EDITORIAL - Punish the cheats

In the land of dagdag-bawas, it’s certain that some form of poll cheating is again going on. Decisive action against poll fraud may be too much to ask of the chaotic Commission on Elections. But at least the National Movement for Free Elections will have an easier time detecting the cheating because it gets the sixth copy of election returns. Uncovering poll fraud, however, is not enough. This early, the nation must start moving to make sure that in the 2004 presidential elections, we will hear no more of dagdag-bawas, bawas-bawas or whatever new scheme the cheats can cook up to rob the people of their mandate.

A good way to discourage vote shaving, padding and shifting is to impose stiff penalties for poll fraud. Punishment should cover not just the persons directly involved in the cheating operation, such as election canvassers, but also the beneficiaries of the fraud and their henchmen who cooked up the scheme.

For the cheating operation called "Oplan Dagdag-Bawas" (literally, add-subtract), which was introduced in 1995, only one election canvasser has been convicted and sent to prison. The sentence was handed down only a few months ago, just as the fraud’s main beneficiary was finishing his term and preparing to seek re-election. Meanwhile, its victim, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., ran again in 1998 and now sits as Senate president. But the dagdag-bawas beneficiary and the persons who devised the cheating scheme were never punished.

A dagdag-bawas case lodged against another senator is still pending. By the time the case is resolved, the senator’s six-year term may also be over. Other victims of poll fraud have suffered similar fates. They win their electoral protests only after their rivals who cheated them have served out their term. Such cases have encouraged cheating.

If the national leadership wants to stop poll fraud, it should immediately take steps to punish not only those directly involved in cheating operations such as canvassers but also the candidates and their handlers. The incoming Congress should impose stiff penalties for poll fraud, which should include permanent disbarment of the beneficiaries from holding public office as well as sanctions against their political party. A deadline must also be set for resolving electoral protests so that beneficiaries of poll fraud won’t serve out the terms of the legitimate winners.

Poll fraud is a crime that must not pay, and stopping it is not an impossible task. If incoming lawmakers don’t have the political will for this, they should keep in mind that they could one day become victims of poll fraud.