PDI 10 October 2000
Senate approves lifting of ad ban
By Juliet Labog-Javellana
THE SENATE last night approved on second reading the measure seeking to lift the ban on
political advertising. The Senate and the House of Representatives have now to immediately
reconcile their versions into one bill and have it signed into law by President Estrada
in time for the May 2001 elections. Senate Bill 1742, known as the "Fair Election
Practices Act," also bans the publication of surveys a month before elections and exit
polls on election day to prevent these from influencing voters. The measure also requires
the automatic resignation of all incumbent elective officials who run for President or
Vice President.
The provision is seen as affecting only 12 senators who are running for reelection in 2001.
These 12 senators who will be elected to another 6-year term in 2001 would be deemed
resigned when they run for higher office in 2004. Under the measure, candidates will
be allowed to buy 60 minutes of television time and 90 minutes of radio time during the
entire campaign period of 90 days for national candidates and 45 days for local candidates.
P9 million
Sen. Raul Roco, chair of the committee on electoral reforms which sponsored the measure,
said this would amount to P9 million in TV and radio primetime advertising per candidate.
The bill seeks to allow candidates to buy a one-fourth page space in each broadsheet
newspaper thrice a week during the campaign period, and one-half page in tabloids. But
political parties are also allowed to buy as much space and time to promote their candidates.
The bill has adopted the restriction of P3 per voter maximum spending allowed under the
Omnibus Election Code. There are 36 million registered voters in the country.
Roco said the most important feature of the measure was the provision requiring the
Commission on Elections to buy airtime from three national television networks and three
national radio networks to be allocated free of charge, equally and impartially among all
candidates for president, vice president and senators.
The free airtime will be used for broadcasting the debates of national candidates three
times--at the beginning, middle and near the end of the campaign period.
"I think the new feature which is not seen in any law is that the Comelec can require
debates and give free airtime. So a totally penniless presidential candidate will have
three opportunities to promote himself," Roco said.
'Right to reply'
To ensure fair play, the Senate bill requires media organizations to give all candidates the
"right to reply" to charges published against them. The bill, however, requires media to
give a 30-percent discount on TV ads, 20 percent on radio and 10 percent on print ads over
the "average rates charged during the first three quarters of the calendar year preceding
the elections."
The bill also stipulates that surveys affecting national candidates should not be published
30 days before an election and 12 days before an election for local candidates. But Roco
said he would be amenable to shortening the ban on surveys to 21 days during the bicameral
conference committee.
In publishing surveys before the ban, the bill requires media to also publish the name
of the candidate or party who paid for the survey and the polling firm which conducted it.
They are also mandated to mention the method used, the number of individual respondents
asked, the questions asked and the areas where the survey was conducted.
Roco said surveys could still be conducted but these should be used privately by candidates
during the campaign period.
PDI 21 September 2000
Comelec: Villar ads not illegal
By Gerald G. Lacuarta
The Commission on Elections has admitted that there is no law to prevent other politicians
and government officials from duplicating Speaker Manny Villar's controversial "ST"
commercials on television due to a major loophole in the Omnibus Election Code. Comelec
Chair Harriet Demetriou has written Akbayan Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales informing her that
Villar's ads cannot be considered an election campaign or partisan political activity because
Villar has not filed a certificate of candidacy to be considered a candidate.
Demetriou said that while the campaign period had not started yet, the question is whether
or not the television commercials can be classified as an election campaign or partisan
political activity under Section 80 of the Omnibus Election Code.
Demetriou admitted that were was a "legal loophole" in Section 80 of the Omnibus Election
Code "and aspiring candidates are taking advantage of it."
"There is no law that prohibits an election campaign or partisan political activity to
enhance the chances of aspirants for nomination for candidacy to a public office,"
Demetriou said. "While the spirit of the law does not allow it, the letter of the law does
not prohibit it."
"As a consequence, the Comelec cannot enforce the prohibition (on premature campaigning)
and thus, is perceived to be ineffective."
