ABALOS GREEN W/ ENVY AT U.S. ELECTIONS; WINNER KNOWN IN 1 DAY
MANILA, November 5, 2004 (STAR) By Nikko Dizon - Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos could not help but turn green with envy at the recently concluded United States presidential elections that came up with a winner after a day.
Like most Filipinos who have grown used to snail-paced elections, Abalos took note of the swiftness in the turnover of results from America’s 51 states in the Nov. 2 polls.
"But what can we do? Wala raw sa batas," he said of what could have been the country’s first automated elections last May.
A congresswoman also weighed in on the issue, saying the US elections taught us valuable lessons.
"The US presidential elections teaches us to become more aggressive and make an intense drive to continue with our efforts to modernize the country’s electoral system," said Akbayan party-list Rep. Loretta Ann Rosales.
The May presidential elections would have been computerized but in January, the Supreme Court nullified the Comelec’s contract with the private supplier Mega Pacific eSolutions for the purchase of 1,999 automated counting machines (ACMs), noting an irregularity in the bidding process and selection of the winner.
The high court’s decision forced the Comelec to revert to the cumbersome manual voting that had voters writing down as many as 30 names in a ballot, from president down to town or city councilors. The counting was also done manually.
Abalos expressed hope that the 2007 senatorial, congressional and local elections would already be modernized. His term would also expire by then.
Abalos added that the Comelec is now coming up with proposed amendments to the Omnibus Election Code, which would lead the country’s electoral system into the modern age. However, he did not mention what the proposed amendments are.
In just over 24 hours since the first US votes were cast, re-electionist George W. Bush was announced winner over Democratic candidate, Sen. John Kerry, in the hotly contested race.
After concluding that he failed to clinch the crucial 20 electoral votes in the state of Ohio, Kerry conceded to Bush in a telephone call.
In contrast, it took the Philippine Congress four weeks to canvass the votes for president and vice president, wherein a lawmaker even volunteered to carry the old yellow ballot boxes to and from the table of the canvassing committee.
Philippine elections are also always marred by accusations of cheating. Accepting defeat is almost unheard of. The election protests of defeated presidential candidate Fernando Poe Jr. and his running mate, former senator Loren Legarda, against President Arroyo and Vice President Noli de Castro are still pending before the Supreme Court, sitting as the Presidential Electoral Tribunal.
In an interview before the May elections, Abalos had said that he hoped candidates would learn how to concede to those who won in the elections.
Rosales, on the other hand, took note of the popular election adage in the Philippines, "where nobody loses, candidates just get cheated."
She said it was an embarrassment for Filipinos to watch how the US, with its 120 million voters, was able to know the results in 24 hours, compared to our 40 million voters and two-month long counting.
"The fact alone that in a few hours the results were known... reflects the indispensability of an automated process in elections. The process is less prone to cheating and other glitches that fester backward elections like the one we have in the Philippines," she stressed.
Rosales, who is vice chairwoman of the House committee on electoral reforms, also said that through modernized elections, voters would be mature enough to acknowledge who the real winners are if doubts about the results are removed.
The American polls, according to Rosales, "also taught us that Filipino politicians must learn the art of sportsmanship by accepting defeat immediately and avoid divisive actions aimed at ruining the country’s stability."
The Comelec was not spared by Rosales. She described the poll body as "inept and susceptible to influence that it cannot take on its job independently."
The planned modernization has been botched time and again by the Comelec, she said, referring to the unnecessary printing of voters IDs and the acquisition of defective computers prone to manipulation. — With Delon Porcalla
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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