Comelec doomsday scenario scored

An angry President Arroyo strongly reacted yesterday to what she described as "doomsday scenarios" raised by an unnamed official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) who predicted massive disenfranchisement of voters and suspicion of fraud in the 2004 elections.

Departing from her usual stand of respecting the independence of a constitutional, autonomous body like the Comelec, Mrs. Arroyo chided the unnamed Comelec official, who was quoted by The STAR the other day as saying that the P3-billion poll modernization program of the government will most likely fail due to poor information dissemination, systemic weaknesses and lack of time to harmonize the three modernization phases.

"It is unfortunate that there are those within the electoral body who are painting doomsday scenarios without doing their own part in making the process work," Mrs. Arroyo said.

"It (Comelec) should anticipate the usual and possible problems that may arise and must map out plans for solutions," she told the poll body.

"It is now a challenge for the Comelec to make a difference in next year’s elections," she stressed, adding that the country cannot have political stability without ensuring the integrity of the ballot.

Mrs. Arroyo reiterated her desire to see through the implementation of the country’s first-ever modernized electoral process.

This, she said, is to put an end to the decades-old problem of election fraud and cheating through manual counting and canvassing of votes.

"Historically, elections in the Philippines are often associated with various kinds of fraud," she cited.

"(But) I am committed to clean and honest elections and I urge the Comelec to ensure that all technical and operational preparations are comprehensive and fail-safe," Mrs. Arroyo said yesterday.

In his daily press briefing at the Palace yesterday, Presidential Spokesman Ignacio Bunye disclosed that Mrs. Arroyo was really angry after reading The STAR headline story about the assessment of the unnamed Comelec official.

"The President is exhorting them (Comelec) to do whatever is needed to be able to cure the various hitches that may affect the elections," Bunye told reporters.

Meanwhile, Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos said yesterday it is unfair for anybody, especially for an unnamed Comelec official, to play the role of a "prophet of doom" and predict massive civil disobedience as a result of a perceived failure of the poll body’s electoral modernization program.

"It is easy to criticize, especially if you remain anonymous. In all candor, we will look into issues raised by our critic, and act on them if we find them meritorious," said Abalos.

The Comelec chief said that the alleged lack of time to implement a smooth harmony in the performance of the three modernization phases, especially the automated counting machines and electronic transmission of results, is being continuously addressed, including any identifiable weaknesses in the system.

"The preparation’s picture may not exactly be rosy but there is time and money and there is enough determination among Comelec officials to measure up to the high expectations of the Filipino people that the forthcoming elections would be honest and credible, not to mention fast and reliable." he stressed.

However, The STAR’s source was adamant and even went into details to support the allegations.

According to the source, the serious problem threatening the success of the elections is its method of data transmission, which is actually the third phase of the Comelec’s computerization program.

The source said that Comelec would be using a type of radio band that was originally designed for cable television. However, this is susceptible to poor weather conditions and loud noises.

"The system will not work during cloudy and rainy weather. This is due to the use of the Ku band frequency, which generally are off-line during weather disturbances," the source explained.

"At the transmission center, if the satellite modem is subjected to noise barrage, the system will not work and cannot transmit data just the same. An individual or group who may transmit data at similar frequency can cause interference in transmitting election results. The objective of the system will be a total failure," said the Comelec informant.

The STAR tried to confirm the allegation with Phase Three project head, Comelec planning director Lamberto Limas, but he was in a meeting and could not be reached for comment.

Comelec is spending P300 million for the data transmission system while P1 billion was set aside for the first phase of the computerization program which is the registration and validation of voters.

Meanwhile, the second phase or the purchase of automated counting machines was allotted a budget of around P1.7 billion.

In an earlier interview with reporters, though, Comelec commissioner Resurreccion Borra, who is in charge of the second phase of the program, said that the computerized counting is virtually hack proof.

Borra assured that they are doing the best they can to ensure the success of the country’s first ever nationwide computerized voting. — Marichu Villanueva, Jose Aravilla