News Roundup 19 May 2022
May 19, 2022 • 4 min Read
Supermajority, family ties shape new Senate | INQUIRER.NET – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Wednesday proclaimed the 12 winners in the senatorial race, including four reelectionists, three first-timers, and five former senators. With only one reelectionist senator and another still keeping his seat in the chamber, who both are not backed by either outgoing President Rodrigo Duterte or the incoming presumptive President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., the Senate will have a formidable bloc that the country’s new leaders can rely upon for their legislative program. Also, for the first time in Philippine Senate history, there will be three sets of family members serving together as senators — two siblings, two half-brothers, and a mother and her son. The new senators ranked according to the number of votes they received are former action star Robin Padilla, Antique Rep. and former Sen. Loren Legarda, broadcaster Raffy Tulfo, reelected Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian, Sorsogon Gov. and former Sen. Francis Escudero, former Public Works Secretary Mark Villar, Taguig Rep. and former Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano, reelected Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri, reelected Sen. Joel Villanueva, former Sen. JV Ejercito, reelected Sen. Risa Hontiveros and former Sen. Jinggoy Estrada. Of the winners, Padilla, Tulfo, Cayetano, and Ejercito got the support of the President while Marcos supported Estrada and Escudero, who was also a guest candidate of the opposition led by Vice President Leni Robredo. The candidates who were supported by both Mr. Duterte and Marcos were Legarda, Gatchalian, Villar, Zubiri, and Villanueva. All of them can expect solidarity from most of the 12 pro-Duterte senators who were elected in the 2019 midterm elections, including Marcos’ elder sister, Sen. Imee Marcos.
SC orders comment on civic leaders’ petition on Marcos’ DQ case | INQUIRER.NET – The Supreme Court on Thursday has ordered the Commission on Elections (Comelec), two chambers of Congress, and presumptive president Ferdinand “Bong” Marcos Jr. to comment on a petition seeking a reversal of the poll body’s ruling that affirmed Marcos’ certificate of candidacy. In a briefer released by the SC’s Public Information Office, the high court likewise ordered the respondents to submit their comments within 15 days. “Considering the allegations contained, the issues raised and the arguments adduced in the Petition, without necessarily giving due course thereto, it is necessary and proper to require the respondents to comment on the petition and prayer for a temporary restraining order,” read the SC-PIO’s briefer that quoted an en banc (full court) resolution dated May 19, 2022. The petitioners who are civic leaders are appealing the January 2022 Comelec 2nd Division and its May decision denying their petition to cancel Marcos Jr.’s COC. The SC’s resolution pertains only to the first petition. No action yet on similar petition filed by Martial Law survivors.
Filipinos in North America express ‘extreme disappointment’ after Biden congratulated Marcos Jr. | PHILSTAR.COM – Filipinos based in North America have expressed “extreme disappointment” after US President Joe Biden congratulated presumptive president-elect Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. as it legitimizes what they called the questionable results of the elections. Over a hundred individuals and groups are rejecting the results of the recently concluded May 9 polls because of the various problems that surfaced on election day. Among the signatories are members of US Filipinos for Good Governance, GABRIELA, Migrante USA chapters, US university student groups as well as Leni-Kiko volunteers. “We believe that this is premature and is preemptive of the ongoing verification of election results,” their manifesto reads. Partial and unofficial results show Marcos Jr. leading with over 31 million votes, while opposition leader and Vice President Leni Robredo trails with only 14 million votes. But this has been clouded by doubts after broken vote counting machines, reports of vote buying, and registered overseas Filipino voters complained of delayed and damaged ballots. The group is calling on the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, Legal Network for Truthful Elections, and the National Movement for Free Elections to manually encode and canvass ballots individually to “produce authentic results.” “We can’t bow down to questionable electoral results, much less dance with dictators and criminals like [Marcos Jr.] whose father, on the record, plundered billions and killed thousands of innocent lives,” the group said. Marcos Jr.’s presidential campaign has been hounded by questions on his family’s ill-gotten wealth. The Bureau of Internal Revenue no less confirmed that the Marcos family also has yet to settle a P203.8-billion estate tax debt.