Demetriou urged Rosales to sponsor a bill to amend Section 80 and other pertinent provisions
of the Omnibus Election Code "so to ensure that the spirit of the law is encompassed within
its language."
"Until then, the Comelec's hands are tied for as the legal maxim goes, "there is no crime
unless there is a law punishing it," said Demetriou.
Demetriou said an election campaign or partisan political activity was defined as "an act
designed to promote the election or defeat of a particular candidate or candidates to a
public office."
"Hence, if there is yet no candidate whose interest is to be promoted or defeated, there is
no restriction to any election campaign or political activity," Demetriou said in her letter.
Demetriou wrote Rosales in reaction to a news item where Rosales was reported to have said
that Villar's TV spiels were a clear circumvention of the law prohibiting all forms of
political campaign before the start of the election period.
Rosales was among those who have questioned the propriety of the use of government funds
for the "ST" commercials, where Villar was shown being interviewed by personalities like
TV newscaster Che-Che Lazaro, entertainment host Boy Abunda, and sexy actress Rosanna Roces
on the virtues of "Sipag at Tiyaga" or hard-work and perseverance.
A number of legislators and politicians accused Villar of promoting his political
interests more than the accomplishments of Congress. Villar, however, claimed the millions
spent on the ad campaign came from his personal coffers.
10 September 2000
AUTOMATED POLLS: Comelec on target for 2001 elections
By Norman Bordadora
COMMISSION on Elections Chair Harriet Demetriou yesterday said the poll body was right on
target for conducting fully automated national elections next year, with counting machines
scheduled to arrive before yearend.
Demetriou was quick to point out, however, that neither the new machines nor the
computerization of the electoral process could prevent terrorism at the polls.
She appealed to the media and the public to help make automation serve its purpose of
ensuring the sanctity of the ballot in 2001.
"Counting machines cannot prevent terrorism. Counting machines are not protected from
terrorism," the Comelec chair said at a forum organized by the Philippine Press Institute.
Demetriou said those qualified to bid for the contract for the computerized counting
machines would be announced tomorrow. The winning bidder will be known at the end of
October.
"We have to move fast because we have to give enough time for our personnel to learn how
to use the new counting machines," Demetriou said, hinting that the contracting company
would also be judged on its ability to deliver on time.
The Comelec's computerized counting system was pilot-tested in the September 1996 election
for the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
Under the system, ballots are transported to a voting center, where the votes are read,
tallied and counted by a machine which then produces precinct returns in digital and paper
form. The precinct returns are then consolidated at the municipal, provincial and national
levels. While the counting is going on, the Comelec central office in Manila simultaneously
receives electronic transmissions of the precinct returns.
Demetriou said that the production of tamper-proof voter's ID cards, embedded with a
person's thumbprint, would soon be under way. She said the new ID system would ensure
that only duly registered voters can participate in the elections.
Demetriou reiterated that the Comelec modernization was anchored on ensuring that the
national voters' lists were cleaned of "ghost" and flying voters.
At the same forum, Demetriou disclosed that a lawmaker had filed a bill seeking to
make election offenses heinous crimes.
If she had her way, Akbayan Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales would have politicians engaging
in vote-buying and election fraud sent either to the death chamber or to an unlimited
stay in a maximum-security prison.
Rosales was, however, prevailed upon to tone down the measure.
House Bill No. 9864, introduced by Rosales, penalizes a person found guilty of serious
election offenses with six to 12 years in prison.
Less serious election offenses would be punishable with six to 12 months imprisonment.
A public official, a member of the military or any paramilitary force found guilty of
such offenses would get the maximum penalty.
PDI, 2 July 2000
Mid-term election worries administration
THERE is a growing concern in the Estrada administration that the 2001 mid-term election
is going to be the key to keeping political control for the remaining half of his term.
Maintaining control of Congress, for example, is likely to determine whether President
Estrada will complete his term, or whether he can carry out programs that will compensate
for the lackluster performance of his first two years in office. A significant loss of seats
held by the ruling coalition Lapian ng Masang Pilipino (LAMP) can trigger exit scenarios for
the President.
