Will Danding keep hold on Negros?

by Rappler.com 

 

MANILA, Philippines - Business man Danding Cojuangco's hold on Negros Occidental politics is being challenged.

Negros Occidental is the Philippines’ sugar capital.

It is home to rich hacienderos who export sugar to Europe and the United States.

These hacienderos also control local politics under the leadership of outsider turned kingmaker Danding Cojuangco.

VICE-GOV LIM-AO ALVAREZ:

All politicians here in Negros, he treats us very fairly. He doesn’t ask for any favor. What he wants is for the good of the province. I think everybody likes him.

Elections used to be boring in Negros.

Government positions were decided not so much by the ballot, but in meetings of Danding’s party, the United Negros Alliance or UNA.

But in an unexpected twist of events, Governor Freddie Marañon decides to seek re-election, in defiance of Danding who had already anointed Vice Gov Lim-ao Alvarez as gubernatorial candidate.

VICE-GOV LIM-AO ALVAREZ:

The problem started when governor Maranon changed his mind because he promised that he is not running anymore.

GOV FREDDIE MARAÑON:

Only fools don’t change their mind. 19 mayors persuaded me to run.

UNA breaks apart and for the first time in history, candidates are facing serious opponents.

Allies are fighting former allies. Friends are fighting friends. Negros politics is changed.

The split puts on the line Danding’s clout as political kingmaker of the province-- which fuels his influence in national politics.
Negros Occidental’s 1.6 million voters – the country’s 4th biggest voting province – is a bargaining chip he can offer national politicians.

VICE-GOV LIM-AO ALVAREZ

Even senators, they are even to the point of begging for the endorsement of the Ambassador. When you’re in local politics, here in Negros I think it’s only Ambassador Cojuangco who matters.

Marañon says he has grown his own political network, capable of defeating his former patron’s machinery.

GOV FREDDIE MARAÑON

It’s a big challenge. It’s an uphill battle. But it’s the people that support me – the grassroots, the religious sector, the fisher folks, the farmers. Those that benefitted from my program.

The elections here is more than just a battle between two former allies now at each other’s throats.

It is a test of Danding Cojuangco’s grip on this vote-rich province. Carmela Fonbuena, Rappler, Negros Occidental. - Rappler.com

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Crucial reforms at stake in Monday’s polls

By Karl Malakunas
Agence France-Presse

Election posters of national and local candidates fill a vacant lot along Shaw Boulevard, Mandaluyong City. INQUIRER/RAFFY LERMA

