Zubiri to PNoy on 'disappointing' polls: I told you so

Amid the problems that marred Monday's conduct of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri said President Benigno Aquino III should have listened to his call to postpone the grassroots polls. "Sana makinig at wag sanang matigas ang ulo ng administrasyong ito para walang sisihan (The administration should listen to suggestions and not be hardheaded so that there will be no finger pointing afterward)," Zubiri said in a text message to reporters on Tuesday. Zubiri had earlier authored Senate Bill No. 60 that sought to move the October 2010 elections to October 2012. The measure, however, was shot down by other lawmakers especially those allied with the administration after Aquino said he wanted the elections to push through. "Ayaw ni [Aquino] na i-postpone kaya ngayon ang daming palpak at galit pa siya, matitigas kasi ang ulo ng mga nag-aadvice sa kanya," he said.

(President Aquino didn't want to postpone the elections, and now that there were so many problems about it he is angry. His advisers were so stubborn.) Grassroots polls in 2,460 of the 42,025 barangays (villages) in the country were postponed Monday, primarily due to the delay in the delivery of election materials and the damage caused by last week’s typhoon Juan in several parts of northern Luzon. Aquino, after voting in Tarlac City, expressed dissatisfaction over the preparations made by the Commission on Elections (Comelec). Comelec chairman Jose Melo, for his part, acknowledged the poll body's shortcomings but maintained that the elections were generally successful. Zubiri, however, said the Aquino administration should have consulted every sector before deciding to commence with the polls to make sure that all the preparations for the barangay and SK elections were in place. - Kimberly Jane Tan/GMANews.TV