All clear for first nationwide automated polls in RP

Yesterday, the Philippine Supreme Court's decision in favor of allowing the conduct of automated polls nationwide on May 2010 was leaked ahead of the high tribunal's official announcement. But it created nary a stir among those claiming to be champions of democracy and inheritors of one of the country's oldest political parties.

Instead, the Philippine media blasted the airwaves and flooded front pages with the sugar-free rush delivered by Senator Noynoy Aquino's buckling announcement of seeking the Presidency in the coming elections next year.

Today, this major development in Philippine politics would have goneby unnoticed until activist lawyer Harry Roque found it necessary to pick nits over the decision.

Roque, though unknown for winning any of the high profile cases that he has filed, has thought it best to ask the Supreme Court to cite Comelec Chairman Jose Melo in contempt for allegedly leaking the decision on the case he filed against Smartmatic-TIM -- the lone winning bidder for the electronic voting machines that will be used in the May 2010 elections.

In a five-page motion, the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM), through lawyer Harry Roque, said Melo committed an improper conduct that tends to directly or indirectly impede, obstruct or degrade the administration of justice.

“If public respondent Melo can flaunt his commission or illegal acts in obtaining confidential proceedings of the Supreme Court, then, how can he be trusted with the sanctity of the electoral process,” petitioners said.

source: Philippine Daily Inquirer

The CCM pointed out the case of retired Supreme Court Justice Ruben Reyes, who was indefinitely suspended by high tribunal for leaking an unpromulgated court decision.

Senator Richard Gordon, who authored RA 9369 and steered the Oversite Committee on Electoral Reforms in order to assure funding for automated polls in 2010, bristled with optimism over the Supreme Court's decision.

In a statement released this afternoon, Gordon said:

The Supreme Court’s decision in favor of the automation of the may 2010 presidential elections is a very welcome development. It will pave the way for clean, honest, credible elections.

The decision effectively removed the legal barrier to the automation of next year’s elections. The ruling would allow the commission on elections to go full throttle in the preparations and implementation of poll automation.

An automated election will be a game changer. It will prevent those with Ph.ds in ‘daya-logy’ (cheating) from perpetrating their evil deeds. Years and years of cheating-ridden elections have already allowed them to acquire ph.ds in election manipulation.

Its speed and the fact that it will be the first nationwide automated elections in the country will ensure that the holders of ph.d in ‘daya-logy’ (cheating) will not have time to prepare for this system.

RA 9369 or the Amended Automated Election Law has enabled the country to hold automated elections in 2010 by taking out the barriers to its implementation.

When Gordon was pushing for this vital piece of legislation, other Senators deliberately delayed its passage by not participating in its interpellation and the sessions stalled a number of times because of a lack of quorum. Among those who stalled the passage of RA 9369 were Senator Mar Roxas, former Senator Cerge Osmena, and a couple of others.

As a result, the law was passed around January 23, 2007 with a mandate that allowed Comelec to immediately implement automated elections. However, the Comelec decided not to implement even the pilot phase of the automated elections -- a decision that this year became the basis for Attorney Harry Roque's petition against Smartmatic-TIM.

As far as discerning between those who pay lip service and those who actually work for a stronger democracy, it might be a good idea to consider what one Presidential candidate has done and what another Presidential candidate is just PROMISING TO DO.

Noynoy or Mar Roxas, for that matter, will not harp on their track record or the lack of it.

Electoral Mafia says "Good times are here again!"

Virgilio Garcillano, Lintang Bedol, and perhaps even Benjamin Abalos plus all the other unnamed people suspected of being masters of manipulating the country's electoral process are going to be flush with money again.

Of course, no one of the election mafia will surface and admit that their latest multi-million peso acquisitions came from politicians who in turn stole it from the nation's coffers or from kidnapping for ransom (a traditional form of fund raising) or from contributions from illegal businesses (like jueteng, the flourishing multi-billion peso shabu trade, or even the multi-billion peso fake DVD manufacturing business).

Do you wonder who is running the country? It ain't Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. It's the shady characters who are giving money to politicians.

Also, do you believe that people like Manny Villar will really spend their own money to help people out? Do you really know where all the money he is spending on TV ads is coming from?

Unless I be accused on singling Villar out, let's also ask the other big spenders on political ads where the money they spent came from?

Ang mahirap nito, illigal na nga iyong pag-gastos sa maagang pangangampanya, baka iligal din iyong pinanggagalingan.

TIM pulls out from SMARTMATIC, endangers Philippines first automated elections in 2010

With Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) pulling out from the consortium built with Smartmatic, hope for the Philippines holding its first nationwide automated elections in 2010 has been dashed.

TIM is the Filipino partner of Smartmatic, fulfilling a requirement for foreign corporations setting up businesses in the Philippines.

TIM president Jose Mari Antuñez told him that TIM was pulling out of the partnership with Smartmatic, citing unspecified “irreconcilable differences.” A source privy to the Comelec’s automation efforts said that lack of funds and unpreparedness prompted TIM’s withdrawal.

Smartmatic cannot form a new joint venture with another company because it is against national procurement laws.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of compromising his role in the initiative, said that TIM needed an additional P300 million to meet its P700-million share as a partner.

The source noted that TIM could easily enter into a loan to obtain this amount “since the contract is already a sure shot, which makes us wonder what ‘irreconcilable differences’ mean.”

The Smartmatic-TIM group was awarded the contract after a month-long bidding process that saw seven election companies compete for the P11.3-billion project.

The group made a P7.2-billion bid and won the right to lease 82,200 counting machines that would allow the Comelec to complete the canvassing of votes in two days instead of weeks under the manual system.

Senator Richard Gordon, author of RA 9369 or the Amended Automated Election Law and leading advocate for modernized elections in the Philippines, said that the pull out of TIM from Smartmatic at such a crucial hour was suspicious.

"Is there somebody forcing partnership with Smartmatic or is this a deliberate attempt to torpedo the automation process so there will be cheating as usual?” asked Gordon, who has been vocal on his desire for poll automation to happen in next year’s polls.

He said that prior to TIM’s pullout, there was a public relations campaign to oppose the project.

He said that this latest development seemed to show that “some people are playing with the fate of democracy in our country.”

“There is a group in Comelec (Commission on Elections) that doesn’t want automation. It must be too powerful ... The government is too weak. It has no moral and legal stamina to do, implement what it should implement,” Gordon told reporters.

“I will be devastated if full automation will not push through. I might call a blue ribbon hearing on this matter,” he said, adding that the failure of the project would mean a violation of the law.

“There is a mandate that we have to go automation. There are many Pandora’s boxes that will be opened if it does not happen,” he said, speaking in English and Pilipino.

“It appears that there is no intention to push this through. Maybe they are following the administration threat that it would not happen.”

The thing that is on my mind right now is that the Philippines' last hope for clean and credible elections in 2010 may also be dead -- just like my father.

Comelec to test Smartmatic-TIM machines, automated election naysayers dared to witness

A couple of noisy groups, one from the University of the Philippines, has been trying to raise issues against the automation of the 2010 elections.  

They have gained adherents among bloggers and among them was Tonyo Cruz.

One point they've raised is the possibility that automated elections could lead to automated cheating.  Without proof of concept and without showing that any automated election system could be hacked, the group has insisted on its position to bar automated election until they have scrutinized the automated election system to be implemented.

They have asked for the public distribution and scrutiny of the source code of the automated election machines that will be used.  They have also come out saying that the ballots (machine readable as it is) be manually counted at the precincts and that the canvassing be the only part of the election process to be automated.  At least one former Comelec Commissioner, not known to have conducted elections free of fraud, has even espoused the use of the same manual counting process and the use of indelible ink in lieu of the biometric system.

At every momentous turn of our nation's history, we have often found naysayers who raise every bogey imaginable in an effort to keep us from discovering what lies ahead just beyond the horizon.  And yet, when dared to look and discover for themselves, they become scarce and make up all manner of reasons why they shouldn't even look.

Some of these people even claim expertise in a field of science that demands rigorous examination and yet they become squeamish at the sight of the possibility of their favored hypothesis being proven wrong.

The Philippine's Commission on Election has just declared Smartmatic and Total Information Management Corporation as having the single complying bid for the contract to automate the 2010 polls.

The next step will be to test their automated election system to make sure that it complies with the requirements for accuracy and security demanded by the Amended Automated Election Law or RA 9369 which was authored by Senator Richard Gordon.

We are closer to doing away with Hello Garci and this perhaps, if anything, should salve the wounds left by the controversy as we have a very real possibility to doing away with wholesale election fraud that happens every three years.

The challenge for these groups who are against poll automation is to witness the Comelec's testing of the automated election machines that will be used in the 2010 polls and then raise their objections if the machines do not comply with the requirements set forth in RA 9369.

