Philippine Opposition Alarmed Over Power Cuts in Ballot CountingThe Philippine opposition coalition expressed alarm Tuesday that the simultaneous power outages that occurred in prominent opposition bailiwick hours after the counting of ballots started could be part of the administration's plan to commit massive fraud in this year's mid-term elections.Jesus Remulla, spokesman of the opposition Philippine Democratic Struggle-Strength of the Masses (PDS-SM) coalition, said that despite the government's well publicized creation of an "anti blackout task force" last week to ensure smooth conduct of elections, several power outages marked the start of the ballot counting in several towns and cities, mostly in areas where the opposition is expected to win. He stressed that the simultaneous brownouts in these opposition bailiwicks could be part of the administration futile attempt to thwart the people's will and reverse the PDS-SM confident projection of securing eight to nine senatorial seats in this year 's polls. Among the said power-cut ballot-counting spots were Pinaglabanan elementary school in San Juan city, Metro Manila, which is the hometown of jailed former President Joseph Estrada. "It is of course, of no surprise to us that up to now, no one from the administration has even bothered to conduct an investigation in these blackouts, with its officials even dismissing them as isolated cases," Remulla added. |
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