STILL ON REFORMING THE ELITIST AND SEMI-FEUDAL ELECTORAL SYSTEM IN THE PHILIPPINES!

I really believe that the current batch of COMELEC officials in the Philippines are able administrators. Such officials are effective managers of an important aspect of democracy- the supervision of a political election. But the current batch of COMELEC officials under Benjamin Abalos are being pressured by the various sectors of the Philippine society to make way for reforms in the current electoral system in the country. Reforming the electoral system in this country is really a hard task to do. First, the public must understand that the current batch of COMELEC officials are humans just like us. We can not expect Mr. Abalos and his batch-mates at the COMELEC officialdom to make sweeping reforms without the assistance of all the sectors of our society. If the current batch of COMELEC officials will reform the electoral system in the country on its own, such can be termed as a little bit despotic due to the fact that such group is not a representative coalition nor expression of all the sectors of the Philippine society. Besides, the COMELEC is not a "super-power group" that can easily overcome all the hindrances that may come along the way of reforming the electoral system in the Philippines. COMELEC has limited functions and powers when it comes to supervising elections in the country. Therefore, all the sectors of the Philippine society should assist and aid the COMELEC in reforming the electoral system of this country.. Another thing is that the legislative branch of the Philippine government must be at the forefront of such reformation. Why? It's because the reforms that will be introduced in the electoral system of this country have to become binding, so that such changes will really be effective in the future. In other words, the would-be reforms in our electoral system have to be passed as laws and decrees by our legislators, so that such changes will be functioning and become binding in the near future. We should hope that before the year 2010 presidential election comes around, all the sectors of the Philippine society would have already reformed the Philippine electoral system as a true expression and representative will of the Filipino people. I hope that before the 2010 presidential election comes in, elitism and political warlord-ism in Philippine politics would have been curtailed, if not completely eliminated, already.

I don't believe that the current batch of actual administrators of the COMELEC had been involved in any form of election-cheating mobilization. As I've said, I truly believe that Mr. Abalos and his batch-mates are all effective administrators of the COMELEC. The problem is that Mr. Abalos and his batch-mates have not seriously made efforts to make a full investigation of the Hello-Garci scandal. I do praise Abalos and his batch-mates for fully investigating the serious cheating allegations and poll irregularities in the recently-held mid-year elections in the country. But, still, in order to counter the public perception that the current COMELEC officialdom has been too lazy in properly investigating the Hello-Garci Controversy, Mr. Abalos and his batch-mates should make a full-scale investigation and recommendation for resolving such electoral controversy. Doing such a thing would make Mr. Abalos and his batch-mates at the COMELEC officialdom become truly-heroic in the historic efforts to reform the elitist and political-warlords’ dominated politics in our country.

The current COMELEC officialdom has to be praised for standing firm on its position to hold a special election at Magindanao province. That is the only way to clean the obvious poll irregularities that took place at Maguindanao during the May 14, 2007 elections in the Philippines. Mr. Koko Pimentel should just allow the people of Magindanao to make their general will become known to our nation. What if Koko Pimentel gets defeated at Maguindanao? So what? The important thing is to cleanse the province of Magindanao from the poll irregularities that took place there during the mid-year elections in this country. The important thing is to know what was the "true expression" of the people of Maguindanao during the May 14, 2007 elections in the Philippines. Besides, if a special election will push through in Maguindanao this month, Koko Pimentel has still a chance to make a "last-day election campaign" at Magindanao if he will request it at the COMELEC. The peaceful and lawful struggle to reform the elitist and semi-feudal electoral system in the Philippines should go on.

POLL IRREGULARITIES IN THE SOUTHERN PHILIPPINES!

Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao are just neighboring provinces in Mindanao. The said provinces were suspected to be the key areas where most cheatings in the year 2004 Philippines presidential election occurred. Those 2 provinces are now again controversial. The reported cheatings in the recently-held 2007 general elections in the Philippines had been widely seen as systematic in the said provinces. The total population of voters in Lanao del Sur is said to around 400,000. Maguindanao has around 200, 0000 voters. But the said figures coming from a pro-administration organization may have been bloated. For one, those provinces have serious-insurgency-related problems that can hinder the voters in exercising their right to suffrage. The local insurgents in those areas are known to be as anti-elections’ advocates. So, the numbers of actual voters in those said provinces are much, much lower than the mentioned figures. And many voters in those provinces usually don’t vote for the national positions. The majority of voters there only vote for their local government officials. They usually leave the list for national candidates as blank. And it can’t be denied that feudal warlords still dominate the local politics of such said provinces. Wielding gold, guns and goons, the semi-feudal warlords in those areas can easily threaten the registered voters there. The Team Unity brags about the “fact” that Maguindanao can deliver a 12-0 victory for them during the campaign-period before the May 14 Elections. The statistical probability of such a victory in the whole province of Maguindanao is below 47 percent. The reason is that Maguindanao has a serious insurgency problem that reflects anti-government sentiments among many of the province’s folks. It is improbable and impossible for any national political party to get a straight ticket to victory in a province that has a serious insurgency problem. So, how come Team Unity was able to get a 12-0 win in the whole province of Maguindanao? That is magic! With the given political conditions, as mentioned in the beginning of this article, in Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao, it would be easy for the “election-terrorists” to subvert the people’s will in those provinces. In other words, the election- cheating machineries in Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao had created wonders for the Team Unity Party.


The following was an article, dated May 16, 2007, from The Asia Foundation or known in the web as Asia Foundation. Org.:

