Stop playing tag over Mindanao dagdag-bawas: Keep an eye on computers - BY THE WAY by Max V. Soliven

TOKYO, Japan – It’s silly, even from this distance, to hear about "spy games" in Mindanao, or that "JimPol" (former Legislative Liaison Jimmy Policarpio) and other Erap "manipulators" are being shadowed by former Armed Forces Chief of Staff (General) Lisandro "Boy" Abadia because they may be up to ballot-fixing down South. Indeed, both sides in this long-drawn-out poll contest are fingerpointing like mad, with the People Power Coalition accusing the Puwersa ng Masa of massive cheating and vice-versa.

Knowing how Philippine elections go, of course, there’s bound to be cheating. On the other hand, aren’t our government sleuths looking in the wrong direction? The high-tech and really effective way of "cooking" the election results is by fiddling with the computers. That’s where the Arroyo administration’s gumshoes and anti-election fraud watchers should be on the alert. The only non-techie, backward, primitive Information Technology ignorant outfit involved in the current elections is the woefully-divided and confused Commission on Elections. Here we are, a full week after millions of Filipinos resolutely went to the polls to insist on casting their ballots, but our Comelec doesn’t seem to have a clue. Canvassing began only two days ago and is proceeding in fits and starts. Our "long count" would be embarrassing to our country were it not for the fact that the world has, long ago, decided the Philippines marches (or rather lurches on clumsily) to a different drum.

The Japanese newspapers don’t even consider the outcome of our elections big enough news to give it prominence. There are tiny little snippets published only in the inside pages. There was only one story which got a bit of a play-up, but once more it appeared only on page 19 of The Japan Times, which is an excellent daily but doesn’t cut much ice with the Japanese people themselves since it is written in English, unlike the powerful Yomiuri Shimbun (with a circulation of 12 million in 11 cities) which is in Nihongo, but also brings out a thick English-language edition, or the second-rating Asahi which is located near the Tsukiji Fish Market (no reference intended about fishy stories) which, in collaboration with the International Herald-Tribune publishes an English-language edition as well.

The Agence France-Presse-JIJI dispatch by P. Parameswaran which came out in the Japan Times was headlined "Poor Shake Palace Gates." The foreign correspondent’s opening paragraph stated: "The Philippine elections have delivered a strident message from the poor to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo – her government must get serious about dealing with poverty, analysts said Wednesday." (The article appeared here last Friday). However, let’s not forget the AFP-JIJI report was based on quotations coming from Dr. Walden Bello, formerly Washington DC-based but now a professor in the University of the Philippines’ Department of Sociology. Walden, a nephew of ours (the son of the late Jesse Bello) has always been a radical and a drum-beater for Leftwing causes. Bello’s theme was that "the time has come for the elite and the church to put the money where the mouth is – to participate in programs for asset distribution and land reform so that there is reconciliation in society."

Come to think of it: The firebreathing Walden is beginning to sound almost like a moderate. Let’s face it: Of course, the poor are unhappy and reforms are badly needed. We mustn’t forget, though, that the poor-versus-rich division was actively promoted and exploited by the partisans and supporters of former President Estrada. GMA must heed the cri de coeur of the kapus-palad and the masa, but she mustn’t panic over the final results of the elections (when the canvass is at long last completed).

When you’re President, you’ve got powers of persuasion and can summon up enough chutzpah to "win" newly-elected Senators as well as the "old" solons to your side. That’s where President Arroyo must show her stuff. Even her foes, like Senator Gregorio "Gringo" Honasan and retired PNP chief General Panfilo "Ping" Lacson (although she tried to get them arrested, to no avail), could – if they’re elected – eventually be convinced to participate in a government of national unity. As for the other Opposition bets who might make it, that remains to be seen.

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It’s weird of Comelec Commissioner Luzviminda Tancangco, in a lame attempt to turn the situation around, to be blaming Chairman Alfredo Benipayo for the bungled May 14 elections. On the contrary, it was the guerrilla war waged by Tancangco, with the help of three other rebellious Commissioners, which bogged down the preparatory work required for the poll agency to conduct efficient and credible elections.
What could Benipayo do except tough it out when four Comelec commissioners were ranged against him and only two other Commissioners (Resurreccion Borra and Florentino Tuason, Jr.) were on his side? The "rebels" were hamstringing him all the way and boycotting many en banc sessions. It was a case of four against three – so, look what happened.

There’s something criminal about what bedevilled the Comelec, even, at the very least, criminal negligence. The trouble is that, in order to make Comelec commissioners "independent" of political pressure, our laws made it difficult to oust an erring Commissioner except through a tortuous process of "impeachment."