Here is an excerpt of the Philippine Daily Inquirer report:

MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Elections’ bidding committee Tuesday announced that the consortium of Smartmatic International and Total Information Management Corp. (Smartmatic-TIM) had “the single complying bid” for the contract to automate the 2010 polls.

This paves the way for a demonstration of the company’s election machines on Wednesday.

At the same time, the Special Bids and Awards Committee (SBAC) stressed that the announcement was made without prejudice to the consortium of AMA Group Holdings and Elections Systems and Software International (AMA-ES&S), which is expected to file a motion for reconsideration of its bid.

“Wherefore without prejudice to the motion that AMA-ES&S will file, the SBAC now declares Smartmatic-TIM the bidder that submitted the single complying calculated bid,” the four-page resolution said.

“We therefore order that Smartmatic-TIM undergo post-qualification proceedings immediately and that its machines be forthwith tested to determine compliance with the criteria set for one worthy of this historic leap in Philippine elections,” the SBAC said.

SBAC chair Ferdinand Rafanan said declaring the firms with the complying bids would hasten the bidding process that has been delayed by two weeks.

Smartmatic-TIM, which submitted a bid of P7.2 billion, was the only bidder out of seven that hurdled the eligibility, technical, and financial screenings.

The bid of AMA-ES&S was reconsidered last weekend when the SBAC ruled that documents it filed in lieu of a certificate of acceptance from its United States client would be acceptable. The company was given up to Thursday to complete its documentation and file an appeal.

Junked with finality

The SBAC, however, junked with finality the appeals of the consortia led by Sequoia Voting Systems and Gilat Satellite Network to reconsider their bids.

According to SBAC, Sequoia failed to produce an import permit while Gilat’s technical bid lacked material on ballot security, among others.

“No further motions or requests or clarifications shall be entertained,” the bidding team said.

The SBAC said it would proceed with the testing of Smartmatic-TIM’s voting and counting machines.

Rafanan said information technology and software experts from the Comelec, Department of Science and Technology, and other agencies would check the machines against 26 criteria, including its accuracy, power capacity, and security features.

Meanwhile, various groups continued to air doubts and criticism of the counting technology chosen by the Comelec.

At a forum Tuesday sponsored by the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG), a software expert from the Ateneo de Manila University said it was not impossible for the voting and counting machines to be “corrupted by malicious software or a virus.”

Retired computer science professor Pablo Manalastas raised fears that “a goon from a party” could insert a flash disk into the Comelec’s Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) system and “replace the running program.”

He urged the poll body to check the program a day before election day. He said this was a vital step that takes only “a few seconds.”

CenPEG, a policy think-tank based in the University of the Philippines, issued a statement saying the Comelec’s chosen technology “does not fully comply with the principle of secret voting and public counting.” It said the system lacked transparency and deprived voters their right to observe and check the counting.

The spectre of massive electoral fraud in 2010

All seven bidders for the automated elections system that will be implemented by Comelec have been disqualified. This raises the specter that massive electoral fraud will happen in 2010, just as it happened in 2007, 2004, 2001, 1998, 1995, and 1992!

Hello Garci is coming back to haunt us and only a few people give a hoot.

Only a few Facebook friends dared to comment on my status post on the matter. My blog entry on the issue scarcely managed a couple of hits.

I am tempted to think that this is an indication that no one really cares about automated elections and no one is even willing to raise a ruckus about it.

Other top blogs haven't taken it up. Ellen Tordesillas, Chef Tonio, Citizens on Mars, Mt. Balatucan Monitor, New Philippine Revolution, and others are all focused on their respective spiels on politics and whatever else.

Better Philippines has yet to take up the issue. Perhaps he will consider doing this because it involves the first attempt to implement a system that should be designed to prevent the manipulation of electoral poll results. Surely, it won't eliminate electoral fraud completely but it will certainly stop -- even for a time -- wholesale vote manipulation.

Mar's BFF blogger and my Facebook friend Kevin Ray Chua has thankfully lent his voice to the cause of automated elections. He has posted status updates on the matter and I've commented on it several times together with Bagumbayan compatriot and Facebook buddy Noni Velasco.

Kevin didn't say much in his status update, save for saying that he doesn't want manual elections in 2010 and that he's sick and tired of it. I am hoping he'll come out with something more substantial in terms of a blog entry or possibly get Mar to rally with us next week at the Comelec -- instead of riding a bike, being Ninong to quintiplets, crying on television, and getting Jun Lozada out of jail. He'll get media mileage for a really good cause and I will personally forgive him for DELAYING THE PASSAGE OF RA 9369.

Noni, on the other hand was really fired up and I'd like to share his comments on Kevin's status updates and my own status updates:

(1)
So many innocent lives perished , public school teachers in particular due to HIRED goons, operators etc.. Our neighboring countries are automated a long time ago.. If we Filipinos will not push for automated elections , because we are afraid of hackers, then let's all throw away our laptops, PC's because cyber is BS.. including our FB accounts!

(2)
I have been a poll watcher since 1992, we all know how dirty the manual canvassing is done, from the barangay, to the municipal then to the Provincial "where the provincial treasurer is MAGICIAN" Obama was proclaimed so quickly.. The 2007 senatorial winners were proclaimed after a month!

(3)
Mano mano pag natalo maglulupasay. parang bata na agawan ng kendi . tulad nun isang matandang politiko na natalo ang anak ... hehehe aayaw ayaw pa kasi, eh nadaya na rin sya noon, di pa nadala hehehe.

(4)
Like in 2004 , A mayoralty candidate was leading in the tabulations for four days, he became confident, complacent, came sunday night the magic started, monday morning his rival took the lead, eventually was proclaimed, why because the longer the time, rigging is massive.

(5)
The Philippines should push through with the automated polls, to at least minimize election fraud and quicker results because if we remain manual, we might have a constitutional crisis especially on the president because they should be inaugurated before July 1, 2010. or else Senate President Manong Juan Ponce enrile will be the acting President

Thank you Noni, isa ka talagang Bagumbayani!!

Hacking the 2010 Automated Elections or Laying the predicate for Villar's electoral protest when he loses in 2010

I think the name of the game here is to stop Automated Elections in the Philippines, no matter what the cost is.

Then again, we may have an example of a duck that laid, not a golden egg, but a predicate for an electoral protest when his billionaire candidate loses in 2010 -- despite the surveys that say he will win.

In an Inquirer article Senator Alan Peter Cayetano said at a press conference that he has filed a resolution setting aside P100 million as an incentive to anyone who can convincingly demonstrate the weakness of the automated poll system.

Cayetano, at a press conference Friday, said that if any IT expert can establish that the system to be used in the 2010 polls is not secure from fraud and tampering, “Comelec should cancel the contract, save the P11 billion and sue for damages the contractor in the event of such successful hacking.”

He said he would rather revert to the manual counting of votes if the computerized system would lead to wholesale cheating.

The reporter did not mention if Cayetano's resolution identified the source of funding or if such funds are really available.

I think what Cayetano is really doing is laying the predicate for a electoral protest later, just as is often the case with all the elections we have been through since we had elections. This is the rotten, transactional culture that is HIS legacy and heritage -- kay Cayetano, walang nananalo at walang natatalo, kungdi may mga abugadong nagsasabi na may mandaraya at may nadaya.

I think it is short of saying that he knows that with the Automated Election System in place, his favored Billionaire Presidential candidate from Las Pinas will lose in the 2010 elections -- contrary to all the surveys that say he will win.

Another reason why he wants to find out if the Automated Election System has flaws is that he wants to find out how the automated election system can be cheated, so his billionaire buddy from Las Pinas can exploit the vulnerabilities.

But in any case, as I have said, any mere mention of money for hacking is enough to create a friendster among computer geeks.

I can see a situation where hundreds of Filipino geeks with laptops are going to claim that they can hack the Automated Election System and live-out their fantasy of being Hugh Jackman's character in Swordfish -- because many of them weren't alive when Robert Redford did Sneakers.

And right on cue, the Computer Professionals' Union (the first time I've heard of them) has surfaced to say that hacking the Automated Election System can be done.

A group of computer experts has warned that the planned automation of national and local elections in May next year will not diminish fraud and cheating and could lead to the rise of a new type of election operator capable of manipulating the results of the automated polls.

Rick Bahague, national coordinator of the Computer Professionals’ Union, said automated large scale cheating could happen with the Commission on Elections’ (COMELEC) plan for automated elections. He said poll automation could give rise to a new "Garci", referring to former Commission on Elections official Virgilio Garcillano who allegedly tampered with the elections results of the 2004 presidential elections.

"Perpetrators of cheating and fraud like Garci will be back in 2010, more manipulative and more systematic than the past elections with the help of [automated elections system] that we have to be ready to preempt their plans," Bahague said in a statement on the CPU website.

Bahague said the proposed automated election system (AES) has several technical vulnerabilities including insider threats, software engineering limitations, network vulnerabilities and lack of required auditing procedures.