In the Philippines: Elections in Mindanao
Philippines May 16, 2007
By Steven Rod

Steven Rood is The Asia Foundation’s Country Representative in the Philippines.
“On Monday, May 14th, Filipinos voted for 17,889 different government positions at different levels, none of which included the office of President. For more than 50 years, Mindanao has had a reputation within the Philippines as having the worst electoral processes in the country. The unresolved issues about the 2004 election revolve mostly around alleged cheating that took place in various places in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The regional Governor in the ARMM was quoted on Election Day 2007 as saying that “what is important is we can rectify the negative impression that here in the ARMM, there is cheating.” And the “ulama” (religious leaders) have said that people must “rise against the sarcastic perception that the ARMM is the ‘cheating capital for elections.’”
Muslim citizen response this time around was quite vigorous. In early April, twelve Muslim organizations (ranging from region-wide coalitions like Citizens Coalition for ARMM Electoral Reforms and the Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society, to province-based organizations like MARADECA in Lanao del Sur and Electoral Reform Advocates in Tawi-Tawi) met with the Catholic-based Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV). PPCRV is the national organization accredited by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) as its “Citizen’s Arm,” but is naturally weakest in Muslim areas of the country. Thus, the agreement to work for “Clean, Honest, Accurate, Meaningful, Peaceful Elections” helped fill a gap in PPCRV’s coverage of all precincts throughout the country.
The Asia Foundation, with funding support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), partnered with the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) to bring 21 Asian election observers from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia to the ARMM. Partnering with local organizations, they spread out across the ARMM for eight days, interviewing candidates, local officials, COMELEC, police, military, citizens, and non-government organizations. On Election Day, they visited more than 500 precincts. One of the most valuable aspects of such a mission is the reactions of the observers to many things that Filipinos normally take for granted.
The comment that hit the headlines, by Somsri Hananuntasuk (Director of ANFREL) was that the situation was worse than Afghanistan. Perhaps influenced by the fact that a small bomb went off at a precinct she was visiting early in the day, and that she later encountered armed men hustling ballot boxes around accompanied by tanks and a Mayor she described as a “warlord,” her reaction succinctly summarized the feelings of many other observers.
A Malaysian observer who had extricated himself from between two groups of armed followers of competing politicians pointed to the fact that Malaysia has had 50 years of electoral politics without any political killings. He also laughingly said that Philippine elections were not “Free” – in fact they were quite expensive. Another Malaysian, mistaken for a local in Tawi-Tawi, indignantly watched as votes were bought (or at least paid for) quite openly. A Bangladeshi observer (who had also been near the early morning explosion) remarked that she had no idea how Filipinos chose for whom to vote, since no platforms or programs were on offer. And the Indonesians, noting the proliferation of campaign materials at voting stations on Election Day, proudly pointed to the practice in their country of using the day before the election to scrub the locality clean of posters.
Listening to this litany of woes, one is struck by the fact that none of the complaints uniquely characterizes the ARMM. As readers of this series know, we track the number of killings nationwide (currently at 130, with a month of tense “canvassing” [aggregating totals]) to go. In fact, the ARMM did not have a disproportionate number of killings in this election. As for programmatic content, the inclusion of actor and talented film producer Cesar Montano in the administration’s Team Unity senatorial slate had nothing to do with any detailed platform of government. Campaign materials are illegally placed or handed out in voting precincts all over the country. And throughout the country the secrecy of the ballot can be called into question as flimsy “ballot secrecy folders” (file folders that are supposed to block the view of prying eyes) are insufficient. As one observer not in Mindanao noted, “we saw voters curling their paper ballots in an attempt to prevent partisan poll watchers seeing their choices.”
What is unique to ARMM, and ought not be glossed over, is the fact that conflict among clans for political power regularly overwhelms the electoral system. The overwhelming majority of voters in areas with “failed elections” are in the ARMM. In one well-televised incident, the COMELEC and security forces were not able to overcome objections by an incumbent mayor to the distribution of election paraphernalia in his municipality – the protesters were led by his mother who sat on the pile of ballot boxes in the COMELEC office and so the people in that community did not get to cast a vote.
In fact, Asia Foundation research has shown that the main source of violent conflict in Muslim Mindanao is not separatism but clan feuds. This problem is worse in ARMM than anywhere else in the country, and political disputes are the main factors initiating conflict among clans. While elections throw this dynamic into sharp relief, such feuding is a constant reality and no amount of change in election procedures (no matter how much such reform might benefit Philippine democracy) will change that.
It is only when followers are able to exact accountability from their leaders for peace and development that this will change. How residents of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao might accomplish this is a difficult, though not impossible, question.”

But the people of ARMM should help in legally eradicating all the election-cheating machineries in such a region. That is one step forward towards progress.....

THE REPORTED CHEATINGS THAT TOOK PLACE IN THE YEAR 2007 NATIONAL ELECTION IN THE PHILIPPINES!!

THE FOLLOWING ARE EXCERPTS FROM THE MAY 21, 2007 REPORT OF THE KONTRA-DAYA (COUNTER-ELECTION FRAUD ALLIANCE) ABOUT THE RECENTLY-HELD NATIONAL ELECTION IN THE PHILIPPINES:

COMELEC Officials from the Garci Scandal

The COMELEC has resisted citizens’ demands for the investigation, or reassignment to less sensitive positions, of the election officials implicated in the Garci tapes. In fact, election official Rey Sumalipao, who had been implicated in the Garci tapes, was promoted to head COMELEC operations for the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), an area where massive fraud is said to be already taking place.


Security of Election Documents

The COMELEC failed to ensure the security of accountable forms such as Election Returns and Certificates of Canvass. Just before Election Day, ABS-CBN senior correspondent Ricky Carandang reported on what appeared to be “genuine” Election Returns that had all the proper security markings. The documents were said to be for sale. There are persistent reports from the media about “fake” ER’s.

Early on in the campaign, Kontra Daya already warned that the presence of private printers producing ER’s would compromise the security of these election documents. The situation with private printers operated by private employees leaves materials such as papers, plates and/or films vulnerable for illegal printing and the commission of wholesale fraud. In the face of such a warning, and in light of the ensuing theft of the forms, the COMELEC and the National Printing Office cannot claim they have secured said forms. In fact, the theft underscores COMELEC’s (willful or unintended) negligence and dereliction of duty over the security of vital election documents.


Implementation of RA 9369

In the issue of the non-implementation of crucial provisions of R.A. 9369, particularly Section 39 (projection of canvassing), the COMELEC merely pointed out its lack of funds. No other explanation was given and no other effort to fully implement the law was seen.


Partylist Issues

In the case of questionable party list groups, Kontra Daya issued a list of 22 groups it believes were either created by or had links with Malacañang and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). Subsequently, a memorandum from the Office of the External Affairs (OEA), an office under the direct supervision of the Office of the President, surfaced. It revealed that one of OEA’s officials, who also happens to be a nominee of an administration-backed party list group, had requested funding from the Office of the President. The Supreme Court has also issued a decision for the COMELEC to release all the names of the nominees of party list groups that it had refused to divulge to the public.

Despite these developments, the Commission has not investigated or taken action against any of the party list groups and their nominees who clearly do not qualify as “marginalized groups” in accord with the spirit and the letter of the relevant constitutional provision on party lists. Inaction appears to be the standard response of the COMELEC to all demands for reforms and rectification.


The Role of the Military

The elections in 2007 are far, far worse than that of 2004 with regard to the AFP’s uncalled for and illegitimate involvement. The People’s International Observers Mission (PIOM), Task Force Poll Watch and Kontra Daya’s own election monitoring showed unacceptable patterns of intervention coming from military units and their officials. If in 2004 only some generals were involved in fraud (as revealed by the “Garci tapes”), in 2007 we can say that the entire chain of command was being used and manipulated for the purposes of fraud and violence.

The COMELEC has failed to stop the AFP from engaging in partisan political activities. Two of the most glaring examples are the AFP’s vilification campaign against militant party list groups and the AFP’s all-out support for administration bets and party list groups. The AFP in Metro Manila also attempted to clothe its smear campaign in the guise of a “voters’ education program,” a move immediately unmasked and opposed by various citizens’ groups.

