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Friday, January 16, 2004
Editorial: Hold the elections
Amid the wreckage caused by the failed contract for the supply of automation equipment in the May elections, two major concerns leap for attention.
The first relates to the elections. The second has to do with the reputation of Comelec commissioners and the Comelec itself.
Will the elections push through? Most of our leaders, except for a few misguided retired generals who advocate for no election, agreed it must be held. Any delay, if any, must not derail the transition of power on June 30.
The computers cannot be used. Not only do they reek of corruption, as Tuesday’s ruling of the Supreme Court invalidating the contract told the public. They were counting machines vulnerable “to election fraud on a massive scale.”
The Commission on Elections, which must be blamed for the mess, is trying to save the situation. Right now though, its credibility is in such tatters that one can’t be sure if its members are not more worried about saving the contract and its perks than the holding of the elections on time.
The only option, it seems, is manual counting. Even the partial automation, of which Cebu would have been a part, cannot be adopted without the assurance of “zero fraud” equipment.
A local election officer said Comelec can do the manual counting even with the delay caused by the automation fiasco. We are veterans on manual counting, he said, which is not exactly reassuring for, indeed, Comelec’s record on counting is anything but exemplary. The joke that the Comelec can’t count is not a joke, voters have long realized.
The Comelec must do a lot more than show they are experienced hands in the manual count. They must avoid the confusion and mistakes of the past in which they had the luxury of time. Having much less cannot be an excuse for the lapses in the coming election.
A smooth and credible election minus the computers may help retrieve some of the public trust in the Comelec. Which can also help the commissioners in facing the inevitable charges of corruption arising from the scandal.
Watch the Comelec
What must be infuriating to many people is that they have to trust the Comelec despite its apparent acceptance of an “improper and illegal” contract athat would have used counting machines that, the Supreme Court found out, are vulnerable to large-scale election cheating.
Candidate Raul Roco wants all the commissioners to bow their heads in shame and resign. They can do better: They can shave their heads first. But resignation is something else. With time in short supply, it is not doable, legally and realistically, to bring in a fresh crew to supervise the elections.
No choice but to entrust the polls to these commissioners with dirty hands and smeared faces.
Let’s hope they won’t be any meaner even as we must watch them with eagle eyes.
(January 16, 2004 issue)
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