H.O.P.E. for change!

H.O.P.E. for change!
No to election failure, fraud or violence!

Bayan Muna, Task Force on Urban Conscientization, and concerned leaders and organizations across sectors join hands at the National Shrine of Our Mother of Perpetual Help (Baclaran Church) today, 4:30 p.m., as a community of faithful imploring Divine guidance and HOPE for the sake of the entire nation, and especially for the future generations of Filipinos.

Amid threats of nationwide fraud, confusion, violence and technical failures plaguing the country's first automated polls, we come together to pray, draw inspiration, and work hand in hand for an Honest, Orderly, and Peaceful Elections (HOPE) for change.

The recent PCOS machine test failures that require the recall, recalibration and replacement of 76,000 compact flash (CF) cards added to the ever-growing fears that there might be failure of elections thus prolonging Pres. Gloria Arroyo's reign in Malacanang. But in spite of these threats, we will pursue honest, orderly, peaceful and credible elections. We continue to HOPE for change!

The 2010 elections give us an opportunity to catalyze change for the country through HOPE. We enjoin every Filipino to seek HOPE for change, to help ensure that no fraud or violence or confusion will prevail, to prevent any scheme that will curtail the democratic rights of the people, to be aware of political developments, to be vigilant, and to be responsive in safeguarding the sanctity of votes.

In the people's unity, determination and concerted actions during politically dark times depend the survival of this country's democratic institutions.

Long live the Filipino people!

Bayan Muna - Task Force on Urban Conscientization - Concerned leaders and organizations
(5 May 2010)

PCOS glitches part of plot? Stop Oplan RAFAEL

PCOS glitches part of plot?

Stop Oplan RAFAEL (Retain Arroyo through Failure of Elections)!

In the light of the PCOS machines failure just 4 days away from the first ever automated national elections, Bayan Muna Partylist is raising the alarm bells for the near completion of a sinister plot to retain Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as president through a failure or postponement of elections.

“Everything is falling into place. As much as we want the elections to push through smoothly, five out of at least eight conditions have already been met for President Arroyo to be retained through failure of elections. Oplan RAFAEL (Retain Arroyo through Failure of Elections) must be stopped now by a united citizenry,” exclaimed Bayan Muna Rep. Teddy Casiño.

The militant legislator revealed eight stages of what he termed Oplan RAFAEL. “First, Arroyo appointed the Hello Garci generals in key positions as her loyal praetorian guards. Second, she increased the AFP's role in the electoral process. Third, we now have 'technical glitches' in the AES,” Casiño bared.

“Fourth, Arroyo's own lawyers have now floated the idea of postponing the elections as an option. Fifth, no sitting Senate president will succeed GMA since Sen. Juan Ponce Enrile has refused to vacate his post. The sixth condition will be Arroyo's midnight appointment of the Supreme Court Chief Justice to ensure a pro-Arroyo Court,” Casiño added.

“The seventh stage would be the failure of elections itself due to systemic failures, massive fraud, chaos or violence, which then completes stage eight of Oplan RAFAEL, wherein Arroyo remains as president in a holdover capacity."

"After nine years in Malacanang, Mrs. Arroyo is still hell-bent in stealing the presidency for the third time!” Casiño said. "She became president in 2001 after Joseph Estrada was ousted. She stayed in power through massive electoral fraud in 2004 with the help of the likes of 'Garci' and nationwide political operators including military officials. And now this."

“Given the configuration problems of the PCOS machines, we in Bayan Muna demand two things from the Comelec: 1) Turn on the feature that shows the voter, through the machine's LCD screen, how his ballot was counted; and 2) Conduct a parallel manual verification count,” Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said.

“In the face of poll automation failure, various groups and Bayan Muna will hold a Mass for HOPE (Honest, Orderly and Peaceful Elections) at the Baclaran Church today at 4:30 p.m. A candle lighting ceremony follows at 6 p.m. The public, known personalities and leaders are invited,” concluded Colmenares.###

BAYAN MUNA ASKS COMELEC TO IDENTIFY AND PROSECUTE PLOTTERS TO SABOTAGE THE ELECTION

BAYAN MUNA ASKS COMELEC TO IDENTIFY AND PROSECUTE PLOTTERS TO SABOTAGE THE ELECTION: Release of Mayuga Report also demanded

BAYAN MUNA Party List, concerned over the announcement of a plot to delay voting in the precincts, today submitted to Chairman Jose Melo an Urgent Appeal to petition the COMELEC to expose the plotters.