There are persistent reports that high-ranking officials of the military are using the chain of command to force soldiers to vote for administration bets and party list groups. Fact-finding bodies like the PIOM noted that in Nueva Ecija, soldiers coerced people to vote for the Bantay partylist of Gen. Jovito Palparan. Media reports, on the other hand, also say that local absentee voting for soldiers were conducted under questionable conditions. Despite all these issues, the COMELEC has turned a blind eye to the blatant partisanship exhibited by the AFP and its officials.


Initial Conclusions

The 2007 elections are compromised by the COMELEC’s failure to ensure the credibility of the polls. At the least, it failed to dismantle the structural systems and conditions encouraging wholesale fraud. At most, it showed complicity with blatant acts of fraud and other violations of the Election Code. Even the traditional watchdog groups such as Namfrel and PPCRV, that are official citizens’ arms of the COMELEC, have carefully refrained from issuing statements absolving the COMELEC of election negligence, mismanagement or sabotage.

Kontra Daya raises these general statements on the 2007 elections:

1. There are initial indications that the Arroyo administration is engaged in large-scale electoral fraud in an attempt to secure favorable results for its candidates in the national elections (senatorial and party-list).

a. Throughout the campaign period and right up to Election Day, Malacanang led and directed a massive campaign of vote-buying for its candidates.

b. Malacanang has made partisan use of the military to campaign for administration candidates and against opposition groups especially the militant party lists.

c. In the ongoing period of counting and canvassing of votes, efforts to directly manipulate the election results in favor of Malacanang’s candidates and against the administration’s opponents (senatorial candidates and party-list groups) are underway.

2. COMELEC seems directly complicit with the Arroyo administration in perpetrating the ongoing electoral fraud.

a. At its highest level, the COMELEC issued statements, policies, and resolutions that were in accordance with the interests of Malacanang particularly in the Cayetano case, the Robredo disqualification, and the “Malacanang partylist” issue.

b. The COMELEC is suspected of laying the groundwork for electoral fraud which include among others the private printing of election forms, padded voters’ list, selective implementation of laws and the last-minute appointment of BEIs.

c. The COMELEC also aided and abetted fraud through its inaction on numerous blatant violations of election laws from the shameless vote-buying by administration officials to the blatant partisanship of the AFP.

d. The presence and promotion of election officers previously linked to fraud in Mindanao also shows complicity to commit fraud on the part of the COMELEC.

e. COMELEC chairman Abalos in particular makes it a point to rationalize if not cover up election-related anomalies which have come to light. He too is in a state of almost total denial when it comes to election fraud.

Two days after the elections, the Arroyo administration was quick to point out that an administration win at the local levels was a vote for “stability and progress”. COMELEC Chairman Benjamin Abalos also claimed that the elections were a “vindication” for the poll body.

Neither claim is generally accepted. The popular public sentiment right now is that the Arroyo administration is abetting election fraud and engaging in terror tactics in the provinces. Reports of vote-shaving and manipulation, bribery, military harassment and extrajudicial killings all cast serious doubt on the outcome of the elections.

The strong lead shown by the Opposition and militant partylist groups in the COMELEC count do not disprove fraud; rather it reveals a popular preference for them so strong it is overwhelming even the most proven fraud tactics during the canvass. The Opposition and the progressives are winning the count despite the cheating.


The following days will be crucial as the canvassing of votes continues and the possibility of wholesale fraud looms even more. Kontra Daya calls on the people to exercise heightened vigilance and to start sending a strong message to the COMELEC, the AFP and the Arroyo administration that electoral fraud in any form will be politically costly for this country_ the Philippines.

THE COMING MID-YEAR ELECTION!

It is election time once again here in the Philippines! I know that the Genuine Opposition is about to take the majority seats, that is both in the senate and congress, in the coming mid-year election. I just hope that such politicians who are about to become our law-makers will do their job properly. I’m also praying that the coming election here in the Philippines would be truly honest, credible and fair. The Comelec officials should work hand-in-hand with the senate and the congress in finding out ways to reform the political- election system here in the Philippines. The concerned sectoral groups here in our country should also participate in reforming the political-election system until all the basic institutions of Philippine democracy have been stabilized already………..

I’m also announcing to the whole world my intention to run for the Philippine presidential election in year 2010. That’s no joke! I will begin my "early" campaign for such a presidential election this year 2007. I’m going to run for such endeavor to campaign for real, global and moral democracy in this world. I’m going to start my presidential campaign right after the May 14 national election in the Philippines. Watch me do such a campaign in the coming days.

A REVIEW OF THE HELLO GARCI CONTROVERSY!!!!!

THE HELLO GARCI SCANDAL AND CONTROVERSY!!!!!
The following are excerpts from a Wikipedia article about the ‘Hello GARCI Controversy’ that rocked our country recently. The controversy has not yet been resolved.

From the Wikipedia:

Background

The scandal involves incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, who allegedly rigged the 2004 national election in her favor. The official results of that election gave Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Noli de Castro the presidency and vice-presidency, respectively. Hundreds of national and local positions were also contested during this election. The scandal and crisis began in June 2005 when audio recordings of a phone call conversation between President Arroyo and then COMELEC Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano allegedly talking about the rigging of the 2004 national election results, were released to the public. This escalated, when the minority of the lower house of Congress attempted to impeach Arroyo. This was blocked by Arroyo's coalition in September 2005. No trial has taken place thus far.
Samuel Ong, a former deputy director of the country's National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), declared in a June 10 press conference that he possessed original recordings of a wiretapped conversation between Arroyo and an official of the Commission on Elections, who was alleged to be Virgilio Garcillano. In the following weeks, the media analyzed contents of the tapes. The Ong recordings allegedly proved that Arroyo rigged the 2004 national election to maintain her presidency and the political success of her allies. Arroyo denied the accusations of election rigging in a television broadcast on June 27, but acknowledged that it was her voice on the tape. [3]Protests occurred frequently during the crisis either in favor or against Arroyo and her administration. Attempts to impeach Arroyo failed on September 6.
During the scandal, various polls and surveys conducted by Social Weather Stations, CNN/Time, and Pulse Asia measured public opinion regarding the allegations and other related issues.
According to a CNN/Time poll, 57.5 percent of the people surveyed said that Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo should not finish her term. [4]. A Pulse Asia survey released on Philippine news on July 12 showed that 57% of the people wanted incumbent president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to resign from office.
The Social Weather Stations or SWS June 28-30, 2005 Metro Manila poll results yielded that 59% say GMA told the Comelec official to cheat and 84% support full airing of tapes. In the same survey, President Arroyo received a rather poor net trust rating of -31 while the COMELEC's net trust rating was -27. [5]
According to the SWS July 12-14, 2005 Metro Manila Poll: GMA should resign, say 62%; or else she should be impeached, say 85%. President Arroyo's net trust rating was still poor at -33. [6] Incidentally, President Arroyo's net trust rating has stayed low (negative) since then.

