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10
Jun
CONGRATULATORY MESSAGE FROM JOEY DE VENECIA III
I join the Filipino nation i n congratulating President-elect Benigno Simeon ‘Noynoy’ Aquino III and Vice President-elect Jejomar ‘Jojo’ Binay for their historic election victory last May 10 which was made official this week.
I look forward to another succesful Aquino presidency which I pray will be marked by steady economic growth and greater political stability. I know that President Aquino will continue the example set by his late mother, our beloved former President Cory Aquino, and as well as draw inspiration from his father and namesake, the illustrious former Senator Ninoy Aquino.
I am certain that my partymate, friend and mentor, Vice President Binay, will wholeheartedly provide his expertise to the administration of our young 15th president of the republic. Together they are more than capable of meeting the monumental challenge of restoring the faith of the Filipino people in our government. With these two men at the helm, our democratic institutions will be safeguarded.
These two leaders may have run for president and vice president under different parties, but both did the political opposition’s Liberal Party and Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino proud. I know that together they can deliver the necessary changes that the electorate expected of them when they gave them their votes.
A new day is upon us. May we again stand united as a nation and face the next six years with hope in our hearts and with blessings from the Almighty.
Mabuhay si Noynoy Aquino. Mabuhay si Jojo Binay. Mabuhay ang Pilipinas.
20
May
Statement of PMP Senatorial Candidate Joey de Venecia III
I wish to thank the nine million friends, supporters, and family members who helped me in the course of my first political campaign. We were successful in running an issues-based campaign waged with honor. I am deeply aware of the trust and responsibility bestowed on me, and while in the private sector, I will continue my fight against corruption; and actively work on my pro-poor development agenda particularly in the fields of infrastructure and information technology.
Meanwhile, I wish to congratulate my worthy fellow candidates who have been proclaimed as senators by the Commission on Elections.
Upon the culmination of our electoral processes in Congress, I urge all to unite under our duly-elected leadership regardless of party and beliefs. There is much more that needs to be done for our people, and we will be able to do this more quickly and effectively if we are united as one nation.
Thank you and God bless us all.
11
May
May 10 Elections – UPDATES
The office of Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) senatorial candidate Joey de
Venecia is receiving, collating and disseminating reports nationwide
relative to the performance of the automated electoral system.
The office of PMP Spokesman for Poll Automation Joey de Venecia III will
receive incident reports through SMS at the following numbers:
09178895639, 09228405639, 09177914076, 09279842925, 09175233464 and
09189043012.
Emails may be sent to jdv3.hq@gmail.com.
Incident reports will be posted at joeydevenecia.com.
Joey de Venecia’s Facebook and Twitter accounts are constantly updated.
As of 3:30pm, May 10, 2010:
* In the second district
of Mindoro (Bongabong Central), PMP poll watchers were prohibited from
entering precinct area while poll watchers from other parties were allowed.
This, despite their showing of their duty issued/authorized poll watchers
ID.
* From Davao City, as of
11:10am PCOS machine in one precinct had counted only 112 ballots. Others
average 30 ballots read per hour.
* From PMP volunteer in
Cuenca, Batangas: May nahuli na naka shade na hindi pa nasusulatan ung bilog.
Un palang nangyari. Dinala na sa Batangas yung teacher para imbestigahan.
* From Negros Occidental, 90
percent of voters in Sagay City were able to cast their votes as of
midday, as
against 37 percent for Bacolod.
* From voter Noel
Balatbat in Sun Valley, Paranaque: All of our names were in the alpha list
but
when we were inside, we weren’t given ballots since our names weren’t
there.
There was no one in the Comelec help desk. Only PPCRV. Madness here! We
were told to go home.
* From voter Krizelle Azibal from
San Jose del Monte, Bulacan: ibibigay pala yung
balota may shade na po, yung sa mayor po namin sarmiento may shade na kagad
(Lawang Pare public school)
* Report from Xavier precinct, San
Juan: BEI in cluster 62 was signing ballots deeming them unreadable by the
PCOS
machine. PPCRV and LP lawyer on site, apparently PCOS machine was also
replaced, we don’t know why.
