Prospects for automating the Philippine elections in 2013 and 2016

Given the turnout of the Philippine's first automated elections in 2010, some would assume that the national and local elections in 2013 and possibly 2016 will likewise be automated.

Suppliers of the automated election system used in the Philippines seem to have a lock on again supplying the country with an automated election system.  

Even as it eyes bigger projects around Asia, Smartmatic may be busy trying to lock the government in to buying the automated counting machines the Philippines used and thereby be somewhat guaranteed of becoming the provider for the automated elections in 2013, since the PCOS and CCS will not work with any other system.

Despite having somewhat helped President Aquino achieve what is touted a mostly clean win, there are senators and congressmen who are still looking at some crucial project implementation issues that cropped up on the eve of the Philippine May 2010 elections.

One was an error in programming the Compact Flash Cards which, during a test run, produced error laden results -- being programmed to read forms with coordinates in double space, rather than single space.  

Another issue that cropped up was that the machine's time date stamp, apparently, could be reprogrammed or reset on election day.  This somewhat wrought havoc on the documentation it was supposed to generate, making the time and date stamp on the reports it printed subject of much doubt and raised the bogey of possible automated cheating -- since the printed records it generated, being erroneous, could not be used for any legal contest that could ensue in an electoral protest.

The ANC Leadership Forum and our options for President in 2010

The ANC Leadership Forum which was held on May 11 (exactly a year before the 2010 elections) at the Leong Hall of Ateneo De Manila University gave the Philippines a hint of the character of those planning to run for President in 2010.

Such forums are rarely seen and kudos goes to ABS-CBN, one of the country's leading networks, for broadcasting the forum live nationwide through the ABS-CBN News Channel.

Present during the forum were Senator Francis Chiz Escudero, Senator Richard Gordon, Senator Mar Roxas, Pampangga Governor Ed Panlilio, and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.

After attending the forum at the Leong Hall, I initially had the opinion that it had turned out to be rather a light discussion and more of an introduction to the emerging Presidential candidates. But then, days after the forum, I've begun hearing people in the street talking about the forum.

This is a good sign and an indication that the show had somewhat succeeded in getting people talking about who to vote for as President in the 2010 elections.

In assessing how the guests/Presidential candidates fared, I'd probably rank them as follows:

1. Senator Richard Gordon.
2. Secretary Gilbert Teodoro.
3. Governor Ed Panlilo
4. Senator Mar Roxas
5. Senator Chiz Escudero.

Why?

First, I must confess that my mind was already made up even before I attended the forum, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it could not have been unmade.

My first consideration in choosing a Presidential candidate, and therefore ranking them this way, follows the idea that we ought to look at the elections as a job interview.

In a way, we are interviewing people who will be filling up a post that is executive in nature. In looking at the qualifications of the candidates, we ought to be looking for people with the background and track record which shows clearly that they are executive material.

I ranked Gordon first because, among Presidential candidates, he has the longest track record for being a successful and effective executive. Starting with his early days as Mayor of Olongapo City to his days as Founding Chairman of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority to his days as the Secretary of the Department of Tourism and then currently, he is serving as the Chairman and CEO of the Philippine National Red Cross.

My second runner up would be Teodoro because of his avowed intelligence and current handling of the Department of National Defense. Sure, not all will agree with this and cite the defects of his leadership in the Department, but then again, he is still an executive.

Third is Governor Panlilio. He has had some success in eliminating corruption in his province.

Fourth would be Senator Roxas, because he atleast had served as Secretary of the Department of Trade and Industry.

Fifth would be Senator Escudero, because among the five who attended the forum, he has absolutely no experience as an executive. Like the rockstar he is being projected to be, he makes a lot of noise but really lacks substance.

As to how they fared during the interviews, I'd still keep Escudero in the lowest rung because of the obvious lies he pandered. Most glaring of all was his claim that he was not rich when in fact he belongs to one of the richest, most influential clans in Southern Luzon.

Slightly higher than him is Roxas who basically answered questions about his love life and he couldn't even say definitely if he would be marrying Korina Sanchez or not. He failed to hedge even a month.

Panlilio ranked a bit higher because he couldn't say how exactly how he'd settle the issue of family planning and all he could mutter was that he'd go for a broader dialogue -- a safe answer.

Still, Teodoro would rank second in the line up because of his definite and specific answers. What got me was what he said about changing the country and he believes that the work will begin with changing our institutions because institutions change behaviour.

Gordon trumped him on this point when he said that what is needed is leadership by example and this shows Gordon's experience in leading people, because he knows that people will do as their leader does.

Ado Paglinawan chooses Dick Gordon for President

(Many thanks to Pedestrian Observer GB for posting and thus making us aware of it.  This article was written by Ado Paglinawan.  He is a former press officer of the Philippine Embassy in Washington DC who occasionally contributes to the Philippines Daily Inquirer. He writes for various email groups and blogs under the pseudonym "mymaestro888". Ado has best served overseas Filipinos as a resource person providing inside information and backgrounders about the celebrated fertilizer scam that rocked the Philippine Agriculture Department and the Presidency since 2004.)

My Choice as the Next Philippine President

The Bagumbayan Movement will be inaugurated on April 27, and subsequently it will announce its choice for Philippine President in 2010. Time is running out and unless you have a better man, I hope you will, as I have chosen, concur as to the next President of the Philippines.

Move all the presidentiables from top to bottom and matrix them with qualities and achievements from left to right, and you will find out that there is only one man who we can trust to deliver on his word.

Why? Because he has already performed a national track record even if he were not yet President. Nobody but he can we verify to govern effectively.

Why? Because he is the only one who has over-delivered on his promises and our expectations.

Why? Because he is without a tinge of scandal for the many years he has served publicly.

Dick Gordon was the youngest Con-con delegate. Early in his political career, he made Olongapo the model city because of a deliberate and determined local administration. Go to "Gapo" today and see how the color-coded jeepneys still ply their daily routes efficiently. See how clean and properly zoned the city is. See how despite the country's recession, the city is booming with commercial progress.

Then we saw Mayor Gordon on top of the natural disaster when the earthquake levelled Central Luzon from Pampanga to Nueva Ecija to Zambales. Thus it was no surprise that he was also on top of emergency management when Mt. Pinatubo erupted.

In fact, Dick saved Subic from being ransacked and looted as Clark when the Americans left us holding the bag of confusion the volcano caused. He mustered home-based volunteerism to help clean up the former US naval base and prevent it from being violated.

He did not stop there, immediately after the calamity, he stopped Subic from being a white elephant and a ghost town by working for it to be legislated as and coverted into a freeport.

President Ramos appointed him chairman of Subic Bay Management Authority. He enticed the Philippine middle and upper classes to invest in Subic from leasing housing properties to putting up businesses like the yatch club and the various tourism facilities in-base. He marketed Subic as ideal for light industrials globally and ahead of China, and was able to get Acer to manufacture their computers and electronic gadgets there, Enron to take on the power supply and Fedex to base its transhipment in Asia and Oceania. 

It is not an over-statement to say that Dick already established the Subic Bay experience as microcosmic of what the Philippines can be if seriously na dstragically governed. Si Dick Gordon lang ang magdadala sa sambayanan sa isang destinasyon na alam na natin dahil nagawa na niya.

I can go on and on but let me just say he did not ask for a single centavo from the national or local government to run Subic, he operated the freeport, funding it with its inherent income and giving whatever surplus to the national treasury starting from its first year. To save on personnel cost but getting the creme de la creme, he called on the best in the Pilipino - a new bayanihan or spirit of volunteerism that even attracted my oldest daughter right after her graduation from the University of Virginia and many more second and third generation FilAms. 

Gordon was violently booted out of SBMA by Erap Estrada trumping on his yet unfinished term because the latter wanted his crony former congressman Fely Payumo to be the chairman. Of course Payumo later ravaged Subic and became filthy rich from kickbacks from smuggling and casino abuses. This saw at least Acer and Fedex moving out to China and Enron selling out to the Aboitiz interests instead because SBMA under Payumo kept mulcting the Taiwanese and the Americans.

But when Erap was himself booted out in a power grab by Gloria Arroyo, Dick accepted the portfolio of tourism secretary, and because of that we saw structural reforms combining with promotional programs erstwhile true only during the Marcos era. Intramuros became a historical showcase with year-round festivities that brought in a radical increase in in-bound traffic. With the Wow Philippines campaign, the local governments outdid each other in beautifying their towns and cities and offering attractions powered by local nuances drawing inspiration from Olongapo and Cebu cities as paradigms.

