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| ON THE OTHER HAND |
| What Now?
By Antonio C. Abaya Written June 06, 2007 For the Standard Today, June 07 issue As of June 4, with 99 out of 103 (or 96% of) provincial and municipal certificates of canvass (CoCs) accounted for, Comelec continued to put the winning list at 8-2-2 in favor of the opposition. With 197,084 out of 224,748 (or 87.7% of) precincts accounted for, the citizens� watchdog Namfrel also maintained an 8-2-2 winning list in favor of the opposition. Both the Comelec and the Namfrel lists have exactly the same names in the 12 winning slots, as well as in the larger group of 20 leading senatorial candidates. And they are in almost exactly the same order. With only three minor variations: Noynoy Aquino (GO) or Kiko Pangilinan ( Ind ) is in either 5th or 6th place. Joker Arroyo (TU) or Gringo Honasan ( Ind ) is in either 9th or 10th place. Losing candidates Vic Sotto (TU) or John Osmena (TU) is either in 19th or 20th place. All the 14 other candidates are in exactly the same places in both the Comelec and Namfrel lists. Are we supposed to be jubilant about this, asks a sarcastic reader who obviously does not understand the process. Well, at least try being appreciative, for a change, of the obvious hard, diligent work on the part of hundreds of thousands of people who made this happen. I am referring to the army of volunteers of Namfrel (under Edward Go), the PPCRV (under Tita de Villa and Howard Calleja), LENTE, Halal (under Roberto Verzola), the eagle-eyed media people (like Ricky Carandang) and the hundreds of thousands of (honest) schoolteachers who stood by their posts despite threats to their lives and limbs amid the chaos and anarchy. It should be kept in mind that Comelec bases its tabulation on certificates of canvass from the municipal or provincial treasurers� offices. On the other hand, Namfrel bases its tabulation on election returns direct from the precincts, from which the certificates of canvass are derived.. Since both are basing their tabulations on the same actual votes cast, albeit through two different routes, their ultimate results should match. The unofficial Namfrel count should confirm the official Comelec count, and Comelec should confirm Namfrel. The fact that it is happening in 2007 is a minor miracle, in the Philippine context. For various reasons, it did not happen in the 1986 snap presidential elections. It did not happen in the 1992 presidential elections. It did not happen in the 1995 senatorial elections. And it did not happen in the 2004 presidential elections. In those elections, Namfrel did not do a 100% count, leaving the Comelec unchallenged with its unverifiable numbers, especially in the last weeks of tabulation when the votes from Muslim Mindanao, deliberately delayed to allow vote wholesalers to sell their goods and services to the highest bidders from Manila, were finally factored in, almost certainly in favor of the highest bidders. With a parallel count by a credible citizens watchdog, hopefully to the very end, the professional cheats in and out of Comelec have less space to maneuver in. They cannot come out with statistically improbable numbers, as they did in past elections, without kicking up a storm of protests if Namfrel comes out with a totally different count... In the present case, the CoCs from only four Mindanao provinces have not been tabulated: Lanao del Sur, Basilan,. Surigao del Norte and Maguindanao. In the recently tabulated CoC from Lanao del Sur, the results showed a 5-6-1 winning list in favor of TU, while that of Sultan Kudarat gave a 8-3-1 tally in favor of GO. The only question now is: will it be 8-2-2 or 7-3-2, in favor of the opposition? After that is finally resolved, hopefully by the end of the week, the next question will be: what now? With the Senate firmly in control of the opposition, President Arroyo and Speaker de Venecia and their surrogates should now lay to rest any more maneuvers to amend the Constitution to shift to the parliamentary system by 2010, to enable her to remain in power beyond 2010 as prime minister. De Venecia should also give up his ambition to become head of government, as interim prime minister before 2010. With at least eight presidential wannabes in and out of the new Senate � Mar Roxas, Panfilo Lacson, Manuel Villar, Loren Legarda, Edgardo Angara, Kiko Pangilinan, Gringo Honasan, Noli de Castro � any move to abolish the Senate in favor of a malleable unicameral parliament, as De Venecia and his allies shamelessly tried to railroad through Congress last year, will now be met with fierce resistance from the recently victorious senators� supporters.. President Arroyo risks political instability and the melting away of her 6.9% GDP achievement in the first quarter of 2007 if she persists in her efforts to shift to the parliamentary system. She has just proven that a 6.9% GDP growth is achievable under a presidential system, no matter how flawed it may be in the Philippine context. Why not 8% or 9%? After all, South Korea and Taiwan have done even better, for more than 20 years, under their presidential systems. Furthermore, even though I personally favor parliamentary over presidential, I know that it is not the cure-all panacea that parliamentary advocates claim to be. It does not insulate a government from military coups d�etat. Thailand , which has had a parliamentary system since the 1930s, has also had 19 military coups d�etat, the last one still in effect after more than 20 months.. Parliamentary also does not necessarily make it easy to remove an unpopular prime minister. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has been the most unpopular PM that Israel has ever had, largely because of the botched war against the Hezbollah in Lebanon last year. In recent months, Olmert has had an approval rating of zero percent, and 65% of the Israeli public want him to step down. But he clings on to power through coalition maneuvers in the Knesset or parliament. The saving grace of parliamentary is that campaign expenses are relatively low because each candidate campaigns only in his/her electoral district, not in the entire country. But the same can be achieved in a presidential system under electoral reforms that I have suggested in the past and will expand in a future article. President Arroyo should devote the last three years of her term to leaving a good legacy by, for example, appointing fresh new faces with fresh new ideas into her Cabinet , to replace the tired and tiresome old faces who have inflicted their presence on this suffering country far too long. About three years ago, President Arroyo called for a �revolution in the way we do economics and the way we do politics.� I supported her on this call, but unfortunately her rhetoric was never matched with appropriate �revolutionary� action. Her remaining three years are enough time to launch certain initiatives that � while not quite revolutionary in the Marxist sense � are sufficient to generate momentum towards specific nation-building goals that in time may be recognized as revolutionary. ***** Reactions to [email protected]. Other articles in www.tapatt.org and in acabaya.blogspot.com OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO Reactions to �What Now?� More Reactions to �The Trillanes Tsunami� More Reactions to �The Looong Endgame� More Reactions to �Lanao in Africa � Reactions to �Inferiority Complex: A Filipino Malady� Dear Tony, Yes, the die has been cast. It is refreshing to note that the COMELEC's and NAMFREL's data are not that disparate. Certainly, the "Hello, Garci" scandal was a wake-up call for the Filipino nation. This does not mean to say, though, that there was no cheating. There were, but the magnitude did not reach that of 2004 because of the incensed citizenry's vigilance. Ten of our newly-elected Senators were proclaimed yesterday. Majority of them are from the opposition. I am happy that my classmate Chiz finished second. He has always been our voice, articulating our issues for us in the House of Representatives. This is what endeared him to the voters. What now? That we elected more opposition Senators should assure us that we will have an independent Senate. But it does not. In the Philippines where the party system is weak if not inexistent, political butterflies are a "durable" species. There is no reason to expect the opposition Senators to remain sterilized from the dictates of Malaca�ang. Look at the phenomenal conversion of Tito Sotto, Tessie Aquino Oreta, Joker Arroyo, Ed Angara and -the most astounding of them all- Miriam Santiago. I am a bit apprehensive about Sen. Gringo Honasan. Lately, he has been issuing enigmatic statements. Were there deals regarding his rebellion case? I would not put it past DOJ Secretary Raul Gonzales to craft one. And how about Mar Roxas (I like his position on JPEPA though.), Kiko Pangilinan and the others like them who want to occupy chairs on the safe side every time the situation gets hot? If the result of the senatorial election is any indication, the nation is tired of people who are Gloria's sycophants. I believe that Recto, Sotto and Oreta would have made it if they did not ally themselves with the leading lady in "Hello, Garci." Joker would have garnered more votes. Our Senators should not forget the lessons learned from this latest electoral exercise. They should always "make sipsip" to the people with pro-people legislations. Otherwise, we will make them account in the next elections. More power to your column. Very truly yours, Cheryl Daytec, (by email), June 07, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Abaya: "What now" is exactly the concern of everyone. Media and the citizens groups like Namfrel, Lente and PPCRV all proved that with close guarding the cheating in and out of Comelec can be preempted and even prevented. We congratulate these groups for a job well done. But we cannot say the same thing for Hello Benjie Abalos (some say the flipside of "Hello Garci"). His actions or inaction as the CEO of Comelec all appeared, in my opinion, to be attempts to cheat or favor administration candidates. As the CEO, he must be held accountable for the overall and specific performance of Comelec. Surely, the inefficiencies, intended or not, like absentee voters ballots getting lost or waylaid in the mails, voters names not found in listings in precincts, burning of Comelec depositories of ballot boxes as aired in this morning's newscast by Ted Failon, suspicious transfers of election returns to a hotel as documented by Ricky Carandang, poor supervision of Comelec officials and lack of Benjie's control over his own people---all this show that Benjie as CEO is a failure. Now what do we do with a CEO who has failed the "stockholders", the people? I think even his master, GMA, cannot be happy with Benjie's performance. His performance is almost pathetic. Just listen and watch his rationalizations on TV, calling a dagdag bawas discovery as merely an "honest mistake", a clear case of prejudgment. He had not conducted an investigation, yet immediately, brazenly, he dismissed the issue as "honest mistake". Rene Sarmiento had more balls than Benjie when he resigned over the Ricky Carandang expose. I wonder if Benjie would have the same moral courage to quit Comelec for the failure to conduct an orderly, honest and credible election. Were it not for the brave men in media, Namfrel, PPCRV, Lente and countless prayers of millions, in my opinion, Benjie might have done a repeat of "Hello Garci". Shame on him. Let's forget impeachment. Benjie has all that figured out being once a small time judge in Mandaluyong (outside, that is). Let us, the people, demand that he resign for failure to do his job as mandated by the constitution. Not for cheating or immorality (like sexual harassment in office) because we have to go through the "impossible" judicial process we have around here. But let's ask Media to expose him as a person ( who is he really?) and as a CEO who failed in his job. Maybe by kicking out a failure like Benjie, in the future, the next CEO of Comelec might try to do a better job. So my answer to your question "what now?" is , let's put pressure on Benjie, on his family, his friends and associates, that he may do us the favor of quitting Comelec before his presence there pollutes all our lives. It is only fair that the guy responsible for all the cheating, in and out, of Comelec be held accountable. Whoever he may be. We may not be able to identify this guy and prove him guilty. But surely, Benjie as CEO must accept responsibility for every small time or big time crook in Comelec. He cannot escape this responsibility. As CEO, he is clearly identified and the conduct and results of this elction all prove his failure as CEO. Perhaps, he might be guilty also of cheating, dereliction of duty, conspiracy, sexual harrassment, etc, etc. but we leave that to the Ombudsman, if we have a brave and honest one. If we can have the will and the courage to do the "next thing" then we have hope for the future. John Salamat, (by email), June. 07, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, The people have spoken. Rightly or wrongly, the greater number of Filipinos are disappointed with the performance of GMA and her administration. So the go for GO. The apparent better economy is very deceptive. It is only good for the few rich families and companies, while the sea of ordinary citizens have very little. Ralph Recto, the author of E-VAT, has made it possible for the small consumers pay more to sustain government spending. The better Peso-Dollar exchange is because of the OFWs dollar remittances, who suffer and even sacrifice their lives to the better economy of our country. GMA administration failed to support agriculture and industrializations that are the wealth builders of any country with rich natural resources as ours. Instead of the Philippines being a producer and exporter, we have become consumers and importers of foreign produced goods, which we can very well produce in our country. We hope and pray that we will have a better Philippines . It cannot be done by our politicians and government officials. It can be done by every Filipino who loves the Philippines and make themselves productive. We have to give up gambling and any game of chance. It gives us false hopes and make us unproductive. Make Gambling a mortal sin in the Philippines . Bawal ang Tamad sa Pilipinas. Let those who do not work go hungry, so the pain of an empty stomach will awaken them to work and be productive. We have idle and unproductive lands in our countryside and even in urban areas. Roadsides can be planted to vegetables and fruit trees for the residents and passersby. There is opportunity to be productive, as long as our people will learn and accept the dignity in labor. Plant today and harvest tomorrow. Rex Rivera, (by email), June 07, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Good day, Tony, I personally have mixed emotions on the result of the last senatorial election. It's nice that most of the winners have solid track records as lawmakers. Gomez, Sotto or Montano are losers, unlike in the last election where Revilla and Lapid made it. It also equally sad that undeserving candidate made it. Cayetano and Pimentel are poster boys of the hated political dynasties. And of course, Trillanes and Honasan are coup plotters and both have pending cases in the court. They should not have been allowed to run in the first place. Yes they have not yet been convicted, but what if they are? We all witnessed the coup that they plotted, so is there ground for them not to be convicted. The sad thing is that their election will absolve their crime. Regarding ways to improve our election and the government in general, I think we do not need to change the form of government, only the conduct of election. Indeed we should start with computerization and election of senators by region. But we should re-think again the synchronized election. Since we elect local and national post at the same time, national issues are hardly given importance, except in Metro Manila and other highly urbanized areas. People just go through the motion of electing senators without really considering it's national importance and significance. I moved here in Cabuyao six years ago and during elections people are only concerned about local issues and hardly any peep about national concern, And this place is only 50km away from Manila ! Synchronized election also makes running for office more expensive. Candidates have to pay double to their local leaders for support since most of these people are also campaigning for themselves. We should conduct election every 6 years and separate the national and local elections. Less election, less money spend and less violence. Regards, Marvin Valido, (by email), June 09, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Manong Tony, You raised a very challenging question in your article aptly entitled, "What Now". You indicated that there may be a melting away of