Ong recordings

Two recordings were presented to the public: the Ong recordings and the government endorsed version of the recordings. Uncut copies of the Ong recordings managed to become widespread. The first recordings to be released to the press were used in the Congressional inquiry on the crisis. The second set of recordings, described by the government as the original, was more easily accessible in the Philippines as the government did not restrict the media from airing it. However, the media aired both sets, focusing on the Ong recordings.
Shortly after the scandal broke, Randy David, a nonpartisan columnist of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, cited two excerpts from the Ong recording in an article. Sheila Coronel, of the Philippine Center of Investigative Journalism, was able to decipher some of the garbled parts of the tape, which allegedly implicated Arroyo in the scandal. David analyzed the tapes using ethnomethodology and came to the same conclusions as did Coronel. His analysis described one of the speakers as a female coming across as a person speaking to her subordinate. Later, Arroyo acknowledged that it was her voice on the recording. However, no trial took place regarding Arroyo's intentions with her conversations in the recordings. According to Philippine law, both recordings are part of the public domain and are freely distributable.
In his editorial on June 12, 2005 for the Philippine Daily Inquirer [8], Randy David said,
"On the surface it does look like an innocent exchange. The key word here is "nagco-correspond"-a gloss that refers to the practice of fixing canvass results at, say, the provincial level so that they are not at variance with precinct election returns or statement of votes for municipalities. The other gloss is the question "Kumpleto?" This is not a harmless inquiry. Given the kind of response it elicits, it is an urgent demand to make sure the doctoring is done with care".
David described Arroyo's subordinate as a "man...not in the business of counting votes; he produces them."
Sheila Coronel, described not only electoral fraud, but also the involvement of the independent watchdog group Namfrel. In her analysis, Coronel alleged that corruption was clearly evident. [9] She also commented on the garbled portions of the tape, which were digitally enhanced for clarity. [10]. Allegedly, Arroyo whispered "Yung dagdag, yung dagdag" ("The addition, the addition"), implying fraud and mentioned Namfrel's sympathy for her. In her blog, she said,
"The conversations, after all, provide damning proof that Garcillano was, in the words of a Comelec official, “the plotter for electoral fraud, the overall supervisor and commander in chief” of the manipulation of the count in favor of the administration. The recording points to systemic and institutional fraud perpetrated by the Comelec. Does this mean that the President, by confirming her phone calls to the commissioner, also provided, albeit indirectly, a virtual confirmation of the fraud?"

Other evidence

After the Ong allegations surfaced, many others also claimed to have evidence of cheating by the Arroyo administration; however some of those facing the additional allegations have not been given opportunity to provide solid evidence. Rashma Hali, an electoral official from Basilan, who can claims that Arroyo is related to a kidnapping operation. Michael Zuce claimed that he was present in an incident where Arroyo allegedly bribed officials from the Commission on Elections. Retired general Francisco Gudani claimed that he can prove military involvement in Arroyo's alleged acts of electoral fraud. Roberto Verzola, leader of the Philippine Greens and an IT expert, also claimed that Gloria Macapagal Arroyo cheated and the citizens' election watchdog, National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) was also involved. Jay Carizo, from the Institute for Popular Democracy, developed the election cheating indicators. Other sources claimed fraud in several other government positions, as well as the murder of political opponents by incumbents. There were also eyewitness claims as well. Loren Legarda-Leviste also claimed that she had evidence of being cheated by Noli de Castro also won the vice presidency, in 2004.

Accountability and legitimacy

The evidence carried with it great consequences. The Ong tape were neutrally authenticated by foreign companies Uniquest (Australia) and Voice Identification (United States). Also, Arroyo's spokesman, Ignacio Bunye, as well as the president herself, acknowledged that it was indeed Arroyo's voice. The protesting public insisted that the tapes and CDs proved electoral fraud, and that Arroyo cheated and rigged the 2004 elections. A sizable number of people wanted the results of the 2004 elections to be made invalid. The Supreme Court withheld judgment on the matter, refraining from actions toward invalidating the election. The administration said the Ong recordings were inadmissible in court, since the audio was taped without consent.
Initially, there were two possible outcomes for the government; Arroyo could have either resigned or be ousted through a constitutionally accepted process. These actions could only take place after addressing the current state of the faulty electoral system. The other outcome was for Arroyo to be cleared of any wrong doing. Neither outcome occurred, and hence no final course of action was taken to resolve Arroyo's legitimacy or to prevent electoral fraud. Those unrealized possible outcomes could have resolved definitely the legitimacy issue, and could have made Arroyo accountable for any wrongdoing. However, Philippine law and the country's flawed electoral rules complicate the legitimacy and accountability problem. The law only mentions impeachment followed with a conviction as a possible way of removing certain serving legitimate government officials. The law however is unclear on how to prosecute and convict the sitting official if illegitimacy is the problem, due to allegations of vote rigging. Conrado de Quiros, a strong advocate of electoral reforms, argues that a special presidential election must be done in coinciding with midterm elections to resolve legitimacy. [2]
"It is not enough that the elections next year [2007 midterm elections] be turned into a referendum on Arroyo, it is imperative that the elections next year be turned into an occasion to vote for a real president."
"At the very least, a loud and universal call for special presidential elections next year will let it be known that we are serious about doing something about screwing the voters. No, more than that, about the deceitfulness and lying that are spreading everywhere in this country faster than karaoke. In the end, none of the safeguards against cheating will matter if there is no public vigilance against the threat and no outrage against the commission."
Whether the special presidential elections occurs or not, a significant number of incumbent politicians who are allied with administration and who were elected during the tainted 2004 elections may be deposed by voter backlash in the upcoming 2007 midterm elections, assuming the election to be free and fair. The electorate would use the upcoming election as a referendum on accountability and legitimacy for Arroyo and her political supporters. All of the seats of Arroyo's supporters in the House of Representatives, half of the Senate, and all local government positions are to be contested. De Quiros also describes this contest as a contest of "democracy vs. the cheaters". [3]

Electoral system

The Philippines, according to experts, has a reputation for having political issues based on patronage politics and personality politics. To some experts, what is unique about the crisis is that it addresses the greater issue of electoral fraud and an allegedly faulty election system that allows cheaters to win and get away with it. This is manifested in a humorous local saying that, "There are two types of people in elections. Those who win and those who get cheated out of office." Politically outspoken student groups mention that this is rather new for Philippine politics, and shows a gradual development of the voting public, the electorate.
According to pundits, the past 60 years of the Philippine history already has a reputation of electoral fraud, proven or otherwise. It is just that no one ever gets caught or punished. Analysts assert that the people have always been desensitized to their politicians cheating during elections. Accordingly, people generally doubt their leaders' mandates. The people are often suspicious of the winners, especially in close poll results, but do nothing. Constituents generally allow their leaders, assuming proven acts of cheating, to get away with it until the scandal erupted. Roberto Verzola supports punishing candidates guilty of fraud as the first step for electoral reforms. He said that, "the system can be slow or fast but there will still be cheating unless you punish the cheats." [4] The reforms sought for the electoral system are still clouded with uncertainty._______________WIKIPEDIA

The Filipino people, through the various sectors of the Philippine society, must truly ensure that the coming political election will be the true expression of the general will of the Filipino nation. The Philippines should have electoral reforms in and upon its own political system. The democratic institutions in the Philippines have to be revitalized. And the Philippine Comelec should do something…………….

