Election fever...

“Some individuals are rewarded more than others. But it’s the freedom of all to

choose that decides those rewards – not a law passed by a few, which inevitably

creates privileges that the few will have the power to sell.”

James Hogan, Multiplex Man

May elections are nearing once again. I can’t help but notice the billboards and banners sprouting like mushrooms on the streets. A few months before the election, vacant walls will be plastered with several layers of faces of the candidates. Welcome to traditional politics in the Philippines. Well, COMELEC and the Congress have pushed through the election computerization inspite of the initial problems of falling out by the contractors. How will computerization affect the election outcomes? Will election fraud be lessened? Will there be cheating? Attempts of hacking? Would it really be easier to monitor electronic ballots? Or will it be easier to cheat? Many politicians are not familiar with the electronic voting. They are used to what they call “mano mano na bilangan”. Some government officials actually spend money to hire people who will explain to them how the electronic voting system works. Can they be cheated that way? Is it really infallible? It would take only a single proven foul up of the machine and the losing candidates would cry foul. Confidence on e-voting would be lost and so are the billions of pesos used to buy and set them up. My thoughts are that the machines are only as good as the ones using them. A skillful programmer inside the COMELEC can probably find vulnerabilities on the system with a little ingenuity and patience. First hand, I know that some politicians can go to great lengths to secure their position. From the various methods to acquire money from projects to the political tactics used to gain public sympathy. Philippine politics is really very dirty and it doesn’t stop after the election… just like the old song goes… “It only just began”.

The winning candidates get to dole out the power to his/her cronies. Even to enemies to placate them. Just like what happened to the senators who got elected who are known to be against PGMA. Sen. Chiz Escudero was always on the news hotly opposing the PGMA administration before the election. When he got elected, he became very silent. With nary a peep. What happened? A very big disappointment to those who voted for you. But, is it true that you don’t get any funding? Is it true that if you are in the opposition and you are newly elected, and maybe if you really want to help the Filipinos, you

would just swallow your bitter words to get funds to start your projects? Or else continue prattling and don’t get any job done. By and by, you’ll get “donations” from various people and before you know it,you’ll be swallowed by the system. The reward system is not just used to train monkeys and dogs, they are also effective on politicians.

Looking at our country’s politics way back, I noticed that repression is the last phase before things cave in. Marcos’ regime was okay at the start but soon repression set in and eventually People Power toppled his dictatorship. When President Estrada was on trial, the people felt repressed and betrayed. Filipinos are used to hardships and poverty but curtail their freedom and touch their pride, they will collectively make themselves felt. The same is true for other countries, when the use of force become essential to stem the tide of people’s grievance, that’s the time to watch out for changes in the political hierarchy.

What I fear in the upcoming elections is that the Filipinos may elect tyrannical leaders, give them enough power to literally steal our country and enslave the population. These so called leaders know what happens when power becomes concentrated and is unaccountable to anyone. Our system of government lacks the necessary check and balance and the political will to combat graft and corruption.But as the saying goes, “The leaders we have are the leaders we deserve.” I long for the day that we have honest, good intentioned and effective leaders that will once again make me proud of our government. Well, one could only hope.