The People's Choice
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VOTERS’ EDUCATION KIT ON THE MAY 2010 ELECTIONS The People’s Choice he overwhelming majority of Filipinos suffer chronic poverty and backwardness. The last nine years of the Arroyo administration have only seen their situation become even worse. Many are hoping that the May 2010 elections will be a fresh start and that new leadership will address their plight. T Yet the elections can only usher in the needed reforms if the people are able to choose national and local leaders who are genuinely pro-people, patriotic and democratic. The country’s problems are huge and demand committed leaders willing to challenge long-standing monopolies of economic and political power. The people have to be critical to see if such leaders are at hand. Elections can be used to put real progressives into government but the reality for now is that they are going to be a minority at best. At the end of the day their strength will come from being part of a larger effort to build democracy based on people organizing for their democratic rights. Whatever happens, elections must be a venue for raising the awareness of the people about their democratic rights and the kinds of leaders that they should have and de- serve. This kind of awareness can be the starting point of struggling for these rights even after the May 2010 elections. IBON Foundation | PAGBABAGO! People’s Movement for Change 1 Elections and ambition resident Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and her allies ap- pear to be using the May 2010 elections to remain in power. They are maneuvering to take national and local positions in the next administration. It is also likely that there will be renewed efforts at charter Pchange that, among others, includes a shift to a parliamen- tary system that allows former president Arroyo to become prime minister. For now there are even fears that the elections may fail due to problems with automation, intensifi ed violence, and massive fraud. Scenarios of emergency rule, some kind of martial law and of a “transition government” have also already been fl oated. All these are symptoms of Philippine politics driven by ambition rather than democratic gover- nance and service to the people. Arroyo administration officials running in May 2010 President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo (Congressional seat, Pampanga) Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita (Congressional seat, Batangas) Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera (Congressional seat, Quezon) Secretary Hermogenes Esperon of the Presidential Management Staff (Congressional seat, Pangasinan) Secretary Augusto Syjuco of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Congressional seat, Iloilo) Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya (Congressional seat, Camarines Sur) Agriculture Secretary Arthur Yap (Congressional seat, Bohol) Secretary Raul Gonzalez, chief presidential legal counsel (Mayor, Iloilo City) Secretary Edgar Pamintuan of the Luzon Urban Beltway (Mayor, Angeles City) 2 The People’s Choice: The May 2010 Elections and the People’s Criteria The promise and perils of automated elections Facts and figures on the Automated Election System from the Center for People Empowerment Vulnerabilities from in Governance (CenPEG) and the Computer Professionals’ Union (CPU) 3canvassing to proclamation The Automated Election Sys- n Possible failure to generate or tem (AES) promises modern print election returns (ERs) democratic elections in the country with quicker counting n Automated dagdag-bawas in canvassing of ERs, statements of that eliminates the conditions votes, certificates of canvass for wholesale cheating through the notorious dagdag-bawas. n ERs can be digitally signed and encrypted by BEIs and also others P7.2 billion who know their passwords, creating Smartmatic-TIM contract the possibility of changing ERs; SOVs 82,200 Election day voting and COCs can be similarly altered Precinct Count Optical Scan vulnerabilities (PCOS) machines 2 n Security concerns regarding the servers consolidating votes 1,671 n Manipulation of results through unique ballots compact flash (CF) cards used to n Power failure and/or communi- configure each PCOS machine Pre-election process cations breakdown hat is ‘automated’ 1 n Confusion from using a new, n Unclear procedures in case of Wfrom the old manual n Inadequate testing of machines unfamiliar and more complicated conflicting results, connectivity or in actual field conditions system than in manual elections – system? transmission problems, hardware or ex. possible problems with various software failure, and in adjudicat- n No real source code review election paraphernalia n Voting remains manual, with ing electoral protests in an auto- voters writing their names and mated election filling up ballots by hand n No plan for verifying program n Smartmatic-TIM generates and actually installed in the 82,200 hence knows the digital signatures/ n But vote-counting from the PCOS machines passwords of the