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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| No Common Sense � No Proclamation By Antonio C. Abaya June 2, 2004 Watching the congressmen and senators hassling and haranguing each other over the canvass of the certificates of canvass (for president and vice-president) has filled me with foreboding and pessimism about the ability (or inability) of Filipinos to solve practical problems. Endless acrimonious debates over procedures, over amendments to amendments to the rules, have left many people wondering, haven�t we done this thing several times before (at least in 1992 and 1998, as well as before 1972)? So why are our legislators acting like electoral virgins confused over which orifices constitute their erogenous zones? And why the constant milling around the table by a dozen or more legislators while ballot boxes are being opened? Is Cong. Dilangalen, a Muslim from Maguindanao, conducting a hot sale of pirated DVDs? Wouldn�t it be better if all legislators were manacled to their chairs and only two lawyers, one each from the administration and opposition parties, were allowed to open and inspect the ballot boxes in peace, and in full view of the rest of the Batasan as well as the TV audience? Surely there are parliamentary rules that limit the movement of legislators in their own chamber while a serious business is being conducted. Why aren�t the presiding officers � Senate President Franklin Drilon and House Speaker Jose de Venecia � enforcing those elementary rules of behavior? The Batasan looks like a giant Montessori classroom with unruly children wandering about in near-total anarchy. Meanwhile, both administration and opposition politicians are accusing each other of �massive fraud� and of harboring plans to delay the proceedings so as to have a no-proclamation scenario by June 30, which would either signal an uprising by the FPJ camp or justify the declaration of martial law by the GMA administration. And while the joint session of Congress is mired in endless controversy, the Comelec�s official quick count arm, the Namfrel, is running the slowest quick count since the invention of Arabic numerals. Are they, perhaps, using Roman numerals? Twenty three days after the closing of the polls, Namfrel has tabulated returns from only some 75% of the precincts, with some eight million votes more still to be entered into its tally. India, with 380 million voters, produced nationwide results in only 36 hours, using computerized equipment which the Philippine Supreme Court denied our Comelec. Can this country really solve any significant practical problems in the 21st century? Namfrel and the joint session of Congress seem to be in an undeclared race to see who can finish the vote count LAST. It took the legislators some five days just to decide on the rules, and that controversy is not over yet. And they haven�t tabulated a single COC, as of this writing. Namfrel tabulated the first 10 million votes in six days (May 12 to 17), the second 10 million votes in seven days (May 18 to 24), and the next 3.5 million votes (so far) in nine days (May 25 to June 2). How long it will take Namfrel to tabulate the last eight million votes is anybody�s guess. Probably after Congress starts and completes ITS tally, which could be never. The latest (June 2) Namfrel tally shows the lead of GMA over FPJ at only 2.61% (not 9% as in the SWS exit poll) and still dropping. Much of this acrimony, mutual accusations of �massive fraud� and threats of �no proclamation� could have been avoided if the framers of the 1987 Constitution had included a provision for a second round or run-off election. In a multi-party, multi-candidate electoral process, as the 1987 Constitution allowed, it is unlikely that any candidate will get anywhere near 50% of the votes. In 1998, the vastly popular Joseph Estrada won handily with less than 39%. In a second round or run-off election, as practiced in Europe, Russia and some countries in South America, only the top two contenders battle it out. The idea is to produce a leader who is supported by more than 50% of the voting population. Thus, in the present situation, it would not matter if GMA or FPJ won. Since neither of them has garnered 50% of the votes, they would have another go at it, this time minus the participation of Panfilo Lacson, Raul Roco and Eddie Villanueva. In such a second round, the followers of the three losing contenders would have to choose whom to shift their support to, GMA or FPJ. (In a putative second round, GMA would have an edge. Most of the supporters of Roco and Villanueva are from the middle-class and would have no sympathy for the ignoramus Poe. Lacson, who during the campaign publicly stated that mere popularity was not enough to run the presidency, would be unlikely to support Poe either, having been out-foxed by Poe�s principal backer, Sen. Angara, for the LDP-KNP nomination.. It has to be admitted, however, that in all three camps there are those whose intense personal dislike for Gloria Arroyo overshadows all other considerations.) The problem with Filipinos is that even our wisest citizens, as the framers of the 1987 Constitution presumably were, are so fixated on the American two-party model that even when they opened the doors to a multi-party system, they did not have the practical common-sense to provide for a second round or run-off election which is inherent in such a