THE RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE!

The inset photo is a picture of the famous rock band called RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE. The band is famous for its use of combining both the hip-hop and punk elements with its own style of “funky hard rock music”. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE is also known as a rock band which is involved in many activist and humanitarian causes. Among the advocacies that the band champions are children’s rights, gender equality, debt relief for all developing countries, environmentalism and a homeland for Native Americans- the American redskins or American Indians. The band is also known as “leftist-oriented” group, because its members are avowed socialists. RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE vocally and loudly supports violent Marxist groups like the Zapatista guerillas in Mexico. I do admire such band’s use of peaceful and lawful means to campaign for the political causes that it advocates. But I don’t like the way it proposes certain Marxist-Communist agendas for a society. Marxist-Communist agendas lead to totalitarian or dictatorial take-over. I like some of the songs of such band. But I hope that someday such rock band will completely drop its championing of certain Marxist-Communist agendas.


I believe that democracy is the only socio-political system in the world that is compatible and in harmony with all of the natural, universal and moral principles. Hence, democracy is the only “natural socio-political system” in this world. Democracy is the only socio-political system in the world that guarantees a social contract for the protection, securing and ensuring of all known human rights and civil liberties of humanity. Hence, democracy is compatible with every political, economic and religious ideology in the world. Anything that degrades the idea of a social contract that guarantees all the known human rights and civil liberties is termed as “tyranny”. Hence, anything that is anti-democratic is labeled as a tyranny. Therefore, it is only proper to say that every country, every social organization (including the semi-religious and religious ones) and every culture in this world should peacefully and lawfully embrace real, global and moral democracy. The ideals of our groups- the LEAGUE OF POLITICAL ABROGATIONISTS and the COMMUNITIES’ ALLIANCE FOR REAL DEMOCRACY- can be read instantly by clicking this web page now: http://www.geocities.com/esabon/POLITICAL_ABROGATIONERS.html . The readers are free to view such web page now.


I also would like to “advertise” certain worthy global cause-oriented groups that are really helping this world to be a much better and a much humane place for humanity. The readers of this article can either join or give donations to these internationally well-known non-government orgs- the Amnesty International and The One Campaign. Amnesty International is involved with the global campaign to protect all known human rights of humanity. Amnesty International had already won a couple of Nobel Peace Prize awards for its peaceful and lawful campaigns to protect and defend all the known human rights all over this world. Click this web page now to know more about Amnesty International: http://www.amnesty.org . On the other hand, The One Campaign is an international organization that is peacefully and lawfully struggling to lessen the global impact of a disease called AIDS and, also, is currently involved in many programs that have been designed to lessen global poverty. Click this web page to know more about the One Campaign: http://one.org . Such humanitarian organizations need the support and donations of the righteous people of this world. Please make donations to such groups now. And, if you can, join such groups now and help make this world a better place for all human beings. Also, make this world a better place for plants and animals as well. I hope that someday all the technologies that humans would be using are environment-friendly. Thanks.

BEAUTIFUL PHILIPPINES!

MAJESTIC BAGUIO! LOVELY BORACAY!
The Philippines is really a beautiful country! Our country has a working democracy, friendly and nice people, and truly-wonderful natural sceneries. The Philippines is also a bastion of strong faith in holiness and goodness. I don't believe that the Philippines has a "rotten socio-political system"! I believe that democracy is really working in the Philippines. But it can not be denied that our country has some socio-political problems that come from a defective political-patronage system that hinders the further advancement of democracy in this nation. Our people have to gain a truly-meaningful, global and moral democracy in this country. Reforms, reforms, reforms! Socio-politcal reforms are necessary to renovate the Philippine political-electoral system and the political institutions that would make democracy in our country become truly-meaningful, global and moral to all the sectors of the Philippine society. And I believe that the Philippines has plenty of idealistic social reformers who will continue to struggle peacefully and lawfully to gain real, global and moral democracy for the Filipino people. Cheers for the Philippines! I love the Philippines!

SOME IDEAS FROM A VIEWER OF THIS BLOG!

I read a good work from one of the viewers of this blog. This message was written by Jeanette Bonifacio of the Ang KaSaMa group in the Philippines. Here is the message:

