De facto

By Rolo B. Cena
The Gulf Files
Dumaguete Star Informer
31 October 2010

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia – Few days before the October 25 Barangay and SK elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) issued a list enumerating multi-termer barangay officials. In the same statement, it issued a stern warning for disqualification and criminal charges for those who ran for another term.

My senses pulled me back after hearing these pronouncements. But let’s attack these statements as seriously and intelligibly as possible. Along the same plane of thought, derailment in the process, which starts from qualifications check to filing of the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) to acceptance of the COC, is perceptible.

Definitely, the sets of qualifications are expressed in the Constitution and the rules of the elections in the Omnibus Election Code. For all intents and purposes, these two provisions must be considered intelligently at all times by concerned parties.

With the set of qualifications, terms of engagement and a sound knowledge of electoral process fully comprehended by candidates and by the Commission, “post facto” disqualification should not be an issue. If I may opine, multi-termers should have been warned prior to filing the candidacy unless the Commission itself is completely derailed, a lapse only the petite lady is culpable of.

Needless to say, if these conditions have been substantially provided to the candidates, under the law these multi-termers are “estopped to deny”, and therefore, ignorance of the law does not excuse them from complying with these statutes (Article 3, Chapter 1, Civil Code of the Philippines). Consequently, they may face criminal charges at the end of the day.

Under the constitution, the electoral exercise is considered sacred. As such, maintaining its sanctity should have been done at all cost. The Commission should have been ready with their game plan at least a month before. However, the truth of the matter is: they are not!

Readiness is nothing but an effective and efficient response to the given demand, actual or potential. The potential problems brought about by typhoon Juan in the areas of Isabela and its nearby places should have been carefully incorporated in the contingency plan of the Commission, if at all they have.

Readiness is nothing but an immediate response to the “spur” of the moment or conversely the clear and present danger. The election failure in the town of Datu Unsay, Maguindanao should have been given preferential attention since it was a remake of history, an “entrée a la carte” that is readily available in the menu list for action. The problem is not with the electorate, it lies within the competency level of the Commission to apply their best analytical framework given the same phenomenon to address concerns with utmost urgency.

Readiness is nothing but the immediate response to potential issues when alternative courses of action failed. In some areas of Negros Oriental, Sorsogon and nearby areas, to name a few, the electoral exercise started late due to the late arrival of the ballot boxes. Sources revealed that there was actually logistics issue within the Commission. Several employees were accused of deliberately delaying the process of turning these boxes to accredited forwarding companies in order to secure the nod to deliver these parcels to areas by themselves. Why? It is per diem vis-à-vis money issue. Investigation will be carried out, they said!

Readiness is nothing but preparedness. Cub and Star Scouts know this, literally and figuratively. The Commission pronounced that everything is ready; everybody else is. On the contrary though, according to Elections and Barangay Affairs Department (EBAD) Director Divina Blas-Perez, out 42,035 Barangays, only 18,926 or 45.06% concluded their exercise as scheduled. The remaining 55% suspended their exercise due to unavailability of ballot boxes and election paraphernalia; only a minute portion of which is attributed to the devastation brought about by super typhoon Juan.

Numbers don’t lie; numbers are objective. What actually went wrong?

Juxtaposed with the twists and turns of the classical Filipino melodrama, the Commission has not been able to change according to the requirements of the times. Arguably though, the superlative degree of inefficiency and ineffectiveness of the system are still evident in the present times; the Philippine electoral process has never matured; it never will. The Commission cannot, their nerves dictate; neither the electorate, their guts require.

For as long as refusal to change is reciprocal, deviations like fraud, abuses, violations, lapses, or late remedial exercises which have been infused into the system over time, weaving true-to-life accounts of Hello Garci or the Ampatuans Story will always be as natural as Eve tempting Adam with the apple in the Garden of Eden orchestrated by the serpent called GREED.

In fact, that’s the way the cookie crumbles, to say the least, lest I may be cited with contempt!