* From voter Peter de la Cruz
in Magallanes: Precint 0303A has a defective PCOS machine,
PPCRV not doing their job, very disorganized!
* A report from Bocaue Central
Elementary School said three PCOS machines are down. The machines
are eating the ballots.
* A report from Sta. Elena,
Davao City said some PCOS machines have stopped reading ballots.
As of 2:30pm, May 10, 2010:
* In the second district of Mindoro (Bongabong Central), PMP poll
watchers were prohibited from entering precinct area while poll watchers
from other parties were allowed. This, despite their showing of their duty
issued/authorized poll watchers ID.
* From Davao City, as of 11:10am PCOS machine in one precinct had counted
only 112 ballots. Others average 30 ballots read per hour.
* From PMP volunteer in Cuenca, Batangas: May nahuli na naka shade na
hindi pa nasusulatan ung bilog. Un palang nangyari. Dinala na sa Batangas
yung teacher para imbestigahan.
As of 1:30pm, May 10, 2010:
* A voter at precinct 2436A complained of a long queue which was barely
moving. He arrived at the precinct 7:30am and as of 10:15am was still
waiting to vote.
* Office received report that PCOS machine in Taguig precinct was down. No
details yet.
* Voter Louie Montelibano in Bacolod reported malfunction of PCOS machine
at clustered precincts 102A, 103A and 104A.
* Media practitioner Danny Fajardo reported that ballots intended for
Samar were sent to Iloilo . As a result, PCOS machines unable to read the
ballots.
* Voter at Lucban Elementary School , Barangay 675, precinct 2703B
reported very slow processing. Estimated that only 30 voters able to cast
votes per hour.
* Voter Mia Cielo and Mia Amor Jeresano of precinct3671A, under clustered
precinct 890 in Barangay Socorro, 15th Ave., QC, were not able to vote as
their names were not in the list of voters. They had Voter’s IDs.
*Voter Joy Eder of Merville, Paranaque was able to vote around 10:30am.
She went to her precinct at 7:30am, but the PCOS was still being set up at
that time.
* Voters in La Union, Abra complaining that PCOS machines there are
rejecting ballots. Comelec officials present unable to explain glitch.
* Voter Manny Munoz in Tarlac, Tarlac reports that he went to his precinct
at 7:00am. By 12 noon , he had not yet been able to cast his vote.
9
May
JOEY DE VENECIA HEARTENED BY QUIBOLOY ENDORSEMENT
Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) senatorial bet Joey de Venecia III today
gave his profuse thanks to noted evangelist Pastor Apollo Quiboloy for
endorsing his candidacy for support by his six-million strong flock, of
which an estimated three million are registered voters.
Earlier today in the sprawling compound at the foot of Mt. Apo of his
religious group Kingdom of Jesus Christ, the Name Above Every Name,
Quiboloy endorsed de Venecia as his fifth candidate in a mixed slate of
candidates that also includes three other PMP bets –Senators Jinggoy
Estrada and Juan Ponce Enrile, and Congressman Rodolfo “Ompong” Plaza.
“I am truly grateful to Pastor Quiboloy for giving me his vote of
confidence and for recommending me to his flock as the Kingdom’s candidate
in tomorrow’s senatorial polls. I thank God that I have gotten this and
other vital support to help me win, despite my being a total neophyte in
the political arena,” said de Venecia.
The key support from Quiboloy and his followers was preceded by
endorsements for de Venecia by former President Fidel Ramos, Kris Aquino
and Boy Abunda, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, the
Nationalist Peoples Coalition (NPC), the LDP party, the Magdalo Group
headed by Sen. Antonio Trillanes, the Guardians Organization of Sen.
Gregorio Honasan, The Federation of Jeepney Operators and Drivers
Association of the Philippines, the Bible Mode and Alliance of Baptist
Councils headed by Manila Rep. Benny Abante, and the Federation of Free
Workers, among others.
“These endorsements and the outpouring of support from our people during
my campaign are blessings that will inspire me to do my utmost, if it is
God’s will for me to be in the senate,” said De Venecia.
9
May
Poll readiness in doubt
How ready is ready?
Research by one of the country’s biggest media organizations that revealed that only about half of all the voting machines were in place less than two days before the elections belies the claim by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) that election day will run smoothly, Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) senatorial candidate Joey de Venecia III said yesterday.
De Venecia cited an ABS-CBN News report which said only 51.9 percent of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines were in the polling places nationwide less than two days before the polls open Monday.
The ABS-CBN report was as of 9:00 am, Saturday, May 8.
A statement from Comelec Commissioner Lucenito Tagle that 48 percent of the machines and ballot boxes have been delivered to the precincts as of Saturday afternoon means the poll body “is scrambling” to deliver the remaining 52 percent, the PMP bet said.
“The Comelec should clarify the report immediately,” de Venecia said, adding that repeated attempts to open the Comelec website for up-to-date information had all failed.
“The public has been given conflicting figures by the Comelec on their state of readiness with the latest claims saying they are almost 100 percent ready. How ready can they be ready when almost half of the 76,000 machines to be used are not even installed this close to the elections?” de Venecia asked.
The ABS-CBN report also said only 64 percent of the ballots and 14.5 percent of the reconfigured flash cards to be used had been delivered.
Smartmatic, on the other hand, said 70 percent of replacement flash cards had been installed as of Saturday, while Comelec officials said they expected between 50 to 60 percent of all cities and municipalities to have tested and sealed the voting machines by midnight Saturday.
“The credibility of the news department of the country’s largest broadcast network is hard to question. The figures cited will certainly have some basis in fact,” according to the son and namesake of former Speaker Jose de Venecia.
He said the Comelec and Smartmatic’s lack of transparency on implementation of the automated electoral system (AES) on election day could place the results to be announced by the poll body under a cloud of doubt.
“Losing candidates will not readily concede. Even winners will suspect that their winning margins are actually much bigger because too many votes may not be counted,” de Venecia said.
It is because of such doubts that spurred PMP presidential bet Joseph Estrada last week to seek a 15-day postponement of the elections, which was rejected by the Supreme Court, he added.
“Since the elections are proceeding as scheduled, the best thing to do is for the people to unite to protect the vote and report all cases of cheating or irregularities to the media, to the poll watchdogs, and to the authorities,” de Venecia said.
The public should also give all possible support to the 230,000 public school teachers serving as Board of Election Inspectors nationwide, he added.
The IT businessman said a steady stream of information from credible sources disseminated properly and immediately would go a long way in easing public concerns over the AES. (30)
9
May
DO NOT DELAY PUBLICATION OF AUTOMATED VOTE TALLIES FOR NATIONAL CANDIDATES — JOEY III
Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino senatorial candidate Joey De Venecia is
questioning the decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to wait for 20% of precincts nationwide to transmit vote data before publishing its initial tally of votes for the national candidates on its website.
“This will defeat the very purpose of the automated system having
real-time capability to send out the precinct level results and ensure the transparency, speed and accuracy of the system,” De Venecia said.
“If the speedy publication of the initial tally of votes for national
candidates is delayed,” De Venecia said, “we will then be besieged by so-called exit polls from unofficial and possibly partisan sources along with untraceable vote result leaks.”
The PMP spokesman on poll automation said “if this happens, the very credibility of the official tallies will come under question with people asking whether these could have been massaged to favor certain parties or candidates.”
“We must remind the COMELEC that one reason why the credibility of certain citizen election watchdogs became tainted in the 2004 elections was when it was revealed that they held back posting election tallies from bailiwicks of the late Fernando Poe Jr and gave prominence to the votes for other aspirants,” De Venecia said.
8
May
JOEY III ASKS: ARE THE OVERSEAS ABSENTEE VOTES PROTECTED FROM DAGDAG-BAWAS?
“The Commission on Elections (Comelec) should tell the people just exactly how overseas absentee votes will be counted and what safeguards are in place to prevent them from being Garci-fied, “ Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) senatorial candidate Joey De Venecia today said.
The Department of Foreign Affairs-Overseas Absentee Voting Secretariat (DFA-OAVS) said 118,053 have been cast as of May 7 with more voters expected to go to designated Philippine consulates and embassies or mail their ballots over the weekend until 6 p.m. of May 10.
“With 589,830 overseas Filipinos having registered for Monday’s elections we must be doubly sure their votes are credited to the candidates of their choice and not for the paymasters of our present day Dagdag Bawas operators,” De Venecia said.
“We know only too well how the crucial positions in the 2004 and 2007 senatorial elections were stolen through vote-shaving and vote-shifting activities favoring administration candidates.”
“We cannot allow electoral fraud to destroy the credibility of the overseas absentee vote,” De Venecia said.
8
May
72 PRIVATE ARMIES WILL TERRORIZE VOTERS, JOEY III WARNS
“There is a clear and present danger that private armies controlled by political warlords will be used to terrorize voters on election day,” senatorial candidate Joey De Venecia warned today.
“With just two days before the polls open, we are now told by the Zenarosa Commission tasked to disarm and dismantle private armed groups that 72 such militias remain active, with most of them in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao,” the Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino senatorial stalwart said.
De Venecia said “the outgoing administration is the only one that stands to benefit from the certain involvement of these private armies in the guns-goons-and-gold strategy of political warlords to guarantee their hold on political power by every fraudulent means possible.”
“Will Filipinos determined to bring positive change to government and better their lot be forced under the gun to vote for warlords politicians who enrich themselves instead of serving the public welfare?”, De Venecia asked.
The Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino senatorial candidate said “it is incumbent now on both the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces to prove that they are on the side of the Filipino people to at least quarantine these private armies if they are unable to disarm them between now and May 10.”
8
May
Joey de Venecia III: PMP to proceed with poll auto study even after election day, proposes united front to do this and to monitor election anomalies
Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) senatorial candidate Joey de Venecia III today declared that he will continue the party’s efforts to fully study the poll automation system even after the elections, to either validate this and propose further improvements, or to repudiate the system and refer the findings to the authorities for the filing of cases against the responsible parties.
“Even if the elections on Monday would appear to proceed smoothly, our findings show that there is a real danger of Digital Dagdag-Bawas occurring, which can only be affirmed or disproven by a comprehensive post-mortem study.”
De Venecia, PMP spokesman for poll automation, proposed that all political parties, civic groups and IT experts and organizations pool their resources into a common data base to be administered by reputable poll monitoring bodies like the PPCRV and Namfrel. This will then be studied by local and international IT experts so that a credible and comprehensive report can be prepared.
“Per instructions of our standard bearer President Joseph Estrada, the PMP will fully cooperate in this study by sharing our expertise and findings on poll anomalies, especially those on election day itself. All political parties and IT organizations and media should pool their resources to conduct a study on the automated electoral system (AES) that will be credible, comprehensive and transparent,” he said.
De Venecia and the PMP have been sharing their findings with the public by posting the documents it obtained with considerable difficulty from the Commission on Elections, as well as reviews undertaken by independent IT experts such as Sonny Valdez, Drexx Lagui, Obet Versola and Chuck Locsin at the joeydevenecia.com website.
“By sharing all our findings, we can overcome the lack of transparency of the Comelec and Smartmatic on the May 10 polls,” de Venecia said.
The PMP bet noted the failure of the Comelec to provide them all the documents relative to the automated election system (AES), despite promises to do so, saying they only received “half of what was promised.”
The data base can then be shared with or even administered by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) and the major media organizations, said de Venecia.
De Venecia and his team of IT experts will continue to conduct their review of the source codes to be used by the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to be used during the polls. “We ask everyone to join us on this and other efforts to review the system, which till now the Comelec and Smartmatic have shrouded in mystery in the face of insufferable glitches and the lack of assurances that the PCOS machines are not actually Digital Garcis.”
“Since the Comelec is pushing through with the automated elections on Monday despite widespread misgivings, the very least the poll body can do is follow the Supreme Court’s order for full transparency,” de Venecia said. “To ignore the SC order is to invite suspicions that they are keeping from the public serious shortcomings of the AES,” he added.