Gov’t subsidy of the electoral process! The reason you have a rotten society is because you have rotten leaders & a rotten system. In order to create a new society, you have to have a new system & new leaders. They have to create each other. Leaders have to create system and system have to create leaders. A system where we allow MONEY to dictate the destiny of a people is a highly-questionable system. Loose talks from some reliable sources point to the fact that since time immemorial nat’l campaign money comes from the host of illegal activities like jueteng, drug-syndicates, kidnap for ransom, bank robbery, etc. This is the main reason why this gov’t & all succeeding administrations will never be able to solve the drug-problem of this country. On the other hand, the Gov’t subsidy of the entire electoral process will immediately and effectively put a stop to the campaign-money coming from vested interest groups & illegal activities. This will make politicians & public officials become BEHOLDEN only to the gov’t. Big businesses’ control and monopoly over the political destination of this country by way of lucrative investments to favored politicians must end. If I may quote from the Phil. Daily Inquirer issue dated February15, 1992, from its Editorial entitled “Money and Politics”, last paragraph, which says “Until Congress passes a law subsiding the major candidates campaign for the president and other national posts, candidates and parties will have to think of creative ways of breaking the hold of money on Phil. Politics. If we are to have a real democracy, money must stop determining the outcome of elections.”Number 7, under Section 2 of Letter C on Commission on Election, Article IX on Constitutional Commission, defines the powers and functions exercised by Comelec under Section 2 to, (#7) Recommend to Congress effective measures to: 1. Minimize election spending 2. Limitation of places where propaganda materials are to be posted. 3. Prevent and penalize all forms of election frauds, offenses and malpractices. 4. Remove nuisance candidates. Perhaps one of the many challenges that faced Congress, hitherto, is that mandate in the Constitution, where Comelec in its exercise of its powers and functions (may) recommend to Congress effective measures to MINIMIZE ELECTION SPENDINGS!The ff. suggestions hope to dramatically minimize, if not entirely eliminate the role that money plays in the outcome of elections. To this end, bills may be filed in Congress precisely for this purpose: Shorten campaign period! Many candidates become sick because they have to cover the length and breadth of a certain constituency. Specific areas like barangay halls, plazas, basketball courts, etc. are places where meetings can be held. Aspirants should then be effectively discouraged from wasting their time, for example, using door to door contact. This is one of the main reasons why campaign periods take sometime. The more time spend to campaign, the more money is spent - e.g. let national campaign be done via multimedia - radio, newspaper& nationwide TV coverage like the impeachment trial or Comelec hour, w/out the candidates covering the length & breadth of the archipelago. Remove or eliminate the fiesta atmosphere as a traditional campaign strategy. Motorcades and lavish miting de avances which more often than not include expensive fireworks, entertainers, actors and actresses, celebrities, etc. must all be banned. In the words of P.R. Sarkar, “The farce of sham democracy has been likened to a puppet-show were power hungry politicians pull the strings from behind the scene.”Some so-called democracies" have reduced elections to mere popularly contests and survival of the fittest. Generally speaking, the traditional ways and approaches made by political demagogues, catering to people’s emotions and sentiments, to popularize themselves, in most cases, is primarily what is important to the people at large and to the “trapo” politicos as well. Entertainment, by and large, instead of the urgency of mass education, etc., becomes the name of the game. Society had degenerated to the point that the “MOB” is able to dictate even to the leaders of this country, to “seek and aspire for popularity”, rather than “righteousness and soul-searching”. All the education, issue-orientation, principles and ideology, and platforms of government, are all thrown in the dustbin of history. In fairness to the so-called MOB, deep inside them, they really want genuine change, for after all, their poverty is definitely beyond mere reform. Frankly speaking, all these posters everywhere, TV, radio and newspaper ads, motorcades and lavish star-studded miting de avances, etc:, don’t mean anything at all, as far as “Voters education is concerned!”In fact, many times over, they tend to becloud the issues, and inmore ways than one, MONEY, almost single handedly dictates the outcome of elections. At this point, may I state categorically, that there are basically three (3) ways to know a candidate: 1.) Educational attainment or credential 2.) Track record – in public office for re-electionists and NGO’s or private sector records for neophytes 3.) Platform of government- which contain among others: a.) plan of action (short, medium and long term) b.) vision of society- contains all the ideal features of what a candidate perceives to be an ideal society. And as a fierce advocate of Alternative Political and Electoral reform-programs, I've watched over the years with keen interest, precisely, reforms that maybe instituted by the Electoral Reform Committees of both the Senate and the House-and the result is that up to now, “zero-reform”, is their proud record of achievement! Again, in fairness to these brilliant lawmakers, particularly the heads of these committees, they saw no need for reforms, lest they “rock the boat”, so to speak…I rest my case...........

THE COMELEC AND THE CITIZENRY

THE COMELEC AND THE CITIZENRY

Dear Mr. Jimenez,



Many Filipinos have already watched the recent political advertisements that had been shown on national TV. One of such commercials have a “military man” endorsing Cong. Migs Zubiri to be voted as senator in the coming election. I do know that soldiers are prohibited from endorsing any candidate in front of the media. And, yet, a military man is endorsing Migs Zubiri to be voted as senator in the coming election. Such commercial has been shown so many times already now in national TV. How would the COMELEC deal with such questionable forms of campaigning in a political election? The COMELEC should be responsible enough in doing its tasks and responsibilities. The COMELEC is an important component of an effective and working democracy. If such a commission has some or many defects, it means that democracy is not running effectively in a country. Can we say that the current COMELEC in the Philippines is free from any defect? Many Filipinos were asked by several survey-groups on the issue of the COMELEC’s credibility in safeguarding the integrity of future elections here in our country. The over-all majority of those who had been surveyed replied that the COMELEC lacks the credibility to safeguard the integrity of future elections in this country. What then would the COMELEC do to make the Filipino people become fully-convinced that it (the COMELEC) can really be trusted as an important part of an effective and working democracy? The answer would be a “dialogue” between the citizenry and the COMELEC. The COMELEC must listen to the grievances and the suggestions of the citizenry regarding the political-election system of our country. Many wise people from the COMELEC brought out the idea of having an “open-chat system” with concerned the concerned citizens of this country through the so-called “BAGONG BOTANTE WEB PAGE”. But the very name of such web page would mean that most, if not all, of those who will chat with some officials of the COMELEC are “new voters” who had never experienced how to be disenfranchised or expelled from voting in a political election due to “identification-problems”. The COMELEC should have a week or two in making a “direct dialogue” with the concerned citizens of this country in trying to work out ways to reform the election-system of our country. The COMELEC officials can hold sessions with the “concerned citizens” before the holding of the mid-year election. I, personally, as a plain and law-abiding citizen of this country, would also want to discuss my own opinions, that is if given the chance by the COMELEC officials, on how to reform the political-election system and how to ensure the integrity and credibility of every political election in our country.
How I wish this suggestion of an open dialogue between the citizenry and the COMELEC will be listened upon by all the commissioners of the COMELEC. I can volunteer myself to appear personally before the COMELEC officials in explaining the wisdom of this suggestion. I hope that it is not yet too late for the citizenry and the COMELEC to hold a week-long dialogue in making the coming mid-year election become truly credible, clean, peaceful, fair and orderly. Mr. Jimenez, please make this message become known immediately to your immediate superiors there at the COMELEC. I know that I’m not a national celebrity in this country to convey this suggestion to the COMELEC officials. But I have to convey this message to the COMELEC, because I’m a constitution-lover and a law-abiding citizen of this country. Again, Mr. Jimenez, please make this message become known immediately to your immediate superiors at the COMELEC. My constructive criticisms about the COMELEC’s flaws in the holding of political elections in our country could be seen and read at this web page:http://www.rummelpinera.blogspot.com . Just click such web page right away to enter the mentioned site immediately. Thanks.


Such letter was posted by me at the blog called "INSIDE COMELEC" on March 20, 2007. I don't know if some COMELEC officials would care to bother at all on such letter of mine. I do hope that they have read that one.

