Bogus democracy

The stunning revelations made by  Police Senior Superintendent Rafael Santiago that he personally led a PNP Special Action Force team in stealing original election returns and replacing them with fakes in January 2005 is very disturbing, to say the least. No doubt many people find the tale recounted by Santiago as not only compelling, but something that crystallizes what so many have suspected all along  that indeed massive cheating and vote rigging took place during the 2004 presidential elections. Even the late Fernando Poe Jr. expressed this fear to Max Soliven and me during a private dinner we had with him one month before the 2004 elections.

In this country, nobody admits losing in an election. But levity aside, Santiago’s detailed expose strikes at the very core of everything that democracy stands for. If indeed his revelations  coupled with the other alleged instances of cheating during the 2004 presidential elections  are proven true, then all decent Filipinos have every right to express their anger and demand that the government punish those responsible for subverting the sovereign will of the people.

No doubt supporters of Fernando Poe Jr. are convinced that the police official’s shocker serves as a vindication of sorts. But to many more, the saddest part is that FPJ is no longer around to find out if he indeed won the election. I guess it’s also little consolation to Da King’s supporters that those who refused to heed their protests are now feeling some sense of mortification. Even Senator Kiko Pangilinan, who sat on the National Board of Canvassers in 2004 as Senate Majority Leader, has admitted that he made a mistake with his famous abbreviated “noted” remark every time a request from the opposition to look into allegations of cheating was presented.

On the other hand, there are those who say that Santiago’s motive and timing is suspect since it comes on the heels of his relief as provincial police director of Zambales and after he was placed on AWOL status. In light of all these revelations, President Noynoy Aquino’s mandate is now becoming very clear to Filipinos: He definitely has to put closure to all the issues that have caused division among the people for so long, making sure that the charges will be based on “hard facts and clear evidence, not by rumor, hearsay or innuendo.” Although P-Noy’s Truth Commission has been thumbed down with finality by the Supreme Court, he can still count on the DOJ and the new Ombudsman Chit Morales to lead the fight against graft and corruption and all the past wrongdoings in government.

While there may have been some who felt disappointed with P-Noy’s SONA and criticized it for being “too simplistic in solving the country’s complex problems” because he failed to tackle certain issues and lay down in concrete terms how he plans to achieve previous promises, surveys clearly show that a majority of Filipinos found it refreshing and approved of the way the president delivered his message in a straightforward, down-to-earth manner. Studies have shown that most people have a 20-minute attention span when it comes to listening to speeches, and Noynoy knew this well, making sure he made his speech short enough for the majority of his targeted audience  the poor  to understand what he wants to do for the country. In the end, the patient Filipino is still prepared to wait and see the results of all his promises in transforming society and instituting meaningful change. Many believe that if by the end of his term, he can deliver even just 50 percent of what he says, then that would already be considered a great accomplishment. 

Looking back, it is clear that we must learn from the hard lessons of the past: We cannot and must not ever resort to shortcuts and go around the Constitution, resorting to “mob rule” (as TIME magazine described Edsa II). We allowed the installation of a president through unconstitutional means  in direct contravention of the constitutional provision that was made precisely to prevent an incumbent president from using his or her awesome powers to run for the same office.

But as they say, there is no use crying over spilled milk. What is important is for us to learn from it and make sure the sins of the past never happen again. Which is why the best option now is for the Comelec to continue with the poll automation and do away with kadena, lansadera, carbon copy, dagdag-bawas and all other vote-rigging activities (and unintentional “mistakes”) associated with manual elections. Despite the persistent efforts by some sour-graping losers (both political candidates and technology providers) to question the credibility of the 2010 presidential elections, there is no doubt the conduct was more transparent, faster and more efficient, with the results accepted by the majority of Filipinos as credible, accurate and most of all, reflective of their true will.

Granted that no election is perfect  with even the most technologically advanced countries experiencing glitches during elections (like what happened in the United States during the 2000 elections that pitted George W. Bush against Al Gore)  poll automation will bring this country to the 21st century and empower voters who, hopefully, will soon achieve the kind of maturity that will enable them to rebuff the manipulations of cheating and scheming politicians.

The single most important part of any democratic process is for the true will of the people to prevail through a credible election. By any mathematical equation, a bogus election simply equals a bogus democracy.

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