Archive for the ‘elections’ Category
third world automation, way to go :(
kaya ba talaga ng comelec / smartmatic na i-replace ang flash cards ng bawat PCOS machine nationwide in the next two days, for testing and sealing immediately? that’s a big job, and with mercury still retrograde — paatras pa rin ang takbo ng maraming bagay-bagay — sobrang nakakaduda, lalo na’t, according to a tweet by mlq3 today:
From Bacolod friend as of 11:48AM PCOS machines not yet distributed to precincts. No testing done yet.
hay naku. how third world lang, ‘no. our best efforts just aren’t good enough, i fear. daryll delgado’s fb status 5 hours ago says it all:
These errors, machine failures, inaccuracies have been the subject of reports by third-party observers months ago. That they’re only being paid attention to now, just days before the elections, may be a means of, is certainly effective at, creating a collective sense of doom and dread, and worse, resignation.
ngayon, kung flash cards lang talaga ang problema, here’s a suggestion from my brother louie:
if (!) it is true that PCOS works well enough for national positions on ballot front, and problem is limited to local posts behind: logical best move is to continue national polls on may 10 and postpone local polls alone for however many days it takes to correct the glitch, whatever additional cost may be.
sounds good to me. though i really wish we were holding a parallel manual count nationwide, just because it’s the first time we’re automating, and we need to see for ourselves that it works better and faster and no cheating can/will happen. the only way we can be sure of this is if we had manual counting to compare results with. but no, say ng isa (di ko na maalala kung sino), kung merong sabay na manual and automated counting of votes, at nagkaroon ng discrepancies sa results, lalo daw magkakagulo! oo, ganyan sila magisip. instead of, kung may discrepancies hanapin natin kung saan, sino, ano ang nagkamali at ating iwasto immediately and for the longterm. hindi kailangang magkagulo, basta malinaw sa electorate kung bakit natatagalan ang proseso, and that we need to go through something like that to develop confidence in the comelec, and in voting/counting machines.
likewise, if the may 10 elections push through, hindi kailangang magkagulo. not if we all practise patience. there are going to be all kinds of glitches, nothing will go smoothly, patience is a virtue. who knows, we might end up doing manual counts in many places, and that’s going to take time. so, let’s all be vigilant pa rin, but reeeaally patient, lalo na the presidential candidates, winning and losing, and their avid supporters. hindi magkakagulo, basta walang tawagan ng people power, please lang, hangga’t maaari.
homestretch blues
dismaying but interesting. our minds and communications are on mercury-retrograde mode for the next three, four weeks, right smack in the last three weeks of the presidential campaign, which means that instead of moving on to other important issues we’ll be going back over old ground, which means more of hacienda luisita, alleged psychological incapacity, lack of experience, etc. with regard to noynoy, and more of c-5-at-taga, landgrabbing charges, and the poverty spin with regard to villar. we will see how low either camp would stoop to discredit the other all the way to election day. mas madaling magsiraan (hindi mauubusan) kaysa magmagaling (mauubusan).
are we going to see survey kulelats gordon, bro.eddie, jc, perlas, jamby giving up the fight to endorse either noynoy or villar, erap or gibo? i seriously doubt it just because, if memory serves, it hasn’t happened in recent multiparty history. to the very end they all think they have a chance, surveys are questionable, anything can happen, never say die, not even when llamadong llamado ang mga kalaban. a pinoy macho thing, i suspect ;)) but hey i’d love to be disproven on this, just because it could tip the balance one way or another, make for a most definite win for the lucky one. and then, again, maybe not.
what we ARE likely to see, i’m afraid, even now, are all kinds of glitches with machines, esp. those that have to do with communications and transportation, anything that moves people and ideas around, including the machines for automated counting of votes and conveying of results. sana hindi. sana suwertehin tayo, for a change. but the odds are against us, so dapat ay paghandaan by having plans B and C, just in case.
meanwhile i still don’t have a president. and i haven’t stopped wishing, how retrograde of me, that it were mar running for president and noynoy for vp. i disagree with the notion that if noynoy had run for prez later rather than sooner, he could not have counted on the same phenomenal love and energy a la edsa generated by (ninoy’s) cory’s death that birthed the clamor for the unico hijo’s candidacy last august.
