It is still PCOS, stupid!

There are many issues that compete for our attention. And there will be many more as we come closer to the May elections.

So far the most compelling was the Sabah tragedy. The bottom line of the tragedy was incompetent governance. Ultimately, that bottom line can be traced to the PCOS election of 2010. And yet looking at Comelec’s recent decisions and actions, the same PCOS machines will decide the elections of 2013. You do not have to be an expert political analyst to see the simple logic — no matter what objections are put before the Comelec it will be scuttled.

That is why we must not be diverted from this one issue that will decide what happens after May 2013. We did not choose our leaders in 2010, the machines did. Keep your eye on the ball or we will miss it when the score is made.

It can be tiresome to go through details that reveal this impending machination. Like millions of Filipino voters, I am not a techie. That is why I go with the thinking of the Federal Court of Germany which simply rejected automated elections because after much study and debate it came to the conclusion that automated systems are contrary to the nature of elections. Elections must be public and being public, every voter must be aware of the procedure through which his or her vote passes from start to finish. The knowledge cannot be the exclusive preserve of programmers. Indeed Comelec has been hiding behind the very obscurity of automated elections aware that the public is unable to understand.

It has been trying to lull us into believing that all is being done for the PCOS to work this time. Like what? An automated elections without a source code? Or its latest announcement that “the date on Smartmatic’s PCOS [Precinct Count Optical Scanner] machines will now be entered by election officials at the precinct on election day.” The electoral body has finally accepted that in May 2010 there were many instances when date-and-time-stamp mismatches were discovered in the 2010 election.

According to IT security expert Angel Averia Jr. this is dangerous.

As he explained to Rene Azurin “any day before election day pre-marked ballots can be scanned, counting can be done, and election returns can be generated with date set to May 13, 2013.

“Actually, standard IT security protocols in this situation would require that the changing of date and time be a restricted function.

If it is not restricted, then virtually anyone with access to the machines can “pre-generate” returns with the May 13, 2013 date and transmit these at the closing of polls on election day. That not only makes election cheating easier, it allows the issue of who did the cheating to be muddled and covered up.”

The problem is in the nature of computer programming. It can be told by the programmer what to do without any trace of how it was done.

Because of the many possibilities open to fraud in automated elections, there is just no way to plug the holes.

That is why the Federal Court of Germany was right to simplify the discussion and debate on what system to use for elections — it honed in on the contradiction between the public nature of elections and an automated electoral system. There is no discussion or proposal that can overcome that contradiction. The only way was to return to manual elections to be consistent with the public nature of elections.

There is a growing clamor for Comelec to revert to manual elections.

That has become increasingly impossible as each day passes.

Some have gone further and say that the government’s reluctance on scuttling the PCOS is because of elements within the government that precisely want the chaos. The most recent example of the danger to peaceful and orderly elections happened in Kenya. It used an electronic vote-counting machine system. The system broke down and its wake destabilization followed with Kenyans protesting the results of the closely contested election. The seizure of power cannot be far behind.

It is good that several groups have added their voice to the protest on how Malaysia handled the Sabah crisis. Phil Robertson, Deputy Director, Asia Division, Human Rights Watch said, “The situation on the ground in the conflict zone in Sabah is still quite murky and the government of Malaysia should provide clear and accurate information on what has occurred. At this point, it’s critical that the Malaysian authorities ensure the protection of all civilians in the area, and allow humanitarian access for the provision of emergency assistance to those affected by the violence.

We’re concerned about the Malaysian government’s use of the Security Offenses Special Measures Act (SOSMA) to detain reportedly more than 50 individuals, and call on the government to either charge them with a recognizable criminal offense or release them. All parties to the conflict should heed the call of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon to ‘act in full respect of international human rights norms and standards’.”

The very important issue of how our politics and governance have been dominated by political dynasties was taken up by the Asian Institute of Management Policy Center with the support of the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, the UP National College of Public Administration & Governance and the Ateneo School of Government last week. The forum was on “Building an Inclusive Democracy.”

Speakers from the different institutions tackled different aspects of dynastic politics and how these have come in the way of political and economic reforms. Among questions raised in the forum were: How inclusive is our democracy? Is the country’s political system nurturing more dynastic leaders? What are the platforms of the different political parties and how do they ensure continuity of their platforms? What’s the role of political parties in the development of strong institutions?

From the Chinese Embassy, this column received word that many local issues were taken up during the annual full sessions of the National People’s Congress (NPC), the top legislature in China. Pitching in to cobble the programs under new leader Xi Jinping was the Chinese Political Consultative Conference. The sessions began on March 3 and March 5.

Filipino nurse and caregiver candidates under JPEPA (Japan-Philippine Economic Partnership Agreement) were given a one-year extension of their period of stay recently.

The Japanese Government has made a series of improvements for nurses and caregivers under JPEPA. The one-year extension of the period of stay for the 1st batch of candidates (2009) was among them.