153902003 registered voters?

SMARTMATIC's glitch

With all the problems with this year’s election, can we really celebrate the success of it?  PCOS Machine failures, failures to transmit, Vote buying, Long queues… The COMELEC was warned of these issues but continue to push for the May 10th Automated Elections despite the warnings.  They did little to nothing to bring Clean and Fair Elections.

Change?  The people went to the polls to vote for change.  We came out with  Marcos, Aquinos, and Arroyos still in power. The guy that helped author the much despised Value Added Tax (VAT), Ralph Recto, will he’s still in power too.  In fact, most incumbents who were in power are still in power.  The media did little to promote candidates platforms.

Even Partylists systems were a failure this year.  Partylists nominees are suppose to come from the marginalize sectors.  However, several of the former President’s administration reps enter the Partylist system as a backdoor entrance to congress.

So much for clean and fair  2010 automated elections!  That doesn’t mean we should wait til next election and HOPE for change.  The people should still demand change and hold the “elected” body responsible.

Elections Updates (People’s Criteria, Election Frauds, Clash of the Titans)

12 People's Criteria to choose the Next President

Philippines, April 15th 2010 – As the May 10th elections approaches with less than a month to spare, here are a few things you need to know:

1. 12 – People’s Criteria to choose the next president

Pagbabago! and Ibon Foundation dare the Filipino people to be more critical in choosing their candidates.  high on their “people’s criteria” are concrete steps by the presidential candidate to stamp out corruption and to promote human rights and abuses.

1. On Corruption.  Will they seek the truth behind the “Hello, Garci”, NBN-ZTE and fertilizer scam to name a few of the anomalies that involved the president?

2. Human rights. Will they end the policies giving rise to human rights violations?

3. National Patrimony. Will they protect the national patrimony and environment by opposing large-scale, export oriented, and foreign led extractive industries such as mining and oil exploration?

4. Agrarian Reform and agricultural Development. Will they work for genuine agrarian reform anchored on the Distribution of land to the tillers?

5. Nationalist Economic Policies.  Will they work for national industrilization?

6. Jobs and wages. Will they promote job creation and uphold job security by protecting domestic industry?

7. Social Services. Will they stop the commercialization and privatization of education and health services?

8. Taxes. Are they in favor of scrapping the reformed value added tax (RVAT) and other regressive taxes?

9. Foreign Policy. WIll they work for an independent foreign policy?

10. Peace Process. Will they pursue the peace talks with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the national Democratic Front of the Philippines?

11. Gender. Will they uphold gender equality?

12. National Culture. Will they promote National Culture?

2. Election Frauds

The COMELEC (Commission on Elections) has decided to push through for the Automated Elections System (AES) using Precinct count optical scanner Machines from Smartmatic (S-PCOS).  The COMELEC sees poll automation as the answer to fraud and a step to “modernizing democracy.”  Although this is not a bad idea, giving the elections added advantages such as speed and accuracy in tabulation, it can still lead to wholesale cheating if safeguards and security measures are not properly implemented especially in the counting and canvassing stages.

According to Project 30-30, a project that refers to the Philippine automated election system’s 30 Vulnerabilities or risks and 30 safeguards identified by CenPEG (Center for People’s Empowerment in Governance), “The automated Election Law (Republic Act 9369) is a landmark legislation aimed at modernizing the election system in the Philippines. Not only does it recognize the need for technology chosen to be “suitable to Philippine conditions”, it is also unique in that it provides major safeguards to help ensure the integrity of the vote, promote secret voting yet transparent and credible counting in the poll automation – in short, to make election a mechanism for making democracy work.”