i don’t see why not. i think that noynoy as vp (mar would have won easily, with noynoy behind him) could have used the next six years to clean up his act, do the morally, and politically, correct thing with regard to hacienda luisita, AFTER reading of course ninoy’s testament from a prison cell and other writings that might enlighten him a little about the Left. if there were no poverty and oppression, there would be no Left; snubbing and demonizing the Left (instead of finding a way for Left and Right to work together for the good of the whole) would not have been ninoy’s way, is no way to honor ninoy’s legacy, in fact it dishonors ninoy’s legacy. anyway, if he used the six years wisely and creatively, maybe also studied the education problem thoroughly — an additional two years of schooling is not the answer – i have no doubt that the cory-ninoy effect would have kicked in as powerfully, and there would not be so many undecideds in 2016.
for now hindi ko pa mapatawad si noynoy for the hacienda luisita killings and for being so anti-Left, or is it anti-poor. i guess i’m still hoping to hear him say something reassuring, to the effect that he will prevail upon the cojuangco-aquino clan to follow the law and give up luisita to the farmers, and that he would snub the likes of palparan and get the military to produce jonas burgos atbpang missing activists.
lacking either or both, well, there’s villar, pero kahit kayanin ko siyang patawarin for c-5 at taga and, even, the obscene spending, ay di ko yata kayang patawarin his obdurate stand against reproductive health. si erap, he got his turn already, and he botched it. gibo looks good but he reeks of status quo politics. amboy gordon i considered, but only briefly. bro.eddie is too fundamentally religious, perlas too green, jc too sophomoric. jamby at least has not only the best-looking FG (french gentleman), she has the best platform of the lot. so hmm, if not noynoy, it could be jamby for me, a protest vote, on principle.
no guts, no gloria
well the woman has guts, and she really doesn’t care what fvr thinks, much less what we who-want-her-out think, not as long as there are people in place who continue to support her.
but it’s offensive, that happy grin she was flashing for the cameras when she filed her certificate of candidacy, gleefully grateful it would seem for the “clamor” from the 2nd district of pampanga. she thinks we’re dumb, she thinks she’s got the world believing that that supposed clamor was is spontaneous and not the result of manipulation and spin, shades of edsa dos.
or maybe it’s an act. behind that gleeful grin maybe it’s a matter of life and death and chacha and she’s a bundle of nerves, the ghosts of the ampatuan massacre haunting her dreams, like andal jr.’s. if so then she’s a damned good actress. she could go into showbiz instead and give aling dionesia a run for the money.
so what now. i think it was dean amado valdez of u.e. who’s saying it’s an impeachable offense, running for congress while still president. a betrayal of public trust. makes sense to me. and fvr is right, the office is diminished. she makes it seem that the presidency is a parttime job, and that right now until may 2010 there’s nothing that requires her urgent attention. good grief. what a president.
GLORIA, RESIGN!
last-minute blues
there must be another way of handling the comelec registration process. alam naman natin na may last-minute mentality ang pinoy. comelec should have expected, and prepared for, the swarm instead of saying, kayo kasi… lalo na’t merong concessions made to the rich and famous, like satellite ek-eks in kris aquino’s case, and good old palakasan as in manuel buencamino’s. these, while masses of ordinary pinoys without connections had to line up for hours to register, if they were able to at all. paano ka naman matutuwa sa ganyang palakad.
***
i can’t believe people are raving about the noynoy video hindi ka nag-iisa. what’s so powerful about that torch-lit parade led by noynoy that went nowhere. i’m like, they love this? c’mon people, taas-taasan naman ang standards natin. we already know na hindi siya nag-iisa. tell us something new, let’s hear him talking platform. hindi porke anak siya nina Ninoy at Cory ay okay na, siguradong he won’t lie, cheat, or steal. that’s just too low a bar for a presidential candidate. i need to hear how he’s going to address the problems of poverty, land reform, environment, education, foreign debt, chacha, atbp. i will not take him, or anyone, on sheer faith. i leave that to the pink sisters.
***
ayon kay senador nene pimentel tuloy tuloy ang pag-benta ng gma administration ng government assets, tipong ‘midnight sale,’ mostly to raise money pampuno sa napakalaking budget ng 2009 or puwede ring pangkampanya sa 2010. whatever, hindi lang pala ang food terminal inc. sa taguig at ang government shares in san miguel corp. at pnoc energy exploration corp. ang ibinebenta. pati pala the sprawling properties ng national center for mental health at ng welfareville sa mandaluyong, gayon din ng national penitentiary sa muntinlupa city at ng home for the aged sa quezon city, “in complete disregard of their importance in providing vital social government services.” ano ba yan. ubos ubos biyaya. and then what. pag naubos, nakatunganga. there must be a smarter way of handling our resources. let’s demand that presidentiables be honest, yes, but also creative and wise.
my problem with randy david (updated)
i was on the verge of blogging about the tenure case of tibak (activist) u.p. professor sarah raymundo of the department of sociology now chaired by prof. randy david, when the news broke that prof. david intends to oppose gloria should she dare run for congress in his home province of pampanga.
