APRIL 27, 1998

With just two weeks left before the May 11 elections, a large group of "born-again" Christians held last night at the Rizal Park a mammoth "victory rally" for Speaker Jose de Venecia, standard-bearer of the Lakas-NUCD. President ramos, who graced the affair, vigorously endorsed De Venecia’s candidacy, saying of the 11 presidentiables in the May 11 elections, only De Venecia "can bring back God" to Philippine politics in the same way his fellow Christian democrats in the Lakas-NUCD did in 1992. The President urged the born-again devotees belonging to the Jesus Is Lord Movement (JIL) headed by Bro. Eddie Villanueva, to fully support his chosen successor. (TPS)

Not to be outdone by the endorsement by the Jesus is Lord (JIL) movement for Lakas-NUCD standard-bearer Jose de Venecia, the Catholic laity yesterday came out in support of former Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim based on the guidelines earlier set by Manila Archbishop Jaime Cardinal Sin. Catholic lay leaders deemed Lim as the closest to Sin’s guidelines in a "discernment session" sponsored by the Catholic Laity of the Philippines (CLP). The CLP invited 50 lay leaders and asked them to rate each candidate. Those invited were lay leaders representing sectors "most competent" to speak on the issues raised by Sin in recent pastoral letter. (TODAY)

The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections not only vowed to keep watch over illegal voters, but also to identify them as well. Armed with the computerized voters’ list lent by the the Commission on Elections, Namfrel said it has come up with a watchlist containing the names of suspected and expected flying voters, to be used in identifying flying voters, and their entry into polling places. "We’ll advise the [Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting] pollwatchers on the names of flying voters so they could be charged and face six years of imprisonment," Namfrel Metro Manila chapter chairman Damaso Magbual said. (TODAY)

Vice President Joseph Estrada is insulting the intelligence of the voters and does not deserve to lead the country for predicting a bloody report if there is massive cheating in the elections, President Ramos said yesterday. The President said that no person deserves "the mantle of leadership if the first message that he gives in relation to the elections is dissension, division, disunity and dissidence." (TPS)

ABB TIES COMELEC TO ‘POLL FRAUD PLAN’

The urban hit squad Alex Boncayao Brigade yesterday revealed that document seized by its operatives from Lakas lawyer Dante Marcelo confirmed persistent reports that a systematic poll fraud was being carried out in connivance with "corrupt" elements of the Commission on Elections. In a clandestine press conference, Julian Aguma, spokesman of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-ABB said that Marcelo’s diary revealed that his "client politicians" included candidates from the administration and the opposition. Marcelo has been tagged by the RPA-ABB as a "backroom operator" who has contacts within the Comelec, particularly the members of the provincial board of canvassers, and is known to deliver an electoral victory for a client willing to pay the price. Marcelo has earlier been blamed by Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago as one of those responsible for her alleged fraudulent loss to President Ramos in the 1992 presidential elections. (PDI)

Northern and Central Mindanao remain the most problematic regions for the Commission on Elections toward the May 11 elections, situation reports of the poll body show. The reports covering the whole country except Bicol, Eastern Visayas and Western Mindanao, show that most of the 222 towns identified by authorities as potential centers of violence are in Northern and Central Mindanao. The two regions have always experience violence during election time. The reports showed Central Mindanao with the highest number of towns being tightly monitored for potential violence. Fifty barangay spread in five provinces in the region have been identified as areas of concern because of the intense rivalry among politicians there. (TMT)