What’s in a word? Congress should invite Dominion Voting Systems

There is no question that we should defend what is ours. We should take well what Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert del Rosario told our future soldiers at the Philippine Military Academy. But if we are to “do battle” we must do so to win (not necessarily in war) if we are to serve the interests of this country.

It does not mean fighting, battling or going to war but a whole phalanx of methods and ways available to peace-loving peoples. It is called diplomacy. It demands discretion, discipline and maturity.

That is why many were disappointed that del Rosario should make the call to battle to our young soldiers. As our chief diplomat that is not his job.

Frankly, Secretary del Rosario would have done better if he had talked to our soldiers about the different steps being taken by the government in its dispute with China. That way he would have addressed not only the soldiers but also the entire world. The chief diplomat should speak of peaceful ways, not talk about waging a war we cannot fight, let alone win. Unless, of course he is speaking for other countries. He would have done better if he simply reiterated our claims and explained to the soldiers that all will be done for the sake of the country and its best interest. Just because they are soldiers does not mean that you can talk to them only in terms of war.

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One of the reasons I like about Facebook is that you can conduct intelligent discussions with friends whether you agree or disagree with each other. An FB friend quoting from a Chinese daily said Philippine President Benigno Aquino was very rude. Aquino interrupted and rebuked Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, for saying “that a consensus had been reached not to internationalize the South China dispute.” Aquino butted in to the dismay of the audience that “no such consensus had been reached and he would continue to speak out on the global stage.”

“Aquino’s undiplomatic move was ill-advised, and will not help solve the issue in peace,” said the editorial titled “A rude Manila helps no one.”

That was how the discussion began on the word “consensus” in FB. A posting had said that consensus was specifically defined in the Asean treaty and therefore Aquino was right in saying that no consensus took place. “It comes down to one word. In this case it was the word “consensus.” An Aquino defender said the president was correct when he checked Hun Sen from declaring a consensus against internationalizing the maritime disputes.      

The writer defended President Aquino for raising his objection to Hun Sen’s “consensus” even before the final report.

Others who agreed with the “rude” move say that there was no choice. It would be bad if the Philippines remained silent on the matter at the time it was being said.

But on the word “consensus” she and others who came to the discussion said: As to “consensus,” Ch.VII, Art. 20 (Re Asean treaty) did not define the word. Either it was defined elsewhere or the Asean Body must have relied on the common interpretation of the term as the signatories understood it. In that case, “consensus” does not require unanimity, only a loose agreement of most of the members. The article did not even specify a figure, such as “majority,” “quorum,” and the like, which would have bound the Asean members to a more rigid standard.

The word consensus is not specifically defined in the Asean Charter, but it did say that the working language of the association is English, so we have to consult the English dictionary for the meaning of consensus.      

There you are. In other words, consensus does not have a specific meaning in the Asean charter other than what is understood by the term in English.      

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For a while it seemed Smartmatic-TIM-PCOS would get away with their perfidy in the May 2010 elections. No matter the hard work and skills put in by civil society’s computer experts, they were simply ignored and their accusations ridiculed by government officials themselves mainly Comelec, Congress and lately a Supreme Court without Corona.

That was until Smartmatic’s court dispute with technology provider Dominion Voting Systems International Corp. (Dominion) in Delaware, USA. It was a god-send.

But the tables were turned at a cost. No elections using the PCOS would ever be believed again and yet Comelec and the government insist that it be used again. In the Congress committee hearing, former Comelec Commissioner Lagman noted he did not think the court dispute would be settled before the 2013 elections.

“How can fixes be assured if Smartmatic is not authorized to do so? How can Comelec use it if there is no licensing agreement?” he asked.

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The PCOS issue as far as I am concerned is the most important issue today.

Before we can properly elect we should have the political structure that enables us to make a correct judgment. We can’t do that if vested interests manipulate election through voting machines. Even if Filipinos wanted able and better leaders, it will not happen if we use PCOS as we did in May 2010.

Maybe Congress should invite Dominion Voting Systems to testify since it was their technology and program that was used in May 2010 elections, they know what went wrong.

How come Mongolia and Puerto Rico rejected Smartmatic and worked directly with Dominion when they found out it was the real owner of the automated technology. Comelec went ahead with the flimsy excuse that they did not know.

Manual elections had its defects here and there but there was a way to check and mitigate the fraud. But in PCOS the winners are decided even before a single vote has been counted. If mainstream media does not think this is an important issue they become as suspect as the politicians that made it happen.

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Philippine Air Lines under the helm of Ramon Ang as its new president and CEO has chosen the right place to revitalize the airline: by offering non-stop flights to Toronto.

There are more than a million Canadian citizens of Filipino origin in this huge country on the northern border of the US and they are mostly in professional jobs. A non-stop flight to Toronto will have enormous benefits to them.