Suffering in Suffrage

Today marks a very important event in Philippine Elections. This is the first time that we had nationwide automated voting and the experience was very promising and very horrible at the same time. What used to take 30 minutes took 3 hours for most. My sister and I were less fortunate, it took us 6 hours just to cast our vote!

The polling centers opened at 7am but we came at around 9am. We went straight to the voter's assistance desk to confirm that our names are still in the active list and to get our room assignments. We had to do this because even though we already know our precinct numbers, the room assignments would be different because five precincts were grouped into one cluster, and therefore one classroom. Our room was on the first floor of the public elementary school and that's where we spent 6 agonizing hours standing in line. What happened was there were a lot of individuals cutting the line in front so those of us at the back were not moving. There were not much volunteers to marshall the lines and no numbers were issued, like what they implemented on the other floors. Another thing that contributed to the slow lines was the time it took for the teachers to look for the voter's information sheet in the voter's book. It seems that the voter's info sheets were not arranged alphabetically so looking through them took quite a considerable time. Also since there were five precincts lumped into one classroom, you would expect that there should be one teacher assigned to each voter's book per precinct but there were only two. After finding my info sheet and affixing my signature and thumbmark, I was given my ballot and it was a breeze from thereon. I shaded my choices, fed my ballot into the PCOS machine and had a drop of indelible ink on my index finger. I guess we were still lucky because other polling centers had it worse. Some had brownouts in their area while some had PCOS machines that did not work. Also there were reports of violence in some areas, most especially in the provinces.

Hopefully things will run smoothly in the next elections. More PCOS machines should be added (provided we still use the same automated system) and something should really be done regarding the voter's information sheets. I believe this part of the voting process should be automated as well. Either they start encoding whose voter's information sheets into electronic format, or have everyone register again electronically in order to capture everyone's biometrics as well.

Now that the voting process is over, we move on to the more exciting and critical part of the election, the tallying of the votes and eventual proclamation of the winning candidates. I just hope and pray that the no padding of the vote occurs and that the results would be truly reflective of the people's choice of leaders for our nation. Then all of our suffering in casting our votes would have been all worth it. God bless the Philippines.

Like sheep lost

Former President Corazon Aquino was laid to rest yesterday. It was declared a special non-working holiday so I was able to watch the last funeral rites on TV. Before that, I was able to see her coffin up close when her remains were transported last Monday from De la Salle Greenhills to Manila Cathedral. The funeral cortege passed by Ayala Ave. so I just went down from the office to join the procession if front of our building. I offered a little prayer for Tita Cory then flashed the 'Laban' sign while chanting her name together with the crowd.

I felt sad the first time I heard that she passed away last Saturday. Although everybody knew that she was battling with cancer, it still came as a shock because news reports said that she was already in a stable condition. I guess we always assumed that Tita Cory would always be there to lead us in protest and prayer, especially when there are scandals brewing in the government or there are threats to our democracy. Now that she is gone, I'm afraid that we would all be like lost sheep, following the mob but never really knowing where to go. I'd like to believe that after witnessing the Cory magic that brought the whole nation together in unity and prayer, the Filipinos would step up and take it up on themselves to continue what Ninoy and Cory started. With the Filipinos' short term memory, there's a big probability that this will never come to be but I'm still hoping that we would be able to rise above ourselves and make our nation great once again. Let the spirit of Edsa live on!

And the list goes on

The second ANC Leadership Forum is interesting on a very different level than the first. In this round, the guests were Former President Joseph Estrada, Sen. Loren Legarda, Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay and MMDA Chairman Bayani Fernando. Sen. Panfilo Lacson was supposed to be there but he backed out again and this time he also announced that he was withdrawing his presidential bid for 2010, citing his lack of funds as his reason. However, many are speculating that he struck a deal with the government that he would back out from running for president in exchange for easing him out of the Dacer-Corbito murder case. I wouldn't be surprised if this is true because of the timing of his announcement -- Cesar Mancao, who is supposed to be the state witness for the trial just arrived in the country then. Anyhow, the leadership forum pushed through without Ping and the University of the Philippines School of Economics was jampacked with students and teachers alike wanting to witness the forum live. If you haven't seen it yet, you can do so here.