MANILA, Philippines—The Philippines holds elections on Monday seen as crucial to President Benigno Aquino’s efforts to transform society, but with deadly violence, corruption, and nepotism posing familiar threats.
More than 18,000 positions will be contested in the mid-term elections — from the town level up to the nation’s Congress — and Aquino is banking on landslide wins for his allies to cement his reform agenda.
“The President needs to be able to have a strong coalition in both houses of Congress to be able to push through critical measures,” Budget Secretary and ruling Liberal Party powerbroker Florencio Abad told Agence France-Presse.
Since taking office in 2010 following a landslide election win, Aquino has maintained record high popularity ratings while overseeing strong economic growth and efforts to tackle corruption that have won international acclaim.
In the Philippines, presidents can only serve one term of six years, and Aquino has said he is determined to leave a permanent legacy that will ensure the Philippines is no longer the “sick man of Asia”.
One key plank is ending a decades-long Muslim rebellion in the south of the country that has claimed an estimated 150,000 lives and stifled economic growth.
Aquino is close to signing a peace deal with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the main rebel group, but he will then need Congress to endorse the pact.
All the seats in the lower house and half in the Senate are being contested in the mid-term elections.
The Philippines has a plethora of parties, and politicians frequently shift allegiances, so controlling Congress is extremely difficult.
But Aquino secured support for key reform initiatives in his first three years in office, and he is confident that big victories in both chambers on Monday will ensure an even more productive second half of his term.
Abad said other initiatives that Aquino was eyeing over the next three years included expanding the tax base to pay for a better social safety net, and reform of the mining sector so that big firms pay higher taxes.
However, deep-rooted problems that have plagued the Philippines for decades are expected to again impact Monday’s election, and continue to haunt the political landscape long after Aquino has left office.
The Philippines is infamous for a brutal brand of democracy where politicians — particularly at the local and provincial levels — are willing to bribe, intimidate or kill to ensure they win.
More than 50 people have already been killed in election-related violence, including candidates and their aides. Philippine military and police will be on high alert Monday in a bid to stamp out any last-minute attacks.
Efforts by the Commission on Elections to curb violence and vote-buying turned into farce in the final days of campaigning, when the Supreme Court blocked the commission from enforcing controversial bans on selling alcohol and carrying large amounts of money.
Activists have warned that political dynasties which dominate politics in the Philippines, including the Aquino clan, are set to strengthen their chokehold on the country.
The Philippines is ruled by remarkably few families — with roughly 70 percent of the members of current Congress belonging to a dynasty — and polls are showing the elite are set to become even more dominant.
A host of colorful names are contesting the elections, including boxing superstar Manny Pacquiao, who is seeking a second term as a member of the lower house.
Pacquiao, a former street kid but now one of the country’s richest men, is looking to create his own dynasty.
His wife, Jinkee, is running to become vice governor of a southern province despite having no political experience, while one of his brothers is also running for Congress.
Imelda Marcos, wife of dead dictator Ferdinand, is almost certain to win a second term in the lower house at the age of 83 representing a northern province where her family enjoys dynastic rule.
Her daughter is running unopposed for provincial governor

Philippines probes shooting death of Taiwanese

By Tarra Quismundo
Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—Facing yet another flashpoint over disputes in the West Philippine Sea, the country’s top diplomat said Saturday that the Philippine maritime agencies have initiated an investigation into the “unfortunate” shooting of a Taiwanese fisherman off Batanes, maintaining that the incident occurred during lawful operations within territorial waters.

Foreign Secretary Albert del Rosario said Saturday that the Philippine Coast Guard and the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources are already looking into the incident Thursday, when PCG officers fired at a Taiwanese fishing boat in an apparent effort to defend themselves.

Taiwanese Hung Shih-chen, 65, was killed in the incident, raising a howl in Taiwan and strong demands for an investigation, apology and compensation.

In a statement on Saturday, Del Rosario said results of the investigation will soon be released. Notably, he referred to the shooting as an “unfortunate” incident that ensued amid legitimate anti-poaching operations of Philippine maritime agencies.

“The PCG and BFAR are now investigating the incident which resulted in the unfortunate loss of life of a Taiwanese fisherman during the routine lawful enforcement activities against poaching in Philippine waters,” said Del Rosario in a brief statement sent via text message.

“The result of the investigation will be made available in due course,” he added.

Asked whether Manila has already reached out to Taipei over the incident, Del Rosario said the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) “is in communication with the government of Taiwan.” MECO is the Philippines’ representative office in Taiwan.

The PCG had said its personnel only acted in self-defense in shooting at Taiwanese fishing vessel Kuang Ta Hsing No. 28, which at the time was sailing some 80 kilometers off the Balintang Channel near Batanes.

The vessel, then carrying three Taiwanese and one Indonesian as crew, allegedly tried to ram the Philippine patrol boat.

The Taiwanese side meanwhile alleged that the ship “came under attack” and that Philippine officers opened fire without any warning.

The incident happened amid still unresolved disputes in the West Philippine Sea (South China Sea), potentially resource-rich waters contested by the Philippines, Taiwan, China, Vietnam, Brunei and Malaysia.

Now the subject of a Philippine plea before the United Nations arbitral tribunal, China was quick to criticize the incident, calling it a “barbaric” act.

China recently sent a 30-vessel fishing fleet into the West Philippine Sea, a move seen to assert its claims over almost all of the West Philippine Sea amid the Philippines’ move to halt its string of incursions into established maritime boundaries.