In the last paragraph, Bahague's claim of knowledge about technical vulnerabilities in the Automated Election System seems like he really knows something about it. But then again, terms such as "insider threats" or "software engineering limitations" or "network vulnerabilities" are just high fallutin terms which can be attributed even to the most advanced and sophisticated computer systems.

I am sure, there are geniuses within the Computer Professional's Union that can claim to have hacked an ATM network and made away with hundreds of millions of pesos.

I've met a lot of Filipino super geeks in my life and the more respectable ones are still blowhards when it comes to hacking.

Anyway, not one sentence in the article says that the Computer Professional's Union has actually gotten their hands on the Automated Election System or has actually tried to hack the system successfully.

Just as well, Cayetano and the Computer Professional's Union are both barking at the wrong time as the ideal time to spot flaws has already passed. They should have tried spotting flaws when the Automated Elections System was tested in the ARMM elections.

The Automated Election System was already tested and passed successfully during the ARMM elections. The ARMM is among the most difficult areas in which to ensure honest, clean and accurate elections. It was an acid test for the Automated Elections System and if any so called technical vulnerabilities were present, it should have shown up during the ARMM polls and would have been exploited -- but no one was able to breach the security features of the AES.

The Computer Professional's Union, lest it be suspected of wanting or planning to sabotage the electoral process, should have volunteered to do ethical hacking when Automated Elections were being held in ARMM. For real hackers to earn their keep, they should try hacking on a real live system and not a simulation -- that would have been available during the ARMM elections.

I wonder who's funding the Computer Professional's Union? See if the bank is from Pateros or Las Pinas, you'll have your answer -- unless, of course, they got their money in cash.

Vote for a VET

Just today, I read that the administration is supporting Gilbert Teodoro as its Presidential bet for 2010.

Surveys have Noli De Castro in the lead followed by others like Loren Legarda, Chiz Escudero and Erap.

It seems powerful and moneyed forces are trying to make up our minds for us.

Perhaps, apart from values, our choice of who we will vote for as President reflects how we see our country and the situation we are in.

When we vote, we are not voting just for ourselves, we are voting for someone who will do what is right for the common good. We are in dire straits.

In two or three years, we will begin to feel the real effect of the global financial crisis.

Corruption is everywhere. Crime is being perpetrated in broad daylight. Both the corrupt and the criminal are unafraid of law enforcers and judges. They know they can get away with it and this makes them bolder, more brazen.

Disasters. We get hit by 20 typhoons, at the very least, every year. Yet every year, we see nothing being done to stop the cycle of disaster and poverty. The same people who got hit by a typhoons last year are the same people who will get hit by typhoons this year. Those whose possessions got swept away by floods will the same ones whose possession will get swept away by floods this year. Fire? Where else but in the Philippines does the declaration of a Fire Month result in more fires than in any other time of the year.

Our people are either unemployed or trying to make ends meet with a job they are overqualified for. But that's nothing new and what is new is the ends to which desperation brings our countrymen. Afghanistan. Iraq. Name a place where there is a very high risk of getting killed, you'll find Filipinos working there.

Our education system is in shambles and it has been that way since time immemorial.

And those who are tired of this ought not to get sick as well. If you're poor, just waiting for treatment and medicines will bring you closer to the grave.

So, who do you vote for as President given these circumstances?

Young guns like Chiz Escudero and Gilbert Teodoro?

TV personalities like Noli De Castro and Loren Legarda? How about Manny Villar?

How about Mar Roxas or former President Joseph Estrada?

Or are you going to think and look for someone who has actual experience in lifing people out of desparate situations?

Do you think you need someone who has a track record for following through every commitment he has made?

Do you think we need someone with a clear vision for what ought to be done for this country at a time of crisis?

His name is Dick Gordon.

He turned Olongapo from Sin City to Model City.

He turned Subic from wasteland into a haven for tourism and investment.

He turned Philippine tourism from a lackluster department to the brightest beacon in the economy, with 2 million foreign tourists coming to the Philippines in 2003 from a low of just 900,000 in 2000.

As Senator, he authored, pushed for the enactment, and implementation of RA 9369 or the amended AUTOMATION LAW. This is the reason why we will have automated elections in 2010, no more hello garci. He now heads the Senate Blue Ribbon Committee.

In his committee report on the P732 Million Fertilizer Fund Scam he implicated President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, recommended plunder charges against Bolante and others, and filed 7 bills to plug up loop holes in the laws exploited by the group he referred to as a pack of wolves.

If you want the country to get through these dire straits, look for someone who knows how to navigate treacherous waters and who knows where to go.

In 2010, don't look for a good candidate. Look for a good leader. That's Dick Gordon.

Making change happen since 1971.

Kaya Natin's declaration of support for automated polls, what does it really mean?

I just discovered Kaya Natin's blog and posted several questions regarding their statement of support for automated elections.  I hope they answer it.

Here are the questions:

Hi,

What have you guys done to show support for automated elections in the past?

What did you do in 2007 when people were calling on the Comelec for the immediate implementation of RA 9369’s pilot testing phase?

What did you do in 2008 when congress was deliberating on the automation of the ARMM polls?

What did you do in 2009 when congress was deliberating on the supplemental budget for automated elections?

Since automated elections is already a sure thing by now, are you going to enlist your organization in voter education?

Senate passes supplemental P11.3 Billion budget for 2010 Poll Automation

Has anyone thanked Senator Dick Gordon for passing the Amended Automation Law which made the passage of the 11.3 Billion supplemental budget for poll automation necessary?

As I was scanning on-line editions of Philippine newspapers, I came across an article titled "Kaya Natin! airs support for full poll automation".

It was apparently a declaration of support from a group headed by JESSE ROBREDO, mayor, Naga City; GRACE PADACA, governor, Isabela; EDDIE PANLILIO, governor, Pampanga; SONIA LORENZO, mayor, San Isidro, Nueva Ecija; Teodoro Baguilat, governor, Ifugao.

It declared:

"We, the founding leaders of Kaya Natin! A National Movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership, fully support the Commission on Elections’ program for the full automation of the 2010 elections. We believe that the Filipinos’ right to elect our leaders is one of the main pillars of our democracy, thus we stand firm on our belief that this issue of fully automating the upcoming elections is very critical to our country’s future."

I am a bit flustered by this statement of Robredo, Padaca, Panlilio, Lorenzo, and Baguilat. I really don't know what their intent is but it seems THEY'RE COMING OUT WITH A STATEMENT OF SUPPORT A BIT TOO LATE.

Where were they when we were in the figurative trenches? Kung kelan tapos na ang boxing doon pa sila magpapahiwatig ng suporta? What for?!!

I feel I have a right to be slighted because I was with Senator Dick Gordon, Bagumbayan - Volunteers for a New Philippines, and other groups when we started pushing for poll automation.

It was a lonely and exhausting fight at the start when Senator Dick Gordon decided to take up the cause of poll automation in 2005.

I was working for a video production company when Gordon filed the bill that would later become RA 9369.

The full title of the law is "AN ACT AMENDING REPUBLIC ACT NO. 8436, ENTITLED "AN ACT AUTHORIZING THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS TO USE AN AUTOMATED ELECTION SYSTEM IN THE MAY 11, 1998 NATIONAL OR LOCAL ELECTIONS AND IN SUBSEQUENT NATIONAL AND LOCAL ELECTORAL EXERCISES, TO ENCOURAGE TRANSPARENCY, CREDIBILITY, FAIRNESS AND ACCURACY OF ELECTIONS, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE BATAS PAMPANSA BLG. 881, AS AMEMDED, REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7166 AND OTHER RELATED ELECTIONS LAWS, PROVIDING FUNDS THEREFOR AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES"

I can only guess at what drove Gordon to file the bill which would later compel Comelec and the Arroyo Administration to fully automate the 2010 polls.

Perhaps it was the 'Hello Garci' controversy that drove him to find a solution to the wholesale cheating alleged in the Senate probe after the Garci tapes surfaced. The solution was to automate the elections and Gordon wasted no time in filing the bill.

For all the rancor against the wholesale manipulation of votes in 2004, you would think that a bill that would end whole sale cheating in the elections would sail through congress. It didn't.

At one point, during deliberations on the bill, a number of senators chose to hide inside the Senators' Lounge and effectively stalled the passage of the bill. Gordon had to break a few chairs just to get their attention and get them back in the session hall.

I started working with Senator Gordon when the bill finally passed into law on the eve of the 2007 elections. The problem now was that the Comelec already gave indications that it would not implement the pilot testing phase mandated by RA 9369.

When I began working for Gordon, I enlisted to be part of Bagumbayan - Volunteers for a New Philippines.

BAGUMBAYAN had long campaigned for credible elections through poll automation. It lobbied for the enactment and implementation of what is now known as RA 9369 or the Amended Automated Election Law. After the enactment of the law in December 2006, they demanded former Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos to implement the pilot testing of automated polls during the 2007 elections.

