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!

PLDT, stealing bandwidth and over billing?

PLDT myDSL has kiosks in malls and even neighborhoods that offer to help people sign up for their service. Their claims are great and some kiosks even have computers set up to demonstrate just how fast their internet connection speed is.

I've tried PLDT my DSL is one of the kiosks and believe me, the speed was pretty staggering. I was sold on to it but my wife prevailed on me to put off signing up until I've looked at other services.

A reporter friend who had SMART BRO (another PLDT internet service) installed had complaints about poor service (ranging from not getting any kind of connection to getting speeds slower than dial up). Still another friend, who is a producer of a TV show, had to put up with more or less the same connection problems (the problem being, there was no connection). The bad thing is, both had to pay their monthly bills even if they didn't have any high speed internet connection.

Now comes the horror tale of an old friend whom I haven't spoken to in a long while.

My friend subscribed to PLDT myDSL's Plan 990 which is a highspeed internet connection service bundled with a landline service.

There is an obvious flaw (which is downright deception) when a company says a service is bundled when in fact it is not. When you say bundled, it generally means that you only need to pay the price stated in their ad and you will get the services specified in the bundle all for the stated price. What happened was, apart from the Php 990 for internet connection, my friend also had to pay another Php 700 for the landline. So, it doesn't cost P990 and isn't bundled. Isn't this a violation of the Price Tag Law? Doesn't this flout truth in advertising?

Anyway, my friend still subscribed for the service despite this false ad claim. But in the months that followed my friend was shocked to find out that PLDT myDSL was billing for a much higher priced plan. For some reason, they sent a bill for P1,995 for the internet connection service.

My friend made a formal complaint and notified PLDT that he had enlisted for Plan 990 and not the plan that costed P 1,995. He then paid an amount which corresponded to Plan 990 (which was around Php 1,600 all together). Thinking that all would be settled by then, he left it at that.

In the following months, much to his consternation, he continued to receive a bill for Php 1995 plus landline charges. And much worse, the connection speed he got was between 30 to 50 kbps -- a huge difference from the 1 MBPS he subscribed for and the 2MBPS that he was being billed for. Then, as if that weren't enough, PLDT cut his service completely because they insisted that he wasn't paying the correct billed amount!

Anyway, just to solve my friend's problem, he was forced to draw on his network of well placed friends in PLDT and the matter of his billing was settled, his service was also restored.

The question my friend now posed to PLDT is whether it would give him two months of free service because he had paid for two months but did not get any service from PLDT myDSL. PLDT has yet to answer him and it seems it won't give him two months free service.