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On
Tuesday, various organizations signed a covenant at the
office of the Philippine Rural Reconstruction Movement
to conduct a “citizens’ audit” of the May 14 elections.
They
established the Network of Citizens for Honest Elections
and Truthful Statistics (NoCHEATS), a system for
receiving precinct-level reports from various sources in
the field in printed or electronic format and storing
these reports in a database, which the public can access
by text/SMS, over the Internet and through data CDs.
The
initiative is led by Halalang Marangal, or Halal, whose
convenors are former senator Wigberto E. Tañada, Gen.
Francisco Gudani (ret.), former Comelec Commissioner
Mehol K. Sadain, former St. Scholastica’s College
president Sr. Mary John Mananzan, 2004 TOYM awardee
Atty. Ma. Paz Luna, PRRM senior vice president Isagani
R. Serrano, and Philippine Greens Institute Executive
Director and IT specialist Roberto S. Verzola.
Halal’s
NoCHEATS system is a highly transparent approach to
election tabulation. It allows ordinary citizens and
citizens’ groups to independently audit results by
comparing the precinct data in the NoCHEATS database
with the precinct results they see on the tally board
and the publicly posted Election Returns.
The
system will rely on networks of volunteers who are
civic-minded and want to contribute their share in
making the coming elections clean, honest and credible,
and who want to make the result reflective of the true
will of the people. This will require thousands of poll
watchers at the precinct, voting center and municipal
levels, where precinct-level results may be obtained.
Halal
will conduct trainors’ trainings and make available
training materials which all covenant signatories may
freely copy and distribute among their staff, members
and/or volunteers.
It will
also mobilize and train staff and volunteer watchers to
monitor the conduct of elections at the precinct, voting
center and municipal levels. The group will, likewise,
set up local coordinating bodies of poll watchers to
ensure full coverage of all voting centers and precincts
by avoiding duplication and filling up gaps in coverage.
This is
a political project that’s truly laudable as it will
complement existing efforts like Namfrel and other
election watchdogs. But the question is: Will they be
able to prevail upon the veteran poll manipulators
lurking in the shadows, determined to thwart the will of
the electorate and unduly favor certain candidates for
the right price?
Bad
example
We
reported in this space weeks back about the mulcting
activities of two officials of the Land Transportation
Franchising and Regulatory Board, or LTFRB. The dynamic
duo were kicked out of the agency by their boss when two
of the biggest taxi companies complained that they were
asked to fork over P35,000 as facilitation fee for each
taxi franchise.
But one
of the two is now back in the same agency, rumor has it,
because of the intercession of a Cabinet official.
Having reclaimed his post in the agency, the guy is said
to have gone back to his merry ways, while taxi-industry
insiders can only gnash their teeth at how brazen some
public officials can be. So why aren’t we surprised that
we’ve been called the most corrupt country in this part
of the world?
Slanted
surveys?
Team
Unity media director, Eastern Samar Gov. Ben Evardone,
says in a statement that the recent SWS survey showing
voter preference for opposition candidates in most of
the regions in the country may have been slanted. Proof:
major LGU leagues like the Union of Local Authorities of
the Philippines, the Leagues of Provinces, of Cities, of
Municipalities and the Liga ng mga Barangay are all
headed by pro-administration officials, and can thus be
expected to deliver the “command votes” in the
countryside.
Besides,
he says, 78 of the 81 provincial governors, 90 of the
119 city mayors, 90 percent of the 1,502 municipal
executives and 35,000 of the 42,000 barangays nationwide
are allied with the administration.
Be that
as it may, if recent surveys are any indication, we may
have a mix of old and new faces when the Senate convenes
in the mid year.
The
parents of Genuine Opposition senatorial candidate
Francis “Chiz” Escudero are long-time residents of a
middle-class subdivision in Quezon City where I moved in
five years ago. Our neighbors obviously hold the
Escuderos in high regard, if the Chiz posters now
prominently displayed in many of the houses in our
subdivision are any indication.
Chiz has
been an articulate spokesman of the political opposition
in the House of Representatives. Armed with a degree
from a prestigious university in the United States and
having earned his political spurs at an early age, he
has a bright future in politics, if he plays his cards
right.
Survey
results since late last year put him almost always in
the winning column in the Senate race, so he’s a virtual
shoo-in as a senator.
While
Escudero is a rising star in Philippine politics,
reelectionist Sen. Edgardo Angara is an old hand in the
trade. Opinion polls also put him in the winning circle
if elections were held today, so he should be able to
occupy his old seat in the Upper Chamber when the smoke
of political battle has cleared after May 14. With his
track record as UP president, lawyer and senator, as
well as consistent advocacy of educational reforms, he
has easy name recall and that should count a lot when
election day comes. |