This concern has found expression in moves to consolidate the coalition into a monolithic
LAMP by dissolving its coalition partners, namely, Danding Cojuangco's Nationalist People's
Coalition, Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara's Laban and the President's own Partido ng
Masang Pilipino, and integrating them into the monolith. Together, these parties hold around
140 seats in the 220-member House of Representatives. The main opposition party, Lakas,
holds 37 seats. In the Senate, where there are 22 incumbents, leaving two seats vacant,
LAMP and its affiliates have 12 members; Lakas-NUCD, 5; the Liberal Party, 1; Sen. Raul
Roco's Aksyon Demokratiko, 1; and the People's Reform Movement of Sen. Miriam
Defensor-Santiago, who is pro-Estrada, 1.
The numbers are, however, a misleading gauge of party strength and cohesion. Leaders of
the three parties affiliated with LAMP are reluctant to have their parties swallowed by
a monolith, reducing LAMP into a loose, unstructured and undisciplined coalition. And
herein lies its fundamental weakness as LAMP prepares for the mid-term election that is
going to be a vote of confidence for the administration.
This reluctance to coalesce betrays a lack of confidence on the part of the parties in
the vote-pulling power of President Estrada as his administration comes under siege for
its poor economic performance, its ability to manage the conflict in Mindanao and its
competence in governing the country.
Ominous for the coalition is the refusal of the bloc of 70-odd former Lakas congressmen,
led by Speaker Manuel Villar, to formally join LAMP. Villar wants to make the bloc
autonomous and flexible to join new configurations. Thus, according to Villar, "anything
is possible. Anything can happen, including the possibility of having a LAMP-Lakas
coalition for the coming election." What he didn't say is the possibility of a Lakas
reconsolidation.
Although Villar has said that his bloc would support the President regardless of the
outcome of moves to convert LAMP into a monolith, one should not take his promise at face
value. Villar is taking the pulse of the nation. As the President's popularity declines,
Villar does not want to link the fortunes of his bloc, as well as his own, to an
unpopular administration. He is ending his third term in the House and the only way for
him to stay in power is to run for the Senate, either with the administration ticket or
with the opposition. In either case, he can use his bloc as a leverage.
The big stake in the mid-term election is the control of Congress. It is unsettling that
the opposition parties have not seriously considered a strategy or a coalition to gain
control of Congress, especially the House. There is complacency among the opposition
parties that they are going to gain seats in the House without having to work hard for
it, believing that the President and the coalition would fall from their own weights.
The patronage resources and power of the President are still a tremendous advantage to
the administration-allied parties. This is not to say that patronage is the sole
determinant of election outcome. This advantage can be overcome by an opposition that
is able to crystallize issues against the government and galvanize public support
against it.
The momentum for the moves to drive the President into resignation through
non-institutional means--i.e., a reprise of people power--has fizzled out. Any
clamor for impeachment is asking for the moon unless institutional mechanisms
are in place within which impeachment action can be pursued with a constitutional
veneer. Such can happen only if the opposition gains control of Congress.
An opposition-controlled Congress can do a lot of harm to the President. It
can paralyze his initiatives. While impeachment will be a difficult process and
the prospects of its success are not bright, such an action can generate other
pressures, making it difficult for the President to govern. Congress can block
the budget, creating administrative paralysis. In parliamentary systems, denying
the government supply (funds) is a legitimate method to bring down the government
by forcing a vote of no-confidence. In the presidential system, parties in control
of the legislature can avail themselves of this option.
Any attempt to drive the President out of office through extra-constitutional means,
due to incompetence or gross incapacity to govern or corruption, is unlikely to succeed.
The people are looking at the mid-term election as the legitimate mechanism by
which political change can be made. The message for change can be expressed by
sweeping out administration candidates. In the post-war history of political parties,
mid-term elections have often resulted in the capture of Congress by the opposition.
This led to lame-duck administrations in the second half of their term.
Popular disenchantment with the administration may not be fully expressed in the election,
especially if the opposition parties don't unite and don't work hard to capitalize on the
issues of discontent that are proliferating rather than diminishing.
