News Roundup 15 May 2022
May 15, 2022 • 4 min Read
Robredo, daughters depart for New York to attend Jillian’s graduation | INQUIRER.NET – Vice President Leni Robredo and her daughters have departed for New York, United States to attend the graduation of her youngest child, Jillian. Posted on her Instagram stories Sunday, Robredo shared clips of them on the airplane and during their five-hour layover. Robredo, a presidential candidate, earlier said that she will take a break to spend more family time after the elections were held on May 9. “My daughters and I are leaving for New York today to attend Jillian’s graduation. We will be gone for a few days to just spend time with family and take a well deserved rest before all of us restart the lives we have put on hold,” she posted on social media site Facebook Saturday. Jillian is graduating with a double degree in mathematics and economics at New York University under a full scholarship. The vice president added that their current trip is the first time “as a family with no work to take care of” since her late husband former Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo died in 2012. Robredo apologized as they cannot accept requests for meet-ups, but assured that she will be on top of preparations for the launch of the Angat Buhay NGO (non-government organization). Robredo earlier announced that she will raise the “largest volunteer network” on July 1 or after her term as vice president ends on June 30.
At least P2,000 add’l honoraria eyed for poll workers in precincts with defective VCMs | INQUIRER.NET – The additional honoraria to be received by poll workers in precincts that had defective and malfunctioning vote-counting machines (VCMs) and secure digital (SD) cards will not be lower than P2,000, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said Sunday. Comelec acting spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said that the proposed additional honoraria for the affected poll workers is pending approval in the en banc. The final amount, however, is still subject to the availability of funds, said Laudiangco. “This is not overtime pay as overtime pay is not allowed and hindi rin po ito across the board. Not for all electoral boards, dun lang sa affected ng VCM issues at inabutan sila ng delay on account of that,” Laudiangco said in a press briefing. (This is not overtime pay as overtime pay is not allowed and this is not across the board as well. This is not for all electoral boards, it’s just for those affected by the VCM issues.) “Basing in 2019, I believe the figure then was P2,000… There’s no decision yet as to the 2022 elections,” he added. Laudiangco later told reporters following the press briefing that the final amount for this year’s additional honoraria would at least not be lower than that of 2019. According to the Comelec, there were 915 defective VCMs during the conduct of the elections last May 9. “It would be unjust if we could not, at the very least, give additional honoraria to compensate for their additional na pagod at yung delay na inabot nila,” Laudiangco said. (It would be unjust if we could not, at the very least, give additional honoraria to compensate for their additional effort and the delay they experienced.)
Comelec says it received 400 reports of vote-buying | PHILSTAR.COM – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) had received some 400 complaints of vote-buying with “supporting evidence,” an official said yesterday. At a press briefing, Comelec Commissioner and Task Force Kontra Bigay head Aimee Ferolino noted that the Comelec got these reports as of 10 p.m. of May 13. Since Feb. 9, however, the Comelec’s Law Department had received 73 vote-buying concerns. The poll body did not only receive reports of vote-buying incidents but there were also other issues raised by complainants, according to Ferolino. “Many of the reports were not vote-buying or vote-selling related. There were complaints regarding video clips that went viral and they just tagged us,” she said. She claimed that there were messages sent “just to insult the Commission, to air their complaints against the Commission.” Ferolino maintained that there were incidents of vote-buying, but those reporting them do not want to testify or do not have evidence. “They are afraid to testify or there is no witness or no evidence. Most of the time, they were just sharing their grievances or they want to have someone to talk to … about some of their frustrations against certain candidates,” she said. Meanwhile, the Comelec is studying the conduct of a random technical audit of the vote counting machines (VCMs) and secure digital (SD) cards used in the May 9 elections as part of its investigation on the issues encountered during election day. Acting Comelec spokesman Rex Laudiangco said Commissioner Marlon Casquejo has proposed to conduct the random technical audit of the VCMs and SD cards to allay fears over anomalies in the recently concluded national and local elections.