Listening to the guests, you would really see their different visions for the country.

The race is on!

I saw the ANC Leadership Forum being aired in ABS-CBN last night, which reminded me that I haven't blogged about it yet, which I should have done right after I watched it on ANC when it was first aired. Anyway, for those who didn't know about it, ANC (ABS-CBN News Channel), together with the Ateneo School of Government, hosted a leadership forum on May 11 for the aspiring presidential candidates of the 2010 Philippine elections. The guests were Senators Francis Escudero, Richard Gordon, and Mar Roxas; Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio; and Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro. Senator Panfilo Lacson confirmed his attendance but backed out before the event. They also invited Vice President Noli de Castro, and Senators Manuel Villar and Loren Legarda but the three probably didn't confirm. If you haven't seen it and you want to get an idea of what transpired, visit the following links:

• Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 1


• Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 2


• Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 3


• Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 4


• Countdown to 2010 - An ANC Leadership Forum part 5

Now for my opinions.

Living in interesting times

So there's another rally happening just outside our office building. They call it an inter-faith prayer rally, maybe because they're tired of calling it people power. Clearly they can't call it EDSA (4, 5 ... n) anymore because it's not happening along EDSA but along Ayala Ave (holding rallies at the EDSA shrine has been prohibited after the failed EDSA 3). The whole of Ayala Ave and part of Paseo de Roxas have been blocked off to traffic to accommodate the multitude of people who have gathered to call for the resignation of Pres. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The deposed Pres. Joseph "Erap" Estrada was reported to have been with the first wave of protesters who have arrived. In a wicked twist of fate, the two political figures have traded places with Erap calling for the other's resignation now (back in 2001, it was Erap who was being asked to resign and refused to step down, leading to his being ousted and eventual impeachment). But it seems that Erap is not the "hero" this time around but Rodolfo "Jun" Lozada Jr., the witness to the ZTE-NBN deal. What can I say, the Filipinos just love the underdog. Or we just love to rally. Either way, the whole thing is causing a great turmoil in the political scene. Yet, this does not seem to have affected the peso which has reached an eight-year high at P40.25. Crazy happenings indeed!

To learn more about what started it all and to be updated with the latest proceedings, click here.

Chaotic Makati

As I'm writing this post, the SWAT are storming into the Manila Peninsula Hotel, two blocks away from our office building. I doubt if the rebel soldiers will surrender. I just hope that it will not turn into a bloodbath.

We haven't been advised to go home yet. And even if we were let off, I don't know how we're going to be able to get out of the Makati CBD. The main roads are already blocked and I don't know if there has been any rerouting. Guess there's nothing left to do but to wait.

Pussycat, pussycat, where have you been?

Definitely not to London to visit the queen. I've been busy at the office working on a project that's due this month. Yes my friends, that's what happens whenever I have a project with a tight schedule. Everything else ceases to exist until the project is finished; my health and weight suffers, my social calendar gets wiped out and my blogging stops. Aside from the lack of time, I attribute this to my one-track mindedness (and here I thought women were supposed to be multi-taskers!). With my focus on my project, I don't think of anything else, even on weekends. This time is an exception because I've got a long weekend and it's my birthday month so I decided to give myself some slack.

The Beauty of Democracy

Much attention has been poured on the NBN (national broadband network) deal with China's ZTE Corp. over the past few weeks, as should have been the case. Just last week, the Senate concluded it's hearings with the people involved and now the contract has been suspended. Though it has not yet been fully terminated, we saw democracy happen at the proceedings. The Senators gave voice to the people who voted for them and asked their questions for them.

The Verdict

I can't quite put a finger on it, but there seems to be something wrong with the conviction of Erap. If the Filipino people has been vindicated with the guilty sentence on his plunder case, why aren't the people dancing in the streets? Or have we become indifferent of the whole thing, thinking it does not concern us anymore? "The courts have spoken. Uphold the rule of law. Let's just move on with our lives." But how can we move on if we know that injustice has taken place. Given that Erap amassed illegal wealth, I still think that the decision was more politically motivated than it was based on hard evidences. Some say that the current presidency is better than the former administration. I don't know about that as I'm still regretting the fact that I joined Edsa Dos.

