Nalzaro: An uphill battle for Mike

GOD is good,” thus declared former Cebu City mayor Michael Rama upon learning that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) second division has found his election protest against his opponent, the “former political has-been,” to be sufficient in “form and substance.” This means that the poll body can proceed to the next level of Rama’s electoral protest for a recounting of votes in some questioned precincts where he claimed the results were “statistically improbable.”

Mike asserts that the only way to ascertain the truth and veracity of the alleged irregularities is through recounting and revision of the ballots, both in the protested and countered protested clustered precincts.

The “former political has-been” defeated Rama by a margin of 34,000 votes in last May’s elections. Rama claimed it was impossible because he was winning in all pre-election surveys by that the same margin. He could not accept his defeat that is why he filed a protest. Well, it is his right. An electoral protest is a constitutional and legal process to determine the real and true results of an elections However, it’s a long, long process.

This is not to pour cold water on Mike’s desire to seek justice. Again, it is his right. But before pursuing it, he should think twice. It might cost him time, effort and money and in the end it will just be an exercise in futility. We are not that close but if Mike considers me as a friend, I will discourage him from pursuing his protest. Why? It is an uphill battle. He should instead save the money he will be spending on the protest to buy votes in the next elections because that’s where he lost. I have gathered that both Team Rama and BOPK engaged in massive vote-buying but diferred in the amount. Team Rama “shelled out” P200 for every voter but the voter only received P100. The P100 was pocketed by their leaders. BOPK, on the other hand, “gave” P500 to P1,000 per voter, especially in the mountain barangays. In my own analysis, Rama lost because of the vote-buying and not through the manipulation of vote counting machines (VCM) .

I am not saying that Mike’s electoral protest will not prosper because there have been successful electoral protests. Consider the election protest filed by Celestino ‘Tining’ Martinez III against Rep. Benhur Salimbangon in the fourth district. It went up to the Supreme Court. The election then was manual where it was easy to recount. But looked at what happened? Tining was eventually declared as the official winner with only two months left before the next election. Aw, at least, na-congressman si Tining. He was able to attend the remaining session days. He was recognized and he received his salary. But the pork barrel and salaries during that particular term were already claimed by Salimbangon. When they slugged it out in the next elections, Tining lost again. Basin mao ni scenario mahitabo ni Mike. Kung mosaler man gani iyang protesta, duha ka buwan nalang nag-eleksiyon na pod. Di makabawi sa gasto.

There were only few instances where an electoral protest succeeded. In most cases, it failed, especially now that our election system automated. It is hard to prove the discrepancies between the VCM results and the actual counting and revision. Ask former Compostela mayor Richie Wagas what happened to his electoral protests against his opponent Mayor Joel Quiño. Nag-election nalang usab ang duha ka protesta ni Wagas batok ni Quiño wa pa mahuman. Maybe that is the reason the “former political has-been” who was defeated by Mike in the 2013 elections did not pursue his election protest. He probably thought it would be a total waste of time and money. Instead, he did some research by strengthening his political group and campaign strategies and reserving huge campaign funds. That’s why he was able to make a comeback. Si Mike kompiyansa ra. Mag-unsa man nang surveys? Unya dili na maminaw og tambag sa iyang mga advisers and team mates. Nahambugero pa gyud. Aw, lagi.

What does Mike want to prove with his election protest? That he was cheated? And who cheated who? Does he want to question the credibility and accuracy of the VCMs? Of course, the Comelec will not admit that their VCMs are not credible and accurate. If they admit, who will trust them in future elections? Pahuway na lang Mike ug mangandam na lang ka sa sunod nga eleksiyon. Duha ka tuig na lang kapin.

(bobby@sunstar.com.ph)

Trending

No stories found.

Just in

No stories found.

Branded Content

No stories found.
SunStar Publishing Inc.
www.sunstar.com.ph