May 212013
 
Civil groups taking poll plaints to UN

By Jocelyn R. Uy Philippine Daily Inquirer 4:14 am | Wednesday, May 22nd, 2013 MANILA, Philippines—Civil society groups Solidarity Philippines and Kontra Daya on Tuesday said they were bringing to the attention of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR) the inadequacies and lapses committed by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) during the May 13 balloting. Over Church-run Radio Veritas, the groups’ convenor Fr. Joe Dizon said they were resorting to the move because the Comelec had not been transparent in its conduct of the recently concluded elections, the second time automated elections were held using the controversial precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines. During the interview, Dizon said the complaint would include the premature proclamation of the winning senators as well as the glitches that popped up in the voting machines and the compact flash (CF) cards. “First and foremost, the Comelec erred in entering into a deal with Smartmatic and purchasing the PCOS machines because (Smartmatic) was not the owner of the source code,” Dizon said. The source code is the computer program that runs the PCOS machines. The PCOS technology, including the source code, is owned by Dominion Voting Systems Inc., which had severed its ties with Smartmatic following a legal dispute in the United States. Dizon also stressed that the recent elections should merit the attention of the UN body because the Comelec decided to proclaim the winners of the senatorial race even if only 20 percent of the total votes Read More …

Mar 072013
 
Navy: 121 Pinoy evacuees aboard two boats from Sabah now on way to Tawi-Tawi

(UPDATED 1:30 p.m.) –  At least 121 Filipinos were aboard the two motorized vessels that were heading for Tawi-Tawi from Sabah before they were intercepted by the Philippine Navy early on Friday. Philippine Navy spokesman Lt. Cmdr. Gregory Fabic said in a radio interview they also found sacks of rice and foodstuff aboard the two ships. “Yung destination nila, papuntang Bongao. In-escort ng Philippine Navy papuntang Bongao para sa proper disposition,” Fabic said in an interview on dzBB radio. On Thursday, Malaysia had set up a tight blockade and defensive line at Sabah’s east coast.  Earlier this week, a vessel carrying Filipinos fleeing from the conflict in Sabah arrived in Tawi-Tawi.  Malaysian forces had adopted an all-out stance against Kiram’s followers after a series of fatal clashes since March 1. On Thursday, the sultan declared a unilateral ceasefire after the United Nations called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, but Malaysia has rejected the ceasefire offer. —KG/VVP, GMA News