escudero and Vice President Noli de Castro not to join the presidential race.

"In the last survey, where Escudero was still included, he had 13% while Vice President Noli de Castro had 4%. So you have 17% which could have gone to the other candidates," Holmes said.

With a margin of error of plus/minus 2%, Pulse Asia said Villar and Estrada are actually statistically tied.

In a statement, Aquino's camp said the Liberal Party standard-bearer continues to lead due to their campaign for good governance.

"The survey results validate our belief that the Filipino people continue to support our campaign for an honest government," Aquino's camp said. "Our call remains, ang laban na tapat ay laban ng lahat!"

Aquino said the new results came "at a time when our many opponents are desperately trying to bring us down through lies and black propaganda."

"The fact that these are among the highest ever ratings for a presidential candidate--former President Joseph Estrada's peak approval stood at 42% and remained at around 38% during the 1998 elections--proves that their dirty tricks are not working," Aquino's camp said.

With his track record as a leader and executive, it is not a question of whether Sen. Richard “Dick” Gordon is ready for the presidency but whether Filipinos are ready to vote for him.

Without much hype or preamble, Gordon had announced he was running for president on December 1 as he filed his certificate of candidacy at the Commission on Elections.

The announcement came as a surprise.

It was his running mate, Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Bayani Fernando, who was bent on running for president.

Their tandem, under the newly formed Bagumbayan Party, was seemingly formed at the last minute and without a senatorial slate.

Gordon told reporters they teamed up Monday night (November 30), the eve of the deadline for the filing of candidacy.

Fernando said he gave way to his new party mate, owing to Gordon’s senatorial experience.

“No one is lazy on this team. No one is stupid on this team. We may not have much money but we have enough. Besides, we already know what happened to leaders who love money too much,” Gordon told reporters after his announcement.

Thus began what political analyst Benito Lim describes as either a perfect pairing or a political headache.

Former defense secretary Gilbert Teodoro and television host Eduardo Manzano filed their candidacies for president and vice president respectively at the Commission on Elections office in Manila.

Teodoro and Manzano will be running under the administration’s Lakas-Kampi-CMD.

Gibo is the only son of former Social Security System (SSS) administrator Gilberto Teodoro, Sr. and former Batasang Pambansa member Mercedes Cojuangco-Teodoro. He was also cousin of Liberal Party's presidential bet, Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino.

Gibo is married to incumbent Tarlac first district Representative Monica “Nikki” Prieto-Teodoro – who accompanied him during the filing. They have a son named Jaime Gilberto.

Aside from his stint in the local movie industry, Manzano ventured in local politics when he was elected vice mayor of Makati City in 1998. He was the former husband of Batangas governor Vilma Santos who bolted out of Lakas-Kampi-CMD to ally with the Liberal Party.

This picture of Loren Legarda a photoshopped from the Korean TV series “Boys Over Flower” is all over the net!

The cast are former President Joseph Estrada, Chiz Escudero, Sec. Gilbert Teodoro, Loren Legarda and Manny Villar. All of them are aspiring the highest and second highest position this coming 2010 Election!