Posting the May 10, 2010 ballot images in the Internet will restore the democratic principle of counting in public

by Roberto Verzola

Halalang Marangal (HALAL) welcomes the positive responses to its proposal that the ballot images now on memory cards [in connection with the May 10, 2010 Philippine automated electoral system or AES elections] be unencrypted and made public. With this statement, we want to respond to the objection that our proposal violates ballot secrecy.

 The two basic electoral principles in a democracy are voting in secret and counting in public.

Voting in secret. This means keeping a voter’s choices secret from others, shielding the voter from pressure or harassment and making vote-buying dificult. Putting the ballot images online does not violate this secrecy, because a ballot and its image do not contain the name of the voter who cast it. In the manual system, ballots are also opened and counted in public without violating ballot secrecy.

Voting in secret does not mean keeping a voter’s choices secret from himself. In fact, this is what the Comelec did when it ordered the voter verification feature of the PCOS machines disabled, keeping the electronic ballot secret from the voter himself.

Counting in public. Votes represent the collective voice of the people. Counting votes in public is therefore a basic feature of a democracy. The PCOS machine denied voters and candidates the right to see the votes being counted and tallied. In effect, our votes were counted in secret, not in public. This secret counting of votes is a big step backward, compared to the old system where voters and candidates were able to see with their own eyes if their votes were being registered, counted and tallied correctly.

Because it was going to be a public count of votes in only 1,145 out of 76,347 precincts, the random manual audit was a poor substitute to public counting. The audit had other flaws as well:

1. the precincts to be audited were announced too soon, forewarning cheats;
2. some were done several days after May 10, instead of immediately after the ERs were transmitted;
3. some were done after the ballot boxes were transported and stored elsewhere, while they should have been conducted in the precinct itself;
4.  some were not conducted without political party watchers and election watchdogs, who were essential to the integrity of the process;
5. the results were not announced immediately after the conduct of the audit but went through further “processing”, raising concerns that the results were sanitized;
6. until now, more than a month after the elections, the full audit report has not been released yet; and
7. the Comelec and PPCRV have prematurely declared, based on the incomplete results, that the discrepancies found were “minimal”, without releasing the actual machine and audit counts themselves, giving the public no opportunity to compare the two ourselves.

The HALAL proposal to put ballot images online makes up for the secrecy surrounding both the automated counting of ballots and the subsequent audits of these machine counts. It restores the public counting of votes in the electoral process. We suggest that its coverage be extended in three stages: first, the 1,145 precincts covered by the audit; second, all precincts covered by local electoral protests; and third, all the 76,347 precincts in the country. Let the ballot image files on the CF cards of these precincts be unencrypted and released to the public through the Web and on DVDs, so that the public may go through every ballot image in any particular precinct and compare its count with the count posted on the Comelec website or the audit count arrived at by the audit team.

Allowing the public to actually count the votes in the ballots, as we have always done in the past, should settle once and for all public concerns about the accuracy and integrity of the automated elections.

We ask all to add their voices to this proposal, so we may count our votes in public once again.

Reference: Roberto Verzola, Secretary-general (0929-856-1930)

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Halalang Marangal Press Statement, June 19, 2010

Source URL: 

http://pcoswatch.wordpress.com/2010/06/20/putting-ballot-images-online-restores-the-democratic-principle-of-counting-in-public/


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Prayer for a HOCUS-PCOS Land

How is it that after Martial Law, only ONE out of the five Presidents has been elected beyond any cloud of doubt? And this singular GENUINELY elected leader was ousted at that, his term cut short to a mere 2 1/2 years by the EDSA 2 power grab.

What has happened to Las Islas Filipinas, Bayang Katagalugan, the Philippine Islands, the Philippine Republic? Have we become a nation of Cheat Tolerants? Has resignation to the high crimes of power grab and cheating  already been ingrained in our culture?

My people, only cleansing can save the country from doom. Good people of this land, let us please pray:

May the God of TRUTH descend unto our midst and SLAY the POLL FRAUDS of May 10, 2010.

So that goodness may drench this very hungry archipelago.... Amen.

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To Pres. Erap Estrada: A Pleading NOT to Concede

Pres. Joseph "ERAP" Estrada, I beg you to please NOT concede to the Yellow Cheat.

