NSW voters prefer Aquino-Roxas team

SYDNEY – Filipino overseas absentee voters in New South Wales and French New Caledonia gave the team of Senators Benigno Aquino III and Mar Roxas a landslide victory based on the canvass of votes released by the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney. Benigno Aquino III gathered 372 votes against Gilberto Teodoro’s 87 votes who came in second in the poll [...]

May 10 elections, celebration of democracy: Comelec

MANILA – Senator Benigno Aquino III is set to win the presidential race in the Philippines’ first automated election – with possible landslide margin [...]

*** FLASH: Senator Manny Villar who months ago was the frontrunner in surveys has conceded the fight for the presidency in favour of Aquino and ‘urging the people to work behind him (Aquino).’

Philippine automated polls in world’s eyes

MANILA – Many countries will be observing the country’s first automated elections. The main interest in the May 10 elections is whether the counting system to be used will provide the solution to the country’s problem of massive election cheating [...]

Philippine Comelec rules out election postponement

MANILA – The Philippines Commission on Elections Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal yesterday assured foreign observers and media representatives attending a Comelec briefing that postponing the May 10 general elections is not an option [...]

Philippine Elections 2010

Romy Cayabyab, our publisher, left for Manila last week on a business trip. He is also in Manila to act as a COMELEC-accredited “foreign observer” in the upcoming Philippine elections [...]

Global Filipino Nation condemns Maguindanao murderers

The Global Filipino Nation condemns with a grave sense of guilt the Maguindanao murderers who mercilessly slaughtered innocent lives in the pursuit of evil designs. The use of brazen force numbs the minds of all decent men. We call on the highest authorities to move with dispatch in arresting the masterminds and their minions [...]

Filipino media mourns for Maguindanao journalists

The Sydney-based Filipino Press Group has issued the following statements on the killings two days ago of 34 journalists and others in Maguindanao. The journalists were part of the convoy to cover the filing with the Commission on Elections of the gubernatorial candidacy of Buluan vice mayor Ishmael Mangadadatu [...]

Filipino Australians win in NSW local elections

A number of Filipino-Australians sought elective positions in the Council Elections held last September 13 in cities and towns throughout New South Wales, reports the Philippine Consulate General in Sydney. The election of two Filipino-Australians is confirmed: Jess Diaz in Blacktown City, the bastion of Philippine community in Australia, and Irene Ensomo Broad in the shire of Temora. [...]

Secure the region and we restart negotiations, says President Arroyo

President Arroyo re-affirmed in her statement this week the Philippine Government’s commitment “to bring lasting peace to Mindanao and end 40 years of fighting that has killed more than 120,000 people.”

The Malacañan Palace statement was issued on the occasion of the observance of September being National Peace Consciousness Month.

Displaced and waiting for peace. Photo from Kawagib

President Arroyo also stated her government’s position that the dialogue for peace can restart when the region is secure and “responsible elements in the MILF regain control.”

“We will not negotiate with a gun pointed at our head,” she said.

A peace agreement was signed in September 1996. After 12 years, fighting in the southern Philippines between government troops and Moro Islamic Liberation Front rebels continues.

Meantime, according to field reports by Kawagib Moro Human Rights Organization, there are more than 360,000 evacuees crammed in makeshift evacuation centers in North Cotabato, Lanao del Norte and Basilan. In Maitum, Saranggani alone, there were already 249,194 displaced residents since June 2008.

Naga City Mayor Robredo in Sydney, September 25-28

Naga City Jesse Robredo will be in Sydney on September 25 to 28 to give a lecture at two universities, launch the Synergeia Foundation in New South Wales, and hold a forum with the Bicolano community [...]