COMELEC TO EVALUATE RECENT POLLS / PALACE DENIES RISA REPLACING DINKY
MANILA, DECEMBER 5, 2010 (STAR) By Sheila Crisostomo - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will conduct "post-election evaluation" of the May 10 local and national polls and the Oct. 25 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls before the end of the year.
Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said they would gather all senior field officials in a meeting on Dec. 14 and 15 in Subic, Zambales to get their observations and recommendations about the two elections.
"We want to know what went wrong and what went right. We could improve on our weaknesses so that it won't happen again in the future. At the same time we hope to (show) our good points," he said in an interview.
While the country's first national automated elections last May 10 have been generally considered a success, there were reports of glitches in some areas. There had been reports of tampering of compact flash cards that contained the names of voters and candidates.
The Comelec conducted the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections manually since there was no need to consolidate all the votes nationwide, unlike in the national polls that used the precinct count optical scan machines.
The Comelec has tapped Washington-based International Foundation for Electoral System to appraise the May 10 elections. Larrazabal claimed they want to evaluate the process based on the assessment of Comelec's field officials.
"The last May10 election is not a perfect election. There are some things that we can definitely improve on and it's good to get feedbacks from the field personnel because they are the ones on the ground. They are the ones who know what happened in the precincts and in the municipalities so their feedbacks are important to us," Larrazabal said.
He maintained that the Comelec intends to use the officials' assessments to improve the country's future electoral processes.
Palace denies Dinky to be replaced by Risa By Aurea Calica (The Philippine Star) Updated December 05, 2010 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang dismissed speculations yesterday that Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman would be replaced by defeated Liberal Party senatorial candidate Risa Hontiveros.
Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte also said the government would not be promoting mendicancy with its conditional cash transfer program to the poor "because it teaches the beneficiaries to be responsible not only for themselves but also for their families."
There have been talks about a Cabinet reshuffle, but Valte said President Aquino himself had stated that the approval ratings of the members of his official family were high and that there was no reason to replace them.
Hontiveros, who had been the Akbayan party-list representative, also served as spokesperson during the campaign of the party with Aquino as standard-bearer.
Soliman, one of the LP supporters who actively campaigned as well, is being criticized for her alleged role in the bond flotation controversy.
"The Cabinet is performing. No revamp will occur this year," Valte said over radio dzRB.
She added that despite criticisms, the government would push through with the CCT program so government's help would directly reach the country's poorest sector.
"It's not a dole out because what of the conditions attached to this program. Pregnant mothers should go to health centers for pre-natal vaccination and pre-natal healthcare.
Those who have just given birth should take children to the health centers too for vaccination while families with school-age children must ensure that their children do go to school before they receive the assistance," Valte said.
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