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Friday, March 29, 2024

The Comelec inspires

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On May 9, more than 54 million Filipinos are expected to troop to voting stations to elect national and local leaders.  Every candidate has his or her own packaging, campaign style, advocacy, and if we are lucky, a semblance of a platform of government. How do we separate the promises from the plans when we have been burned so many times? Is it even worth our while to try to go beyond name recall? For voters, making a choice is indeed a daunting task. 

Today, however, let us step back and forget the names and faces now vying for our attention.  We will arrive at a decision sooner or later, anyway. The tougher, trickier question is whomever we vote for, would our will be reflected accurately? 

We certainly do not get much inspiration from the Commission on Elections, the constitutional body tasked to ensure the conduct of honest, orderly and peaceful polls.  Instead of reminding the people to get out and vote, and select their leaders wisely, the Comelec presents us various scenarios that dampen our faith in the electoral system. 

Given the recent ruling of the Supreme Court that it must provide voter receipts on election day, the Comelec is now rushing to comply with the law—as if the provision had not been there to begin with. After that came the imprudent announcement of Chairman Andres Bautista that a no-election scenario may ensue. He also raised the specter of a postponement, or a reversal to the manual system, if the poll body runs out of time to cover these requirements. 

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Perhaps the commission is under a great deal of pressure to catch up on things it should have addressed months, even years, ago. It is a mystery though why it still has not gotten the hang of its job when elections regularly happen every three years, and it could accomplish the not-so-urgent but still important things during the intervals. 

Until now, for instance, many are still convinced that widespread cheating may still occur in the context of automation, and would even be more difficult to detect or prove given that only a few “experts” are familiar with the technology. Has the Comelec done anything to assuage the people’s fears? Has it told us convincingly that the sanctity of the ballot will be upheld at all times and before anybody? 

Unfortunately, the Comelec is the first one to make us doubt whether our choice would even be counted.  It brings up the possibility of these chaotic scenarios that would frustrate democracy, leading us to wonder whether there is any hope for this country at all.     

That the Comelec appears to take the matter lightly shakes the foundations on which our democracy stands.

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