RECENT warnings from the Commission on Elections about a possible failure of election recall the classic January 1973 cover of the now defunct National Lampoon magazine depicting a dog looking worriedly at a revolver pressed to its head, with the title: “If You Don’t Buy This Magazine, We’ll Kill This Dog.”
The parody was humorous because the blackmail was so blatant.
No less blatant—but certainly not humorous—was the warning from Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista that failed elections might result from the Supreme Court recent decision ordering the poll agency to issue voter receipts.
This was blackmail no less flagrant, with a gun being held to the heart of our democratic system.
With questionable wisdom, the Comelec had earlier decided it could dispense with the printed audit trail incorporated into the vote counting machines to be used in the May 9 elections.
This was not the first time the commission had taken upon itself to violate the Automated Election Law, having done so in 2010 and 2013. But this time around, the author of that law—a senatorial candidate, Richard Gordon—challenged its decision to disable a key security feature that was required by that law—a printed audit trail.
Repudiated by the Supreme Court, the Comelec fell back on its threadbare excuse that we are running out of time. This was the same reason used by the previous Comelec chairman to justify signing a dubious negotiated repair and maintenance contract that was subsequently struck down by the Supreme Court as being unlawful. Congress has correctly seen the latest Comelec pronouncements as blackmail.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said it was improper for the Comelec to make any noises about a postponement because they have not even exhausted all the remedies available.
Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate said the Comelec’s actions are a disgrace and only bolster public distrust in the election process. The issue of voter receipts is not new, in fact, and has been raised since 2010, he added.
“If only Comelec did not choose to be blind, deaf and numb to the demands and proposals for a more transparent process, it could have inspired more confidence in the upcoming elections,” he said. Instead, the Comelec is now holding the nation hostage with its threats of a failed election.
What is it in our system of government that gives Comelec commissioners the notion that they can break the law again and again with impunity? Instead of following the election laws, why do they so often fall back on shortcuts that eventually lead us astray? Why can’t they simply follow the law?
Even the Comelec’s latest trial balloon of returning to a manual voting system betrays the same tendency to defy the law, which mandates automated elections. Unless that law is struck down, automation is mandatory, not optional. That some commissioners are now even considering a return to a manual system shows the disregard they have for the law.
Perhaps part of the problem is the power commissioners hold over the fate of elected officials, who are wary of antagonizing them, lest they end up on the short end of a disqualification case. But the latest dust-up over voter receipts clearly points to the need to hold the commissioners accountable and to break the mindset that they can do as they please because we have no choice.