Gordon ran for senator under the administration coalition, but never joined any political party including Ramos' Lakas or Arroyo's Kampi. In fact, he does not belong to any political party. That is why he has been effective in authoring electoral reforms and piloting the Blue Ribbon investigation of the fertilizer scam that Jun Magsaysay was not able to finish.

Thus there is no hot air such as an Among Ed Panlilio promising if elected president to prosecute the Arroyos for corruption. While yet senator, Gordon has already started prosecuting Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, her husband and their ilk.

And as we speak, Dick is presiding over the return of his fellow Red Cross volunteers that have been taken hostage by the Abu Sayyaf, something that I suspect as a stated-sponsored kidnapping to stop Senator Gordon from further damaging the Arroyo presidency. I say so because this is the longest time that the Philippine military and police have cordoned off armed insurgents without really getting anywhere.

With Dick Gordon there is no guesswork, he is the definite adrenalin that we need today for a serious, deliberate, time-tested and moral leadership.

PNRC Chairman Gordon's interview regarding Mary Jean Lacaba's release

PNRC Chairman and Senator Richard Gordon gave a 'mass interview' or press briefing regarding the release of ICRC worker Mary Jean Lacaba.

Much to the disappointment of the members of the press, Mary Jean was not presented to them. PNRC Chairman Gordon said Mary Jean, having undergone severe stress and trauma, needed to be put in seclusion for a while. This would help her recover.

Perhaps giving an inkling on the statement of mind of Mary Jean when he fetched her in Zamboangga early this morning, Gordon said that Mary Jean needed to relearn how to make her own decisions.

"She had come from a situation where she had to ask permission before doing anything," Gordon said. He went on to describe the other conditions that hostages would suffer from, the symptoms ranged from fearfulness, panic, head aches, amnesia, excessive talkativeness, guilt, and others. Mary Jean, he said, would need to under go a long process of healing.

Mary Jean is under the care of the ICRC. She has already been reunited with her husband, child, and sisters.

Apart from this, Gordon described Mary Jean as 'sexier' -- meaning that the ICRC worker had lost a lot of weight during her captivity.

Abu Sayyaf hostage ICRC worker Mary Jean Lacaba FREED!

Good news arrives when you least expect it.

ICRC worker Mary Jean "Nene" Lacaba was released last night after 77 days of being held hostage by the Abu Sayyaf.

Thank you God!

Here's a video report from ABS CBN.

Pray for the ICRC hostages in Sulu

Please pray for the safe and immediate release of ICRC workers Filipino Mary-Jean Lacaba, Italian Eugenio Vagni, and Swiss Andreas Notter since they were seized while on a humanitarian mission in Sulu on January 15.

For the latest Philippine news stories and videos, visit GMANews.TV

The Inquirer dissects Cayetano's tirade against Gordon's Blue Ribbon Report on the Fertilizer Fund Scam

"I love the Inquirer, I hate the Inquirer, but I read the Inquirer."

 

In its Editorial today, the Philippine Daily Inquirer virtually defends Senate Blue Ribbon Committee Chairman from the snide and sneering attacks of Senator Alan Peter Cayetano.  

 

The young Senator, also known as Scrappy Doo (the knephew of Scooby Doo and friend of Senator Villar aka Mr. Itik), had been harping to the press that Gordon's Blue Ribbon Committee Report virtually absolved President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo.  

 

The PETULANT ranting seems misplaced since investigations into the NBN ZTE as Blue Ribbon Chairman didn't produce a report -- full, partial, preliminary or final.  In one of the many hearings (12, I think), he had the chance to make former NEDA Secretary General Romulo Neri squeal his guts out about what he knew regarding the deal but for some reason cut the questioning short.  Then after the last hearing, nothing.

 

The PETULANT rants of Cayetano betrays the fact, also, that he did not read the report before he opened his mouth.

 

The Inquirer dissects Cayetano's loose, rabid, slobbering rants.  (Does anyone have a rolled up newspaper I can borrow?  A young dog needs to be taught a few tricks.)

 

Editorial
A pack of wolves 

Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 02:45:00 02/26/2009

 

We share the sense of frustration that Sen. Alan Peter Cayetano gave vent to on Tuesday, when he criticized the Senate blue ribbon committee’s final report that he said “prematurely absolved” President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo of direct involvement in the P728-million fertilizer fund scam. [Read story] But we also share the sense of resolve and even the sense of difficult achievement that animated the report, signed by at least 11 senators and released by committee chair Sen. Richard Gordon last Monday.