AN INTERESTING ARTICLE AT A NEWS JOURNAL

FROM THE PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, PUBLISHED IN MARCH, YEAR 2007

Between hope and historyBy Sylvia L. MayugaINQUIRER.netMANILA, Philippines -- " And so it came to pass – the five-ring circus of the May 2004 Philippine presidential elections siring the wild masked ball of the May 2007 congressional and local elections. Again, 70% of election expenses will go to funhouse distorting mirrors called political advertisements, mocking both the Filipino voter’s natural intelligence and hungry stomach.Beginning with the ruling party’s sole binding philosophy of surviving the dubious mandate of 2004, here are scandals aplenty, but strangely enough, no real surprises.Behold its senatorial candidates – turncoats, party lackeys, and “winnable” movie stars of dubious political sanity and training in public service. (Cesar Montano, you’re a great actor with a first-rate filmography – why on earth did you sign up for this major casting mistake?)This brings us to a Commission on Elections in the ruling party’s pocket, its chair Benjamin Abalos the smooth-talking survivor of the infamous Hello-Garci election followed by the P2 B-vote counting machine scandal. The same Garci now runs for a congressional seat in Bukidnon in thick carabao hide as the Comelec continues along its idiosyncratic course.This past week, Abalos casually pronounced the third Aquino candidate, dual citizen Theodore “Kuya Ted” Macabulos-Aquino, unqualified to run for the Senate because of “non-residency in the Philippines.” Aquino counters that he’s a part-time resident and international engineering consultant in the Philippines. As such, he submitted his ownership papers for a condominium in Makati, cedulas, and Philippine Immigration stamps on his passport when he filed his candidacy.Information technology does not seem to be the Comelec’s strong suit, but these claims can be checked on a website built by Fil-American “Friends of Kuya Ted.” They say they’re rallying to share the fate of the homeland with their education and future investments – and could have no better representative in Congress than Kuya Ted.(Noynoy Aquino filed a case for the Comelec to classify him a “nuisance candidate.” Kuya Ted counters that he’s a distant cousin willing to give all questionable Aquino votes to Noynoy, should it come to that.)Meanwhile a pattern emerges in the Comelec’s record on party list candidacies, a provision in the 1986 Constitution meant as an instrument of post-EDSA people empowerment. Power to grant or refuse party list accreditation in the Comelec under Abalos continues to be a henhouse door wide open to the wolf of trapo politics.This Armida Siguion-Reyna illustrates in her column, noting the recent accreditation of an association of tricycle drivers called Biyaheng Pinoy - with one Arsenio Abalos, elder brother of the Comelec chair, as director and national council member. She asks, why has Ang Ladlad, (“The Laid Out” or “Out of the Closet”) which applied for accreditation “at the same time if not earlier,” been rejected twice?Ang Ladlad is of course the first-ever Filipino Gay, Lesbian Bisexual and Trans-gender NGO cum political party, with students, intellectuals, and professionals in a stated nationwide membership of 16,000. Public curiosity has been pricked. For one, Miguel Antonio Lizada of the Sun-Star Davao wants to know if this rejection has “something to do with the fact that Ang Ladlad was leading in the race, next to Bayan Muna (Country First)?”It is of course slightly different for Richard Gomez as a ruling party candidate for the Senate, another casting move for politics as showbiz. Blame the director for using Richard as nothing more than eye candy on the political stage. But blame Richard for seeing nothing wrong with running under the same pragmatic party that refused to accredit his cause-oriented NGO, Mamamayan Laban sa Droga (Citizens Against Drugs) - after he won as a party list candidate in the 2001 congressional race.But what have we in the ranks of the opposition on the other side of this masked ball? There’s the real estate tycoon/ reelectionist senator Villar and his fellow reelectionist senator Pangilinan, both refusing to campaign on one platform with the “Genuine Opposition.” Does this have anything to do with the incarcerated ex-president Erap looming over them, moneybags ready to buy his freedom with a new dispensation?Hardly over the trauma of the Hello Garci election of 2004, can the people prevent another vote-counting and canvassing fiasco in 2008? Such is public cynicism that the first sound of “boycott” emerged from a circle of former street parliamentarians the other night. The day before, it was a former Arroyo Cabinet member theorizing that creating confusion could precisely be a tactic of ruling party strategy – to turn off enough thinking voters from going to the polls at all, making it easier to manipulate results.The mood is uncertainty. Not only are we confused about what the season’s candidates stand for besides themselves, we can only guess what’s behind their masks and try to remember where they really belong.Armida Siguion-Reyna, sister of lifetime politician Juan Ponce Enrile, puts it well, “Our multi-party structure is no longer simply multi-party, but multi-multi party, with splinter groups further splintering. It’s as if national affairs are run by Partido Starbucks, with a branch in almost every kanto. It didn’t use to be like this.“Our political landscape has been littered with turncoats, but at least in the older days one knew if a candidate was a former Liberal Party member who had skipped to the Nacionalista side.Now you have to figure out how the former Liberal joined the Kilusang Bagong Lipunan (KBL) , and then went with Lakas ng Bayan (Laban), to Lakas/National Union of Christian Democrats (Lakas/NUCD), then Laban ng Demokratikong Pilipino (LDP), to LDP/Laban ng Masang Pilipino (LAMP), and finally the National People’s Coalition (NPC), if not the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (KAMPI). ”Under the umbrellas of those acronyms, the names presently on offer with their mixed motives, crossover platforms, and eccentric fundamentalist platforms don’t even add up to an acceptable half dozen for the Senate, but strangest of all is how this chaos is turning out to be a learning place.Another instinct is kicking in from somewhere between hope and history. My take is to forget “winnability” for the moment, and instead vote for time. What do I mean? Think of these elections as a live exercise in the power of ideas in minds free of the old fears and compulsions of traditional politics. Think of it as a gamble to get those new ideas, if not voted into power, at least heard nationwide for the first time.Last week was about Noynoy Aquino’s coming of age as an aspiring Senator for a new generation of Filipino voters. This week, beyond his shock value as the first professed gay candidate for public office in Philippine history, it’s all about the eminent sense Danton Remoto makes behind that trademark swishiness.Seen for what he is, this multi-awarded Filipino poet, Ateneo professor, and associate member of the Manila Critics Circle behind the National Book Awards bears his scholarship and solid reputation with the deceptive levity of true intelligence. He is also the last of his blood family to stubbornly remain in the country, all the rest (five successful engineers included) already in Diaspora. Here’s Danton Remoto, unedited.On that shoestring campaign supported by students, OFWs, closet gay businessmen and professionals, schools and fellow artists in People Power 2007, Remoto continues to fight for accreditation as Ang Ladlad party list candidate in a deeply compromised Comelec.A globalized gay world is watching our masked ball. So are the poor in the slums, the broken-backed teachers of the Philippine public school system, and the marginalized members of Ang Ladlad watching and learning from this “snowball’s chance in hell.” Its lessons are investments in the future. "

Such are words of wisdom from Sylvia L. Mayuga

NUISANCE AT THE COMELEC!

The COMELEC commissioners once bragged that they will be holding an en banc session that will listen to the pleas of the so-called nuisance candidates and, then, allow such candidates to file their position-papers before finally determining if they really deserved to become official candidates or just nuisance-ones for the coming senatorial race. The outcome for such a judgment would be “democratic”. The hearing was scheduled on March 6, 2007. But only a handful of such so-called “nuisance candidates” appeared before the en banc committee. The thing is that the majority of such nuisance candidates were not able to make it on such a forum. About 13 of such candidates appeared on such date. The other 33 or so were absent during the hearing. So, the COMELEC wasn't able to notify successfully all of such candidates. How could that hearing be called democratic if the majority of such candidates were not properly-notified by the COMELEC? All of such candidates have written their landline and cellular phone numbers in their resumes. How come they were not phoned-in by the COMELEC? The COMELEC said that it made a press release for such a meeting. But most of the candidates were not notified through phones. Letters? Yes, letters were sent, but not on appropriate dates. You know that the snail-mail system in the Philippines is really slow as a snail. The notification-letters had been sent in exactly one week before such a hearing. Most of such letters arrived exactly on March 6, 2007. Newspapers? Many Filipinos nowadays don't read newspapers due to the presence of high-tech means of gaining news like from the internet, from TV and even from cellular phones. What if there are really some serious aspirants among them? Some of them may have the financial means to establish a nation-wide campaign for the senatorial election. As I've said, the commissioners of the COMELEC act more as fans of well-known people rather than real commissioners.


