Elections

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

BAGUIO CITY -- Good news for politicians. Commission on Elections: Elections next year would definitely push through. Comelec however adds: But it (elections) might be done manually. Better news for politicians who have mastered the art of winning manu-manu without Smartswitik, according to our neighborhood drunken philosopher in another of our roadside talks.

Political aspirants can now lay groundwork to land posh jobs to “serve the people,” he says, adding – “and of course tapnu met a adda maSOP.Apay agtaray dagita nu piso sweldo da?Mabalin a nuni Paquiao ta adulaunayen kwarta na.”

He continues his litany: “Kitaem dagita kalsada, apay kunam maddaddadael dagita uray napintas da paylang nu awan pagsayaatan dagita nga apo mangiturturong ti gobyerno?”

A passersby who hears him says, “Haan mo met a kailangan ibaga ti nasisita nga aramid da ta sumakit laeng panunut tayo – awan bingay tayo,hehehe,” then he walks away.

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Lest we stray. According to Comelec spokesman James Jimenez, there would be elections even after the Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled against its contract with Smartmatic-Total Information Management (TIM) to refurbish its precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines which our philosopher calls “HocusPCOS.”

Jimenez said while Republic Act provides automation of the country’s elections, some quarters believe there is jurisprudence supporting a reversion to manual polls.

Several lawmakers disagree, saying RA 9369 expressly prohibits a return to full manual elections. Others are suggesting a combination: manual voting and automated count.

Here in this summer capital last Tuesday, the SC unanimously invalidated the Comelec’s P268.8 million contract with Smartmatic-TIM, raising fears that the 2016 elections will not push through. The SC holds its summer session in Baguio every year.

The contract, awarded without public bidding, is for refurbishing and replacement of more than 81,000 PCOS machines to be used in 2016.

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Following the CS ruling, Jimenez said they would not allow the PCOS machines to be used in next year’s elections without undergoing diagnosis, maintenance and refurbishment.

According to Jimenez, the Comelec is now looking at alternatives, including use of the 23,000 optical mark reader (OMR) machines that the agency intends to buy and the transparent credible election system (TerEs) recommended by former commissioner Augusto Lagman.

Gatangmanen, awan pay public bidding na? I could see our philosopher grinning.

He said OMR machines could be used as central count optical scan (CCOS) system in which the voting machines would be placed in voting centers instead of polling precincts.

In the TcrES system, the voting and counting would be done manually while the transmission and canvassing of ballots would be automated.

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Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said it would be up to the Comelec how to go about the May 2016 elections, but which have to push through as scheduled. Sen. Francis Escudero meanwhile said the law requires regular automation of elections and called on Comelec to bid out poll machines at once to make the system available on time for May 2016. He said postponement of elections would be impossible, illegal and unconstitutional.

Some lawmakers are saying the SC ruling does not mean that the Comelec could not use its 80,000 PCOS machines.

According to Isabela Rep. Rodolfo Albano the poll body could tap its own personnel and private information technology volunteers to test and prepare its machines and come up with software for next year’s voting, counting and tabulation.He said there is still a great chance for a largely automated balloting next year.

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Meanwhile, Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said the Comelec and Smartmatic_TIM “must be held accountable for the series of irregular and graft-ridden contracts, for deliberately and illegally discarding vital safeguards, including source code reviews and for massive malfunctioning of PCOS machines and electronic cheating.”

He said “With Smartmatic’s PCOS system afflicted with anomalies and bereft of vital safeguards, the 2016 presidential elections would be prone to cheating and might lose credibility.”

Meanwhile, where is former Comelec chair Brilliantes? “Apay haan da kaskasuan,” our philosopher is asking. 

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Sen. Alan Peter S. Cayetano has criticized the Land Transportation Office’s refusal to postpone “No Plate, No Travel” policy implementation. “We need a government that will make a real change in people's lives, not make their lives harder,” he said in an email sent by his office. “It is, therefore, regrettable that LTO chooses not to help itself and in the process relieve the public of the stress and inconvenience caused by its officials' inefficiency and failure to serve the agency's mandate. 

“We all know there is the law and our people also know that it's LTO that created the problem because it could not provide the plates within 7 days early on. And LTO is being given a chance to put its house in order through the suggested moratorium. The insistence of LTO officials to make law abiding taxpayers suffer for their inefficiency, will not be taken lightly by our people. 

If LTO insists on punishing taxpayers, then our people have the right to hear LTO officials explain their inefficiency to them “Our people also have the right to know who created this problem, who must face the administrative cases, and who decided not to provide our people the relief they deserve.

“We'll also wait for their explanation during the budget hearing to determine what kind of budget it deserves given what the taxpaying citizens are made to suffer, from late delivery of plates to late issuance of license cards, because of LTO officials' inefficiency and incompetence.”