World leader in e-voting

For James Smith, the Oxford graduate who runs Singapore-based Alphabet Media, the Philippines has one of the world’s most sophisticated systems applications databases, one of Asia’s most sophisticated business intelligence operations, and is the world leader in mobile government.

Smith underscored in an article in the trendsetting publication “FutureGov,” a vanguard journal in the fields of local government, national policy and digital inclusion, that the Philippines and India are the world leaders in e-voting.

In an article published Sept. 19, Smith also noted the crucial role played by civil servants in putting technology to new and better use. 

“Alongside India, they are world leaders in e-voting. Their Bureau of Internal Revenue (the tax man) is home to one of the most sophisticated business intelligence operations in Asia. Their national home development fund, Pag-IBIG, runs one of the world’s largest SAP databases, and is also at the leading edge of deploying kiosk-based services throughout the country. Back in the days of King Nokia, the Philippines public sector was the world leader in mobile government – and as smart phone penetration rises there, I wouldn’t bet against them being world leader again.” 

The Philippines no doubt has become a leader in electronic voting, following the two successful computerized elections in 2010 and 2013.

Following the recent May 13 polls, international observers belonging to the 2013 International Observers’ Mission organized by the Compact for Peaceful and Democratic Elections (Compact) noted that the automated balloting was generally credible, fair, and orderly.

Malacañang had similarly expressed satisfaction with the May 13 poll outcome, with presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda lauding the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and its deputized agencies for doing “their utmost to ensure free, fair and credible elections.”

Lacierda said that by all accounts, this second automated election has proceeded in a satisfactory manner, with the system and the vast majority of machines working as they were intended and that “while there were isolated incidents of violence and equally isolated hitches in the voting process, our institutions – from the Comelec to its deputized agencies – volunteers for poll-watching, media, and the public came together and did their utmost to ensure free, fair, and credible elections.”

Such accolades were a repeat of what took place in 2010, when the Philippines basked in the overwhelmingly positive response from here and abroad to the results of that year’s first-ever electronic balloting validated the reliability of the Automated Election System (AES) technology which Comelec had used in partnership with Smartmatic-Total Information Management (TIM).

Also, independent surveys conducted by the highly credible pollsters Social Weather Stations (SWS), Pulse Asia and StratPOLLS all echoed the high rating bestowed by the electorate upon the better-than-expected outcome of the polls.

The globally recognized Carter Center, a veteran monitor of 80 polls across the globe over the past three decades, had observed the polls and conducted an authoritative post-election assessment here that confirmed the success of the relatively glitch-free exercise using the AES-run Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines.

There had been grumblings as to the outcome of last summer’s automated elections, but the noise was isolated and came mainly from the same ragtag group of pseudo electoral-reform activists whose conspiracy theories about wholesale cheating, which they recycled in the 2013 exercise, were discredited by the international accolades, public opinion poll results and the Carter Report.

In response to election-related tirades, Comelec chairman Sixto Brillantes pointed out that glitches and problems during the conduct of an election like the 2013 exercise were and are already normal. 

Cesar Flores, Asia president of poll technology operator Smartmatic, agreed as he expressed confidence last summer that there would be no discrepancies in the tally of the Comelec and its citizen’s arm Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV). 

Smartmatic has automated electoral processes in such countries as the US, Belgium, Venezuela, Brazil, Curacao, Bolivia and Zambia (with the United Nations Development Program). It has ran elections (primaries and general elections) and provided technical support to over 30,000 PCOS machines in eight states in the USA, among them Arizona, California, District of Columbia, Illinois, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, and Washington.

Biz bits

Ateneo de Manila University president Father Jose Ramon “Jett” Villarin is trying to get some donation from the Ayala group and the group of businessman Manuel V. Pangilinan for some projects at the university, but the two groups have reportedly given Father Jett the cold-shoulder treatment. This, according to sources, may be due to the fact that as a member of the Board of Trustees of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), Father Jett voted in favor of the reduction in the water rates levied by the Ayala-controlled Manila Water Company and Metro Pacific’s Maynilad, instead of just abstaining from voting. Apparently, the MWSS board upheld the MWSS regulatory office’s order that made huge cost disallowances despite the fact that such expenses were allowed to be deducted from revenues under the concession agreement between MWSS and the two private companies. Sources say Manila Water’s total disallowances reportedly matched the company’s net earnings in the last five years, prompting MWC president Gerry Ablaza to raise hell in a letter to MWSS where he did not mince words to express their dismay over the agency’s ruling. Both Maynilad and Manila Water are bringing the matter to arbitration.

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