OPINION: COMELEC HAS ONE WEEK LEFT TO FINISH AUTOMATION
MANILA, FEBRUARY 3, 2010 (STAR) GOTCHA By Jarius Bondoc - Initial fumbles caused nightmares. But poll automation contractor Smartmatic-TIM swiftly caught up with backlogs, and so will be able to deliver all 82,200 vote counters by month’s end. Comelec chairman Jose Melo says he’s sleeping better these days. Still steep hurdles remain. Automation not only must meet all deadlines, but also bear credible election results. And time is fast running out.Exactly a week from now, for instance, an international certifying body must attest if six automation requisites have been met. This process is by categorical yes or no, the automation law states. Proof must be given of successful (1) field-testing by mock elections; (2) audit of software accuracy and security; (3) source code review; (4) escrow of the source code with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas; (5) insurance that the reviewed source code is the same one used in the equipment; and (6) drafting of a continuity plan to cover risks and avert failure in voting, counting or consolidation.
From newspaper reports, the Comelec has not been as “successful” as required. Mock voting held last week insufficiently cast only a dozen or so ballots, instead of the anticipated 1,000 per precinct cluster on Election Day. And while the scanty counts were accurate, cell phone SIMs in techno-advanced Metro Manila couldn’t transmit results from schoolhouses to city halls only a kilometer away. The Comelec has yet to divulge the source code to political party reps, who need at least six months to review. Escrowing the source code is easy, but ascertaining the 82,200 installed variants could be hellish. And info-tech experts find intolerable the Comelec’s continuity plan, which assumes automation flop in 40 percent of precincts. If the poll body flunks any of the six points, it can only proceed with automation if able to justify why to the Congress joint oversight committee.
Credibility is the tougher issue. Most Filipinos are low-tech, unlike the Irish who nonetheless scrapped poll automation last year because of public doubts. While the precinct count optical scanner can amaze voters with speed, it may not necessarily bring believable tallies. Smartmatic-TIM, to be sure, switched off a crucial feature of its PCOS model SAES 1800 for the May 10 election. This is the software that would have allowed the voter to verify his choices before the PCOS swallows his ballot into the box. Why the Comelec let the Venezuelan supplier delete this step, it has yet to explain. Info-tech experts under aes2010 Watch sufficiently had reminded the Comelec to include the verification software. More so, since Article 7(n) of Republic Act 9369 specifically tasks the poll body to “provide the voter a system of verification to find out whether nor not the machine has registered his choice.”
There was good reason for legislators to insert the provision. Due to decades of poll fraud, Filipinos have grown to distrust the system. They continue to vote only because of anti-cheating innovations like indelible ink, fingerprinting, and neighbor identification. Why, even cell phones and ATMs, the two hi-tech gadgets Filipinos are familiar with, tell users if messages have been sent and how much bank balances remain. The PCOS would expect first-time automation voters blindly to trust the count.
With the breach of the automation law, all results could be nullified. If that happens, the foreign supplier could just up and leave with the billions that the Comelec has paid so far; the local partner will be left holding the bag. In fact, Smartmatic seems prepared to do it to TIM.
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Malacañang mouths clever pedantry. Of late it is claiming that any presidential candidate who will prosecute Gloria Arroyo for corruption would only stunt social progress. It’s as if, for the country to move forward, it must forget the wrongs of past administrations.
That’s a farce. Societies that punish bad leaders are able to surge on faster than ever. By jailing the corrupt and abusive, samples and standards are set for future leaders. Prosecuting Arroyo would put government a-right and send the message that Filipinos are not all crooked. In turn, investors and tourists are enticed, thus enriching the economy.
To say that Arroyo’s critics are seeking revenge instead of justice is to distort meanings. Justice has many facets. Penalizing criminals precisely is vengeance for the victim and deterrence for others; rehabilitation allows for forgiveness and closure.
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First Gentleman Mike Arroyo must know why he’s getting such a bad press. His own friends are setting him up for it.
Take the case of a Chinese-Filipino businessman, close to Mike, who sued for libel a famous hard-hitting tabloid columnist. The judge handling the case has been telling people that he will soon be forced to convict the newsman because of pressures from Mike. Even the defense counsel has been told.
It’s a ploy. Judge and plaintiff likely have cut a deal, and are using Mike’s supposed interference as cover. This, so other newsmen sympathetic to their colleague will vent their ire on hapless Mike, while the dealmakers escape scorn.
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“Calculating the cost of care can be a miscalculation. Love is not meant to be calculated. God wants it to be circulated: ‘Love one another as I have loved you.’” Shafts of Light, Fr. Guido Arguelles, SJ
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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