Who should we vote for President tomorrow?

Duterte. Why? Because he is the winner whether government cheats or not. Survey after survey, the large crowds in his rallies, leaders of organized religious and political groups and NGOs have abandoned the Liberal Party of President Aquino and moved to Duterte. The people want change, not the same tired old politics that favor the elite to the detriment of the rest.

The lead of Duterte is so big that any cheating will become obvious, it would not be believed. According to BayanKo adviser Jose Alejandrino he received the American estimate of the Duterte margin and posted it in FB. Let us see if the American estimates prove to be right.

“My friend Jim called me from Washington. Their estimate of Duterte’s lead in the presidential race over his closest rival Grace Poe is between eight to nine million votes and between Duterte and Mar Roxas at about 11 million votes based on a 75 percent voter turnout. For the vice presidency, Jim said Marcos’ lead over Leni Robredo is about two million votes.”

Jim said he hopes the elections will be “relatively clean” and that Washington is looking forward to working with a Duterte presidency.

Indeed there is no escaping from these figures and Duterte’s rivals are at their wits end on what to do. They are scampering around like scared chickens. Latest news is that Mar asked Grace Poe to withdraw so that their combined votes will be within a decent margin of Duterte’s. But the ever ambitious Grace sneered at the offer and replied, “Why should I? It is you who should withdraw.” There you are. We have Duterte way ahead in the race and his competitors are wondering how to catch up with him to have a closer margin that would justify cheating by the PCOS machines. As it stands, hours before the polling precincts open, the cheating machines can only anger the millions of Dutertistas that can lead to a violent upheaval.

It is a recipe for disaster that the Philippine nation will regret because of power and greed. So my answer to the question “who should we vote for tomorrow” is obvious – Duterte. Among the many reasons is that he is already the winner in the run-up of the campaign. The other candidates threw everything, including the kitchen sink, to smear him but it only backfired and increased his popularity. He, among the candidates, represents the political and social reforms necessary for our nation. That wellbeing rests on how we can work together with our resources and talents. Until now, political and social conditions have favored only a privileged few.

It is time to democratize. And we can only do that with a new leadership from the masses. He understands the problems of the poor and offers a vision for the future of an all-inclusive humane society. That humane society will be forged through a new Constitution to begin a new era under a parliamentary-federal structure.

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I now return to the decision of Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court that decided against automated electoral system. It said that E-Voting which is what Smartmatic-PCOS is all about, is unconstitutional. The justices decided that the use of electronic voting machines requires that the essential steps of the voting and of the determination of the result can be examined by the citizen reliably and without any specialist knowledge. This requirement emanates from the principle of the public character of elections (Article 38 in conjunction with Article 20.1 and 20.2 of the Basic Law (Grundgesetz – GG)), which prescribes that essential steps of an election are subject to public scrutiny, unless other constitutional interests justify an exception. This decision was arrived at to settle disputes in the 2009 election.

It also stated that electronic voting machines can be recognised only with difficulty. The very wide-reaching effect of possible errors of the voting machines or of deliberate electoral fraud make special precautions necessary in order to safeguard the principle of the public nature of elections. (That is why the Smartmatic PCOS elections tomorrow will be impossible to guard by the ordinary voter).

The voters themselves must be able to understand without detailed knowledge of computer technology whether their votes cast are recorded in an unadulterated manner as the basis of vote counting or at any rate as the basis of a later recount. How many Filipino voters qualify for that requirement?

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Miscellany: The book on Imelda Marcos’ trial in New York is ready for distribution but I decided to wait until the elections were over so I could not be accused of being prejudiced against Bongbong Marcos. The book is entitled “The Verdict” and answers many questions on why she was acquitted despite the overwhelming evidence presented in the Federal Court of New York and the witnesses who testified against her and Marcos.  It will be launched in several bookstores and will be available as an e-book by Flipside Publishing.

Jose Leviste Jr. tells me that Duterte’s candidacy may have come from several readers of the book “If the Philippines Had Lee Kuan Yew.” He collected articles and columns on the acknowledged creator of progressive Singapore. Putting together the many articles that flooded the newspapers on his death was helpful for proponents of Lee Kuan Yew’s firm rule. They wished the Philippines could have its version of Lee Kuan Yew. Leviste concludes in his book that Filipinos may have found one in Rodrigo Roa Duterte.