The two-member minority bloc in the Senate will push for an investigation of the Grand Lotto 6/55 draw on Saturday night wherein a record 433 bettors won the PHP236-million jackpot prize for.
“I will file a resolution, because this is my concern. These lotto games are authorized by the Republic of the Philippines. Therefore, we need to maintain and protect the integrity of these gambling games that we have authorized,” Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel III said in a radio interview on Sunday.
“Para sa akin, bihira na nga ang may two winners (For me, having two winners is already rare),” Pimentel added.
Fellow opposition Senator Risa Hontiveros backed the suggestion to probe the draw.
“We just want to rule out any doubts in the public mind that the results have been manipulated. While we recognize that people tend to bet in patterns, we also want to make sure the system is secure, free from glitches, and trustworthy,” she said in a statement. (PNA)
Davao del Norte 1st District Rep. Pantaleon Alvarez is running as an independent candidate in the 2019 mid-term election for lack of a valid Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance (CONA) from the Partido ng Demokratiko Pilipino/Lakas ng Bayan (PDP/Laban).
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has said that candidates without a CONA from an accredited political party when they submitted their Certificate of Candidacy (COC), will be listed as “independent candidates” by the poll body.
Alvarez’s party mate, contractor Edwin Jubahib who is running for Davao del Norte governor, and other candidates under the Alvarez Wing will likewise be considered as “independent candidates.”
The Alvarez Wing is a personal political bloc organized by Alvarez, former Speaker of the House of Representatives who was ousted in a coup in July that installed former President now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.
Alvarez is seeking reelection in the local elections in May next year.
Alvarez was the secretary general of PDP/Laban but was “ousted” and replaced during a general assembly organized by a bloc inside the party days after he was kicked out of the speakership on July 23.
Alvarez led his line-up in the Alvarez Wing in filing in Tagum City their COCs on October 17 as candidates of the PDP/Laban.
The CONAs of Alvarez had his candidates under the Alvarez Wing carried the signature of Compostela Valley Board Member Peter Ruel Gonzaga as the PDP/Laban Davao Region chairman.
But Cesar Cuntapay, PDP/Laban vice chairman for Mindanao said, their CONAs were invalid.
In a phone interview with Topnewsnow on November 1, Cuntapay said Gonzaga who was appointed by Alvarez, lost that position when Alvarez was ousted as secretary general during a general assembly of the PDP/Laban.
Cuntapay said he should be the signatory to the CONAs of PDP/Laban, being now also the PDP/Laban Davao Region Council chairman.
He said his name, not Gonzaga’s, appears as PDP/Laban signatory to the CONAs for Davao Region in the list of authorized signatories submitted by PDP/Laban central committee to the Comelec.
Alvarez’s CONA signed by Gonzaga is a “forgery and falsified public documents,” Cuntapay told Topnewsnow.
He intimated that the COCs of Alvarez and his group, with PDP/laban listed as their national party, were initially refused acceptance by the Davao del Norte Comelec because their CONAs were signed by Gonzaga who was not authorized by PDP/Laban in its submission to the Comelec.
Even as their COCs were accepted by the Comelec, they will be considered as independent candidates and not PDP/Laban candidates because they were not issued CONAs signed by an authorized officer of the PDP/Laban, said Cuntapay, citing the Comelec rule on accepting CoC and CONA.
Cuntapay, who is running for mayor in Davao del Norte’s capital city of Tagum, will carry the banner of the PDP/Laban in next year’s polls being the chairman of the Davao Region council.
Alvarez, along with PDP/Laban president Senator Koko Pimentel were among officials of the party of President Rodrigo Duterte, who were booted out of their positions during the PDP/Laban 11th National Assembly held on July 27, 2018 at the Amoranto Stadium in Quezon City.
Duterte remained as the party’s national chairman, while then Special Assistant to the President (SAP) Bong Go retained his position as national auditor.
Rogelio Garcia, PDP-Laban national council chair, was elected as national council president, to replace Pimentel.
Willy Talag, president of PDP-Laban Makati City council and chair of the membership committee of the National Capital Region chapter, was elected to take over the position of Alvarez.