 

“The public, for a long time, has demanded closure to this issue. We have done our part. Now, let the prosecution arm of government do theirs,” Gordon said.

 

There, in three short sentences, we have a succinct summing-up of the second Senate inquiry into the notorious scam perpetrated by the business-savvy former agriculture undersecretary, Jocelyn “Joc-Joc” Bolante. And there, too, in those same sentences, we find the beginnings of an answer to the three plaintive questions Cayetano raised on Tuesday. “Why was the hearing stopped, why is there now a committee report, and why was the President prematurely absolved?”

 

To belabor the obvious: The Senate is not a court; indeed, it isn’t even a prosecutorial service. It conducts investigations strictly in aid of legislation. What that responsibility means is that proof of criminal wrongdoing on the part, say, of a public official need not be ascertained “beyond a reasonable doubt,” for the Senate (and in its turn the House of Representatives) to pass legislation that prevents the same crime from being committed by the same or other public officials. The Gordon report includes several substantial recommendations for remedial legislation.

 

To be sure, the first Senate inquiry into the electioneering scandal that is the fertilizer scam, conducted by the agriculture and the blue ribbon committees of the 13th Congress, found that the President should ultimately be held accountable for it. The second inquiry reaches almost the same conclusion: “While the Committee found no evidence directly linking the President to the fertilizer scam, the acts of the former Undersecretary of the DA, Mr. Jocelyn Isada Bolante ... are deemed acts of the President since they acted within the scope of their authorities given to them by then Secretary Luis Lorenzo Jr. Since there was no reprobation or disapproval coming from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regarding their actions, it can easily be inferred that the President acquiesced [in] such acts.”

 

Do we need more confirmation that the President did not only authorize the fertilizer fund scam but — the best proof available — directly benefited from it, during the May 2004 elections? The only way to get additional confirmation is for operators like Bolante to confess the President’s own involvement; unfortunately, there is no Chavit Singson in this sordid scandal. As Sen. Panfilo Lacson told reporters, “that’s as far as the evidence could reach.”

 

Cayetano, who said he would be signing a minority report with three other senators, said it was “difficult to believe that only an undersecretary could manipulate P728 million.” The Gordon report asserts the exact same point: “Does anyone really believe that Bolante et al. would have been able to malverse such a gargantuan amount and continue to evade all sorts of liability without the acquiescence of Malacañang?”

 

The majority report’s moral certainty is shared by many people; in the absence of other witnesses, and in view of other, equally pressing matters, the blue ribbon committee did right in putting closure to the scandal. It recommended either continued investigation by the Department of Justice or the Office of Ombudsman of, or the outright filing of plunder and other charges against, the wily Bolante; it pushed for similar action against nine others implicated in the scam, described as a pack of wolves; it condemned Executive officials and agencies, including former Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin, for being remiss in their duties; it even asked for the resignation of Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez for “gross inaction.”

 

The report’s executive summary ends on a dire note: “We dread to see again the unleashing of packs of wolves feasting upon already scarce resources of government. In all probability, there were other wolf packs involved in the disposition of the remaining P535 million in fertilizer funds that have yet to be traced.” But at least, and for a second time, a start has been made.

 

The last flight of Fedex leaves Subic, Philippines

I had ignored several e-mails regarding the last flight of FedEx out of Subic and just saw a TV report on GMANews.TV, which on the whole left me asking: Who's leaving next?

I had ignored the e-mails about FedEx's last flight because I had been hearing about it for the past two or three years. According to SBMA Administrator Armand Arreza, news of FedEx abandoning its Asian Hub in the Philippines first broke some five years ago. This implies that whatever business decision that led to its pull out in the first week of February isn't because of the current global recession.

Gordon had pointed out before that the Payumo led and backed construction of a shipping port near the FedEx airstrip was one of the factors. There were many other reasons, I am sure.

Recently, I heard Senator Pia Cayetano bemoaning the loss of trees in Subic due to some construction or development within the area.

She sees trees, perhaps a couple dozen or a hundred, but doesn't see the bigger picture.

In any case, it was a sad sight to see the last flight of FedEX. Especially when you consider that it signalled the emergence of Subic as an international investment hub in the Asia Pacific.