The computerization of the 2010 election

The law is applied to all, otherwise none at all – Mayor Alfredo Lim.

RA 9639 should follow this tenet. Unfortunately, the Comelec, as things now stand, seems to be a confused institution. Recently, it has issued a press release that if the current bidding process fails, the computerization of the election process will just be applied to urban areas. If this move is pursued, the 2010 election will be as confused as in any previous election exercises.

If the urban areas Comelec refers to is the same urban areas defined in the Philippine Standard Geographical Classification System (PSGCS) it will mean that except for the National Capital Region, people will not see even a single province where the envisaged computerization of the election process will be fully implemented. Instead, we will have a halo-halo election – to the advantage of the present dispensation.

The group of Christian Monsod and Gus Lagman has advanced an open system of computerization- manual counting at the precinct level and computerized at a latter stage. While this may be a viable option, the proposal does not clearly dwell on how the basic cheating process of almost all election exercises in the country – the dagdag bawas technology – will be addressed.

It is well known that dagdag-bawas was openly implemented by the tandem of Garci and Esperon in Mindanao which obviously favored one candidate. A broader group is now foist to repeat the 2004 experience in 2010 to protect the interest of the incumbent.

Monsod and Lagman are correct when they said that cheating is minimal (and controllable) at the precinct level. However, election returns transmitted to the municipality, province and the Comelec headquarter, whether done manually or through the high-tech electronic process, are very much prone to manipulation to dagdag-bawas. The proposed system will not be able to address this malaise if the proposed electronic canvassing will continue to adopt the old practice of counting every single vote cast.

A possible safeguard to another round of dagdag bawas is to use the basic principle used in the high-speed computer processing – the binary number system. Under the binary system, only two digits are considered valid – 0 or 1. (http://computer.howstuffworks.com/bytes.htm)

The same binary system may be used in the manual counting of votes. Votes counted at the precinct level will have to be aggregated at each barangay (assuming there are more than one precinct in a barangay). After the aggregation is completed, votes cast for every candidate will be converted into the binary number 0, 1. For positions requiring only one winner (mayor, vice mayor, provincial governor, vice governor, congressman, vice president and president) the candidate getting the highest vote will get a score of 1 (one), the rest 0 (zero). For multiple winning posts (municipal councilmen, provincial board members and senators) the first X (where X is the number required to constitute the winning group) candidates getting the highest votes will get a score of 1 (one) and the rest 0 (zero). This consolidated barangay election results will now reflect the community’s single voice of approval (or disapproval) of the candidates’ harana in the barangay.

While the occurrence of tied votes cannot be discounted in the process, the probability is however, very very negligible. At any rate, if such unlikely event happens, Comelec should immediately order a re-election, only for affected candidates and only in the barangay where such event happened. The cost will not be formidable considering that such occurrence may be considered as a rare event.

The barangay sheet reflecting the results of the counting and the use of the binary number 0 or 1 will then be forwarded at a higher level of government’s administrative machinery as follows:
a. the municipal board of canvassers will receive the barangray canvass sheet for all relevant local (municipal) positions (councilmen, vice mayor and mayor);
b. the provincial board of canvassers will get the barangay canvass sheet for provincial and district positions (congressman, board members, vice governor and governor)
c. the national board of canvassers will get the barangay canvass sheet for all national positions (senators, vice president and president)
d. Comelec will get the barangay canvass sheet containing the votes (in binary format) garnered by all candidates.

At each transmission level, the barangay sheets will be consolidated either manually or electronically into a database. There may no longer be a need to develop a customized program to convert the hard copies of the barangay sheets to electronic database. The ordinary MS Access or MS Excel maybe used in the electronic conversion.

It will be the duty of the Comelec-designated responsible individual or institution to freely disseminate the consolidated results of the election in its area of jurisdiction. Moreover, it must ensure that barangay-level breakdown is made accessible in either print or electronic media. The release of barangay-level election results will enable every Juan dela Cruz to ascertain and have confidence that his vote is included as part of his community’s judgment of the candidates that wooed them during the election campaign.

The complete database of the election will be stored at the Comelec office. This database should be accessible to all interested parties in both print and electronic media.

While the use of the binary system in reckoning the results of the election may not be 100% alternative to putting to end the dagdag-bawas, it will however reduce the magnitude of any attempt to introduce this evil intervention. The results of the election in the barangay will be known first to the barangay before the same is transmitted to the municipality, province and the Comelec headquarter. The would-be manipulators will be hard-pressed to introduce dagdag-bawas to tamper the results of the election at the barangay. It is almost certain that an empowered and well-informed community will not allow this to happen in their own barangay.

Manny, you're a world icon now - don't waste that title

Manny Pacquiao has once again demonstrated his capacity to be a well-respected and world-renown icon as the BEST BOXER OF ALL TIMES. Truly a recognition well deserved and well earned by his own blood and perseverance. He helped every Filipino to be proud that inspite of the stinking corruption of its government, here is one man brave enough to show the world that he is diffirent. Unfortunately, his seemingly burning desire to enter politics may mean crafting his own downfall and earning for him world-wide displeasure and disappointment. He is creating his own grave that will make people hate him and say:
MANNY, AFTER ALL, YOU ARE NOT A GREAT MAN...YOU ARE AS GREEDY AS ALL FILIPINO POLITICIANS IN YOUR COUNTRY. WHAT A PITY.

His plan to set up PEOPLE'S CHAMP MOVEMENT would have been a very welcome initiative from him. However, the PCM, so the current press releases seem to indicate, is meant as the platform for his political ambition. I do hope it is not yet late to convince him, for his own good and for the good of his children whom he so value and love, to abandon his political ambition. He may join politics when the Philippines' political system is changed to real SERVICE TO THE PEOPLE and not SERVICE TO MY POCKET.

He can indeed pursue his plan for his PCM, not as a political party but as a foundation that will, like hime, result in producing more world-renown Filipino icons in the field of sports, an area where he should be most comfortable to be in. With the prestige and honor he has already brought to his country, it will not be difficult for him to get many corporate sponsors (in addition to his share of his own wealth, of course) to fast track, under his strong leadership, the sports development in the country.

Who knows, under Pacquiao's stewardship, it may not be an impossibility that in the next Olympics and in other future world sports events, the Philippine sportsmen will start raking GOLD MEDALS.

MABUHAY KA MANNY MAHAL KA NG BUONG MUNDO HUWAG MONG ITAPON IYON SA MABAHONG BASURAHAN NG POLITIKA.