system. I have been batting for this since I started writing a column in 1987, but no Filipino political genius has thought to pick up the idea. Indonesia, which has had a much shorter experience with liberal democracy than the Philippines, is conducting a presidential election on July 5, the first time that Indonesians will directly elect their president. As in our 2004 elections, there are five candidates for the presidency, including the incumbent, Megawati Sukarnoputri, and the former head of the Indonesian armed forces, General Wiranto. (like many Indonesians, he has only one name). A relative unknown (to the outside world), Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono -THIS Indonesian has three names - is leading in the surveys. Because their orientation is more European than American, the framers of the Indonesian Constitution had the foresight and practical common-sense to provide for a second round or run-off election, which has been scheduled in advance for September. By that time, Filipinos may still be arguing, debating, screaming, shut-up-ing, prayer-vigil-ing, kudeta-ing and EDSA-ing about who won in May, but Namfrel may finally be winding up its quick count.. ***** The bulk of this article appears in the June 12, 2004 issue of the Philippines Free Press magazine. OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �No Common Sense� Thank you for sending me the above article. What you wrote is a confirmation that despite the years of political independence from Spain and the United States the idea of democracy in the Philippines is a work in progress. Filipino voters brought a lot of cerebrally deficient legislators and managers who slow down rather than speed up the political, social, and economic stability of the country. They have become a hindrance, and obstacle, and an enormous impediment to growth. Their behavior in private and in public is a disgrace to the nation! Dr. Nestor P. Baylan, [email protected] New York, USA June 03, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, Your article really made my day. It only took me ten minutes of watching congress in television to convince myself it was a waste of my time. Cong. Delaying Dilingalen should be required to reimburse the tax payers' money for all the time he wasted. Wouldn't having another election (run-off) be just prolonging the agony of the voting public? I think we should just stick to a two party system to have a majority president. Best regards. Bobby Tordesillas, [email protected] June 03, 2004 MY REPLY. A multi-party system, as has existed in Europe for decades, is more democratic than the American two-party system. The sum of political wisdom just cannot be reduced to a choice between Tweedledum and Tweedledee. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony: We have been advocating, albeit quietly, that there should be a run-off. We fully support you on this. Perhaps, now is the time to bring this into focus. Kept the flame burning. Victor S. Barrios, [email protected] Chair, Global Filipinos June 03, 2004 PS You may log into Globalfilipinos.com for more information about this coalition of overseas Filipinos. wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Tony, And we hope there would'nt be any stupid maneuvers by the FPJ camp to incite the GMA camp to declare "Martial Law". Ray Eced, [email protected] June 03, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Mr Abaya, I certainly could not explain to myself why the presiding officers of the joint session of the legislature could not stop to the delaying tactics of Didangen Delay-again. On the issue of missing COC from Camarines to me is a very very annoying demonstration of No Common Sense. With seven copies of COC prepared The system employs the redundant principle of documents. Should one copy for some reason or another is rendered unavailable there are six other copies the canvassers could refer to. It was a very simple matter of asking K4, KNP, COMELEC and other holders of COC to show their respective copies and compare them for consistency. If they all show to be similar in content then what is the problem? It was a very simple matter of saying to ex-Honorable Congressman Delay-again "Here Mr Congressman are six COC all saying the same thing. What is your problem." "Next". Every thing is no common sense and no balls in the leadership of both houses to stand up to those nitpickers whose obvious agenda is not to proclaim any president other than their own. It could even be suspected those filibusters are agents of destabilization employing to the hilt that Pinoy habit of "Huling Hirit, Baka Makalusot". All it takes to stop the agents of destabilization is common sense and bayag-balls. Sa Batangenyo dialect "Barakuhan na rin lang ang laban tingnan natin kung sino ang mas barako. Tingnan natin kung sino ang mas may bayag." Jorge Matanguihan, [email protected] June 03, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww A new addition to the Philippine menagerie. To the crab (green with envy) and the crocodile (with rapacious appetite), let?s now add the turtle afflicted with rheumatism. Vicente C. de Jesus, [email protected] June 04, 2004 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww ......you express so very well what we feel ....your sarcasm simply great .....salutary writing , Mr. ACA.......YR, your reader. [email protected] June 06, 2004 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |