Philippines: Bedol merely invented stolen-COCs tale, says opposition

MANILA — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino ?Nene? Q. Pimentel,
Jr. (PDP-Laban) said the Genuine Opposition is not
buying the claim of Maguindanao provincial election
supervisor Lintang Bedol that he could not produce the
municipal certificates of canvass (COCs), statements
of votes (SOVs) and other documents on the results of
the May 14 polls in the province because they were
stolen from his office.
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Philippines: Police, not troops, should keep peace in Manila barangays

MANILA — Senate Minority Leader Aquilino ?Nene? Q. Pimentel,
Jr. (PDP-Laban) today urged the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) to scrap its plan to redeploy
soldiers to depressed barangays in Metro Manila now
that the mid-term elections are over.
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Philippines president vows ‘people before politics’ governance

MANILA — In what could be her shortest Independence Day speech ever, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo vowed today to pursue her people-before-politics policy of governance and keep the country firmly on the path of economic reform and fiscal discipline.

In her 511-word speech heavily laced with prayer for peace and national unity, the President ? dressed in a pretty cream barong pants ensemble ? said her people-first administration policy would focus on a strategy that is “pro-growth, pro-trade (and) pro-investment.”
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Philippines: Koko hits ‘squid tactics’ of fired Cotabato poll exec

MANILA — Genuine Opposition senatorial candidate Aquilino ?Koko? Pimentel III today accused dismissed South Cotabato election supervisor Lilian Radam of resorting to squid tactics by claiming that he tried to bribe her in connection with the senatorial vote count in the province.
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