siyempre natigilan ako. here i was all set to wonder aloud why known-to-be-leftist randy david seems to have turned against sarah raymundo who is herself a product of the department, shaped by, among others, the good professor himself, when bigla na lang he’s on the front page of inquirer, terribly macho astride a powerful motorcycle, with tibak kerchief tied ’round his head in lieu of a helmet. macho tibak?!? new politics?!?
the excitement his declaration has stirred among oppositionists, and the pledges of support, do not surprise. it’s great naman talaga that this highly esteemed public intellectual has the chutzpah to challenge gloria arroyo, and, even, possibly make her think twice thrice about taking that inglorious road to perpetual rule.
just the same, like prof. danny arao of the u.p. college of mass communication, i find myself torn, unable to shrug off the unfair denial of tenure to sarah raymundo. pakiusap ni prof. arao kay randy david:
Sa darating na Pebrero 2010 (ang tinatayang simula ng kampanya), maaasahan mo ang pagbuhos ng suporta mula sa iba’t ibang sektor ng lipunan. Kilala ka’t iginagalang, bagama’t hindi natin alam kung ang kasikatan mo’t panawagan para sa makabuluhang pagbabago ay magiging sapat para labanan ang makinarya ng administrasyon.
Kasama ba ako sa tutulong sa iyong kandidatura? Pasensiya na’t hindi ko pa sigurado.
Wala man tayong malalim na pinagsamahan at napakalaki ng agwat ng ating edad (sikat ka nang propesor nang maging estudyante ako sa UP Diliman noong kalagitnaan ng dekada 80), may maliit lang sana akong pakiusap na sana’y huwag mong masamain.
Hindi siguro alam ng maraming tao na ikaw ay kasalukuyang tagapangulo ng Departamento ng Sosyolohiya ng UP Diliman. Para sa maraming estudyante’t gurong taga-UP, alam na alam nila ang kaso ni Prop. Sarah Raymundo, isang kasamahan mo sa departamento (at personal kong kaibigan) na pinagkaitan ng tenure kahit na nalampasan pa niya ang mga pangangailangan para dito.
Hanggang ngayon ay wala siyang pormal na sulat na nagsasaad kung ano ang kanyang naging pagkukulang, kung mayroon man. Ang tanging alam lang niya ay hindi niya nakuha ang boto ng 2/3 ng tenured faculty ng iyong departamento, kahit na mataas ang ebalwasyon sa kanya ng mga estudyante niya, nakuha niya sa itinakdang panahon ang kanyang master’s degree at nakapaglathala siya ng mga artikulo sa refereed journal.
Maaari mong ipagwalang-bahala ang isyung ito at sabihing ito ay internal sa inyong departamento. Pero kailangan mong malamang ito ay sumasagisag sa klase ng lideratong ikakampanya mo sa susunod na hinaharap at itataguyod mo kung sakaling manalo ka sa eleksiyon.
Kung ang isang kwalipikadong guro ay hindi mo mabigyan ng hustisya, paano pa kaya ang milyon-milyong pinagkaitan ng kasalukuyang rehimen? Nasaan ang panawagan mo para sa government transparency kung ang mismong departamento mo’y pinagkakaitan ng impormasyon si Prop. Raymundo kaya hindi niya masagot ang anumang paratang sa kanya? Bakit ang paninindigan ng Departamento ng Sosyolohiya tungkol sa kaso ni Prop. Raymundo ay hindi naiiba sa nakabibinging katahimikang ipinapakita ng Pangulong nais mong kalabanin?
Hindi pa huli ang lahat, Propesor David, para bigyan ng hustisya ang iyong kasamahan bago ka seryosong sumabak sa maruming daigdig ng pulitika.
sana makarating kay randy david. it would be awesome if we could all rally behind him without reservation come 2010 should gloria arroyo run in pampanga. in such a campaign, given arroyo’s dismal negative ratings, say ni randy sa big picture, every filipino becomes a cabalen.
the irony is, sarah raymundo herself is a true cabalen, also from the second district of pampanga.
*
UPDATE from prof. raymundo’s chronology of events appended to her letter to u.p. chancellor sergio s. cao dated june 24, 2009:
On February of 2008, I submitted my application for tenure to the tenured faculty of the Sociology Department through our then-chairperson Dr. Clemen Aquino. By the second week of June 2008 … I was informed by Dr. Clemen Aquino of the official result of the tenured faculty’s deliberation on my tenure application. The voting that took place among the tenured faculty was to my favor at seven to three.