When I was a little boy I recall with fondness being invited to friends’ birthday parties. There was the traditional kiddie party fare of hotdogs and spaghetti with cake and sweet treats. And of course there were the fun children’s party games – hit the pot, pabitin, and another childhood favorite – musical chairs. In this game, for those unfamiliar, boys and girls would walk (or dance) around chairs as the music played and when the music stopped they would try to land on a chair even pushing and shoving to be able to get one.
Today, it seems as if we are seeing musical chairs on a much grander scale in the current Duterte administration. It would be funny if it didn’t affect our daily lives in such a grave way. Politicians who are given prime positions jockey for power and then are suddenly removed without a second thought and replaced with someone else. It can happen to anyone at any time. Look at the people close to the president who were recently removed and have “suddenly and miraculously” changed their opinion of him and his policies which they had previously defended until they were blue in the face.
Just recently, the president removed Bureau of Customs’ Isidro Lapeña and his people at Customs are now on “floating” status so the incoming chief would have the freedom to place the people he sees fit to help him do his job. This is already the third time the president has moved Lapeña – first to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), second to BOC chief, and now following his removal from Customs as TESDA director-general where his background as a military man will “surely help” according to the president.
It just seems quite ridiculous to see so many people being moved to and fro on the president’s whim. It gives an air of uncertainty in terms of work and doesn’t allow his people to really do their jobs knowing that at any second the music could begin again and they will once again have to dance around the circle of chairs. Perhaps it’s because they have done something he wasn’t pleased with or perhaps because the president has suddenly changed his mind. Either way – he should seriously consider his position on just changing his people at a whim because it’s starting to look like one big children’s party game.
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In the two years since the 2016 elections it certainly seems as if the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) has never left the news cycle. This is mainly due to former Senator Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos’ electoral protest against current sitting Vice President Leni Robredo. For the past couple of years, he and his camp have been throwing allegations of fraud, manipulation, shading inconsistencies, and the proverbial “kitchen sink” against the COMELEC and Smartmatic – the global technology conglomerate that provided the equipment to facilitate automated elections.
Whatever the result of this protest is, is for the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET) to determine. Regardless of their decision though I certainly hope that Congress does not yield to calls for us to return to manual or “hybrid” elections. This would just open to the door to even more electoral issues and magical “wins.”
Suspended Cebu Congresswoman Gwendolyn Garcia filed a bill to shift to “hybrid” electoral system wherein votes will be counted manually, but transmitted electronically. Ironically she was able to attend sessions and pitch this bill despite being suspended.
We all know how manual counting has been used – or shall I say abused – by trapos of old who intimidated, threatened, harmed, and even killed those tasked to make the count or guard the ballot boxes (mostly volunteers and teachers). They also resorted to having their minions steal boxes and stuff them with pre-filled out ballots. These acts were brazen with no regard for the will of the people or the safety of the volunteers. Adding the veneer of “automated transmission” is just smoke and mirrors to hide what’s really going on. Are we really so ready to jump back into that Wild Wild West style of elections?
What is needed is for the COMELEC to educate people better on how the automated electoral system works. How claims of being “easy to cheat” are baseless and essentially just feed people’s imaginations and disgruntled politicians’ electoral fraud campaigns. They need to turn up the transparency and give people more than a glimpse into the system. This happened recently at the Source Code review held at the De La Salle University in Manila.
COMELEC Spokesperson James Jimenez said at the time that they will be adding some enhancements that were born from great inputs and ideas from experts who reviewed the 2016 polls and results.
One such improvement is the Voter Verification Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) receipt, which will have more information on it, such as precinct number and geographical location. They will also be simplifying and improving log registry and operations of the Electoral Board and Board of Canvassers.
Indeed the purpose of the review was not to rewrite the program but to improve it for the next elections. The previous elections were already quite transparent, but with these upgrades the upcoming one will be even more so. Hopefully this time, the public sees that and isn’t blinded by politicians crying foul when they do not win.
It’s time the COMELEC and the public work together. The former must provide more education on voting procedures and safeguards and the latter must take the information and truly absorb it without being tainted by the loudest voices in the circus. It’s time for the public to take the blinders off and simply look through the glass.