The specter of an “electronic Garci” was raised in a forum on Monday in which six of seven presidential candidates feared there would be glitches in the automated elections in May and some suggested going manual as an option.
Only Sen. Richard Gordon was confident the Commission on Elections (Comelec) would do its job.
“I cannot see a situation where it will fail because that will create anarchy in the country. I don’t think the government can stand a failure of election. I don’t see why we should go back to manual now because we have so much invested already,” Gordon said.
But even the administration standard-bearer, Gilbert Teodoro Jr., decried “big logistical difficulties” in the Comelec’s implementation of the first nationwide computerized balloting.
“The integrity of the elections is vital ... automation is fine but the way it is implemented, I would have my doubts,” Teodoro said.
The former defense secretary said the last batch of computerized counting machines would be delivered only in the last week of February, and teachers would only have one training session in March.
“There is really a need to engage the Comelec in disclosing whether or not it can be implemented as a credible [system] for the upcoming elections,” Teodoro said.
Other presidential candidates present in the debate were Senators Benigno Aquino III and Jamby Madrigal, environmentalist Nicanor Perlas, evangelist Bro. Eddie Villanueva and Councilor JC de los Reyes.
Sen. Manuel Villar, standard-bearer of the Nacionalista Party, and former President Joseph Estrada were invited but failed to attend due to other engagements.
Perlas proposed a manual-count option in a hybrid balloting, noting that even Germany and the Netherlands scrapped automated elections last year after finding out that a high school student could hack the voting machines.
“There is a strong possibility of an electronic Garci,” Perlas said, referring to wiretapped conversations purportedly between President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Election Commissioner Virgilio Garcillano. The opposition said the tapes indicated Ms Arroyo stole the 2004 presidential vote, a charge she has denied.
Probability of failure
“There are so many things that need to work simultaneously in so many levels design, such as source code, and calibration that the probability of failure is strong. What will happen is that there may be an election but there will be failure of election. The probability is increasing every day,” Perlas said.
Madrigal likewise said the Comelec must take up backup mechanisms in case the machines failed to deliver on elections day, including a manual counting of votes that would coincide with the automated canvassing for “verification purposes.”
She also wondered why the Comelec scrapped a feature in the machines that allows votes for a particular candidate to be verified.
Aquino, standard-bearer of the Liberal Party, said that he was “perplexed” that the Comelec was more concerned with calming the people’s fears of the possibility of a failure of elections than putting in place measures to ensure a credible vote.
“In the following days we hope to come out with a list of actions that the Comelec must be doing prior to the elections and people should be pressuring the various agencies to actually implement the things they are supposed to do,” he said.
AFP role must be clarified
Villanueva suggested that he and his fellow candidates agree to a covenant that would oppose any “brutal violations” of the Filipinos’ democratic and constitutional rights to prevent a failure of elections.
The mandate and loyalty of the Armed Forces of the Philippines must also be clarified especially if there would be a failure of elections, he added.
“Will it exercise loyalty based on the deputization order of the Comelec or will it obey its mandate to protect the state and the people?” Villanueva asked.
For the entire election period, the Department of National Defense has put the military at the full disposal of the Comelec to help in ensuring peaceful and credible elections.
Ang Kapatiran’s De los Reyes said that fears of a failure of elections were largely due to the “pervasive problem of the absence of confidence in the government.”
Contrast between cousins
A highlight in the debate was the sharp contrast between the cousins—Aquino and Teodoro—on key issues. While the two rejected the reopening of the mothballed Bataan Nuclear Power Plant as proposed by their cousin, Pangasinan Rep. Mark Cojuangco, they disagreed on the proposed anti-dynasty bill.
Aquino said that he supported the anti-dynasty bill “in the sense of leveling the playing field,” although he stressed that it should not only be based on the “surname” but affiliations with those in power.
Teodoro said he did not support a legislated way to crack down on political dynasties but through campaign finance reform.
“The best way to defeat political dynasty is in the elections. We should allow political parties the financial wherewithal to back a political candidate. We can’t disqualify people just because of relationships,” Teodoro said.
The candidates were evenly divided on how to address the government’s fiscal problems.
Aquino stood by his declaration that he would not raise taxes, claiming that reducing corruption, specifically smuggling and tax evasion, should generate enough revenues to cover expenses. De los Reyes went further by saying he would cut taxes of people in the frontline services such as teachers and the soldiers.
Madrigal said she would cut back the expanded value added tax while Teodoro said he would push for higher sin taxes.
Gordon said he would impose taxes on text messages to get some of the windfall profits of telecommunication firms.
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