The Philippines military went on alert yesterday as voters prepared for national polls today following a blood-soaked campaign season that saw more than 110 people killed.
Thousands of soldiers joined police already guarding polling facilities to "stop election violence and move forcefully against those using threats and intimidation for partisan ends," a presidential statement said.
President Gloria Arroyo is hoping to keep a majority in the House of Representatives as well as most of the 12 seats being contested in the 24-member Senate to ensure a smooth last three years of her rule.
PHOTO: AFP
Some 45 million voters will elect parliamentarians to the 275-seat House of Representatives as well as governors, mayors and provincial and municipal or city councils throughout the nation.
Arroyo expressed confidence yesterday that her allies would sweep congressional and local elections, although opinion polls point to the opposition tightening control of the Senate.
About 87,000 candidates contesting nearly 18,000 positions spent the last day in motorcades, rallies, prayers and last-minute efforts to win votes across the country, known for its raucous campaigning and tall promises.
"The administration is looking forward to gaining a new majority in the Senate courtesy of a decisive Team Unity victory," Arroyo's political adviser, Gabriel Claudio, said in a statement yesterday.
Team Unity is the name given to the administration's slate of 12 candidates for the Senate.
About 1,000 police and soldiers are guarding the northern province of Abra, where a policeman was killed by suspected guns for hire in the town of Danglas late on Saturday to add to months of deadly political violence that claimed the life of Abra Legislator Luis Bersamin in December.
"It is heating up. This is the end game between now and tomorrow at election time," said Senior Superintendent Villamor Bumanglag, chief of a police task force that will field seven officers for every precinct on election day.
"There have been a lot of reports of armed groups moving in remote areas and we are checking on them," he said.
While the presidency is not at stake, analysts said the result would have a large bearing on efforts by the opposition to unseat Arroyo over allegations she cheated to win the May 2004 ballot. She denies the allegations.
Pro-Arroyo parties are expected to keep a comfortable majority in the House of Representatives, which would ensure that no further impeachment complaints against her would succeed.
The election has been under intense foreign scrutiny amid a wave of murders of hundreds of supporters of fringe leftist parties since Arroyo came to power in 2001, some of which the military says are fronts for communist guerrillas.
Police put the official death toll from the three-month campaign period at 113 throughout the country, where vote-buying and electoral violence are commonplace.
Police and military units were deployed in several districts hit by bloodshed in the run-up to the vote, and were also drafted in to transport ballot boxes and escort foreign observers to far-flung areas.
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
RSS