You said this is the "final, final performance" of your life. Continue then for the worthy, principled cause of searching for the May 10, 2010 ELECTORAL TRUTH.

Hindi po kayo nag-isa at kasama ninyo kami. Nandiyan din po ang ma-prinsipyong sina Sen. Jamby Madrigal,  G. Nicanor Perlas, at G. JC de los Reyes. These three fine lady and gentlemen presidentiables, who have endured the malicious ridicule of the yellow media and civil (daw) society, have acknowledged their defeat in the elections but chose not to concede in the face of apparent massive fraud.

Nick, Jamby and JC, while tailenders in the Comelec tallies, are most worthy of the Filipinos' accolade because despite the fact that they have nothing to gain but possibly everything material to lose, they elect to boldly uphold the patriotic duty to ensure that the sanctity of the Filipinos' ballot is preserved. Bro. Eddie Villanueva and his running-mate, Mr. Perfecto Yasay, seem also trekking the difficult path of searching  for the truth in the recent democratic exercise to chose our leaders. These beprincipled modern-day heroes and heroine are your unwitting patriotic allies in uncovering the truth of the automated fraud in the recent elections, Pres. Estrada. 

As the second front-runner in the  Comelec count, you logically seem to have been the target of the apparent automated electoral fraud. Thus, you should not concede because to do so is tantamount to condoning electoral fraud, trampling upon the expressed rights of the people, and giving away the Republic to the hands of crooks, liars, and high-level criminals.

With all due respect, I humbly ask of you not to repeat your past mistake in EDSA 2 when you  sacrificed your position and the vote of the sovereign people to avoid confrontation with the seditious mob in January 2001. The result of that well-meaning mistake has been nine years of a reign of impunity by Gloria and her cabal of thieves, cheaters, and liars. An evil Illegitimate's reign that not only smashed the Filipinos' moral fiber but, as well, led to unparalleled hunger and killings, and death from extrajudicial executions, warlord-perpetrated massacres or negligence by sheer misappropriation of disaster funds.

By opting not to confront the EDSA 2 conspirators and mob, President Estrada, you ultimately did not save Filipino lives but lost many, and much more. If you opt to abandon the fight for the presidency now, you could be delivering motherland to a most undeserving, if not dangerous, administration.

The TRUTH, upon which are hinged the moral and democratic sanity of the Philippines, is worth fighting for, perhaps even dying for. Kayo po ang nasa posisyon upang maibalik ang dangal na nanggagaling sa pagkakakilanlan ng mundo sa kakayanan ng ating lahi na galangin ang tunay na boses ng mga mamamayan.

Please lead the nation in upholding our democratic ideals. Do not concede to a fraud. With the help of the true God that does not condone cheating, neither power grab, and does not discriminate between the "great unwashed" and the perfumed, washed masses we will succeed, Mr. President.

Evidence of Electronic 'Hello Garci' Mounting

JC de los Reyes, Jamby Madrigal, Nicanor Perlas Joint Press Statement
Thursday, 13 May 2010
Since the 11th of May the media have been asking us why we have not yet conceded and why one of us retracted an earlier concession. The question is not whether we should concede to any particular candidate but whether to concede or not to the validity and integrity of an unproven and flawed automated election system.

In the recent euphoria surrounding the perceived success of these automated elections we may sound like voices crying out in the wilderness, but ours is a voice of caution and reason, a stand based on principle rather than on personal politics and agenda.

We have decided to put the Filipino peoples’ interests at the forefront.  We have put our political agenda aside.   There has been a constant and steady flow of reports from the field that have suggested that there were considerable  problems with the automated elections.

At this point, there are some questions that I believe need to be answered:

• How did the Comelec manage to recall, replace, debug and reprogram the 76,000 CF cards in a few days
• What happened to the supposedly recalled CF cards? Where are they?
• How sure are we that the same CF cards were not pre-programmed to favor particular candidates?
• Is the automated election system really fool-proof ?  With the disabling of the UV lamps how sure are we that unused ballots were not filled up and counted in favour of certain candidates?

