05/14/2010
Firstly, the nation’s salute to President Joseph Estrada for entering the political fray to reclaim the country’s political leadership. For Estrada, this sacrifice was his way saying that shirking from his duty and obligation to the nation — especially its impoverished millions — was not an option.
As the poor continue to seek a leadership that will deliver them from the deepening quagmire of poverty, hunger, and hopelessness, one text message I got after the elections, which I now translate to English, succinctly expresses what I believe is their sentiment: “Ka Ments, please tell President Erap that we the poor know that he made the sacrifice and exhausted his resources for us. For me only Marcos, FPJ, Erap are sincere. The rich people don’t want sincere leaders who would not do their bidding. Tnx. — EMY”
Secondly, the Ang Kapatiran statement issued by presidential candidate JC de los Reyes summarizes the doubtful state of the recently-concluded polls: “Inasmuch as I need to honor my word as I conceded the elections for goodwill, we have factual data on hand which unfolded after my having conceded… that indicates conclusive irregularities in the numbers. If I do not speak against these new findings, then my party’s integrity as well as my own will be at risk. Therefore I withdraw my previous statement of conceding the elections. We are putting a formal paper together which shall explain this in detail at the soonest possible time.”
This is in stark contrast to the haughty boasts of the Comelec and the automated election system (AES)’s legislative proponents, Teddy Locsin, Dick Gordon, Chiz Escudero, et al.
Thus, the greatest challenge to President Estrada today is to hold off conceding even beyond the conclusion of the congressional canvass and proclamation (that is, if there is one).
By the insidious and almost unfathomable nature of electronic or computer programs and viruses, any fraud in the just-transpired automated election will take time to surface. Let us be very clear: The ruling powers — higher and more malicious than Gloria Arroyo, and the very ones who are now attempting to foist the “new Aquino” (or the “new Aquinorroyo”) — have gone to even greater lengths to install their new desired puppet.
The rush of the Comelec to declare “euphoria” over the conduct of the polls and over certain bets’ concession speeches; plus the Inquirer’s “Polls stun the nation” and the Philippine Star’s “Automation critics happy to be wrong” by-lines, despite the absence of any credible validation mechanisms, are all suspect for being indecently too hasty.
It is important to remind everyone that even in Europe and the US, electronic or automated voting is already under severe scrutiny and criticism. In the case of Germany, its Supreme Court has already ruled as unconstitutional such a system that disallows physical viewing and tracking. My Tuesday 8 p.m. Global News Network program has several videos from the US of the computerized voting’s flaws, plus the citizens who oppose it.
There are powerful corporations that are lobbying and arm-twisting politicians for the system’s universal use, such that civil libertarians fear it would usher in an era of Orwellian corporate-controlled computerized elections — a universal electronic or e-Garci in the hands of the powers that be.
Why then are the Comelec and the Philippine mainstream media insisting that the AES here is honky-dory? They cannot deny that the following have happened:
Massive disenfranchisement of up to 30 percent (based on conservative estimates); malfunctioning of precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, as reported by several candidates; while voting in the old manual system ended earlier, and the recent polls extended voting hours up to 7 p.m., massive disenfranchisement still ensued; the AES’ penalizing the ordinary voter, as GNN manager Harry Tambuatco who waited five hours in the heat said, which caused many voters to just give up voting; the still unverified PCOS rate of accuracy notwithstanding claims of speed as reiterated by computer experts Obet Versola and Mano Alcuaz; and the Comelec and AES advocates’ emphasis on speed over accuracy, among many other issues.
People’s legal advocates should thus sue the Comelec for the following gross violations in its implementation of automated elections law: Negation of the essential nature of the “random manual count” by announcing at noontime of voting day the clustered precincts to be studied (possibly tipping off the cheats to ensure the “cleanliness” of the machines covered); removal of the monitoring screen that would present to the voter his choice before he is to press the “cast” button; removal of the confirmation receipt function; the chaotic testing of the PCOS machines which did not conform to those measures specified in the law; the inexplicable sudden change of tens of thousands of flash cards where the configurations are contained, which raises suspicion that “viruses” were injected and due to the time pressure will be allowed to go un-scrutinized (which also led some to ask if they were really changed or if it was just a stunt to avoid close scrutiny).
Through all the confusion, mainstream media continue to build up the “new Aquino” with such vignettes as Noynoy waiting in line for four hours, as if to further spin their yarn of his “unassuming” demeanor. Well, other than such theatrics or possibly the manifestation of his dorkiness, Noynoy was obviously in no rush — unlike people who had other things to do that day who could no longer wait under the heat.
Still, the biggest question is why the Comelec and mainstream media are in such a rush. It’s been often said that con men consummate their heists in the flurry of fast-paced events with their sleight-of-hand going unnoticed. Well, that’s exactly what they did in Edsa II.
(Tune in to 1098AM, Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.; Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21, Talk News TV, Tuesday, 8 p.m. to 9 p.m. with “Beware the Orwellian Electro-voting Machines;” also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com)
(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Herman Tiu-Laurel)
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100514com6.html | 