To learn more about the events that transpired regarding the Estrada Trial, visit this link: http://www.inquirer.net/specialreports/theestradatrial/archive.php

My mother is an activist

As I've said in my pre-elections post, I'll just vote the senators whom my mother told me to vote. And that's what I did. Back then, I didn't know why she wanted to vote for just those two for senator. Now, I've come across this Inquirer article now I know why.

What does the Honasan-Trillanes vote mean?


Here are some excerpts:

But if the senatorial elections were a referendum on Ms Arroyo, what was the implied referendum question? Was it “Do you approve of the government of President Arroyo?” (I shudder when I recall the Ferdinand Marcos-era referendum question: “Would you like President Marcos to continue the reforms needed to build a New Society?” - and a supine nation resoundingly voted, “Yes, please!”)

If it was, the impending victory of 10 non-administration candidates should tell us that the answer is, “No, we reject Gloria Arroyo.” But the expected triumph of Gringo - the poll group Social Weather Stations placed him in the magic 12, ranking him 7th overall, as against his current rank of 8th in the partial results - and the probable upset victory of Trillanes answer an entirely different question altogether. It pertains not to whether we reject Ms. Arroyo. It pertains rather to the “how” of rejection.

The Honasan-Trillanes vote shows a voter prepared to get rid of President Arroyo whatever it takes. It helps that the two are Philippine Military Academy graduates, untainted by graft and corruption, and who embodied to the lay public certain ideals for which they have made personal sacrifices. At least 1.3 million voters so far have cast their lot with two former coup plotters and, irony of ironies, would now reward them a fully constitutional way of expressing their rage.

Yet that doesn’t explain the Honasan-Trillanes vote completely. This attitude is but a symptom of a deeper malaise that has “numbed the Filipino” to the dangers of taking legal shortcuts. The Arroyo government has so strained the fabric of the rule of law, and pushed legal technicalities to breaking point, that it has undercut the legitimating power of the Constitution.

If Malacañang can repeatedly flout the law, why should it matter if we all flouted the law ourselves, but for good causes rather than bad? Why should Gloria have a monopoly on short-circuiting the Constitution, while the rest of us scrupulously but helplessly chant the Bill of Rights? Two can play the game, plus Honasan and Trillanes’ 1.3 million and counting.

I am not a great fan of PGMA either. Although, I appreciate her 8 by '08 program, which is her administration's national agenda focusing on eight priority investments (job creation; a better cost of living; a strong peso; more investments; pro-poor education; pro-poor healthcare, housing, food; green Philippines and Anti-terrorism), I feel that she is so consumed by greed for power, and that doesn't sit too well with me. I see her and I remember the saying, "Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely." Not a good thing to associate your nation's president with, I tell you.

Wormtongue for Senator

Took me more than two hours to get home last night. A miting de avance of some politician (who happens to be a son of a former QC mayor, and who happens to father a sexy actress) running for congress was being held along Commonwealth Ave. and of course, the traffic was horrendous. Well generally, traffic has been really bad because of the coming elections. The volume of vehicles usually go down during summer because school is out. However, this summer is an exception. You just have to look at the vehicles on the road and you will know why. Stickers and streamers of political campaigns adorn vehicles of every kind, making you wonder if the vehicles are transporting political campaign materials or just roving around the roads for maximum exposure of the campaign ads. It's not only the traffic that's affected by the ongoing campaigns. Try to watch local television channels and you'll be bombarded by senatoriables' commercial ads. Even radio airwaves carry campaign jingles and political endorsements.

All these set me to thinking. The Philippines must really be a rich country for all these politicians to be scrambling to get the people's attention and votes in order to be put into position. I even got an email containing Miriam Defensor Santiago's exposition of how much budget a senator gets and I was astounded by the figures. This is where the people's hard-earned money go? Money that could have been put to better use by funding infrastructure development and quality public education were instead going straight to the politicians' pockets. No wonder political rivalries sometimes even reach the point of killing and violence. Those government seats are so worth fighting for because with the fame and victory come the power and the gold.

And they say that they are pro-poor.