DEMAREE J.B. RAVAL
Plans are moving along
Sunday, 05 09, 2010
In the closing chapter of Terminal Four, a novel by vice-presidential candidate Jun Yasay, there is a scene that eerily comes close to reality vis-à-vis the alarm and foreboding that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) is causing today. The book, written yet in July 2009 and published January this year, is described by former Manila Times publisher Alfred dela Rosa as “an intriguing roman à clef about corruption, power grab, love and sex in high places that resonate with recent media headlines and congressional probes.”
The entire book really does deserve a thorough reading, but what concerns us at the moment is the scene in Malacañang where Rick Santos, a hotshot lawyer who is a friend of the first gentleman and secret lover of the president, briefs the couple on the Comelec:
“They assure us that the implementation of a new nationwide computerized voting system will be completed on time; that the glitches expected of an untested system will be manageable. The technology revolves around an automated optical scanning system. Some critics claim that it doesn’t provide the transparency required for the counting of votes. These guys say the national electoral results can still be manipulated if expert manpower cannot adequately be provided for the operation of the new machines.”
The President then asks Rick if such manpower exists, and he replies: “To save face, Comelec will insist that it has the full complement of IT experts to oversee the elections and minimize hitches. They will announce that any manipulation of results is virtually impossible with the new system. Even if the opposition thinks otherwise, their objection is focused on a particular type of hardware and software, but not on the concept of an automated process. They know that reverting to the antiquated manual process would be a nightmare that would mainly favor the administration candidates. But since this is an entirely new system” - Rick paused and smiled like the Cheshire cat - “unexpected glitches are bound to happen.”
“You’re not suggesting that this new automated system is bound to fail, are you?” asked the president.
“It will fail . . . but you, Madam President, will have nothing to do with it. That is Comelec’s sole responsibility. The errors and malfunctions will be such that none of the candidates for president, vice-president and senators can claim any clear victory. With all due respect - and I must be very candid under the circumstances that we’re having this conversation - I foresee that the administration candidate for president will be the weakest contender, because…” Rick paused, as he was met with blank faces.
“The real contest,” Rick continued, “will likely be among the stronger opposition candidates. But our anticipated computerization fiasco will force a declaration of a failure of election in the national elective posts. And it will be impossible to hold special elections for these positions before June 30. The melee that will ensue will seriously threaten the peace and stability of the nation. In that event the President - Rick looked at the president in the eye - “will be compelled to use her emergency powers, including resort to martial rule, to curtail violence and chaos.”
I hope for our sakes that Yasay was just engaging in speculative fiction, but the nightmare he has described is unfolding too close to reality. In such a case, we have to be afraid, be very, very afraid.
With just a day left before the national elections, the Comelec seems unperturbed that the precinct count optical scan machines (PCOS or PEKEs, as they are now being called) have not worked during dry runs conducted in Quezon City, Batangas, Mindoro, Pateros, and everywhere. The Comelec is not even flustered that some 76,000 reconfigured compact flash cards needed to set aright the operation of the PEKEs have yet to be shipped and installed throughout the country.
“Plans are moving along, even better than expected,” says the Comelec. This said with an air of smugness, without batting an eye, and a trace of guilt. Where I come from, “better than expected” means 121-percent accomplishment, with lots of time to spare for resolving glitches, screw-ups and plain stupidities that have not been factored in in the timetable for project execution.
Anak ng PCOS! It’s been the same song, the same assurance, that the public has heard, that I’m sure if these Comelec guys sang this self-congratulatory excuse to the tune of “My Way,” they’d have been shot many times over by irate voters
The Comelec has had enough time since it inked a contract with Smartmatic and TIM, and up to now neither Comelec nor Smartmatic-TIM have divulged for public knowledge the nature and security features of the hardware to be used in the elections; the source code of the software, for review by interested parties; the terms and protocols of a random manual audit, and certification from the technical evaluation committee that the automated system is fully functional and a continuity plan is in place.
Instead, what we have is the song-and-dance that “plans are moving along, better than expected.” Is the mismatch between the PCOS configuration and the ballot configuration, resulting in unread votes, better than expected? If you ask me, that’s computerized dagdag-bawas, a digital Garci! Or is Murphy’s Law (“Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong”) the operative procedure and convenient scapegoat here?
Hey, Comelec, what gives? Are you not bothered by the frightful prospect of a failure of elections where an enraged nation holds you accountable?
But wait…maybe, just maybe, what had been happening - the machine glitches, the waiving of security marks and signatures in the ballots, the soft treatment Smartmatic had been given - are parts of a more sinister plan that is moving along to attain its demonic completion tomorrow.
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