Friday, June 22, 2007 (Philippines)

Isolde D. Amante, managing editor [news], receives for Sun.Star Cebu the trophy of Regional Newspaper of the Year (2006) from Rotary Club of Manila president Francis E. Juico. In 1992 and 2004, Sun.Star Cebu also won the national journalism competition. The award, given yesterday at Tower Club, Philamlife in Makati, for Sun.Star Cebu’s work last year has made it the first regional newspaper to win the title three times in three years.(Sun.star photo) MANILA - To speed things up, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) merged yesterday three cases filed in the long-delayed canvassing of congressional election returns from Bogo and declared the case submitted for resolution. But with only nine days until the new term starts, the Comelec will have to decide soon whether to order the canvassing of 15 election returns (ERs) sent to Manila for authentication—or to summon the other copies of these ERs. The question of which ERs to use was one of the points debated on for nearly an hour yesterday morning by lawyers for congressional aspirants Celestino Martinez III and Benhur Salimbangon at the Comelec session hall in Intramuros. Pinoy Votes: Sun.Star Election 2007 Coverage [full story]