Wednesday, October 18, 2006 Carvajal: These make me laugh By Orlando P. Carvajal Break Point
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos recently asked to be given “a chance to prove that we are capable of holding clean and honest elections.” He wants a chance to prove he can conduct clean elections, yet he tells us the Senate’s approval of the purchase of automatic counting machines came a little too late, in effect conditioning our minds to manual counting and its attendant cheating.
If at all, Chairman Abalos should prove they did not abet cheating during the last elections. The Filipino people deserve to know the truth. For him to ask for a chance to prove that the present Comelec is capable of holding clean elections is practically to admit that they haven’t done so before. Otherwise why ask for a chance to do it?
Besides, the Ombudsman has just declared them to be angels and angels don’t cheat. Why the need to prove they are capable of conducting clean and honest elections?
Unfortunately, the more Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez defends her decision declaring the Comelec not guilty of an anomalous purchase, the more she digs a bigger hole for herself---and the Comelec. They entered into an anomalous contract yet they never got tainted with wrongdoing. It’s like a sin was committed (as declared by the Supreme Court) but none of those involved committed it. Isn’t that a miracle? Doesn’t that make you laugh?
Comes now Comelec Commissioner Rex Borra warning candidates not to overspend or they will not be allowed to assume office. That makes me laugh even more for this is even a bigger miracle. Commissioner Borra must think he is God because only God’s word makes things happen.
How can he think that because he warns against it that candidates will not overspend? His warning is pure grandstanding because every election the Comelec accepts false statements of expenses from their favored winning candidates. Only so-called nuisance candidates do not overspend.
The best thing that could have happened to this country would have been a reform in the electoral system, including a complete shake down of the Comelec, as recommended by former chief justice Hilario Davide Jr., so that we can have a credible election in 2007 and we can have officials with a clear mandate from the people and not from the Comelec.
Instead, and to our misfortune, a totally discredited Comelec has been declared blameless of the anomalous ACM contract and now wants a chance to conduct clean and honest elections when everything points to their inability and unwillingness to do so.
If they have any sense of decency or delicadeza left, they should all resign with the Ombudsman. And if President Arroyo wants us to believe she is serious about fighting corruption, she should ask all these clowns to resign. They make me laugh, I could really cry.
