THE temporary restraining order (TRO) issued by the Supreme Court, enjoining the Commission on Elections (Comelec) from implementing the extended warranty contract program it entered into with Smartmatic-TIM, seems to have opened the floodgates of speculation about the fate of the 2016 national and local elections. Will it be automated? Are we going back to manual? What happens now?
Well, now would be a good time to take a good, long and sobering deep breath.
First and this cannot be emphasized enough the TRO is not a decision on the merits, and it is altogether too soon for any side of this controversy to claim victory. At most, the TRO reflects the Supreme Court’s desire to look deeper into the issue raised (in separate cases) by the Integrated Bar of the Philippines and Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo, DD, et al. The long and short of these petitioners’ shared cause is that they believe the contract for the diagnostics and repair of the more than 80,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines should have been arrived at through a public bidding.
There has been no declaration from the SC that it has ruled favorably on the petition, although it has been argued by some that the TRO itself is already a favorable outcome.
That assertion is arguable because, if you think the whole thing through, calling a halt to the already ongoing diagnostics and repair means we are significantly delaying the preparation of these PCOS machines for the 2016 elections. Keeping in mind that these machines constitute the bulk of what it will take to automate the presidential elections next year, taking them out of play leaves the Comelec with only 23,000 ballot counting machines, at best. Needless to say, that won’t be enough to automate the elections nationwide. And that isn’t exactly the most favorable outcome for the country.
Second, although the TRO is for the appropriately ominous “indefinite period,” it is, by no means, permanent. To this end, the Comelec has already manifested its intention to vigorously pursue its lifting and the final dismissal of the actions that precipitated it. Considering that the PCOS diagnostics and repair program was actually slated to be completed over a period of five months, a prompt lifting of the TRO means there is still the possibility that the program can actually be completed within the year. The challenge, therefore, is to prevent this case from dragging on and on.
And, third, even assuming the absolute worst-case scenario—where the use of the 81,000 PCOS machines becomes impossible—there remains a multitude of options that will prevent a reversion to nationwide manual elections.
It was for the purpose of fleshing out these options—some of them already conceptualized long before the issuance of the TRO—that the Comelec immediately convened a series of emergency meetings aimed at preparing fully thought-out alternative action plans, in the event that the use of the PCOS machines is no longer a viable option.
At these meetings, no possibilities are discounted. As a result, budgets are being refreshed and finalized for every scenario, from the outright purchase—through public bidding, needless to say—of more than a hundred thousand brand- new optical-mark reader machines to the conduct of mixed elections, where some precincts will be able to use vote counting machines and others won’t.
These various options being available, however, doesn’t change the fact that hovering just beyond the pale of acceptability, there is still the possibility of the need to retrogress to nationwide manual elections.
Just to be very clear about it: This is not an option the Comelec deems acceptable. However, if there is to be a comprehensive response to the change in the automation landscape wrought by the TRO—and because manual elections are ultimately preferable to the no-election scenario already being bruited about by those hungry for it—then this nightmare scenario needs to be considered, as well.
For now, though, it is a waiting game. For the Comelec, to see whether the Supreme Court will set oral arguments or simply require the submission of position papers; for the rest of the country, to find out whether how big a part modern technology will play in the election of the next president of the Republic.
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James Jimenez is the spokesman of the Commission on Elections.