Opinion

Will Supreme Court ever reject dynasties, election cheating?

GOTCHA - Jarius Bondoc - The Philippine Star

August 16, 2024 | 12:00am

Congress will never ban political dynasties. It’s against lawmakers’ vested interest.

Malacañang will never stop election fraud. It benefits presidents.

The last resort is the Supreme Court. But what if it too doesn’t act?

Pray that the Philippines isn’t torn like dynastic-cheated Bangladesh, Indonesia, Venezuela, Brazil, Mexico, Guatemala, Samoa, Iran, Syria, Serbia, Mozambique and Equatorial Guinea.

Long filed are three petitions for the SC to command:

Comelec to post Election 2022 transmission logs, Nov. 3, 2022;

Comelec to recount selected Election 2022 ballots, April 30, 2024;

Congress to outlaw dynasties, March 18, 2024.

Case 1. Comelec claims to have uploaded transmission logs in March 2023. “A lie!” retort petitioners ex-DICT head Eliseo Rio, ex-Comelec commissioner Gus Lagman and ex-FINEX president Franklin Ysaac.

What Comelec publicized were reception logs of precinct results. The 2008 Automated Election Systems Law requires transmission logs. The trio says those can prove seven anomalies:

Statistically impossible for 20.7 million, or 37 percent of votes for president and VP, to pour in within the first hour of closing of balloting;

Statistically impossible too for 13.8 million more, or another 24.7 percent of votes, to pour in within the second hour;

Physically impossible for Comelec central servers to receive precinct results as early as noon, when balloting closed at 7 p.m.;

Private IP Address 192.168.0.2 illegally sent to Comelec servers;

Ninety eight percent of precinct results that used the private IP poured in within the first two hours – to concoct a winning trend;

Neither telcos Globe or Smart used IP 192.168.0.2, contrary to Comelec Chairman George Garcia’s claim; and

Only precinct chairmen sent most of the results, shutting out the other two members.

Status: No SC ruling yet.

Oddity: AES supplier Smartmatic is impleaded. But SC notifiers can’t find it in its stated contractor address, Rio says.

Case 2. To dispel any more suspicion, Comelec declared en banc on Nov. 29, 2023 to recount one to five ballot boxes in each of 17 regions. Rio, Lagman and Ysaac were to pick which boxes. Comelec was to pay for recount, transport, billeting, etc.

The trio proposed on Jan. 19 and Feb. 12, 2024: for security and ease, let’s just recount 30 random ballot boxes in Sto. Tomas, Batangas, an hour’s drive from Comelec HQ. The city treasurer has custody of all 153 boxes. No more costs for Comelec. Three mayoralty losers have each paid P111,000 protest and recount fees.

Comelec has not replied.

Status: No SC action four months hence.

Oddity: Also on Nov. 29, 2023 Comelec en banc disqualified Smartmatic from any more contracting. Reason: FBI report on Smartmatic’s $1-million bribery of ex-Comelec chairman Andres Bautista in Florida 2017.

Smartmatic cried to SC on Dec. 18, 2023. Four months later, April 16, 2024, SC reversed Comelec and reverted Smartmatic as bidder for Election 2025 onwards.

Last Aug. 8 the Florida Court indicted Bautista, Smartmatic cofounder-president Roger Piñate, VP Jorge Vasquez and Phl head Elie Moreno. Aug. 13, Piñate and Vasquez surrendered and posted bail of $8.5 million and $1 million, respectively. No word on Bautista, who should be made answerable mainly in Manila.

Case 3. Law professors Rico Domingo, Wilfredo Trinidad, Jorge Cabildo and Ceasar Oracion petitioned two points:

Overwhelmingly ratified by Filipinos on Feb. 2, 1987, the Constitution “ministerially requires Congress to define and prohibit political dynasties” (Article II, Declaration of Principles, Section 26);

SC has “authority and duty to adjudicate … Congress’ grave abuse of discretion for neglect and refusal for 37 years.”

Status: SC en banc gave the Office of Solicitor General till Aug. 27 to comment. It will then set oral arguments, deliberate and decide any which way.

America abhors dynasties. They used to be 11 percent of US legislators in 1789-1858, and seven percent in 1966, six percent today, Ernesto Dal Bo researched.

Other lands shun dynasties. They’re ten percent of lawmakers in Argentina, ten percent in Greece, 22 in Ireland, 24 in India, 33 in Japan, 40 in Mexico, 42 in Thailand.

In the Philippines, in 2013, dynasts were 75 percent of Congress. By 2019, 80 percent, wrote dean Ronald Mendoza, Ateneo School of Government.

Of 23 senators today, there are a mother and son, a brother and sister and half-brothers. In the House are spouses, siblings, parents and offspring. Even party-lists have spouses, notes ex-NEDA head Cielito Habito.

Ferdinand Marcos Sr. had a spouse, siblings and offspring in appointive and elective positions. Same with all presidents under the 1987 Charter: Cory Aquino, Fidel Ramos, Erap Estrada, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Noynoy Aquino, Rody Duterte, Bongbong Marcos.

Political dynasties and dirty elections are twin evils. They foster corruption.

Corruption causes poverty, hunger, disease, ignorance, maleducation, floods, squatting, joblessness, lack of opportunities, inequality.