When Abalos refused to implement the pilot testing phase of the Automated Elections System, BAGUMBAYAN convened with several other groups at the historic Club Filipino in January 2007. They signed a manifesto demanding the pilot testing of the automated polling system and they mounted a massive rally at the Head Office of the Comelec in Intramuros.

Gordon was with the people of Bagumbayan every step of the way.

In the succeeding days just before the 2007 elections, BAGUMBAYAN conducted a nationwide automated mock election to refute the claim that pilot testing in 6 provinces and 6 cities was not possible.

BAGUMBAYAN successfully conducted automated mock polls, bringing automated polling machines to 6 provinces and 6 cities in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Around 1,800 students participated in the automated mock elections which were held at the Don Mariano Marcos University, Northern La Union Campus; Don Mariano Marcos University, Mid La Union Campus; University of Makati; Negros Maritime College in Dumaguete City; University of the Philippine Los Banos, Laguna; and Ateneo de Davao University, Davao City.

If it still means anything, thank you Dick Gordon at sa 2010 magkakaroon na rin tayo sa wakas ng mas malinis at mas mabilis na eleksyon.

A Better Philippines

There is at least one group on Facebook and one website called "A Better Philippines".

If these are indications of a growing clamor to set things right in this country, perhaps there may be hope that things in this country can still be turned around.

On the surface, some may quickly put down these small efforts at changing our country and dismiss it as mere flights of fancy that will eventually go nowhere.

Then again, the Facebook group already has 6,819 members and its wall is very active.  A few politicians with Facebook accounts have already joined it but what is even more substantial is that most of the members are ordinary citizens.  These ordinary citizens are calling for support to save our decrepit education system, better public health care, an end to malnutrition, an end to war and crime, and all others.

However, I have yet to receive a message from them calling for people to take specific action on a particular issue.  Perhaps, they will and perhaps they won't.  Then again, may be it's just a soiree where people can yap about what to do without necessarily having to do anything.

The website "A Better Philippines" may stand a better chance.  It was put up by a friend whom I have known for the longest time and one whom I know to be quite sincere about trying to make things better in this country.  He is scrupulous about determining right from wrong and proposing solutions to problems that continue to confound us.

With three posts, Better Philippines seems to off to a good start.  But, where is it going?

It has yet to propose an over all idea of a Better Philippines.  I am pretty sure my friend just needs some time to get around to writing a post on this.  For now, I think he deserves some praise for his effort.

And finally, let me get down to the very reason why I wrote this post.

If you are looking for a Better Philippines, there is a movement that has been around In Real Life (IRL) for two years now.  It is called Bagumbayan - Volunteers for a New Philippines.

You may have heard of this group two years back when it came out in almost every news program on television as it demanded former Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos to implement the Amended Automated Election Law (RA 9369) during the 2007 elections.  Its members gathered together at Club Filipino together with other groups and held rallies in front of the Comelec Main Office in Intramuros.  And to prove to Abalos that the pilot phase of the Automated Election System could be implemented even in a short time, it held mock automated elections nationwide with the help of Botong Pinoy.

As of this moment, it is already conducting a campaign for voter's education and it has begun with 30,000 of its members all over the country.

As if things weren't busy enough, it is also currently engaged in a campaign to drum up support for HEAP or the Health and Education Acceleration Program bill.  This law proposes to take a small portion of the earnings of Smart, Globe, and Sun Cellular and put it into a fund which will be used to fill the gaps or inadequacies of our public education system.  The money will go to building classroons, hiring teachers and principals, providing a year round feeding program, and giving free dental and health care to children.

These are just two items in a list that Bagumbayan Volunteers for a New Philippines is doing.

In the coming days, I will be writing more and more about Bagumbayan.

For now, allow me to share with you Bagumbayan's Preamble:

Preamble

Today, as in the past, we Filipinos have been confronted with deep and sweeping political, economic, social, and moral crises; lack of sense for the common good; poor leadership and corruption in government; crime, lawlessness, and insurgency; poverty and constant struggle with the economy; 

deteriorating quality in education; inadequate access to health care; 

weakening of the family; and poor environmental protection.

All these conditions plus apathy, indifference, and demoralization, as well as fear, helplessness, and hopelessness, have inured us Filipinos who have become jaded as we continue to face the daily challenges before us.

Experience has taught us that the old ways and the old solutions will not work in bailing us out of these crises. To go down in disgust, discouragement, and defeat seems to be the only recourse.

However, we need to look at our problems afresh and we Filipinos must fix them, for only we can fix them, and set the course for a successful future. We have the power to shape our future and determine the destiny of our country. We must rid ourselves of ingrained habits, prejudices, cultural preferences, and our traditional way of doing things. We must refresh our consciousness if we are to rise to new levels in life. We need to do things, believe things, and think in new ways.

It is time for a new direction to bring our dream of 

a better life for ourselves and for our country into reality;

 a dream deeply rooted in the hope for a new Philippines, a Bagumbayan.

To all of us who share this dream, we must all courageously face the challenges of our times. Thus, in an act of union and cooperation, we declare:

First, that we must be RESPONSIBLE for ourselves, 

for our fellow Filipinos, and for our country. We must change our attitudes, and transform ourselves to become horizon-chasers with 

duty, dignity, and determination;

Second, that we can REINVENT GOVERNMENT 

to faithfully perform its prime duty to serve and protect the people;

Third, that we can fortify LAW AND ORDER 

through self-discipline, vigilance, and respect for the rule of law;

Fourth, that we can build a STRONG AND GROWING ECONOMY 

if we all work, save, and invest in order to prosper;

Fifth, that we must prioritize EDUCATION as 

the key to national development to compete 

and lead in the new global economy;

Sixth, that we must provide adequate access to HEALTH CARE 

for all our people, especially the needy;

Seventh, that we must create JOBS for our people, 

so that they will not need to seek their fortunes abroad, but rather devote their talents directly to their country and their families;

Eighth, that we must assist our people in securing decent HOMES to live in and LAND to work and build on, so they can be dignified and productive citizens;

Ninth, that we must strengthen and reinforce the FAMILY as the foundation of our nation to develop proper values and virtues in individuals and build solid character; 

and

Tenth, that we must protect and preserve the ENVIRONMENT for our posterity.

These are our ideals upon which we lay the foundation of our movement for change. We are the volunteers of a movement dedicated to 

transform the Philippines into a Bagumbayan, a new Philippines.

May pag-asa ba si Dick Gordon sa 2010?

Maraming nagtatanong at gustong malaman kung seryoso ba si Dick Gordon sa pagkandidato niya bilang Pangulo sa 2010.

Sa harap ng naglilipanang mga TV and radio commercial mula pagsikat ng araw hanggang sa paglubog nito, kung kani-kaninong mukha ang makikita mong pumuporma at pumapapel bilang Pangulo. Iyong isa may hawak na itik at iyong isa naman, nag-aalok ng abugado para mahabol ang perang itatakbo diumano ng mga pre-need firms.

Si Dick Gordon, minsan mo lang makikita at madidinig sa balita.

Pero, ito lang ba ang sukatan ng isang kandidato sa pagka-pangulo?

Ang tutoo nito at hindi ko maikakaila, mga kapatid, ang dalawang bilyonaryong ito ang pinaka-magaling na mga kandidato -- lalong lalo na kung perang pangkampanya lang ang pag-uusapan.

Iyong isa, tatawag lang kay mommy at si mommy naman, mag-uutos sa katiwalang bangkero para pumala ng pera galing sa bodega. Iyong isa din, magte-text lang kay Misis at sasabihing utusan si Engineer na utusan ang mga peon nila na magdeliver ng isang dump truck na pera.

Ayos! Pera agad.

Sabi pa nga nung isa sa isang TV show kung saan ininterbyu siya ni Tina Monsod Palma, hindi niya kelangan ng contributions at hindi na rin siya tumatanggap. Kaya naman daw niyang ipanalo ang eleksyon na sa kanyang bulsa lang dudukot ng panggastos at bukod dito, ayaw daw niyang magkautang na loob kahit kanino man.

Tumpak! Magaling na sagot. Palakpakan!

Iyong isa naman, hindi masyadong umiimik pagdating sa pera. Ikanga, sobrang tagal na nilang mayaman at dahil old rich sila, medyo hindi nila ugaling magyabang tungkol sa pera. Sa isang artikulo nga ng pahayagang Philippine Daily Inquirer na laging nagsasabing "Dare to be an Inquirer", sabi nga ni Mama's boy walang kinalaman ang pedigree niya kung mananalo man siya sa eleksyon. Wala daw itong mai-aambag sa pagsulong ng kanyang kandidatura.

Parang sinabi na rin niyang, "Pare, hindi na pagmamayabang pero..." at alam na natin kung ano ang malamang na kasunod nito: Pagmamayabang pa rin.

