Noynoy Still leads Survey

Presidential candidate Sen. Benigno “Noynoy" Aquino III (Liberal Party) remains on top in a recent survey commissioned by an ally of rival Sen. Manny Villar Jr. (Nacionalista Party) .

According to the results of the survey conducted from March 28 to 30 and purportedly commissioned by House Minority Floor Leader Ronaldo Zamora, Villar scored 29 percentage points, or eight points behind Aquino’s 37.

The NP claimed the survey was from Social Weather Station (SWS), although the poll firm has yet to confirm it. Calls made by GMANews.TV to its office were not answered.

In the SWS survey last month that was commissioned by BusinessWorld, Villar got 28 percent while Aquino got 37 percent.

In a statement, the NP still expressed exultation over the latest survey, saying it was a “leap" from the 12-point lead enjoyed by Aquino in the March 21 to 28 survey by rival pollster Pulse Asia, where the LP bet got 37 percent compared to Villar’s 25.

“That’s a leap of four points [25 percent in Pulse Asia to 29 percent in SWS], immediately after the field personnel of the other survey firm were just wrapping up their own results," said NP senatorial candidate and spokesperson Gilbert Remulla in a statement.

“Misleading the public"

The LP, meanwhile, castigated NP for allegedly trying to mislead the public by hyping on the supposed cut in Aquino's lead.

In a text message, LP spokesman and Quezon Rep. Erin Tañada said if the Zamora-commissioned survey is true, then it showed that Villar gained only a point – from 28 percent to 29 percent – compared to the SWS poll that preceded it.

“You do not compare survey results from different survey companies," he pointed out, adding that the four-point cut in Aquino’s lead that the LP stated in its statement was actually based on the results of SWS and Pulse Asia surveys.

“Again the NP is trying to mislead the public," Tañada said. “Obviously the NP is desperately trying to look for ways to cover up the fact that the lead of Senator Aquino seems to be stable if you compared the commissioned and the non-commissioned surveys of the SWS."

He added that the one-point gain by Villar in the two SWS surveys “is within the margin of error and is negligible."

The LP has accused Villar of being the “secret candidate" of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Other presidential bets

The Zamora-commissioned poll also showed former president Joseph Estrada (Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino) falling to 17 percent from previous 19 percent, and administration bet Gilberto Teodoro (Lakas-Kampi-CMD) picking up two points to score eight percent.

The statement did not indicate the preference ratings for other presidential aspirants Sen. Richard Gordon (Bagumbayan), evangelist Eddie Villanueva (Bangon Pilipinas), Sen. Jamby Madrigal (independent), environmentalist Nicanor Perlas (independent), and Olongapo City councilor John Carlos delos Reyes (Ang Kapatiran).

David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer

Read More

Day 2 Election Problem in Hongkong

A poll automation machine glitch marred the second day of the overseas automated polls in Hong Kong, stalling voting at a precinct for an hour, a Commission on Elections official said on Sunday.

"The PCOS (precinct count optical scan) machine [malfunctioned] because of moisture, but it was fixed promptly. It took an hour," Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said in a phone interview.

The machine reportedly jammed and rejected ballots.

Meanwhile, Larrazabal added that voting in Hong Kong continued smoothly, but turnout was low.

"It’s not as many as we expected, but it’s just the first weekend. Maybe in the coming days, more people will cast their votes," he added.

Absentee voting in Hong Kong and Singapore kicked off last Saturday with a low turnout.

The Foreign Affairs department said about 1,000 registered Filipino voters in Hong Kong went to the Kennedy Town Center to vote, while only 200 of the 31,851 registered voters in Singapore voted at the Philippine Embassy.

Aside from the automated polls in Singapore and Hong Kong, manual absentee voting in the Philippines’ 93 embassies and consulates around the world also started last Saturday, when Filipinos overseas started choosing their President, Vice-President, senators and party-list.

Overseas absentee voting will end on May 10, when voters in the Philippines vote for both national and local posts down to city and municipal councilors.

Filipino migrant workers in Jeddah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia cast their votes on the first day of the overseas absentee voting on Saturday. Ronaldo Concha

Clueless
Meanwhile, some Filipino workers in Jeddah did not know that absentee voting for national and party-list posts had started.

David Daileg of Tarlac, a family driver for 15 years, went to the Philippine Consulate on Saturday before 8 a.m. to renew his passport. He ended up voting instead, and was the first to do so in Jeddah.

"I was supposed to renew my passport but I voted instead so I could help change the system in the Philippines," he said in Filipino.

Absentee voting started on April 10 and will last for a month.

Workmates Rommel Calingasan and Eddie Capili also arrived at the consulate to renew their passports. They were surprised to see the voting being conducted, since they thought absentee voting would only be held in Hong Kong and Singapore.

A woman approached GMANews.TV to ask why there were so many people at the consulate. She, too, was surprised upon learning the election had begun. Like Daileg, she wasted no time voting.

Apart from some who were unaware of the exercise, others could not find their names on the list.

Dario Vinas could not find his name on the master list of Precinct 10, but was able to vote after later spotting his name under Precinct 9.

These hitches aside, the first day of the absentee voting went smoothly.

Among the first to vote were staff members of the consulate, as well as Jeddah Consul General Ezzedin Tago.

Tago said they were pleased with the orderly flow of people coming in to vote.

Poll watchers of presidential candidate and evangelist Eddie Villanueva were also present.

Workers from Altayar Plastic Company arrived in a group to vote. The company allowed them to use its service vehicle so they could save on transportation costs worth 60 riyals or about P720.

Tago said at least 180 Filipino workers voted on Saturday. He expects more people to come in on Thursday and Friday, when workers are usually on a day off. Filipino workers abroad have until May 10 to vote.

David Mikael Taclino
Inyu Web Development and Design
Creative Writer

Read More