And what about the enforcement of disqualifying “official candidates” based on “electioneering complaints”? I don’t know if the current batch of COMELEC commissioners have the guts to investigate such complaints. Cesar Montano- with many of his famous advertising billboards still intact all over the Philippines- is still not being investigated properly by the COMELEC. Chavit Singson- with his giving away of cash prizes in a certain raffle show as shown by video footages- is still not being properly investigated by the COMELEC. What about certain electoral reforms that the current batch of COMELEC commissioners have advocated within their current terms? Have there been such things? I hope that there are such things. There are really some “nuisance-conditions” at the COMELEC.

DISQUALIFY SINGSON OR ABALOS? REFORM THE COMELEC!

I really don’t know if the COMELEC officials (all handpicked by Mrs. Arroyo) can disqualify Mr. Chavit Singson as a senatorial aspirant this week. For one, Singson is a known ally of Mrs. Arroyo- the one who had annointed and chosen the present leadership of the COMELEC. I think all COMELEC officials should be annointed and chosen by the members of a non-partisan body in our government. Such should be the task of the Supreme Court’s justices. The Supreme Court is suppossed to be a non-partisan body in our government. Mr. Chavit Singson definitely violated certain election-rules. Can Mr. Abalos disqualify Singson? If Mr. Abalos can’t do the job of reforming the COMELEC and the political-election system, then he should voluntarily resign from such a post at the COMELEC.

And one more thing..... I have participated in People Power Revolution 1 and People Power Revolution 2. I believe that the Filipino people should unite again to use the People Power Move to guard the integrity of the coming election in May, year 2007. The civil society groups, the COMELEC and the multi-sectoral alliances should use the People Power Methodology to ensure that the coming election in May, year 2007 here in this country is peaceful, lawful, honest, credible and clean. Real democracy for the Philippines!

ABOUT MY CANDIDACY!

Hi! My name is Rummel Pinera. I’ve recently filed my certificate of candidacy as a “would-be candidate for the senate” at the Comelec. I did it not because I’m really serious in aspiring for such a position. I did it because I would like to experience the “feeling of being a political candidate” in a country where political election is really a bastion of elitism. Though I already know that political election in the Philippines is a bastion of elitism, I would like to feel how elite-dominated really is the holding of political election in our country. The basic process itself of filing a certificate of candidacy is already something that non-elitists would find so cumbersome. Comelec officers usually don’t give clear rules on how to file a certificate of candidacy for both local and national positions. Comelec officers usually won’t give out details to the public on how to properly file a certificate of candidacy. It seems that all elective posts are reserved to those who have the fame, money, glory, dynasty and even goons to show to the public. Another thing is that all political parties in the Philippines, whether pro-administration or opposition, are filled with elitist concepts of governance and party membership. How can sectoral representation in our government be possible in the near future if elitism is still the main perspective of being a politician in this country? Even party-list accreditation is a hard thing to decide upon by Comelec officers. I have my own small political group called the League of Political Abrogationists or L.P.A.. Our group wants to join the party-list election under an umbrella name called as Communities’ Alliance for Real Democracy or C.A.R.D.. But, again, party-list accreditation at the Comelec is filled with processes that seem to limit the number of sectoral groups which can join the party-list election. If that’s the rule in every party-list election, then all the party-list representatives at the congress will just come from certain groups that already have stable finances to back up election bids. Note that party-list election seems so limited only to the well-financed and well-known party list groups. Hence, party-list election had also become “traditional politics” itself. Party-list election should have lead the way towards a non-elitist form of democracy in our country. Party-list election should have had democratized both the national and local election-processes. But now it seems that party-list election itself has fallen into the “mud of elitist politics” that has dominated all the national and local elections that had been held in our country since the Philippines became an independent nation in the 1940s.
I’m not sure if my own group called the League of Political Abrogationists will be accredited as a party-list group by the Comelec this election period. But what can I do, such is the reality of elitist politics in the Philippines.

I would now have to withdraw my candidacy for the senate, because after all I’m not really serious about it in the first place. I would be happier sticking it out as a “blogger for socio-political reforms”. And, because I’m not sure if my own League of Political Abrogationists will be accredited as a party-list group, I would have to promote to the readers of this message the ideals of political abrogationism and social harmonicalism trough our web page. The readers of this message can know more about my advocacies by just clicking this web page: http://www.geocities.com/esabon/POLITICAL_ABROGATIONERS.html .
I hope that other party-list groups can embrace the ideals of political abrogationism and social harmonicalism. Please also read the article that has been attached at this e-mailed letter. Such article
has a suggestion to the CBCP on safeguarding the elections in the Philippines. The LORD GOD blesses you. Thanks.


THIS LETTER WAS SUBMITTED DIRECTLY AT THE CENTRAL OFFICE OF THE CBCP

IN MANILA ON JAN. 30, 2007. THE LETTER IS AS FOLLOWS:



Dear CBCP,


Gusto kong ipabatid sa inyo ang aking panukala na bumuo ang inyong grupo
at ang iba pang mga “civil society groups” ng isang “multi-sectoral task force” na talagang
pangangalagaan ang mga magiging tunay na resulta ng darating na eleksiyon. Ang gayung “task force” ay dapat na gumamit ng lahat ng mga “latest technologies” tulad ng mga “celphone-cameras”, “digi-cams”,” laptop pc’s”, etc., para maipakita kung mayroong nagaganap na mga pandaraya sa eleksiyon. Dapat ding magpanukala ng mga “safety measures” sa Comelec para maging mas madali ang pagbubukas ng mga kunukwestiyong mga “ballot boxes”. At dapat maging madali ang pag-resolba ng Comelec sa isyu ng mga “disenfranchised voters” sa ating lipunan. Dapat din na ipanukala ng CBCP ang pag-hingi ng tulong sa U.N. Org o sa anumang “multi-national election observers’ team” para madokyumento ng husto at mabantayang maigi ang darating na eleksiyon sa ating bansa. Ang mga paratang ukol sa mga naganap na iregularidad noong “year 2004 elections” sa ating bansa ay dapat magsilbing gabay sa maayos na pagdaraos ng “year 2007 elections” sa Pilipinas.


Sincerely,


RUMMEL PIÑERA