PGMA's 6.9% GDP achievement if x x x. This is a concern for most of us. On my part, I have expressed this concern by sharing my thoughts/opinions with others orally and in the written word via e-mails and published articles.I hope and pray that like you, I can do more. Best regards and GOD bless us all. Jerry Quibilan, (by email), June 09, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Thank you for including me in your mailing list. Ben Peczon, PhD, (by email), June 10, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Dear Tony, I am in Nashville , TN. USA . I have been interested in the Philippines for many years. I've visited there several times. I read the Manila Standard, Cebu Star, and Manila Bulletin (on line version) every day. I have read MANY of your articles. This is the first time I have written any columnist.. I suppose my primary interest in the RP is the mining interest there. I only write to tell you that I enjoy your work. Dave L. Sherrill, (by email), Nashville , Tennessee , June 07, 2007 Wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww More Reactions to �The Trillanes Tsunami� (May 17, 2007) As it was written, Trillanes did not campaign hard except for some TV advertisements. It was also written that the people behind his campaign were from the left. What will he do now in the Senate is to campaign for the cause of the very same people who love to destabilize the government. Yes, truly, we cannot be the same like those countries that have only one day for elections and more days for cooperation. I believe Trillanes' ambition is money. Yet, I would swallow my pride if he could stay away from the benefits of being a Senator and just take the salary for the job. Well, he said his service for the Filipino people is free. It�s time to take him up on his offer. I don't think this will happen 'though. The left needs his money and services. Oh...those people. Rene Santos, (by email), Los Angeles , CA , June 10, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Hi Tony I especially enjoyed this long piece about politicians I have never heard of except for our own much-despised neighbor Pacquiao. His Baywalk place across the street from us blasts some of the world's worst singers and music until 3 or 4 in the morning, thanks to a cloak of untouchability from former mayor Atienza and he has driven most of the tenants out of our apartment house on Roxas Blvd. across the street from the Yacht Club. Your piece is analytically precise and hard-hitting but has nice overtones of sympathetic Dickensian character description and Twain's irony. Alexandra York (by email), June 13, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Reactions to �Inferiority Complex: a Filipino Malady� Hi Antonio Abaya! I must have received this email by accident - it must not have been so intended for me. So, I'm not sure what to do with this except that I may have been forced to read the article of one American Barth Suretsky whose worldview has been sort of 'seconded' by a certain Frank Woolf. Some of the images in the article may have been really presented as graphic as they could be, but the equivocation or the reductionist drift is not just contentious but contemptuous as well. It is not my plan to debunk it in its entirety. But if the writer as much as post it in the PhilippinePolitics.net, I shall find time to destroy the mistaken view into pieces. Thanks, Antonio Abaya, for sending this email as though to keep me abreast of certain other things. God bless. Primer Pagunuran, (by email), June 10, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Abaya, I completely agree with Mr. Suretsky. Most Filipinos have very low self esteem. It is obvious from the way we fight for our turf the impolite way, always wanting to be ahead in lines, in traffic, etc. The way we can not properly confront when we have to (like when you offer something to somebody and shyly says no, but once your back is turned, grabs at whatever it is you offered). I suspect this has been handed down for generations after years of abuse from Spain , years of torture from Japan and years of deception from America . After all those years of struggling and surviving under demeaning and humiliating environment, nothing was left but a broken core. This was followed by destruction of our inherent morality by Marcos who knew how broken the Filipinos are and how easily they can follow the way a dog follows a bone tempted before them. Now we are core-broken and totally immoral. There is really no way but to start with the children. Again I speak of parenting. Children should be respected and self-esteem built-up from the moment they are conceived. Parents don�t know the power they have in developing young minds into a responsible and morally sensitive citizens. I wish those who are married are given parenting lectures too. Pediatricians should take time in guiding the parents. I still have great hopes for my country. Pura Flor Isleta, (by email), June 12, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww Mr. Abaya, I read the entire article you shared on Filipino inferiority complex thinking that there will be some RXs to surmounting it somewhere in the piece, sadly it failed to offer anything of the sort. I believe inferiority complex is just a symptom or manifestation of a deeper malady. I am interested knowing what that root malady is so together as a nation we may start to work towards possibly curing it. Maybe the cure will take a century to take effect so there is no time to waste. Let's start the curative (salvific ?) journey this afternoon ! It is an interesting idea indeed as you said. More power ! Ernie del Rosario, (by email), Cainta, Rizal, June 18, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww More Reactions to �The Looong Endgame� (May 28, 2007) Dear Tony, I think a conceding candidate just morally loses the right to file a complaint in case the final result showed the winner to win only by a small margin over the former. Nars Silverio, (by email), June 11, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww More Reactions to �Lanao in Africa � (May 30, 2007) Mr. Abaya, Why is the Comelec always the one in the bullseye of electoral mess criticisms ? Why not the politicians ? I believe the politicians are the ones who should be at the dead center of the problem being the root of these long festering ills of our political/electoral system. The other factors (which include some, not all Comelec people) populate only the succeeding layers of the "dartboard.". The ones who made the election laws, with loopholes upon loopholes assuredly embedded, were/are politicians (dynastic ones pa nga!). Comelec's mandate is to implement these laws but the politicians are the ones who use with impunity said loopholes to cheat. Also, Comelec is given gums, not teeth, to implement the electoral laws yet is expected to deliver perfect elections (impossible in practice and in principle). We need some electoral paradigm rethinking here ! And some tempering of our expectations from Comelec. Mantras like "making every vote count" or "equal voting rights" are nice rhetorically but impossible to really satisfy if we look deeply into the science and mathematics needed to effect them. There is an inevitable gap between the idealism of our "equal voting rights" rhetoric and the reality of whatever the best designed and best implemented system of electoral administration (whether automated or not) is capable of achieving. We should instead aspire for optimal, not perfect, elections. For as long as elections are legitimate, small imperfections SHOULD be accepted. More power, Ernie del Rosario, (by email), Cainta, Rizal, June 11, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww May I suggest though that we also print some things positive about the Philippines . I still live here in the country and I know things are not going very well but things are not all that bad either. If we keep harping only on the negatives, we get so overwhelmed with the negatives it would be like pushing a train uphill. And who wants to do that. Let us keep a more open perspective so that we can think of some things to do to improve the situation. Remedios Marmole�o, (by email), June 11, 2007 (For something positive, please see my article Hooray for 6.9% (June 04, 2007. ACA) wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww You said : "Try being a little appreciative of the hard work of hundreds of thousands of volunteers of Namfrel, PPCRV, Halal, LENTE and others who made it happen. At any rate, what do you suggest as an alternative? It is easy to curse and condemn everyone and everything, but what do you offer in its place?--" OH I am appreciative of their effort indeed!! (By being sarcastic? ACA) My point is - if COMELEC is doing its job the way it is suppose to be doing then there is no reason to even talk about Namfrel and others. Instead here we are "jubilant" about how Namfrel and other is checking Comelec to stay in the straight and narrow. As to your question "what do you offer"----- why not clean up the COMELEC instead? Of course, I am cognizant to the fact that reality in RP politics make it difficult if not impossible to clean up COMELEC-- so we stay on with NAMFREL et al-- and are suppose to be JUBILANT about this situation? UNLESS, the Filipino people should try to rectify the situation-- -- we will forever need Namfrel et al. I will be JUBILANT if the time comes when we don't need Namfrel,PPCRV etc etc.!! Alexander Po, (by email), June 12, 2007 wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwew Dear Mr. Abaya, This past election is a very good eye opener. Election fraud are very apparent, and sad to observe perpetrated by commelec officials themselves. Our sitting president, GMA is perceive to be elected through cheating, and we are not happy to have a tainted leader, the whole world now. How can the GMA adkinistration govern with clean moral acendancy? In spite of these negative events, we see the light of truth regaining over the darkness of deception, command votes, etc. We see candidates in the senate with unbending principle were voted upon by a great number of people. Trillanes and Cayetano among them.We see that money cannot buy out most of the citizenry. We see a lot of martyrs of democracy being killed, murdered by those who would like to silence them from speaking the truth, both Christian and Muslims. We see the real situation in Muslim dominated areas, where people are still suppressed without true freedom. We see families building political dynasties, as against the intent of our Constitution, the basic law of the country. We see candidates making a lot of promises, buying and begging for votes, but when elected, they lord it over their constituents, and forget all their promises and oppress those who did not support them. We see many elected officials including our President, GMA, to be vindictive to regions and communities where the lost . More pork to their followers and no pork to their oponents constituency. We see elected representatives in Congress, represent their own family interest, and not really the interest and concern of their constituents.We see a lot wrong, but we also see a lot of opportunities to right the wrongs. May God bless the Philippines , Rex Rivera, (by email), June 12, 2007 OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO |