Is change coming to US-Philippine relations under Aquino?

US Ambassador to the Philippines Harry K. Thomas Jr. immediately congratulated President-elect Benigno Simeon “Noynoy” C. Aquino Jr. and Vice President-elect Jejomar “Jojo” C. Binay  upon their proclamation today by a joint session of Congress.

The US is known to maintain economic, political, military and diplomatic interests in the Philippines, a former US colony.

Congratulating Aquino and Binay on their election victories, Thomas affirmed — in a statement released shortly after the proclamation ceremonies — what he described as “a long and deep relationship with the Philippines, a treaty ally whose soldiers have fought alongside ours in World War II and subsequent conflicts.”

“We look forward to working with the new Philippine government to deepen the unwavering friendship and partnership between our two nations, and to advance our common goals for the benefit of the Southeast Asia region and the world,” said Thomas, who recently assumed the post as top US diplomat in the Philippines.

Thomas earlier led the procession of foreign ambassadors who have congratulated Aquino ahead of the congressional canvass and proclamation.

Thomas also said that the US and the Philippines “share common values and common goals designed to make our world more secure and more prosperous”.

“We cooperate closely on regional security, counterterrorism, and in combating transnational crime, including the scourge of trafficking in persons. Our two governments work together to open markets, protect intellectual property rights, fight corruption, and encourage economic growth and development,” he added.

An undetermined number of US soldiers are currently stationed in parts of Mindanao where they are officially providing assistance to Philippine counterparts in operations against local bandits with purported links to Al Qaeda.

In his three-year stint in the Senate, Aquino were among the senators who have voiced support to calls for the review of the Visiting Forces Agreement which govern the entry and conduct of US military presence in the Philippines.

The US Congress, through committtees and senior members of both the US Senate and the US House of Representatives, has deplored human rights violations that marked the regime of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.

The US Congress has attached human rights preconditions to ertain portions of US military aid to the Philippines, including a stop to and investigation of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances documented by national and international organizations and by the United Nations special rapporteur on political killings.

FYI: Voting extended to 7:00 pm, and May 11 not a holiday.

2:40 pm: Voting in Precinct No. 5564 at Bgy. Teachers Village East in Quezon City has been suspended due to overheated PCOS machine.

TIP: Send reports via email to report@juanvote.com

1:53 pm: Butuan City, Caraga: Cluster 42, PCOS machine stopped taking in ballots. BEIs temporarily stopped voting.

1:21 pm: Less than two hours before Overseas Absentee Voting ends in about a hundred Philippine embassies and consulates worldwide.

12:58 pm: After reported crashes, the official Commission on Elections website crawls back to life.

12:28 pm: Slow pace of voting being reported in many areas.

12:04 pm: A woman who died nine years ago is still in the List of Voters. Her name entry now bears a different photo and thumbmark! – Tandang Sora High School, Quezon City

12:00 noon: Robinsons Midtown mall in Ermita, Manila opens two hours later than usual, to giv employees time to vote.

11:30 pm: The PCOS machine assigned to the precinct where Liberal Party standard-bearer Noynoy Aquino is registered malfunctioned.

9:05 am: Illegal campaigning by candidates’ supporters noted in voting centers in several places nationwide.

TIP: Use hashtags #juanvote and #purplethumb when Tweeting about today’s elections.

8:47 am: Chaotic atmosphere at Pasolo Elementary School, cluster 107 and 108. Poor ventilation. No problems with PCOS machine though, says Peter of Creative Voices/#juanvote.

Tip: Send a photo to #juanvote via photos@juanvote.com. Attach photo and put both the caption and #juanvote on email subject line.

8:38 am: One PCOS machine at Xavier School, San Juan, was malfunctioning, according to Monchito Nocon of 100ARAW.com and #juanvote.

7:35 am: GNN Channel 21 of Destiny Cable starts livestream on the #juanvote website.

7:30 am: Six precincts at Coral na Bato Elementary School, San Rafael, Bulacan, cramped in one small room, under one cluster.

