We can’t blame voters for feeling a bit suspicious about the probability of the elections getting postponed by (at least) three weeks as disclosed by the Commission on Elections. So instead of May 9, we might have the elections sometime in June. Why the feature that would issue receipts had not been installed in previous elections is a subject that our buddies are devoting debate time over, but like they say, that’s already water under the bridge. Many are worried about the implications of a “po-el”—but this is more palatable than a “no-el” because, heaven forbid, it could mean a postponement of the much anticipated departure of the current occupant of Malacañang. The thought was enough to send shivers down our buddies’ spines.
Filipinos being suspicious in nature, many are thinking that the “po-el” could be a bid to set the stage for a yellow victory, what with surveys now purportedly showing the chosen heir of President BS gaining ground and his numbers fantastically going up (although not yet of the leaps-and-bounds category), no longer the cellar dweller. “What gives? Or should I say, how much?” was the incredulous comment of one of our buddies.
Another disturbing thought is the possibility of disenfranchisement of overseas Filipino workers. According to ACTS OFW party list nominee and spokesperson John Bertiz, also lashed out at the Comelec for floating the idea that the April 9 Overseas Absentee Voting scheduled on April 8 would be moved to May 8—or a month of delay.
“The Comelec, by its own ineptitude, will disenfranchise more than a million overseas Filipino voters who could not actively participate in the coming elections,” the party list group said in a statement.
According to Bertiz, they fear a disenfranchisement due to the poll’s body’s “failure to keep up with its constitutional mandate of conducting orderly and credible elections, reminding that the Constitution guarantees that all Filipinos, including those residing or working abroad during election period, are given the same rights as all other Filipinos because they have a stake in running the country’s affairs.”
Why the poll body even has the temerity to consider moving or postponing the elections—both the overseas absentee voting and the regular one—leaves an unpleasant taste in the mouth especially because many find the “limited time” excuse being given by the Comelec as inexcusable. Every time they are asked to do something like for example, give their reply to the SC, the commissioners say they are busy with the preparations and have little time to do something else. And yet they had so much time to disqualify Grace Poe, and one of them was so eager to DQ GP that she even wrote the decision posthaste even without the concurrence of the rest of the commissioners, a supporter of the lady senator pointed out. He has a point.
The thing is, the Comelec had plenty if time to prepare for May 2016—to see to it that the elections will be held in a credible and efficient manner with the use of PCOS technology. The thought of delaying or moving or postponing—or even to divert from using the billion-pesos worth of technology is an utter waste of time and hard earned resources of Filipinos including OFWs, the party list group said. Taxpayers’ money was used to pay for this supposedly ‘hi-tech’ solution, in the belief that Comelec is doing its “best” to perform its duties, the group added.
“With less than two months now to election, it will immensely affect the eagerness and determination of the OFWs to participate in shaping the future leadership of the country, just because some people did not do their homework. For them to doubt the credibility of the very institution who is supposed to protect the ‘sanctity’ of their vote is detrimental to their participation in future elections, making mute and void the entire efforts of so many for the Overseas Absentee Voting,” the statement further said.
Venecio “Vano” Legaspi, another nominee of ACTS OFW party list nominee based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, said the sentiments of the OFWs are clearly summarized thus:
“We, the OFWs who have taken time to wait in queue for hours just to be able to register and be able to vote, some of us have even traveled from far flung areas of Saudi Arabia so we can personally update our biometrics, we had to take our day off or leave from work to participate and practice our constitutional rights—we are expecting that the Comelec will live up to its moral obligation to conduct the 2016 national election on the duly appointed time without delay.”
It is time for the entire leadership in Comelec to prove to the entire nation that it can work under immense pressure and that the poll body is capable of delivering what is expected of it: ensure that the 2016 National Election pushes ahead as planned, efficiently, with credibility and free from irregularity. So there—absolutely no to “po-el”!
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