Board of Election The conditions for disarray and con- ballots is computerized, with Inspectors (BEIs) ditions for fraud are there not just PCOS machines counting and n Manipulation of lists of voters, in the presidential elections but also recording votes at the precinct candidates lists and precincts/clus- n No way to verify integrity of in the other national positions (vice level tered precincts program installed in PCOS upon ini- presidential, senatorial) and the tialization local positions vital for the Arroyo n Canvassing is also computer- n Possible printing of excess bal- circle’s efforts to remain in power ized, with recorded votes from lots to be used for cheating n Problems with filling up long precincts sent via Internet to ballot, ballot jamming and misread- Persistence of means of fraud: servers for consolidation at mu- n Security concerns in storage, ing, machine breakdown vote-buying, voter intimidation and nicipal, provincial and national packing and delivery of ballots as harassment, sabotaging voters, fly- levels well as in deployment and testing/ n Power failure and/or communi- ing voters, ballot-switching, spoiled sealing of PCOS machines cations breakdown ballots… IBON Foundation | PAGBABAGO! People’s Movement for Change 3 against which he or she can later be measured. More important is what a candidate has done in terms of pushing formal policies, programs or laws on one side or the other Where the Presidentiables Stand of an issue. This means that their personal position becomes ex- pressed in a way having an impact beyond themselves. But most revealing is a candidate having actual involvement he problems of the country are long-standing and enormous. It is on a matter as an active participant, direct benefi ciary or in only reasonable to expect candidates, especially for the country’s other ways having a vested interest. This is because they can say highest offices, to already have concrete proposals for dealing or formally push one thing while in actual practice be doing the opposite. with these. This is a requirement for any real leadership. It is also rea- A candidate is said to have no clear stand or position when Tsonable to expect them to share their program with the public which there is none apparent but also when these are made only in shows that they respect the voters. ambiguous or general terms. Candidates have to be considered beyond motherhood statements which anyone can say. The country’s problems are clear – does a candidate have the courage for the diffi cult things that need to be done? Do it yourself! The People’s Criteria are our own! Color In assessing candidates we can give some weight to public state- the birds according to how you would rate them (0 be- ments they make on issues. While mere declarations, they at least show ing the worst, 5 being the best) according to their stand that a candidate is aware of the issue and able to articulate a position and track record. Benigno “Noynoy” John Carlos “JC” Joseph “Erap” Cojuangco Aquino Gordon Ejercito Estrada delos Reyes Liberal Party (LP) Ang Kapatiran Party (AKP) Partido ng Masang Pilipino People’s Criteria (PMP) 20.9 billion (US$430 million) – To- Will you work to establish the truth behind Ptal amount of kickbacks, ill-gotten the “Hello, Garci”, NBN-ZTE scam, fertil- wealth and payoffs involved in just 16 izer scam and other anomalies by way of 1 nVows to prosecute Pres. nSays Pres. Arroyo should nOusted as president in 2001 major corruption cases. (Pagbabago! Re- independent and highly credible bodies? Will Arroyo for her involvement in be investigated for scandals in a People Power revolt, after search Working Group): you pave the way for the prosecution of Mrs. corruption, and proposes to during her presidential term a failed impeachment trial n IMPSA power scam (US$470 million Arroyo, her relatives, her close allies and other create a commission to investi- including “the NBN-ZTE broad- on corruption charges, and project; US$14 million kickback) government offi cials who have been involved in gate the scandals surrounding band scandal, extra-judicial subsequently convicted for the n PIATCO-NAIA Terminal 3 scam (US$425 large-scale graft and corruption, electoral fraud her administration. killings, and the road users capital offense of plunder. million project; US$20-70 million and their cover-up? tax scam”, that his presidency kickback) nIn 2005, before the Depart- will make sure that evidence nHas no clear stand on the n Jose Pidal accounts (P300-400 million in ill-gotten wealth) ON CORRUPTION ment of Agrarian Reform (DAR) collated is strong, and that prosecution of Pres. Arroyo, n Fertilizer funds scam (P728 million for presidential election campaign) revoked the stock distribution Pres. Arroyo will be given due although he distanced himself n NorthRail scam (US$503 million project; US$50 million kickback) option (SDO) in Hacienda Lu- process and the matter left to from opposition calls for an n Diosdado Macapagal Boulevard scam (P1.1 billion project; P533 million kickback) isita, voted against playing the the courts.