“Comelec should name names as this act of electoral sabotage is a serious electoral offense punishable with life imprisonment. Comelec has previously warned critics that they are committing an election offense if they make announcements without backing it with evidence. Now, the Comelec will not only be guilty of an election offense but will also not be setting a good example if it refuses to identify and prosecute candidates out to sabotage the polls. It is an impeachable offense if Comelec will not prosecute” said Bayan Muna Partylist Representative Neri Colmenares. “Otherwise, we will treat the Comelec announcement as a mere attempt to prepare the people for a failure of elections and point to a scapegoat other than the Comelec. This is outrageous.”

Parallel count, Transparent printing of Manual Ballots, Release of Mayuga Report

Bayan Muna also asked COMELEC to reconsider its decision on the parallel manual count by expanding its random manual audit to cover more precincts. “With more kinks found in the system by the Comelec itself when it tested the PCOs machines, the more reason why an expanded random manual audit should be undertaken that should cover at 10% of the polls or at least 6,000 precincts” said Bayan Muna Partylist Representative Teddy Casino. The kinks found by Comelec ranged from failed transmission, untested PCOs machines, servers and websites, misaligned ovals and this recent revelation of procedural delay.

In the same appeal, Bayan Muna asked that parties be allowed to witness the printing of election paraphernalia for manual counting. “We have not receive notice for our pollwatchers to witness the printing of manual election returns and other paraphernalia. These are accountable forms and may be the source of electoral fraud if the Comelec admission that 30% of the polls may be manual takes place. Why is it being printed without watchers is unacceptable” said Rep. Casino.

In the same Urgent Appeal, Bayan Muna also asked the COMELEC to subpoena the Mayuga Report which Pres. Gloria Arroyo refused to make public in 2006. “With the revelation by DND Sec. Norberto Gonzalez that fraud using the military is taking place, the COMELEC must find out which military unit and officers have been previously identified in order for the poll body to take remedial measures. The Comelec should not deputize a military or police officer identified by the Mayuga Report as having been involved in electoral fraud in 2004” said Rep. Colmenares. “We demand that Pres. Arroyo release the report and for Comelec to subpoena said report. During election period, Comelec has the plenary powers to subpoena the report and should take this opportunity to pry from the deathly grip of Pres. Arroyo a report that has eluded public scrutiny for years” Colmenares demanded. ###

ARROYO APPOINTED CHIEF JUSTICE MAY FUEL FURTHER INSTABILITY AMIDST FEARS OF FAILURE OF ELECTIONS: Bayan Muna asks JBC not to submit list to Malcanang

ARROYO APPOINTED CHIEF JUSTICE MAY FUEL FURTHER INSTABILITY AMIDST FEARS OF FAILURE OF ELECTIONS: Bayan Muna asks JBC not to submit list to Malcanang

BAYAN MUNA Party List, alarmed by the decision of the Judicial Bar Council (JBC) to submit its list of nominees to Pres. Gloria Arroyo and give her the luxury of appointing the next Supreme Court Chief Justice, urgently asks the JBC to reconsider its decision. Bayan Muna is afraid of a major upheaval if Pres. Arroyo appoints the next chief justice instead of allowing the new president to appoint the replacement of Chief Justice Reynato Puno.

“Should failure of elections happen, it will be difficult for the people to follow a decision favorable to Pres. Arroyo issued by a Supreme Court under an Arroyo appointed Chief Justice” said Bayan Muna Representative Teddy Casino. “Whether true or not, the Chief Justice will be perceived as beholden to Pres. Arroyo. A presidential appointment by Arroyo is a kiss of death”. Bayan Muna believes that Associate Justice Renato Corona will be appointed and Pres. Arroyo is just pretending to go through the motions. “There is no chance that the other justices will get selected. Justice Corona who was the Presidential Legal Counsel is the closest to the President. It will be a tough life for Justice Corona”, added Rep. Casino.

“There is no reason why Pres. Arroyo should rush the appointment of a Chief Justice. A collegial body like the Supreme Court has survived without a chief justice before. The only reason why she is moving heaven and earth to appoint one is because she intends to have a friendly Supreme Court once plunder cases are filed against her” said Bayan Muna Representative Neri Javier Colmenares.

