Surprises

I was prepared for the worst at the precinct where I usually vote – but to my pleasant surprise, everything was fairly organized. The process didn’t take as long as I expected which could have been made worse with the scorching heat recorded at the highest of 97 degrees Fahrenheit at 1 p.m. yesterday. As it turns out, my membership to the “Senior Citizens Club” paid off because volunteers allowed me to go ahead. Judging from the text messages I got from friends and associates from places like Batangas, everything was relatively organized especially with the help of volunteers.

As of this writing, everything is going so far, so good. But we will only know how the whole election process turned out perhaps 36 hours after the closing of precincts. Patience is a virtue, and as long as things were done as they should, we have to give the Comelec a little slack. Out of the 50.7 registered voters, the turnout is expected to reach a high of 85 percent. This is a likely figure considering that after nine years, Filipinos are eager to participate in an election where they have a lot of choices for president – unlike in 2004 where the options were rather limited, to put it delicately.

No doubt the whole world’s attention was focused on the Philippines, which is why it was necessary for the Comelec, the police, the military and other concerned agencies to make sure that the election went as well as it could be and as peacefully and smoothly as possible in order for this political exercise to be perceived as honest and credible – which is important not only for us here but for the international community. A lot hinges on this political exercise – which is probably why AFP chief of Staff Delfin Bangit was on the verge of tears when he made his appeal for the people to trust the Armed Forces of the Philippines. Soldiers and policemen are among those who face the biggest danger every election – from the left and the right – in the form of rebel groups who want to disrupt the elections and the private armed groups of politicians who want to cling to power.

Other than allegations of cheating and vote buying, elections in the Philippines have traditionally been marred by violence – with the Ampatuan Massacre already marked as a dark chapter in this country’s political history. Aside from the usual places in Mindanao, several areas were also placed under Comelec control, with Abra getting the most attention due to the degree of violence in the province. People especially from the capital town of Bangued lament that their province only figures prominently in the news during elections – and for all the most unfortunate of reasons.

Bangued residents especially resent seeing the province made to look so backward due to the focus on Tineg – a far-flung area that can only be reached after four days of walking. One can only wonder why people are willing to kill or be killed to become mayor of this remote, mountainous town. I am told a big motivation is probably the IRA or the Internal Revenue Allocation (a.k.a. pork barrel) of P68 million – a lot bigger than the P57 million for the capital town of Bangued.

Compared to past elections, this one was probably the most covered with major media networks and newspapers deploying reporters all over the country to give live updates, which is good considering the violence that continues to occur in election hotspots. Major presidential candidates like Gilbert Teodoro, Manny Villar, Joseph Estrada, Noynoy Aquino and of course GMA were given special live coverage when they arrived at their respective polling precincts to cast their votes.

Despite the earlier assurances made by Comelec that automation would make voting faster, we still received a lot of complaints about the very slow process in several precincts in Metro Manila. At the San Jose Elementary School in Manresa, Quezon City for instance, voters were called according to number and by 10s – but it takes 30 minutes for every batch of 10 voters to be called, so you can just imagine how furious the people have become at having to wait for so long despite arriving as early as 5:30 a.m. to avoid the long queues that always take place every time we have an election.

As a matter of fact, someone even texted that this is really a “killer election” with people stewing under the sun for several hours – making blood pressures shoot up and endangering the lives of many senior citizens. With the temperature at fever pitch coupled with rising tempers, you can just imagine how hot this election has really become. But for street kids, this was a welcome opportunity to earn a few pesos – distributing sample ballots to voters, and sweeping up scattered election paraphernalia to sell por kilo to the neighborhood junk shop.

Aside from their “kodigos,” voters were also armed with hand fans to combat the stifling heat inside and outside voting centers. They also carried cold water bottles, sandwiches, cookies and other snacks in anticipation of the long wait. Some also remembered to bring wet face towels to help them cool down. Many voters were disappointed and frustrated at the slow conduct of the elections in a lot of places, blaming the Comelec for hyping up their expectations. But like I said, we have to give the poll body some slack for the usual “birth pangs” that always go with everything novel. In the end, what is important is that people were able to exercise their right – and hopefully voted according to their conscience.

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Next column, we will try to give an objective post-mortem analysis on why some candidates lost.

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