Thursday, May 13, 2010

Putting the dirt underneath the rag does not make the house clean

Rampant cheating and violence have always been the standard in every elections we have had in the past. Philippine elections have always been marred by accusations of fraud and whatever dirty tricks politicians have. Let's face it, cheating is a common staple in Philippine politics.

Can we consider this year's elections as being clean and honest? This is what we are made to believe considering the news reports a day after the elections. We saw candidates conceding after seeing the numbers, something we haven't seen in a long while. Commentators said we have had, thanks to automation, the cleanest elections yet. But do we?

Not if you ask me. Election related death toll of a 112 does not make it clean. It makes it very dirty! How much blood should we spill every election time? This blood letting should come to a close.

The reason why we were so eager to automate the elections is so we can safeguard the sanctity of the ballot. However, as a nation who has undergone the process of selecting its leaders through this process for decades, we should have been old enough to know that cheating does not only happen during the counting. Cheating during the counting is just one way of rigging the results of the polls. Cheating happens even before the official campaign period starts.

Ir is called dirty politics and that we have plenty of. These dirty politicians will have a go of it no matter what the cost. Every warlord who has the "goons, guns and gold" will have all the dirty tricks thrown at the arena even if it means killing whoever stands in the way. Remember the Maguindanao massacre? What about the elections that happened in precincts in the far-flung areas? These are all riddled with anomalies. No, I don't think we had a clean, honest elections. We are still in square one.

For a true democracy to work, the people's voice must be the strongest, not those who prophesied they are God sent or worse, those who will make everything possible so that they can rule for their own benefit.

Wednesday, May 05, 2010

Of elections and Family Matters

I don’t know if you have the same feeling I have but it seems like there’s going to be massive cheating this coming elections. We are being prepared now, aren't we? We have been talking about computerization since time immemorial and when we have finally reached the point of no return, the precincts are saying that the machines are giving out wrong computations. During all the prep time? WTF?!?!? Can you imagine the time and money we have spent for this endeavour only to be told a few days prior to Dday that the machines are not reliable after all making some people suggest either postponing the elections or go back to manual counting?

Going back to manual counting is like going back to the middle ages. Computerization is something new and the cheaters probably have not learned of ways to tamper the results effectively. (Hindi kaya ng powers ni Garci to produce 1 million votes for starters) So what is the next best thing for these scalawags to manipulate the outcome of the elections? Make everything possible to prevent the machines from doing the counting. Start putting doubts on the reliability of the machines. I think, more than anything else, that all this fuzz about this malfunction is just a prelude to have each one of us prepared for the mayhem the coming elections shall bring.

On a lighter note, let me just tell you about the latest in the family. That would be more pleasurable to read, I think.


I can't believe it but my kids have really grown up. My eldest daughter just got back from a four-day convention in South Korea for the company where she works as Senior Marketing Specialist. I will have to admire her for her determination. She arrived in Korea at around 5:30 am expecting to be picked up by someone from the hotel or the company. Well, guess what. The ride did not come and as her itinerary says, she has to be at the hotel before 8 am as the convention was going to be transferred to another location where they will stay until 12 then fly to yet another part of the country. Kraiganne has neither been to Korea nor has she travelled on her own. The airport is about an hour ride to the city. But to my delight, I think we've taught her well enough not to just slump on the floor and cry. She managed to get a ride to the hotel and arriving there late, went to the concierge for her to be transported to the next destination of the convention. Well, it took her a hundred US but she survived!

Mickey, on the other hand, has just finished defending his thesis, an interactive program that will teach you how to play the violin, and he aced it. He got a perfect score for his eforts. Well, as he says, rather braggingly, that he just used his charm and handsomeness as all the panelists were women. (the nerve! I wonder where he got that hahahaha.) Anyway, during his defense, he started by playing the violin for the panelists and one of them even quipped "I might fall in love with you" (that twerp, no wonder he can brag about it. Now really, I wonder where he got the kapalmuks). Well, the rest, as they say, is history.

Prior to his defense, he had the guts to apply for a job in one telecompany and got accepted. He was already being asked to sign his appointment papers when he informed the HR officer that he hasn't graduated yet and was just trying to apply to see if he can pass the test. Well, the officer told him that when he graduates, he can come back and if the position is still available, it's his. I don't know if he''s going back there, though, as he is going to another company today for a job interview. I think he submitted his resume to more than one company and is now on the process of choosing which one is the best as all of them responded positively.

Well, I am a proud parent. What can I say? Either indulge me or shoot me.