These shortcomings could result in a partial or total failure of elections, said de Venecia. “A confluence of events can result in worst-case scenarios.”
The worst-case scenario — a total failure of elections — could have been avoided by resorting to a manual count, but the Comelec has chosen to ignore the calls from the religious, business and civil society sectors for at least a parallel manual count, according to the IT businessman.
So serious were the concerns about possible failure of the automated polls that two presidential candidates, including the PMP’s Joseph Estrada, had asked for a delay. This, too, was rejected by the Comelec.
Since the review is ongoing, results will be posted as soon as they are submitted.
“We will also submit a post-mortem review of our findings to the public after we are done,” he said. “Hopefully, the errors that occurred before, during and after the elections will be identified so that they will be avoided in the next electoral exercise.”
The worst thing that can happen is for the people to reject the results of the elections based on the automated count, according to de Venecia, which is why he has been pushing for a nationwide manual count instead. The Comelec has said that they can only conduct a manual count on 30 percent of all precincts, but de Venecia said the Comelec has utterly failed to provide a true continuity plan to take care of a possible needed manual count.
As for the parties responsible for the numerous glitches that occurred prior to the elections, de Venecia said the people should be unforgiving.
De Venecia took aim at Smartmatic, the Venezuelan firm that won the bid to automate the polls, for its haphazard preparations.
“The Comelec has said that it might file a case against Smartmatic. They should. If they do not, we will,” he said.
7
May
TELL US THE TRUTH, JOEY DE VENECIA URGES COMELEC
“The Commission on Elections should now be completely transparent about its preparations for the May 10 elections with its partner having reneged on its contractual obligations,” Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) senatorial candidate Joey De Venecia III said Friday.
Only in this way would the Comelec be able to fully restore the public’s confidence in the electoral system, he said, warning that any results on Monday from the flawed automation system “will be deemed highly suspect because the PCOS machines and software are fraught with unresolved issues making them vulnerable to Digital Dagdag-Bawas. We should expect a flood of electoral protests of Ondoy-like proportions, after the results are announced.”
De Venecia lamented the conflicting information now coming from the Comelec and Smartmatic was only causing further public confusion and distrust over the poll process.
“Smartmatic says that with three days before the polls a little over 50 percent of the reconfigured flash memory cards for the precinct count optical machines have been dispatched with little hope of all 76,000 cards reaching their destinations,” de Venecia said.
The claim contradicts an earlier statement from Comelec that they only had 20,000 replacement flash cards on hand, with the balance of 56,000 still to arrive from their suppliers from Hong Kong and Taiwan.
“Where did those replacement flash cards come from? The totals do not add up,” he said, adding that it was the Comelec itself that announced that the replacement cards would not arrive until Saturday.
De Venecia also asked the Comelec to identify the “generous donors from the private sector who supposedly lent planes and helicopters” to the poll body to deliver the flash cards to 95 percent of the precincts practically overnight.
The PMP spokesman for poll automation said, “it is utterly unrealistic for the Comelec to now claim that only 5% of voting precincts are not likely to get new cards with the delivery of the PCOS machines also now being delayed.”
Under a “very best case scenario,” the poll body would have been able to replace and install the new flash cards to 27 percent of the precincts, according to the son and namesake of former Speaker Jose de Venecia.
“We in the PMP urge Chairman Jose Melo and the other commissioners to realize that they must now authorize a full manual count instead of their fall back plan of doing a 30-percent manual count,” de Venecia said. He said no less than PMP Standard Bearer Joseph Estrada will be filing a petition with the Supreme Court to delay the polls until all glitches have been settled to the public’s satisfaction.
De Venecia cited new reports indicating that as many as 10,000 voting locations have no access to the data reception and transmission sites of the telecommunication companies while field tests have indicated spotty reliability of the Smartmatic Global Broadband Area Network (GBAN) satellite uplinks.”
“There will be hell to pay if the Comelec’s stubborn insistence on doing the automated count will result in not just system failure but also the unacceptable scenario of the non-proclamation of winning candidates, or if candidates faring well in the surveys are suddenly knocked out of contention under suspicious circumstances.”