With this in mind we cannot in principle and with a clear conscience concede to a system which is unproven, not transparent and which has been riddled with technical and security flaws.
This is a national dilemma. This is why the COMELEC needs to prove to the Filipino people the transparency, accuracy and credibility of the system before we can make the correct moral and ethical choice.

We are making this stand so that the Filipino people will not be rushed into thinking that the automated election system is a success when millions have been disenfranchised and millions of votes may have been incorrectly counted.

This stand is not about winning or losing but about doing the right thing for the Filipino people at the risk of going against current popular public opinion.

We must make sure that the current elections were clean, fair and accurate. We cannot allow the recent automated elections to become an ‘’invisible electronic Garci.’’  That would undermine our democracy.

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Source:

JC de los Reyes, Jamby Madrigal, Nicanor Perlas. Evidence of Electronic Garci Mountin. 13 May 2010. http://www.nicanor-perlas.com/News/evidence-of-electronic-garci-mounting.html

A professor’s journey*

(* Delivered at a symposium sponsored by the Third World Studies Center, 4 March 2010, email forwarded by Mr. Herman Tiu Laurel)

by FRANCISCO NEMENZO
Professor Emeritus
University of the Philippines

In a short essay published by Inquirer the other Sunday, Gen. Danilo Lim traced his “journey” from a West Point educated officer to a rebel soldier and a political prisoner. Today I shall match his story with the story of my own journey from rabid anti-militarism to an avid supporter of Gen. Lim.

    My narrative starts from the Manila Hotel where, soon after EDSA 1, the Marcos loyalists gathered to clamor for the enthronement of Arturo Tolentino. Having learned from a very reliable source that some of the RAM boys participated in planning that comic affair, I went around frantically warning of an insidious plot from the politicized soldiery or what I termed the “politicians in uniform.”

    That paranoid response stemmed from the assumption that by the nature of their profession, soldiers are essentially reactionary and authoritarian; they should therefore be kept on leash, banished from politics and placed under firm civilian control.

    I began to change my mind when, in connection with a research project for the UN University on “the politicization of the military and the militarization of politics,” I studied several military coups in other parts of the world. I came across instances when the military played a definitely positive role of overthrowing right-wing dictatorships and setting in motion the process of system change.

    To illustrate, let me cite the “carnation revolution” in Portugal. Portuguese fascism was the oldest in Europe, antedating Mussolini, Hitler and Franco. Antonio de Oliviera Salazar founded the first fascist state in 1926. He was ruthless but was more subdued than Hitler and Mussolini. The Salazar regime survived World War II because with the outbreak of the Cold War the United States – the self-appointed champion of the “free world” – coddled it as an ally against communism.

After 42 years in power, the Portuguese tyrant died in 1968; but before going into a coma he was able to arrange a smooth transition to handpicked successors. So well entrenched did the successor regime appear to be that political scientists specializing in the study of Portugal did not expect it to fall any time soon. Yet in April 1974 it collapsed like the proverbial colossus with feet of clay.

This event known as the “carnation revolution” caught the Portugal watchers by surprise because, trapped in the conventional paradigm of political science, they only monitored the puny resistance of the liberal and social democratic parties. They completely overlooked the undercurrents in the armed forces, believing that the military would always be a bastion of fascist rule. As it turned out, it was a military group that crushed the backbone of fascism in Portugal.

The experts were oblivious of the fact that the junior officers, fresh from the African campaigns, had been radicalized by their own experience in the battlefield. They realized that they were duped to fight an unjust war by a government that was also oppressing the Portuguese people themselves. Back in Lisbon, they formed a secret society called Movimento das Forças Armadas (MFA) and in April 1974 they launched a coup against the dictatorship.

The MFA junta (known as the Junta for National Salvation) adopted a socialist program and released from colonial rule not only the Portuguese colonies in Africa, but also East Timor, a somnolent territory where there was no pre-existing independence movement. Unfortunately, the progressive military regime lasted only for two years. Unlike Col. Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, the MFA did not build a mass base for its radical reforms. Moreover, they didn’t know how to govern: they mismanaged the economy and were clumsy in the conduct of international diplomacy. Their ineptitude created an opening for the deposed elite to instigate a counter-coup in collaboration with the CIA.