Ironically, the personalization of politics by President Estrada has created the
opposite reaction toward using institutions to seek ways to unseat him or to force him
to improve on his performance.
16 February 2000
Osmeņa lists LAMP candidates for Senate in 2001 election
By Malou Guanzon-Apalisok, PDI Visayas Bureau
'Critical' Herrera excluded from party line-up
CEBU CITY--Five senators, three Cabinet officials, the House leader, a son of
President Estrada, a governor, an ambassador, and a broadcast journalist will be
part of the ruling party's senatorial ticket in the 2001 elections.
Sen. John Osmeņa, Lapian ng Masang Pilipino vice president for the Visayas, said
the slate excludes Bohol Rep. Ernesto Herrera, a prominent LAMP member who is eyeing
a comeback in the Senate.
Asked to explain, Osmeņa said Herrera "has been critical of the administration."
Herrera, who had confirmed his interest in a Senate run, had taken a contrary position when
the Estrada administration attempted to amend the Constitution.
As Trade Union Congress of the Philippines secretary general, he took the side of the
Associated Labor Union, an ally labor group, in a dispute at the Cebu port.
Malacaņang, however, decided in favor of the Coalition of Ship Owners.
Osmeņa said the administration party would back the reelection bid of Senators
Franklin Drilon, Juan Ponce Enrile, Gregorio Honasan, Ramon Magsaysay Jr. and
Miriam Santiago.
The LAMP Senate slate will also include Agriculture Secretary Edgardo Angara,
Defense Secretary Orlando Mercado, Trade Secretary Mar Roxas, House Speaker
Manuel Villar, Ambassador to the US Ernesto Maceda, Laguna Gov. Joey Lina and
President Estrada's son Jinggoy Estrada, mayor of San Juan, Metro Manila.
Dong or Noli
The party is also considering a slot for a popular broadcast journalist. This will
be a toss-up between Ricardo Puno and Noli de Castro, according to Osmeņa.
Osmeņa said the President's declining popularity would not affect the administration
ticket in next year's elections "because senatorial candidates tend to be independent
of the President during the campaign."
The senatorial line-up was disclosed in the wake of LAMP's failure to fully organize
the party.
The party's full organization was supposed to have backstopped the administration's
plans to amend the Constitution.
Now that the Constitutional Correction and Development had been set aside, there
were no immediate plans to push for LAMP's complete organization.
Osmeņa said Mr. Estrada did not feel very strongly for a political party because
he won the presidential elections based on his personal popularity.
Dissolution
Earlier reports said the dissolution of political groups that made up the LAMP
coalition during the 1998 elections would have paved the way for the complete
organization of LAMP.
This would have been followed by the oathtaking of lawmakers and local officials
who wanted to join the party, like in the case of Roxas, a Liberal Party stalwart.
"I'm blaming the President for not having seen to these matters at this time," he
told the Inquirer.
Roxas remains a member of the LP even after he was appointed trade secretary.
But Senator Osmeņa remains confident that the President can count on local officials
because "in an election, they draw their support from the power of the President."
Local front
On the local front, Osmeņa said the administration party would field Marcelo
Fernan Jr., presidential adviser for Central Visayas, and lawyer Aristotle Batuhan,
in Cebu City's congressional districts.
Fernan, son of the late Senate President Marcelo Fernan, will be LAMP's candidate
for Cebu City's north district.
In the south district, it will be Batuhan, an assistant for the chief of the
Presidential Management Staff and a long-time aide of Osmeņa.
But Osmeņa said fielding Batuhan would depend on the lawyer's efforts to gain a
foothold in the south district, a bailiwick of the Cuencos, said Osmeņa.
Incumbent Rep. Nancy Cuenco took over from three-termer husband Antonio in 1998.
He, however, said Batuhan, a graduate of Harvard University, was highly qualified
to run for congressman.
The LAMP endorsement for Cebu City mayor will go to incumbent Mayor Alvin Garcia
if he wants to seek reelection, said Osmeņa.