Kung mabibili man ang eleksyon sa 2010, ngayon pa lang masasabi na natin kung sino ang panalo.

Dahil dito, matatanong niyo, seryoso ba si Dick Gordon sa pagtakbo sa 2010 bilang Pangulo ng Republika ng Pilipinas?

Ang sagot dito ay simple lang at dadaanin ko sa isang tanong din: Seryoso ka ba sa paghahanap mo ng mamumuno sa ating bansa?

Kasi, kung hindi ka seryoso at kahit sinong makita mo sa TV ay pwede na rin, wala na tayong pag-uusapan. Para ka nang hipong tulog na sasama na lang sa agos. Para kang pasahero ng bus na naiwang tulog sa pansitan.

Mabuti na rin kung mag-aral kang sumayaw at bakit? Kasi kung ano ang tunog, iyon ang isasayaw mo. Ngayon pa alang mag-praktis ka nang sumayaw sa 'Hoy! Hoy! Hoy!' at 'Kay Money Billiards kaaaa! May singit at tagaaaa!'

Kung gusto mo talaga ng demokrasya at gusto mo talagang igalang ang pananaw mo sa mga dapat mangyari sa bansa natin, sa pagboto pa lang ng susunod na Presidente ng bansa eh dapat matuto ka nang mag-isip. Kungdi, yari ka at yari ang mga anak mo, ang mga anak nila, at ang anak ng mga anak nila. O di kaya, maghanda ka nang maghanap ng paraan para pumunta sa ibang bansa.

Pero, hindi naman siguro magiging ganun kasama ang sasapitin natin sa ilalim ng pamumuno ng dalawang bilyonaryo.

Bakit?

Kasi, kung ano ang nangyayari ngayon, iyong pa rin ang mangyayari sa ilalim ng kanilang panunungkulan. Business as usual, ikanga. Makakaasa ka, isakay mo pa lolo mo.

Pero, kung seryoso kang naghahanap ng pagbabago sa buhay mo at pagbabago sa bansa mo, heto ang tanong na ipasagot mo sa mga bilyonaryo: Ano ba ang plano mo para sa bansa natin? Ano ang mga nagawa mo na sa nakaraan na magpapatunay na kaya mong ipatupad ang mga plano mo, ano ba ang experience mo? At ikatlo, sa mga ginawa mo dati, may track record ka ba nang matagumpay na pamumuno?

Tatlong tanong lang ang itanong mo at makikita mo na ang pruweba ng dalawang bilyonaryo.

Iyong Mama's boy, galing sa isang bayan na sa tinagal-tagal ng panahon eh mahirap pa rin. Halos lahat ng bayan, FOURTH CLASS MUNICIPALITY PA RIN. Ang nag-iisang pier ng bayan niya, lumulubog. Dalawang senador na at isang pangulo ang nanggaling sa bayan ng mga Aswang, hanggang ngayon poor pa rin... pero, sila rich na rich.

Iyong si Andres de Saya, galing nga sa mahirap pero siya lang ang nagpayaman. Sipag at tiyaga nga. Samahan mo pa ng gulang.

Seryoso nga ba sa pagtakbo bilang Pangulo si Dick Gordon sa 2010?

Matagal nang seryoso si Gordon at matagal na siyang naghahanda para mamuno sa Pilipinas. Sinimulan niya ang paghahanda niya noong bata pa siya at sinimulan niyang bigyang kaganapan ang pagbabagong hanap niya sa pamamagitan ng pagsasakatawan ng pagbabagong hangad niya.

1971, sa gulang na 26, sinikap na niyang baguhin ang takbo ng politika sa bansa.

Sukob tayo noon ng kapangyarihan ng Estados Unidos at ni Pangulong Ferdinand Marcos.

Alam niyo ba kung gano katapang si Gordon? Kinalaban niya ang mga huwad na diyos ng bansa. Inimungkahi lang naman niyang dapat kabakas ang Pilipinas sa pagpapatakbo ng base militar nila at dagdag pa dito, namuno siya sa pagmumungkahing huwag bigyan si Marcos ng karagdagang termino bilang Pangulo.

Sa gulang na 35, nakita niya ang kahirapang dinaranas ng kanyang mga kabayan sa Olongapo at tumakbo siya bilang Mayor. Nalipol niya ang krimen at karumihan ng bayan niya. Itinatag niya ang Police Law Enforcement Board para matigilan ang abuso ng kapulisan at dagdag dito ang Barangay Crime Watch. Ipinatupad niya ang kauna-unahang color coding system sa bansa para magkaruon ng pananagutan ang mga operator at driver ng mga jeepney. Ipinatupad din niya ang garbage collectiona t segregation system, ang kauna-unahan sa bansa, upang malinis ang Olongapo at pati siya mismo, naglilinis ng kalsada. Sa loob ng maikling panahon, kinilalal ang Olongapo City bilang modelo para sa lahat ng lunsod sa bansa.

Noong pumutok ang Pinatubo, parang nauwi sa lahat ng pinagsikapan niyang maitayo at maitaguyod. Nailibing ng lahar ang buong bayan niya, kasama ng mga karatig bayan nito sa buong Central Luzon. Kahirapan ang hinarap niya at kung sarili lang niya ang iniisip niya, madali na sana ang lahat.

Pero, ano nga ba ang isang lider? Ano ba ang isang Ama ng Bayan kung hindi siya makikibaka sa kanyang mga kabayan?

Sama-sama silang nagpala. Sama-sama silang iniahon ang sarili mula sa pagkakalugmok. Sama-sama silang pinagtagumpayan ang hamon na dulot ng Pinatubo.

At nuong nakaka-ahon na sila, dumating ang pag-alis ng mga Amerikano sa Subic.

Wala ito sa nararanasan nating world wide recession. Talagang tihaya lahat ng negosyong nabubuhay noon sa Olongapo dahil wala na ang mga Amerikanong parokyano nila.

Kung akala ninyo na magkikibit balikat na lang si Gordon at ang mga kabayan niya sa Olongapo noon, doon kayo magkakamali.

Nanguna si Gordon na buhayin ang inabandonang base militar ng Estados Unidos sa Subic. Walong libong volunteers ang nagtrabaho ng walang sweldo para mapangalagaan ito at huwag matulad sa Clark Air Base na ninakaw ang lahat ng mananakaw.

Sa loob lamang ng ilang taon, ang Subic na halos lumubog sa kapal ng lahar ay nabuhay at naging puntahan ng foreign investments. Nagtayo ang Fedex, Intel, at iba-iba pang banyagang mamumuhunan ng kanilang mga planta at opisina sa Subic. Sa sobrang bilis at lakas ng paglakas ng ekonomiya ng Subic, inihalintulad ito sa Singapore at Hongkong.

Matapos ang ilang taon ng matagumpay na pamumuno ni Gordon, bigla na lang siyang pinatanggal ni Erap. Hindi man lamang tinignan ang nagawang pagmamalasakit sa bayan.

Pagkalipas ng ilang panahon, naitalaga si Dick Gordon bilang Tourism Secretary. Sa mga kagawaran ng pamahalaan, itinuturing dati ang Tourism bilang isang menor na cabinet position. Mane-mane lang, ikanga.

Pero, hindi ito mane-mane kay Gordon. Sineryoso niya ito. At sa loob ng kanyang pamumuno, nagpatupad siya ng kampanang Wow PHilippines at napadagsa niya ang turista sa Pilipinas. Biruin niyo, noong nagsimula siya eh walang budget ang Tourism Department para sa tourism promotions! Kulang-kulang na $600,000 ang budget nito sa promotions habang ang Thailand, Malaysia at Singapore ay umuubos ng ilang milyong dolyar kada buwan para manghikayat ng turista sa kanilang bansa.

Nuong December 2003, dalawang milyong turista ang bumusita sa bansang Pilipinas -- lampas sa doble ng bilang ng mga turista nuong 2001 noong nagsimula siya sa panunungkulang bilang Tourism Secretary.

Pagsapit ng 2004, tumakbo siya bilang Senador. Ayaw pa niya nuong una kasi nga naman, expertise niya talaga ang pagiging executive. Magaling siyang magpatakbo ng organisasyon at iba ito sa pagbubuo ng batas.

Gayunpaman, tumakbo siya kasi ang pagkakakilala niya sa sarili niya eh, kahit ano ang harapin niyang panunungkulan ay pagbubuhusan niya ng buong galing at sipag.

Sabi nuon ng mga survey, kulelat siya. Pero nuong natapos ang bilangan, number 5 siya sa mga nanalo bilang senador.

Sa kampanyahan pa lamang, nakita na niya ang problema sa eleksyon at doon nabuo ang isip niya na ang mga unang batas na imumungkahi niya ay iyong batas na magbabago sa ating eleksyon. Tama na anya ang mano-manong pagtatara ng bilang ng boto, dapat computerized na ito at dapat wala nang puwang para sa maling pagbibilang o tahasang pandaraya.

