A month ago, when Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brilliantes was asked by well-meaning people, including the media, why he hurriedly signed a deal with Smartmatic-TIM to purchase those highly-questionable Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) even if it has been found to have many unsettled issues and glitches, he retorted, “So sue us!” This was not the reply we expected from the top official of the Comelec that is constitutionally mandated to give our people free, fair and honest elections.
Well, the very arrogant Mr. Brilliantes got his comeuppance when a group of people from civil society, led by former Vice-Pres. Teofisto Guingona, Prof. Solita “Mareng Winnie” Monsod of the Movement for Good Governance, Bishop Broderick S. Pabillo, DD, Auxiliary Bishop of Manila, Ma. Corazon Akol of Transparentelections.org.ph; Fr. Jose Dizon, Solidarity Philippines, Nelson Celis former President of the Philippine Computer Society Foundation, Anna Leah Colina of We Watch, Pablo Manalastas, PhD, Senior Fellow of CenPEg, and Dean Georgina Encanto, President of Transparency International-Philippines filed a Petition for Certiorari, Prohibition and Mandamus with Prayer for TRO and Writ of Preliminary Injunction before the Supreme Court (SC).
Many of these people belong to the Automated Election System Watch (AES Watch) group that monitored the 2010 elections and found so many problems with the PCOS machines - one in Antipolo that was transmitting a signal in someone’s house; another was found in Cagayan de Oro, which was also transmitting unknown signals. One such machine even transmitted election returns from Venezuela!
We’ve written about this since the May 2010 elections and we’ve become some kind of John the Baptist… a solitary voice in the wilderness shouting to people who did not care to listen, while the Comelec only showed its euphoria claiming that the results of the automated polls was spectacular. But in the end, like smoke emitting from a fire, the truth has slowly surfaced. First, that despite its being automated, the results for the Vice-Presidential race was highly-questionable. If the PCOS machines did as advertised, then it should not have resulted in electoral fraud as VP candidate Manuel “Mar” Roxas pointed out in his petition.
Here in Cebu, we don’t have to look far. The municipality of Compostela was marred by accusations of electoral fraud. Because it has only a small number of voters, it would have been easy for the Comelec to have all the ballot boxes opened before the eyes of all voters in Compostela and in a few days, the results would have been out. But the Comelec refused to do this and worse, they even brought the ballot boxes to Manila, where God knows who may have “manipulated” those ballots inside their boxes?
Because of delays, the town of Compostela didn’t have elected officials for 22 months. This is more than enough proof that the PCOS machines are faulty and don’t work as advertised. Worse of all, Comelec’s refusal to open the ballot boxes is clear proof that the Comelec was afraid that the contents of the ballot boxes might not match what the PCOS machines reported. Yet despite all these problems, Chairman Brillantes took on a “damn the torpedoes” attitude and signed a new contract with Smartmatic-TIM to reuse those questionable PCOS machines.
The petitioners vs. the Comelec stand on solid ground that “The Comelec committed grave abuse of discretion in totally disregarding the recommendation of the Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) against exercising the option to purchase as provided for in the terminated July 2009 contract between the Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM.” The petitioner insists that the option to purchase already expired and the new contract is deemed null and void.
The Government Procurement Policy Board (GPBB), which is under the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), came up with a similar concern, but this was totally ignored by the Comelec. This only shows sheer arrogance… that the Comelec (of the five Commissioners, only two, Comm. Lagman and Comm. Robert Christian Lim did not vote for the new contract) will use those PCOS machines without telling the public what were the defects or glitches that Smartmatic-TIM supposedly fixed?
We’ve been writing about these glitches from information given to me by the late Manny Amador (who died mysteriously a couple of months ago) but the Comelec did not issue any statements to answer us or even to refute our questions. It’s called “deadma.” But now that they signed this new contract with Smartmatic-TIM, suddenly they admitted that there were problems but they still did not explain to the public what these problems were. So now, our hopes are in the hands of the Supreme Court.
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Email: vsbobita@mozcom.com