A three-cornered information war is raging. We have in one corner, yellow mainstream media, led by ABS-CBN, GMA-7, the Inquirer, and PhilStar, along with Comelec and Smartmatic, all wanting the public to believe the success of the automated election system (AES), versus the Arroyo camp’s insidious behind-the-scenes manipulation, with both pitted against the independent computer experts and concerned citizens in another corner — counting among their ranks other presidential hopefuls who have withdrawn their concessions after witnessing grave anomalies in the automated elections. The glaring fundamental truth is that despite Comelec’s declaration of the AES’ 98 percent readiness days prior to the polls, it’s now clear that “Hocus-PCOS” plagued the entire country on election day. Mainstream media declared that the nation was “stunned” by the speed of the PCOS machines but now the nation has also begun to doubt if there was any accuracy in them at all. Whistleblowers have come out of the woodwork, claiming to be actual participants in the PCOS cheating operations. Let us be careful. As in the “Hello Garci” case, we should expect that guilty parties will preempt any genuine testimonies with fake ones. In 2005, the Arroyo people tried to present a fake tape with a fake voice in the “Hello Garci” case — via a red herring, so to speak — to waylay the people’s attention. Remember how then Arroyo’s spokesman Ignacio Bunye (now richly rewarded with a tenured position on the Monetary Board) held up two audio discs in an effort to confuse the public? Methinks the Yellows have first fielded one of their fake whistleblowers with a preposterous tale which the Yellow media can pick up and propagate; hence, the Inquirer’s “Fraud tales grow taller” story on its May 19 issue. Earlier, that paper began running its “don’t question the Comelec’s AES and PCOS machines” yarn on its May 12 headline and which subsequent letters-to-the-editor brigades followed up with quips such as “the people were just so stunned that before midnight of May 10, election results were already pouring in and that on the following day local winners have already been proclaimed” to create a perception of public approval for the system. Also, its top yellow columnist aped the same line after posturing against automation for some time, saying he’s glad to be proven wrong. Well, let me hear him say it again now that many issues showing the grossly chaotic and inaccurate implementation of Comelec’s AES and PCOS have come out, especially once a tidal wave of complaints and evidence against the Hocus-PCOS are presented before Congress from all over the tens of thousands of clustered precincts. The Yellow media bunch has deliberately been deaf to the thousands of complaints of Comelec irregularities: In Quezon City, for instance, Comelec’s refusal to invite observers from the public and the candidates to the random manual audit (RMA) in all three occasions is in direct violation of the election law. Then, there’s the cessation of the RMA in Manila with just eight election returns (ERs) processed after anomalies were discovered by mayoralty candidate Lito Atienza’s people, despite the law’s requirement that at least 30 ERs are manually audited. Furthermore, there is the destruction of uncounted compact flash (CF) cards and the further incineration of tens of thousands more when these would be required for weeks and months ahead if and when protests are filed. And then we hear of the infamous PCOS machines found in Antipolo, which may only be the tip of iceberg, as well as, the eerie silence on the “error rate” of the PCOS machines, which the contract with Smartmatic stipulates should be not more than 0.005 percent but which Comelec admitted at one point could reach 15 to 30 percent; and the list goes on. In this information war on the Hocus-PCOS, two media vehicles standout in the performance of their journalistic duties: The Tribune and the Global News Network (GNN). I am fortunate and privileged to be in both. Our followers know enough of the Tribune and are extremely enthusiastic fighters for truth, such as Dionisio Lopez of Zamboanga City who keeps in touch with us through text, giving us regular feedback. GNN manager Harry Tambuatco, meanwhile, was incensed with the way voters were “penalized” with the long lines and the AES’ clear operational inconsistencies with the automated election law. He has also been at the forefront of exposing the flaws of the system amid mainstream media’s doting of the Comelec. These two media institutions stand as the only real counterpoint to the domineering yellow media today. While there is relief that the onerous Arroyo era is passing on even to an uncertain period of transition, the yellow peril still persists and consternation is growing that the national agenda which President Estrada has always advocated — food security and agricultural development, among others — is being drowned out. Agricultural production in this first quarter has declined again with the El Niño and is expected to worsen leading into the third quarter with fears of a rice pila. Despite that, mainstream media have only focused on the so-called “Noynoy versus Corona conflict,” or what that scandalous Aquino sister is doing next. Yet all these are mere distractions from the Hocus-PCOS and other serious issues that the yellow mascot simply doesn’t have a clue on. Let’s keep ourselves abreast with the Tribune and GNN in this information war against the oligarchs’ media. The latter is available on Destiny Cable for only P500 a month — and already with Russia Today and Al Jazeera. Call 810-2828 or 474-6680 to subscribe! (Tune in to 1098AM, Sulo ng Pilipino, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 6 to 7 p.m.; Global News Network, Destiny Cable Channel 21, Talk News TV, Tuesday, 8:15 to 9 p.m. on “The Philippine Political-Economy Post-GMA Regime;” also visit http://hermantiulaurel.blogspot.com) |
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(Reprinted with permission from Mr. Herman Tiu-Laurel)
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100521com5.html
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