Hindi pa lumalabas ang 'Hello Garci' scandal, nabuo na niya ang ilang mahalagang batas tungo sa modernong eleksyon. Pinasa niya ang Amended Automated Election System Law at pinursigi niya ang pagsasakatuparan nito. Ngayon, sa 2010, tiyak na ang pagdaraos ng Automated Elections at makakataiyak tayo na wala nang Hello Garci.

Pero isa lang iyan sa mga pagbabagong itinutulak niyang magkakaroon ng pagkaka-sakatuparan. Andyan din ang Tourism Law na lalagdaan na ni Pangulong Arroyo sa loob ng susunod na buwan. Sa pagpasa nito, matitiyak na dodoble o tri-triple ang dami ng bilang mga turista sa bansa.

Nagkakakulangan ba sa trabaho ngayon? Pwes, pag-nalagdaan ang Tourism Law, mauubusan ng tambay sa Pilipinas at tayo na ang mahihilo sa dami ng trabahong kelangan punan. Baka sa sobrang laki ng demand para sa mga empleyado, pabalikin natin ang mga kamag-anak mula sa abroad at iyong mga magulang na nangingibang bansa ngayon, papauwin na natin. Tourism means jobs, at tutoo ito.

Ngayon, 3 million na turista ang bumibisita sa bansa natin at dahil ang bawat turista ay lumilikha ng trabaho para sa sampung Pilipino, tinatayang 30 million na trabaho ang linilikha nito. Eh paano kung dumoble ang bilang ng mga turista? Eh di nangangahulugan ito ng 60 million na trabaho at kung 92 million ang bilang ng mga Pilipino, tiyak, kulang na kulang ang dami natin.

At may isa pang mahalagang batas na sana maipasa ni Gordon. Ito ang Health and Education Acceleration Program. Sa pamamagitan nito, kukuha ng pondo mula sa kinikita ng Smart, Globe, at Sun Cellular at ilalagay ito sa pondo para sa pagtataguyod ng mas magandang mga public schools. Kumpleto ang classrooms, kumpleto ang teachers, libro at iba pang kagamitan. Dagdag pa dito ang libreng pakain sa eskwela at libreng konsulta sa doktor, bakuna, at gamot.

Seryoso ba si Gordon sa pagtakbo bilang Pangulo sa 2010?

Seryoso siya. Matagal na siyang naghahanda at matagal nang handa para sa katungkulan ito. Alam niyang hindi ito madadaan sa komersyal sa radio at TV. Kelangan dito ang tunay na galing na hinasa sa napakaraming pagsubok. Kelangang dito ang sinseridad sa paglilingkod sa publiko. Kelangan dito ang GAWA, hindi PORMA at SATSAT.

May pag-asa ba si Dick Gordon sa 2010?

Siguro ang mas maiging itanong eh kung may pag-asa ba tayo para sa tunay na pagbabago?

Ang tunay na pag-asa, hindi ito nakukuha mula sa ibang tao. Tayo mismo ang nagbibigay nito sa sarili natin.

Kung gusto mo ng pag-asa para sa pagbabago, kay Dick Gordon ka na.

Want out of ennui? Vote for Dick Gordon. Vote for Transformational Politics.

Ennui is a word meaning general lack of interest or boredom, or depression.
-- wikipedia

I am just soooo tired of everything.

I want to scream "Stop the WORLD! I want to get off!"

Yesterday, I updated my status on Facebook after hearing Mar Roxas give a number of reasons why the First Gentleman's presence in the Senate Hearing on the World Bank Scandal was not required.

I said that I wanted the First Gentleman there precisely to see if he'll get a heart attack.

It sounds cruel and inhuman, for sure.

Think of the repercussions if the First Gentleman sticks his tongue out and keels over dead on the floor of one of Senate's session halls.

We can count on all of our Senators to say that the First Gentleman was a good man and all the usual crap that gets said when somebody dies.

Then again, would it be so different if he keeled over on some Golf Course?

Same thing I guess.

The reason why I am suffering ennui is that for the past eight years, I've been on the receiving end of bad news about our President and the First Gentleman.

I think the real PR strategy here is to make it seem that corruption is the norm. The strategy is to inundate the people with so many stories about how corrupt the First Couple are so that everyone will go numb. Then the real rape will begin, if it hasn't commenced already.

Just how much money has already been stolen from the nation's coffers? No one knows.

Aren't you sick of this shit?

This is exactly what happens when you pick a President because of factors other than being qualified for the job. The three years before Gloria ran for President and the three years that Estrada spent as President should have been enough to convince people that neither Gloria nor Erap's Proxy deserved the votes they were getting or stealing.

This is exactly what happens when the media portrays a Presidential race as either a horse race or a boxing match. This is what happens when the purveyors of information, spew stories about popularity and wealth as basic determiners of who will win in 2010. This is what happens when people like John Nery says that the 2010 elections are all set!

I for one have already registered and I picked my candidate early.

He's not a front runner in Presidential surveys. He is not a billionaire. He doesn't have a party, well not yet.

But do you know what he's got?

He has a forty year track record proving that he can lead people from dire situations and bring them to deliverance. The first time he did that was in the 1980s, in Olongapo.

To prove that his accomplishment wasn't a fluke, he did it again with the Subic Naval Base -- a facility that was a wasteland when he got to manage it and this was a time when the entire Central Luzon region was struggling with the aftermath of the Mt. Pinatubo eruption.

And then, for a third time, he proved himself on a national scale with tourism. Before him, tourism was called a minor cabinet position and he proved that there was no such thing as a minor cabinet position.

When he became Secretary of Tourism, it didn't have a promotions budget and the country was besieged on all sides with negative publicity, tourists avoided the Philippines like a plague infested village. He worked his ass off, reversed the declining number of tourist arrivals, and at the end of his term as Tourism Secretary, he managed to get 2,000,000 tourists to come to the Philippines.

That is why you have your Boracay, your Panglao, your Donsol, your Cebu, your Intramuros, your Vigan, your Laguna, and other tourist destinations that make YOU PROUD TO BE A FILIPINO!

If you want CHANGE, this man is THE MAN.

REAL CHANGE ISN'T MERELY SOMETHING DIFFERENT, IT'S SOMETHING THAT IS COMPLETELY NEW.

Olongapo was a first. So was Subic. So was Wow Philippines.

And it isn't something that is MERELY NEW, CHANGE should represent a major departure towards something BETTER than whatever we had in the past.

That's why he pushed for and succeeded in getting the Comelec to FINALLY go through with Automated Elections in 2010.

That's why he pushed for and succeeded in getting the Tourism Law passed so that our economy will have another engine for economic growth -- better than OFW remittances and billion dollar investments that hardly create enough jobs.

Tourism is a future industry that will make it possible for our OFWs to find jobs in their HOME LAND, so at the end of a long day showing the foreigners how GREAT our land is and how GREAT we are as a people, he can come home to his wife and children!

That's why I say, vote for Dick Gordon.

In my book, all the other candidates are the same. Moneyed and popular, with nothing else to show or prove that they deserve to be the President of the Republic of the Philippines.

Christian Monsod thumbs down Biometrics

I can't remember when Christian Monsod was the Comelec Chairman, honestly. Was this the time when Ramos was elected with Miriam Defensor Santiago howling to high heavens that she was cheated? Where was he when the Senate was investigating Hello Garci?

A news article in the Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted him as saying that Biometrics will not solve the problem of multiple registration or multiple voting. He says that he prefers the use of a higher concentration of indelible ink. Besides, he says, biometrics is too expensive at the cost of P 2 Billion.

Here's part of the article:

MANILA, Philippines—A former chairman of the Commission on Elections said
he does not support the poll body’s plan of mandatory biometrics registration to
purge the voters' list of multiple registrants.

“Multiple registration is not the problem in our elections, the problem is multiple voting,” said former poll chief and election lawyer Christian Monsod.

Multiple registration is “a minor problem on a national scale and a non-existent problem in some areas.” Voters with multiple registration comprise only one percent of the total number of registered voters according to the Comelec, said Monsod.

Multiple registration is a specific issue in areas such as the Autonomous Region of
Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and must not be translated as a “nationwide problem,” he added. Monsod stressed that the problem in ARMM is rooted in feudalism and thus, can be solved by disarming warlords.

Monsod cited implementing mandatory biometrics registration also requires a “huge” amount of P2 billion, which he said could be used to address important issues in preparation for the 2010 polls. He added it causes “undue burden” for Comelec field staff who have a lot of duties, especially during the time of registration.

Really?

What this looks like to me is that Monsod has entered the league of Automated Election oppositors and we have found oppositors of every kind delaying Automated Elections every step of the way. I hope he doesn't join the league of Blackhearted Benjamine Abalos, Christian pa naman ang pangalan niya.