7:00 am: Voting got underway across the Philippines with bloggers and other netizens belonging to #juanvote reporting late start of voting in some clustered precincts.

Netizens to act on May 10

The country’s internet users have come together to form a network to keep a close watch on the May 10, 2010 elections.

Calling themselves #juanvote, the network challenges on citizens to use hi-tech means to expose and hopefully thwart electoral fraud and
violence.

The #juanvote also aims to document the country’s first nationwide
automated elections.

Citizen reports may be sent to or read at:

• Web/Livestream: http://juanvote.com
• Twitter: Follow @juanvote or use hashtag #juanvote
• Facebook: Search for #juanvote
• Email: report@juanvote.com
• Text: 09274004190/09995178201/09223913567
• Cable TV: Destiny Cable GNN Channel
• Radio: Via Code Radio (NU107/Magic 89.9/U92.3/Jam88.3)

The network holds its “Miting de Avance” on May 8, 3:00-6:00 pm at
Krispy Kreme Ayala Avenue, Makati City. During the event, it will
release a “Netizens Guide to Free and Honest Elections”.

The #juanvote network is spearheaded by the groups 100ARAW.com and
Blogwatch.ph, whose members were granted media accreditation by the
Commission on Elections – the first independent citizen journalists
and bloggers to be granted such a privilege.

Arguably the Philippines’ first internet-based citizens’ election
coverage network, #juanvote currently includes the following:

• Bloggers’ organizations 100ARAW.com, Blogwatch.ph, Cebu Bloggers
  Society, Mindanao Bloggers Community, GameOPS, Tech Tanod, Election Bloggers and  Reklamotion.
• Online media groups: Philippine Online Chronicles
• Technology enthusiasts: Vote Report Philippines and TXTPower
• Poll watchdog: Workers Electoral Watch
• Multimedia groups: RockEd Philippines, Code Radio (a group of FM
  radio DJs) and Kodao Productions

Individuals and groups interested in watching and monitoring the May 10 elections are gathered today at the University of the Philippines’ University Hotel for the National Conference on Citizen Election Monitoring.

Spearheaded by the Computer Professionals Union and a host of partner-organizations, the conference aims “to update the ICT sector with the current situation of the 2010 automated elections, showcase the different ICT initiatives being conducted to monitor the elections, and express solidarity with the rest of the ICT sector to help uphold the integrity of this democratic exercise in a concerted effort”.

Present at the conference are representatives from Center for People Empowerment and Governance (CenPEG), AES Watch, Kontra Daya, Google, Workers Election Watch, Blogwatch.ph and 100ARAW.com.

Participants are to sign a pledge for a fraud-free polls at the end of the conference.

Watch the livestream now:

Live TV by Ustream

The Palacio del Gobernador in Intramuros houses the national offices of the Comelec. Photo grabbed from |d|e|x|'s Flickr photostream.

Independent poll watchdog Kontra Daya has called on citizens to join a “Jericho March” on April 22 that will go to and around the Commission on Elections office in Intramuros, Manila.

Activist priest Fr. Joe Dizon, a convenor of Kontra Daya, said that the “Jericho March” spearheaded by religious groups will denounce “a grand design to make the elections fail.”

“The ‘Jericho March’ will be an expression of the kind of vigilance that we are urging the people to exercise, especially when worst-case scenarios like a failure of elections takes place,” said Fr. Dizon

“It will be a practice run for actions that we may have to stage after the elections,” he added.

Kontra Daya has urged the public to remain vigilant against any attempt to cause a failure of the elections and subsequently the perpetuation of the Arroyo regime in power.

Labor leaders of Mindanao to watch for poll fraud.

Workers and trade unionists in southern Mindanao are set to launch their own poll watch project on April 17, 10:00 am at Paterno’s Restaurant, Aurora Quezon City, Davao City.

WE Watch (Workers Electoral Watch) is a project spearheaded by the Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research (EILER) with support from the European Union. It was launched in Manila in February.

About 30 labor leaders are expected to grace the WE Watch launch in Davao City.

WE Watch aims to provide workers with basic knowledge about the Automated Election System (AES) and to train them to join an SMS-based mechanism for monitoring electoral fraud.

The island of Mindanao. Photo grabbed from the South Seas Mall website.

Even as the leading candidates trade barbs on a personal level, other candidates are trying to raise the level of political debate.

One of them, Bangon Pilipinas presidential candidate Bro. Eddie Villanueva, showed political daring by signing a covenant with Muslim leaders in Mindanao where he expressed support for federalism as “a final and permanent solution” to the armed conflict in Southern Philippines.

Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) spokesperson Eid Kabalu was reported to be a witness at the signing of Villanueva’s covenant on Mindanao.

Among others, Villanueva’s covenant pledged to:

call for a Constitutional Convention to submit, propose and support the adoption of the federal form of government as a final and permanent solution to the pursuit of peace and progress in Mindanao

Villanueva also said that he will pursue the autonomy of the region “giving its right to self-determination within the framework of the Constitution.”

What do you think? Is federalism a viable solution to Mindanao’s challenges and problems? Are presidential candidates giving attention to issues important to you?

Students from all campuses of the University of the Philippines will hold mock polls dubbed Botong Isko 2010 from March 18 to 23.

Powered by the open-source Halalan voting system, the mock polls will enable participating UP students to cast their votes for president, vice-president, senators, and partylist representatives of their choice.

The official results will be released on March 24 at 12:00 noon.

The mock polls  is spearheaded by the UP Linux Users’ Group (UnPLUG) together with Kasama sa UP, Solidaridad, Student Alliance for the Advancement of Democratic Rights in UP (STAND-UP), League of College Councils, National Union of Students of the Philippines (NUSP) and scores of other organizations.

The goal of the project is to unite students and the UP System for a clean, transparent, and honest elections. It will also help determine the candidates highly-favored by the Iskolar ng Bayan in the run-up to the May 10 elections.

The mock polls will involve UP System campuses in Baguio, Manila, Los Baños, Diliman, Miag-ao, Iloilo, Cebu, Tacloban, and Mindanao.

UnPLUG’s open-source Halalan voting system was used in two consecutive student council elections in UP Diliman.

Read more at the Botong Isko 2010 website.

The forum will assess the conduct of the campaign, take a look at the current national condition, and size up the presidential candidates based on the People’s Criteria.

Everyone’s invited. Here are the full details:

Taking off from purple-colored thumbmarks that signify our participation in the electoral process, Yahoo! Philippines today formally launches in Makati City its Purple Thumb microsite for the 2010 elections.

Through Purple Thumb, voters can “join real-time election conversation, discover more about the presidential candidates, and share images on Meme“.

Speakers at the forum include: Alan Soon, Yahoo! Southeast Asia managing editor; Joey Alarilla, Yahoo! Southeast Asia social media editor; Erwin Oliva, Yahoo! Southeast Asia Philippine country editor; journalists Ellen Tordesillas, Luz Rimban, Howie Severino, Arlene Burgos and Katrina Sandejas Manosa; columnist/TV host/blogger Manolo Quezon; Janette Toral of DigitalFilipino.com; Comelec spokesperson and blogger James Jimenez; Margaux Salcedo, spokesperson of former President Estrada; Kabataan Partylist Rep. and blogger Mong Palatino; Gang Badoy of RockEd; and Noemi Dado of Blogwatch.ph.

“We believe that social media serves as an important platform in the coming elections. With help of our content partners, the Purple Thumb website will bring Filipino people the most comprehensive election news as it happens,” said Jack Madrid, Yahoo! Philippines country general manager.

In his opening remarks, Madrid said the Philippines can look at US President Barack Obama’s social media campaign to find out how to leverage the new tools for the elections and beyond.

“Social media makes us inclusive, not exclusive. If we use social media, we can level the playing field. But we must know our responsibilities,” said Madrid.

The Philippines is a bastion of Yahoo! in Southeast Asia, with many of its services the preferred by many Filipino netizens over others.