RP Elections 2010

The first automated general elections in the Philippines are now winding down — not yet completely concluded, though, because there are still a number of areas that have not yet transmitted their electronic results. By the most significant indications, it was a success, in spite of the technical glitches in many of the PCOS machines [...]

I was one of the first 20 voters in my precinct in Matina, Davao City, having arrived there at half past 6am. The polls opened on time at 7am, and by all accounts, all of the PCOS machines in the school were operating nominally. The voting process, however, did not seem faster compared to previous [...]

I just came from the PCOS machine testing & sealing by the BEIs of the Kapitan Tomas Monteverde Grade School in Barangay 3A in Davao City, attended by candidates’ representatives, barangay and school officials, media and curious citizens.
The Smartmatic AES1800 machines tested that I was able to witness were for Clusters 12, 13 and 14 [...]

As Election Day draws nearer, lust for blood of perpetrators of violence also heats up.
There is an upsurge of incidents of election-related violence since the campaign for local elections started in 25 March 2010. Vote Peace 2010 (Vote Peace), a monitoring and campaign initiative against election violence of the Consortium on Electoral Reform (CER), in [...]

You’re a blogger and a concerned citizen, and you’ve decided to do your part by volunteering your time and resources as a watcher/reporter. Here are just a few reminders:
Vote early. So that you can devote your time to monitoring and reporting on the polls, go to your precinct early and cast your vote right away. [...]

No, that’s not a typo in the title. Pic Your President is a Web service that lets you vote for your chosen presidential candidate through a ‘picture poll’. The service is made available via Piclyf, “a picture-based social platform that lets people share photos and do visual updates, check-ins and polls.”

What sets this Web service [...]

[Media Release]
The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) strongly condemns the brutal politically-motivated killings in Maguindanao of political supporters and journalists.
We call upon President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to take a firm and decisive action immediately to go after the perpetrators of this heinous crime, and for the government to consider this and other recent tragedies [...]

[The following is an article I submitted to the UP Law Internet Society for publication in their magazine, "DIGITAL" (Digest of Information Technology and the Law).]
The blogosphere––or the newfangled world of Web-based publishing––together with the surfeit of social networking services such as Facebook.com and Plurk.com, has virtually changed the landscape of today’s news-reading and -gathering, [...]