THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) had in the annals been troubled with protests in coming up with the results and even recorded violent in its framed election period.
The most glaring flaw of the electoral process that became a turning point of Philippine history of governance was the February 7, 1986 Snap Elections. It was when Martial Law (Marcos version) ended and the People Power catapulted Cory to presidency.
Many claims of fraud are in the array since the country regained its freedom, including the “hello Garci” scandal, the “oplan dagdag-bawas”, and the recent program glitch in the electronic counting, among others.
Another dark spot in the Comelec history is the most celebrated case of the decade, the Ampatuan massacre on November 23, 2009 in Ampatuan, Maguindanao. This election-related gruesome massacre costs 58 lives including the 32 comrades in the media profession.
If we list down since the time of immemorial the election-related killings, there is no sufficient space to mention the numerous murders of political rivals from barangay to provincial levels every election period.
Often the police identify places as election hotspots and assigned well-trained personnel or if needed, the military to assist with the Board of Election Inspectors, before, during and after the election. This PNP-AFP-ComElec-DepEd cooperation is commendable but we are putting the non-armed DepEd personnel lives at risk.
Let us not talk about Martial Law (Duterte version). Why not for a try, let the military take control of the Comelec like any government agencies of equal or even less importance? Just for the 2019 mid-term election. With the retired military or police to govern, we can expect Spartan discipline upon the order of the commander-in-chief, if only to preserve the sanctity of votes to the last counting minute. The PNP-AFP operatives can have a special training in manning the election precincts and can even handle rough and tough situations for a clean, honest and peaceful election.
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