Indelible ink, as it was used in the last 3 elections, have proven to be ineffective in curbing multiple voting (flying voters).

Biometrics, which uses a thumb mark reading machine and similar devices, will be a much better alternative to locking out people who have been contracted to vote more than once.

It is a vital part of the Automated Election system and without it, the automated polls may be impaired.

If the government can spend P11 Billion for automated elections, what's another P2 Billion for biometrics?

What is CLEAN AND FRAUD FREE ELECTIONS WORTH? WHAT IS DEMOCRACY WORTH?

People, don't let them steal the coming elections from us AGAIN!

Pressure Malacanang and Comelec to go for automated elections with biometrics!

Sun cellular should host Sun spots parties

Sun Cellular's 24/7 Call and Text Unlimited (CTU) is a great departure from other cellular phone services that bill you per minute of talk time and per text. It has naturally become quite popular among those who want to keep in touch with their relatives while keeping their cellphone expenses well within budget.

When Volunteers for a New Philippines (of which I am a part of) conducted automated mock elections all over the country in 2007 to show the Comelec that pilot automated elections could be held, we relied heavily on Sun Cellular to coordinate our operations.

The mock elections were a great success. We set up automated polling stations in universities in Northern Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Polling was conducted smoothly with over a thousand students joining in.

If we had used another cellphone service, the bills would have been astronomical! For sure.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Puno as Philippine President?

Thank God he nixed it.

Supreme Court Chief Justice Reynato Puno turned down an offer to be a Presidential Candidate in 2010 and said that he would be content to be the catalyst for the creation of a "moral force" movement to help solve the country's problems rather than seek the presidency in next year’s elections.

Yesterday, Senator Panfilo Lacson was on DZMM saying that he would gladly step aside and abandon any Presidential ambition he had if Puno would run for the Presidency in 2010.

Puno, thanked Lacson for his endorsement but said:

"I don't want to be pretentious. I will be happy if I will just be a catalyst of this movement. I am willing to be one of the foot soldiers. But perhaps it may not be appropriate to take leadership while I am in the government acting as Chief Justice."

Fine, except for his use of the word 'pretentious' instead of the more correct 'presumptious'.

Nevertheless, what he said may be indicative of the Supreme Court Chief Justice's view of what will be best for the national interest. Perhaps he knows that it takes more than morality to lead a country as morality can always be questioned. Also, if you want strict morality in government, you'd be in the same basket as Islamic fundamentalist states -- think Afghanistan before the US invasion.

Perhaps, also, he saw through the political gimmick pawned and pumped through the media by Senator Lacson. After all, it was Lacson who donned the image of Mr. Clean when he ran against President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo after refusing to relinquish his Presidential bid in favor of supporting actor Fernando Poe Jr. The ploy (if it is a ploy) would have been aimed at making people remember what Lacson stands for -- anti-corruption, an end to criminality, etcetera.

This comes at the beginning of the year before the 2010 elections when Presidential Candidates (declared and undeclared) are now all trying to place themselves in the minds of people.

If the SWS survey results on choices for Presidential Candidates are to be believed, Lacson is fifth (with 14 percent drafting him as they choice for President) from pole position which is currently owned by Vice President Noli De Castro. Coming in second and third were Senators Loren Legarda and Manny Villar with 28 percent and 27 percent, respectively, followed by Senators Francis Escudero (19 percent), former President Joseph Estrada (11 percent), and Sen. Mar Roxas (10 percent).

Going back to Puno and the idea of a moral Presidency, Cory Aquino was the moral choice in governance, but the years that followed her rise to power proved that mere morality will not cure all that ails our government. It takes so much more.

We've had moral choices offered to us too in the 2004 elections. When Lacson ran in 2004, there were other moral choices including Raul Roco and Eddie Villanueva. The immoral choice was Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, the popular choice was Fernando Poe Jr., and the insane choice was Eddie Gil.

But were these choices really choices? Did they represent real options and real directions for governance?

I am not saying that morality has no place in politics, the romantic ideal of a benevolent and powerful leader still appeals to me. However, morality ALONE does not make for effective political leadership.

If you asked me, I'd rather go for a candidate with a track record for being a builder of new beginnings rather than one with an image of a destroyer or preserver of a status quo. I'd go for a candidate with a clear plan, a vision, for the country's future.

That's Dick Gordon.

Sure, he isn't in the surveys and the Pedestrian Observer may chide me -- as he or she already has for comparing Gordon with Obama.

Was it a story in the Bible or a often quoted phrase that says he who can be trusted with a portion, can be trusted with the whole.

Gordon began his political career as a Constitutional Convention delegate in 1971, the youngest ever to be elected. He had no political backing (which should have come from his mother, Amelia Gordon) and no funds, but he won and became the youngest delegate.

He didn't run for his own sake. He was actually part of the generation that led the First Quarter Storm and in the Con-Con, he opposed a term extension for then President Ferdinand Marcos. This was apart from introducing the idea of the Philippines sharing control over the US Naval base in Subic, which in those times was considered visionary.

He became Mayor of Olongapo and everybody knows about how his small town became a model for city governance. If New York City had Rudolf Giulliani, the Philippines had Richard 'Dick' Gordon in the very real sense of transforming a filthy and crime infested town into a model city that had color code jeepneys, effective neighborhood anti-crime patrols, a garbage collection and segregation system that was the first in the country, a good samaritan program where all the rich citizens of Olongapo generously gave to the needy, and other city programs that were emulated all over the country.

He became Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority Chairman. When he was put in charge of Subic, it was a wasteland with almost nothing in it. After a couple of years of hard work with no guarantees, he turned the former Naval base into what then President Ramos called a new engine for growth and a magnet for investment in industry and tourism.

He became Tourism Secretary with no promotion budget and all sorts of negative news about the Philippines. Instead of saying 'Kawawa naman tayo', he shouted 'Wow Philippines' in almost every major tourism marketing event there was and brought in a whopping 2 million tourists a year by the end of 2003-- straight up from less than 1 million a year in 2001.

Right now, he is a Senator who is known for a couple of important things --

He is the father of Automated Elections in 2010. He virtually dragged his colleagues at the Senate to amend the existing Automated Elections law to make it work and dragged a couple more people in the Comelec to make sure we will no longer have Hello Garci in 2010. He is working to make sure that every body's vote will be counted in the coming elections.

He is also the author of the Text for Change bill, a proposed law that will get 10 to 50 centavos out of every peso earned by Smart, Globe, and Sun and pour these funds into public education. At the current P 2 Billion text messages a day, this will generate as much as P70 Billion in funds that will be added to the budget for public education. This means an end to classroom and teacher shortages, better books, science and computer laboratories in all public schools, higher teacher salaries, free food all year round for students, free medical and dental services, and to top it all off, scholarships for 100,000 college students -- 10,000 of which will be sent abroad to study in Ivy League Universities.

Valley Golf expels Dela Paz, bans Mayor Nasser for life

I kinda like it when people take the time and effort to leave a comment on my blog. It makes me feel all warm and tingly, somewhat.

For example, here's one from blogsurdities on "Golf justice: Dela Paz expelled from Valley Golf C...":

That is NOT a fair decision! What is wong with the sense of justice of the Philippine courts? My, my, my being a small town mayor really gives you a lot of "rights" to bamboozle other folks? And the same guy who acts like a uncivil barbarian at a country club wanted to control blogger's rights to blog? Is he crazy or simply a moron?

Dear blogsurdities,

The decision to expel of Delfin Dela Paz and ban for life Mayor Nasser Pangandaman Jr. from the Valley Golf Country Club (VGCC) was not an act of our court system.

I think that the decision was done in favor of all the other VGCC members who do not like other members and their guests brawling on the greens.

However, while the decision seems laudable and even Solomonic, for its fairness you'd have to agree that this doesn't really do much. After all, the damage has already been done and people will remember the incident as a turning point when a golf course turned into a boxing ring or biker bar.

I wonder if they'll feature mud wrestling on the banks of their water hazards?

If the VGCC had been on their toes the whole time, the Valley Golf Brawl shouldn't have happened.

Firmness when it comes to club rules would have prevented the Dela Paz's from putting off with just two people in their flight instead of the required four. Discrete security personnel a.k.a. bouncers at the teehouse between Holes 4 and 5 could have kept Dela Paz from getting himself beaten up.

In any case, Mayor Nasser and Delfin Dela Paz are both welcome to play jolens in my back yard. I'll even have Secretary Neri and former Comelec Chairman Abalos serve chinese ham-boor-jers a.k.a. thick slices of Ma-Ling between cuts of silver bread rolls.

Obama's Inauguration and crowdsourcing resolutions for 2009

The estimated number of people who will pack it in at sites for President Barrack Obama's inauguration all over the US are expected to reach between 2 and 4 million.

However, ABS-CBN News says , some Filipinos living in the US will opt to watch the whole thing on television because of the crowds and traffic.

