Tuesday, May 22, 2007 Malilong: How Cebu voted By Frank Malilong The Other Side
I VOTED at the Liloan Elementary School in the southeastern town of Santander. It took me almost two hours of standing in line before I was finally ushered inside the polling booth. In less than two minutes, it was over. I had filled up my ballot.
The proceedings were peaceful and orderly, exactly the way they were in 2004. At the front of the building in the middle of the school compound, elderly ladies huddled prayerfully around the candle-lit image of the Virgin Mary. I saw exactly the same scene three years ago.
I went back to the city after lunch, slowing down in places where there were public elementary schools as I did in 2004. By the time we reached San Fernando, the counting had begun. In Langtad, Naga, I dropped by to observe the counting.
Along the way, I listened to the radio coverage of the counting. There must have been at least six radio stations reporting “live” from the election precincts. I remember that they were the same ones that covered the 2004 event, watching over the process with the sharpness of an eagle’s eye.
The following morning, I motored to Danao City and Carmen to watch the canvass. I saw wearied teachers and election officers go about their jobs as patiently as they did in 2004. I saw watchers and lawyers and noted the same alertness that I witnessed three years ago.
I didn’t have time to go to the Capitol anymore for the provincial canvass. But from the accounts of those who were there, I was certain that the social hall was crawling with lawyers as it was in 2004.
In 2004, Gloria Arroyo drubbed her closest opponent by the widest of margins--–one million--–in Cebu. The opposition screamed cheating. I still couldn’t figure out how we, Cebuanos, could have cheated or consented to cheating.
The early radio reports then showed Mrs. Arroyo leading her opponent 10 to 1 all over the island. This lopsided tally was reflected in the certificates of canvass that were opened and scrutinized by a battery of opposition lawyers.
Of the twelve candidates who made it to the winning circle in Cebu last May 14, four are from the opposition but none anywhere near the top half. Some candidates who are leading in other parts of the country scored badly here.
They tried but failed to make a case for cheating against Cebu in 2004. Should they try again, will someone please explain that the Cebu vote happens to be more intelligent than the others?