    With such cases in mind, my monograph on the politics of the military already reflected my growing ambivalence. Coincidentally, I presented the monograph to a UN University seminar in Katmandu on the eve of the 1989 coup in Manila. When this erupted, I could not make up my mind. I had lost enthusiasm for Cory Aquino but neither could I be enthusiastic about the coup. I faulted Cory for restoring the old system of elite rule, an oligarchy masquerading as democratic. But the alternative was not alluring. There was a strong suspicion that the coup aimed to install Ponce Enrile and Salvador Laurel; in other words, another reshuffle of personnel at the top that would leave the system of elite rule intact.

    Danny Lim, then a captain of the Scout Rangers, took part in that coup as leader of the Young Officers Union. I did not have the slightest idea of what vision inspired. It was only when he got out of detention that I met him through Haydee Yorac. Our long conversations convinced me that the YOU resembled the MFA of Portugal, that it represented a trend whose political outlook was not too different from mine.
Let me summarize the insights drawn from my studies on the military in the process of social change.

    There never was an instance in the history of any country when a repressive regime was brought down through purely civilian action or “people power.” Regime change through extra-constitutional means invariably involves a military component. Three possible scenarios can be considered in the Philippine context: (1) the military as a whole turns against the regime, as happened in EDSA 2; (2) part of the military breaks with the chain of command and joins the insurgent citizenry, as in EDSA 1; and (3) the mass movement builds its own army and, through protracted war, beats the government armed forces, as Joma has been dreaming over the last four decades.

    At the Katmandu seminar, an Indian scholar reproached me for ignoring the case of India where, he said, national liberation was achieved through non-violence in a purely civilian struggle. In fact, I studied that as well. But my study of the Indian case led me to believe that Gandhi’s satyagraha could not have succeeded were it not for a threat of a violent upheaval. The British conceded to the Mahatma’s demands whenever he went on hunger strike because the alternative to Gandhi was Subhas Chandra Bose, a stern advocate of violent revolution. Were it not for the prospect of Subhas Chandra Bose seizing the leadership of the independence movement, the British might have allowed what Winston Churchill described as a “half-naked fakir” to fast himself to death. Later events confirmed this hypothesis. Once the murder of Gandhi removed his restraining moral authority, the Hindus and Indian Moslems immediately embarked on the worst carnage in history.

    It is wrong to view the Philippine military as one solid bloc. All assurances from the office of Col. Brawner that everything is under control cannot conceal the widespread restlessness among the Filipino soldiers today. True, most generals belong to the conventional mold. They peddle the myth of political neutrality. In truth, the Philippine military has always been politically involved . . . on the side of the power elite, against the peasant movements and the militant trade unions. The predecessors of the AFP were the Filipino mercenaries recruited by the Americans to suppress their compatriots.

    For circumstances too complex to analyze here, a new trend has emerged in the uniformed services. There is a growing network of thinking soldiers who do not blindly obey orders from above. Unlike Tennyson’s foolish light brigade who meekly marched to the jaws of death, believing that their’s is not to reason why but simply to do or die, the thinking Filipino soldiers ask whether the orders are legitimate and moral, and they always stand for what is true, just and right.**

    I will leave it for Gen. Danny Lim to explain how this came about. Just allow me to express a view which he might not like to hear: that his election to the Senate will not in itself make a difference to the future of our country for as long as the system of elite rule prevails. He will be a solitary voice in an elite-dominated and trapo-infested legislature. I have no illusion that he will succeed in passing laws to institutionalize fundamental reforms. But even if such a miracle does happen, the laws he sponsors will be diluted by the President through his/her power to set the implementing rules and his/her control over the release of funds. Ultimately these laws will be perverted by a bureaucracy that is susceptible to elite and American pressures.

    Nonetheless, I will vote for Gen. Lim because he represents a force that, in tandem with the militant mass movement, opens up the prospect for a just and progressive society our people deserve. A vote for him is a slap on the faces of the trapos and the crooked generals who keep him in prison. Sa paningin ko, ang kahalagahan ng election ay symbolic lamang at hindi katulad sa sinasabi ng ABS-CBN na ito ang simula ng pagbabago.