I'll probably catch this historic event on CNN or BBC with the rest of the world.

As the United States celebrates another historic moment, my thoughts return to a time when the Philippines celebrated something similar but not all together the same.

In June 1998, being employed with Radio Television Malacanang, I stood at the Quirino Grandstand (where recently elected Philippine Presidents are inaugurated) and watched Joseph Ejercito Estrada deliver his inaugural speech. He had been hailed as the President who had been voted by the most number of Filipinos and was a self-avowed champion of the Filipino masses.

Scarcely three years after his election, he was ousted and his Presidency virtually amounted to nothing but a string of scandals -- from his midnight cabinet and womanizing to his involvement in the illegal numbers games.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo took her oath on the corner of EDSA and Ortigas. Many still wonder if her assumption into power was Constitutional.

It would have been another great moment for Filipinos.

But the events that followed gave a lot of people the feeling that they had made the wrong turn on what they thought was a road to salvation. Corruption scandals hit the Macapagal Arroyo Presidency as well.

What makes the Philippines laughable as a democracy is that its people never seem to learn their lessons.

The 2004 Philippine Elections saw President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo being sworn in as President -- for the second time.

That she won by a million votes is now questionable, especially after the 'Hello Garci' expose in 2005.

Someone who sounded exactly like President Macapagal Arroyo was caught on tape talking with a Commission on Election Official named Garcillano and asking if she was going to get a million votes more than her nearest contender, Fernando Poe. Jr.

As if this wasn't enough, we had the NBN ZTE scandal which involved Commission on Election Chairman Benjamin Abalos (the one who presided over the May 2004 Elections) and the pay off would have amounted to billions of pesos had this scuttled government transaction with the Chinese government gone through.

This is not to mention the P732 Million Fertilizer Fund scam that allegedly greased the wheels of the Macapagal Arroyo Presidential campaign.

If people are willing to plunk down US $ 50,000 for Obama's inauguration fund, it may be that generations of Filipinos (who are among the poorest people in the world) had actually been sold to long decades of penury for the Macapagal Arroyo Presidential inauguration.

In 2010, I hope that we will elect a better President. I have made my choice earlier than most Filipinos would and in my own way, have begun a personal campaign to have him elected.

Philippine Senate: NBN ZTE investigation sizzles then fizzles down

A serious bout of allergies have kept me from updating this blog from the Senate. Having gotten a whole lot better and gotten hold of some free time this Holy Week, I now resume my blogging with a post facto commentary on the NBN ZTE investigation at the Senate and other incidents worth taking note of.

After the surprise pulled off by surprise witness Leo San Miguel, Senators identified with the political opposition are calling in another member of what has been called the 'Greedy Group' that supposedly brokered the NBN ZTE deal. Businessman Ruben Reyes is up next on the stand and the question is, will he willingly or unwillingly spill the beans on corruption in the highest office of the land? Or will it be another surprise?

Some Senators who have figured prominently in the investigation on the NBN ZTE deal have been accused of grandstanding or just seeking publicity. The accusation has been attributed to some Malacanang Palace officials and known allies of the administration. A few Senators retorted that this was the Palace's way of trying to embarrass the Senate into stopping the investigation. Reporters at the Senate, however, believe that the only way to get a full exposition of the facts surrounding the NBN ZTE deal is for the Senate to continue with its investigation -- no matter what happens. There are still some journalists who profess some sense of their role as instruments of Democracy believing that by arming the public with facts they will be better equipped to make decisions and they currently side with the Senators turned investigators in their quest to unravel the whole story surrounding the NBN ZTE hearing. That decision can either mean calling for the President's ouster (which has happened and which the President has ignored) or siding with the President.

Just before former cable TV company executive Leo San Miguel stood before the joint committees investigating the NBN ZTE deal, Dante Madriaga's testimony described the workings of what he called the 'Greedy Group' which supposedly received an advance of $41 Million from ZTE officials purportedly for facilitating the approval of the National Broadband Network loan based project. The Greedy Group was allegedly composed of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo, Leo San Miguel, retired police official Quirino Dela Torre, retired COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos, and Ruben Reyes. It was after Madriaga's testimony that Senator Panfilo Lacson and Senator Nene Pimentel announced that a 'surprise' witness would surface and reveal more about the Greedy group. Lacson said that the new witness would tell everyone how the P 41 Million was divided and distributed among the greedy group. But, when the day came for Leo San Miguel to spill the beans on the corrupt deal, Lacson started hedging on what San Miguel would testify to and in a radio interview, he was heard telling audiences that he didn't want to preempt what San Miguel was going to say before the Senate's joint committees.

It was just after a preliminary discussion on rules during 12th hearing of the ZTE NBN deal that San Miguel announced that all he would be testifying to would be about the purely technical matters of the NBN deal. This was followed by several hours of questioning by Senators where San Miguel repeatedly denied any knowledge of bribery taking place. Near the end of the hearing, Lacson and other Senators took turns calling San Miguel a liar.

It was in the aftermath of the hearings that Senator Richard Gordon's resolution (requiring investigating committees to make it mandatory for witnesses to sign an affidavit attesting to the matter that they were called to speak of or allow a deposition to take place before the hearing proper) became quite relevant. At the present instance, witnesses coming before a Senate inquiry are held to an oath of truth only on the day that they appear before the Senate and are not required to state their testimony on record before they appear at the hearing. This leaves the Senate open or vulnerable to witnesses who will claim one thing before taking oath and then changing their testimony after taking oath. In the case of Leo San Miguel, Lacson claims that San Miguel told him that he knew intimate knowledge of the distribution of the P 41 Million in bribe advances but under oath denied any knowledge of any attempt at bribery by any official.

After more than a hundred hours spread over 12 hearings, Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Senators Alan Peter Cayetano, Panfilo Lacson and Jinggoy Estrada feel that the investigation into the NBN ZTE deal is far from conclusion. The Senators want to put Ruben Reyes, a member of the Greedy Group, on the stand.

How, then, will Gordon's resolution (if implemented) affect the proceedings of the NBN ZTE hearing?

On one hand, cooperative witnesses will not be able to change their testimony as what allegedly happened with Leo San Miguel. It can lead to a faster conclusion of Senate investigations.

But reporters in the Senate have pointed out one other implication and that is the possibility that depositions might be conducted behind closed doors. At the current time, when some Senators have already been clearly seen as lawyering for President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and when hiding things from the public raises suspicions, some reporters say that implementing the resolution would have a negative effect.

Other reporters also say that the resolution can be an effective log jam in investigations, where uncooperative witnesses or hostile witnesses who do not want to appear at the Senate investigation can simply refuse a deposition or simply submit an affidavit denying any knowledge of the matter being investigated. Under the Gordon's resolution, witnesses who lack written and sworn in testimonies will not be allowed to appear in the hearing and expose what they know.

Philippine Senate: Lacson has new ZTE NBN witness

Fresh from the Senate Press Room:

In this week's Kapihan sa Senado, Senator Panfilo 'Ping' Lacson announced that he will be bringing forward a new witness to testify in the Philippine Senate's investigation into the controversial National Broadband Network deal.

Lacson refused to unveil the identity of the new witness. Senate Minority Floor Leader Aquilino Pimentel, however, dropped a hint by referring to the witness as a 'she'.

Senator Pimentel said that the new witness will testify on the acceptance of bribes and the distribution of the $41 Million of 'advances' on alleged kickbacks.

When asked if the testimony coming from the new witness would drag the First Family into the controversy, yet again, Pimentel said "Probably." He also described the witness as 'willing' -- as opposed to an 'unwilling' or hostile witness -- and that all that the Senate needed to do was to send an invitation to the witness, instead of issuing a subpoena.

With the surfacing of the new witness, the fourth one to be brought forward by Lacson, it is expected that the Philippine Senate will shift its focus away from CHED Chairman Romulo Neri. The CHED Chairman filed a case before the Supreme Court questioning the Senate's right to have him placed under arrest and caused the Supreme Court to issue a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) against the Senate's warrant of arrest, thereby effectively barring the Senate from getting a hold of Neri and subjecting him to further questioning.

In the Senate's previous investigative hearing on the NBN deal, Dante Madriaga was presented as a witness testifying on what he knew about the NBN deal and the 'gang of four' which he said had engineered the controversial transaction. Madriaga identified the gang of four as former Comelec Chairman Benjamin Abalos, former police official Quirino “Torch” de la Torre, IT expert Leo San Miguel, and businessman Ruben Reyes. He also testified that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her husband, First Gentleman Jose Miguel Arroyo was part of what he called the 'greedy group' which includes the 'gang of four'.

Senator Richard Gordon had debunked the testimony of Madriaga, pointing out that the witness refused to sign an account of the NBN deal which the witness himself had written. (It must be noted, however, that Madriaga was under oath during the entire Senate hearing in which he testified.)