The assembly, organized by a bloc inside PDP/Laban led by Garcia, was attended by members from party councils from various provinces in Mindanao; Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite, and other parts of Metro Manila.
Pimentel has refused to recognize the new set officers.
Duterte has told the warring groups to “go their separates ways” after a failed attempt to reconcile the Pimentel and Garcia groups.
In next year’s political battle, Alvarez and his Alvarez Wing will be up against the formidable and politically-entrenched group of Governor Anthony del Rosario and 2nd District Antonio Floirendo Jr. under the banner of the Hugpong Ng Pagbabago (HNP), a regional political party organized by presidential daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
Gov. del Rosario will challenge the reelection of Alvarez while Floirendo will defend his position against Vice Governor Alan Dujali of the Alvarez Wing.
HNP will have Board Member Rodney del Rosario vs. the neophyte Jubahib of the Alvarez Wing in the gubernatorial race.
Mayor Duterte-Carpio was expected to play key role in the Davao del Norte electoral battle as she had vowed to personally campaign against the reelection of Alvarez.
This after the then sitting House Speaker in early July this year, reportedly called HNP as an “opposition party” without the blessing of President Duterte.
Badly hurt, the presidential daughter called Alvarez an “asshole,” and a “liability to the Duterte administration.”
She also called on congressmen to oust Alvarez as Speaker.
Mayor Duterte-Carpio is said to have flexed political muscle by marshalling support of congressmen in the ouster of Alvarez.
After being accused of allowing entry of narco-politicians and causing division in the party, the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban), has declared House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez as ‘persona non grata.’
The PDP-Laban has issued a resolution declaring Speaker Alvarez as ‘persona non grata’ for acts inimical to the party, according to Rogelio Garcia, former labor undersecretary and party chairman for Region 12, and Cesar Cuntapay, interim president of Southern Mindanao regional council.
The statements of Garcia and Cuntapay were quoted in media reports following complaints of PDP-Laban leaders that Alvarez is conducting an unauthorized nationwide reorganization of the PDP-Laban and recruitment of new members.
Alvarez, secretary general of the PDP-Laban, is touring the country in a recruitment binge for the administration party.
Accordingly, the massive recruitment of new party members by Alvarez has opened the floodgates for entry of narco-politicians.
Alvarez was also accused of creating division in the party’s regional level by replacing old party members with new recruits.
The accusation against Alvarez is doubly serious, and insulting to President Duterte, in that the administration has an ongoing campaign against illegal drugs.
President Duterte has vowed to eradicate the illegal drugs trade that involves police, military and government officials.
Raising fear that the entry of narco-politicians into the administration party could undermine the President’s war on drugs, PDP-Laban regional leaders earlier said they were planning to raise their complaints against Alvarez to President Duterte.
Benito Ranque, PDP-Laban deputy secretary general, said the party is monitoring reports that a number of narco-politicians were able to join the PDP-Laban through Alvarez’s recruitment.
The PDP-Laban will not be a “sanctuary” for narco-politicians, said Ranque, who vowed to continue to oppose Alvarez’s ongoing recruitment.
Some politicians want to become PDP-Laban members thinking they can get away from their misdeeds. But the party will not become their sanctuary, he said.
Speaking out against the Speaker, Cesar Cuntapay, PDP-Laban coordinating council chairman in Mindanao, also opposed the ongoing party reorganization conducted by Alvarez.
Cuntapay said Alvarez is creating instability in the party through his unauthorized recruitment of members and replacing old party members with new recruits.
According to Cuntapay, the reorganization that includes massive recruitment, was not consulted with the national leadership and violated PDP-Laban protocols.
Cuntapay said Alvarez swore in the new members without them going through a basic membership seminar, which is mandated by the PDP-Laban constitution and bylaws.
Cuntapay said PDP-Laban regional leaders would bring up the issues against Alvarez to President Duterte.
After being accused of allowing entry of narco-politicians and causing division in the party, the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Laban (PDP-Laban), has declared House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez as ‘persona non grata.’
DURIAN POST BUSINESS & NEWS DIRECTORY 