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** Contrary to the impression of Dr. Clarita Carlos, I am not suggesting that soldiers should debate what to do before going to battle. I know the logic of war well enough to see that in the midst of an operation the soldiers must obey the ground commander. I have in mind orders that involve policy issues. For example, the order for the Marine units in Maguindanao to assist in electoral fraud. As Gen. Gudani and Col. Balutan attested, many of the Marine officers found this objectionable, but they were gagged as Gen. Lim is being prevented from participating in our forum today.

Backgrounder:

RP: In Chaos and Darkness

What differs Erap: Ex-President Joseph Estrada at the PCCI presidentiables' forum

With his experience in the country’s highest government post clearly distinguishing him from other presidential wannabes, former president Joseph Estrada yesterday stood tall amidst the other candidates yesterday at a forum organized by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries (PCCI), providing practical and doable solutions to a host of problems the country continues to face.

Introduced as a man of action by moderator Tony Lopez, Estrada first thanked the members of the PCCI which he described as one business group that did not impose its influence on government affairs.

Estrada drew amused laughter from the audience  when after briefly recounting his long years in government service – preceded by a successful acting career which also spanned several decades – he concluded by saying this was the reason he was no longer used to talking and was more included to “act, act and act.”

Estrada consistently referred to peace and order as the most crucial factor in making any program for development work, from jobs generation to the creation of a more hospitable and attractive business environment for both local and foreign investors.

Ending corruption, meanwhile, was the lynchpin which Estrada pointed out would make a remarkable dent on poverty alleviation programs as well as create a more robust economy,  generate more jobs, and develop the agricultural sector.

Likewise, Estrada pointed out that increased efficiency in tax collection would be the best way of keeping the budget deficit at manageable levels.

The opposition standard bearer added that the energy sector would benefit immensely from increased investments in alternative renewable and “clean” sources such as hydroelectric and geothermal energy. He added that the privatization of the National Power Corp. (Napocor) which stalled under the current administration had to finally push through.

(Press Release from Erap.ph blog: http://erap.ph/409/2010/02/17/press-release-february-17-2010/)

On the 9th Year of EDSA 2 Coup: Former Philippine Estrada is Cleared to Run Again

Ultimately, the Comelec ruling allowing defamed and deposed President Joseph Estrada to seek again the presidency is very fair to the Filipino people. According to the decision:

"In the end, it is the Filipino people who would act as the final arbiter on whether they would have Estrada sit again as president...." 

 
Now, I'm not saying that the Comelec itself is fair (Remember the 2004 Hello Garci).

It just so happens that the ruling itself is fair to the people. Why did Comelec rule in favor of Estrada? To allow Illegitimate 'President' Gloria Arroyo's run for congresswoman in Pampanga less open to legal challenge.

In the end, or near end, the undemocratic, seditious EDSA 2 that deposed Erap came back to slap the faces of the gullibles one more time.

Still, the date of promulgation is so ironic-on the exact day nine years ago. Said Apolinario "Jun" Lozada, a senatoriable under Estrada's PMP party:

"On the same day that he was humbled, the phoenix will rise again,.. Nine years after a powerful few imposed their will on the people, it is time that the will of the poor and the powerless prevail."

Excerpts from The Daily Tribune headline report on the historic Comelec decision:

It's all systems go for former President Joseph "Erap" Estrada's second run for the presidency, a post he first held in 1998 only to be aborted by a coup d'etat instigated by the elite civil society and backed by treacherous military chiefs.

All arguments, rumors and innuendoes that Estrada is banned from running for the presidency again, or that he is withdrawing from the race, came to a stop after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) yesterday junked the three petitions filed last December seeking the disqualification of the former leader and in the process allowed Estrada to run in this year's presidential elections...

"This date of the promulgation of this decision saying that I, Joseph Estrada, am qualified to run for president, is significant to me personally because it was exactly on this day nine years ago, Jan. 20, 2001, when the honor to serve the Filipino people as president was stolen from me. Today, the opportunity to serve has been returned and it seems as if I am being told that I need to complete the mission that my administration started in 1998," said Estrada.

News Source: The Daily Tribune.

ALTERNATE URL: http://www.classicposters.com/headlines/20100121hed1.html