Bayan Muna previously filed a House Bill 7109 entitled “An Act Prohibiting the President from Making Appointments to Judicial Positions, including that of the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, During the Period Provided Under Section 15 Article VII of the Constitution and for Other Purposes” with the hope of precisely preventing this dangerous situation for the Court. Pres. Arroyo’s majority in the House however made sure that the bill will not pass. The bill provides that in case of a vacancy in the office of Chief Justice during the period when the President is prohibited from appointing the Chief Justice, the most senior Associate Justice shall act as Interim Chief Justice until another Chief Justice is appointed by the incoming President. This procedure is in fact already provided under Republic Act 296 or the Judiciary Act of 1948.

Bayan Muna whose two nominees. Atty. Neri Colmenares and Atty. Joven Laura are human rights lawyers in the Visayas and Bicol regions respectively, urges the JBC not to submit its list to Malacanang. “Pres. Arroyo may still be forced not to appoint a chief justice if the people will show outrage over this brazen lack of delicadeza. We hope, however, that the JBC will not to submit the list to Pres. Arroyo as planned since Pres. Arroyo does not know the word delicadeza” concluded Rep. Colmenares.###

BAYAN MUNA CHARGES GONZALES, BANGIT WITH ELECTION OFFENSES

BAYAN MUNA CHARGES GONZALES, BANGIT WITH ELECTION OFFENSES, CALLS FOR INVESTIGATION OF MISUSE OF INTELLIGENCE FUNDS FOR ELECTORAL FRAUD AND PARTISAN POLITICAL ACTIVITY

Bayan Muna representative and senatorial candidate Satur Ocampo will file a complaint at the COMELEC today against generals Delfin Bangit and Reynaldo Mapagu, and Department of National Defense Ssecretary Norberto Gonzales for partisan political activity and harassment conducted by the Armed Forces of the Philippines against supporters of Bayan Muna, senatorial candidate Satur Ocampo and other progressive candidates.

Bayan Muna wants COMELEC to prosecute Bangit, Gonzales, and Mapagu for misusing their official powers and functions, by ordering military personnel to conduct nationwide, organized, and systematic attacks against Bayan Muna's candidates and supporters, including the use of public funds to fund these activities.

Bayan Muna is also asking COMELEC to subpoena the military’s intelligence funds expenditure to investigate if these were spent on electoral intervention and fraud.

These acts of the military are partisan political activity and a clear violation of the Omnibus Election Code. The complaint is part of a series of complaints already filed against military officers in Sorsogon, South Cotabato and Davao.

“We have officials in the military and in the government especially Bangit, Mapagu, and Gonzales who have turned deaf despite the glaring evidence of violations committed by their subordinates. We will make sure that the perpetrators of these attacks are seriously prosecuted to hammer the message that the military should not interfere in the elections," Bayan Muna representative and legal counsel Neri Colmenares said. "We hope this will serve as a warning to those who persist in harassing us that we will not take this sitting down.”

“We are now asking the Commission on Elections to act with speed on this complaint and they should not, unlike the military, be numb to these violations,” he said.###

Bayan Muna: Foil ‘Oplan RAFAEL’

From no election to failure of election

Bayan Muna: Foil ‘Oplan RAFAEL’

In a picket-protest at the gates of the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ (AFP) Camp Aguinaldo today, Bayan Muna Partylist warned against efforts by certain quarters in the defense department and the AFP to replace "Oplan No-El" (No Elections) with "Oplan RAFAEL" (Retain Arroyo through FAilure of ELections).

“The game plan of election operators within the Department of National Defense and the AFP has already changed from ‘NOEL’ to 'RAFAEL’ ,” Casiño said, noting how DND Sec. Norberto Gonzales himself had been repeatedly hammering at the possibility of poll failure due to defects in the automation system or other cheating mechanisms.

"Rather than a postponement of the elections, the scenario builders and planners including Gonzales are now looking at a failure of elections to ensure Arroyo's stay in power. These are creative and cunning minds who will exploit every opportunity to retain the status quo," he warned.

Casiño reiterated their call for Gonzales to resign or be fired for cooking up such scenarios.

“Sec. Gonzales himself, a staunch Arroyo loyalist, said there’s already fraud and cheating involving the military. That is true in the case of the AFP and its adjuncts actively campaigning against Bayan Muna, Satur Ocampo and Liza Maza. In fact, we are filing a complaint against Gonzales and Gen. Bangit later at the Comelec for election offenses,” Casiño added.

“The people should always be on guard and immediately report any military involvement in partisan electoral activities, which include campaigning for or against a candidate. We already have evidence of a nationwide smear and harassment campaign that military agents are doing against progressive candidates. We fear that the military’s attacks and electoral fraud against us will intensify in the coming days unless the AFP leadership seriously orders and sanctions all those involved in electioneering,” said Casiño.###