The ultimate culprit, it must be said, is Congress of the Philippines. Our legislators failed to allocate enough money to enable the Comelec to automate and computerize its operations. For instance, where’s that computerized voter’s "identity card" which they’ve been talking about for years? Many voters, in fact, found their names had disappeared from the list!

Instead of doomsaying and trying to apportion blame, let’s resolve, this time, to modernize the Comelec and our election process. How disgraceful it is to have the fate of our candidates decided by a primitive hand-count method which takes weeks. If not an entire month! It’s imperative that we join, once and for all, the ranks of "civilized" nations in which election results (like in Italy’s just-concluded elections) known in just a few hours.

The Year 2004 Presidential elections will be the next test of our democratic way of life – meaning that, if we wake up now and streamline our electoral process and its safeguards, we’ll finally become a democracy, not a gaggle of competing clans, dynasties, and pugnacious tribes.

Sanamagan! Let’s not kid ourselves about our ability to attract foreign investment when, in truth, Filipino capital has long been fleeing the country. It’s time to turn the tide.

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Here in Tokyo, the weather has been excellent. The days have been sunny but cool. Tokyo, a metropolis of 12 million (with 30 million Japanese living within a 15-mile radius of it), is – when you contemplate it at night – a city of light. Its streets are bright and well-lit, and huge crowds throng the thoroughfares of upmarket Shibuya, or the haven of the young (where, if you’re over 25 you’re positively ancient), the tree-lined Omote-sando avenue in Harajuko.

Most tourists and foreign businessmen never see the real Tokyo which is represented by those snazzy and jazzy districts. Visitors and travelling executives merely visit executive board rooms and roam the staid precincts of the Ginza, or shop for electronics in Akihabara. Sin and sleaze, for them, await their nocturnal peregrinations in randy Roppongi or Kabuki-cho, in Shinjuku. But the truly enchanting and impressive sights in this modern metropolis lie in Harajuko and Shibuya – where the department stores, shops, cafés, restaurants (like Soho’s) are trendy and glitzy. Those who witness young Japanese enjoying themselves there, shopping, snapping up bargains, happily going around with barkada (everybody remarkably well-behaved) will have to pinch themselves and ask: Is Japan’s economy really in the doldrums? Is there a bank meltdown? You see emblazoned everywhere you wander: Boom, boom, boom.

The Japanese themselves actively promote the image of their own dismaying situation of "doom and gloom." Right now, their newspapers are full of moans and groans about the rapid rise of China and its challenge to their competing economy, with the Chinese "winning" businessmen and investors away from Japan. If you ask me, China may be a threat, but Japan remains the powerhouse of Asia. You can feel the throb, experience the remarkably strong heartbeat of this land.

For example, unknown to almost everybody, the Japanese and the Walt Disney Corporation are rushing the development of one of the most tremendous theme parks of all time. If you think "Disneyland Tokyo" was successful, with 18 to 20 million free-spending tourists and vacationers (mostly Japanese, mind you) revelling in its delights annually, look again. Disney Sea right next to it is nearing completion. Viewing it from the outside, I could espy a marvelous reproduction of the Blue Mosque at Isfahan in Iran (Persia), a volcano which will belch people out of it (!!) without harm to the joyriders. (They’ll enter the volcano’s belly, I’m told, by mini-submarine.) There are reproductions of Manchu Picchu, the ancient Mayan center of civilization in Peru, and other eye-boggling attractions. There’s even a version of the Titanic, but the replica of that ill-starred ocean liner has been named Columbia. Will it hit an iceberg – or just a giant ice-cube? The Japanese developers, Oriental Land (who also own "Disneyland Tokyo" and the seven luxury 5-star hotels surrounding it), are keeping mum about "Disney Sea" which will open for business – would you believe? – next September 4.

When this park opens with a bang, you can forget about "Disneyland Hongkong" which won’t be onstream until the year 2003 or 2004. It promises to be magnificent. Nope, they didn’t invite me here. In fact, they’ll be unhappy that I’m even writing about this hush-hush enterprise.

Just to show they mean business, they’re putting in a modern mono-rail (with Mickey Mouse silhouettes as windows). We had lunch in the brand-new "Disney Ambassador Hotel" (built with the advice of the American Disney experts). This hotel puts every hotel in Disneyland (Anaheim, California) and Disney World (Orlando, Florida) to shame. The next-door entertainment palace alone has 33 restaurants and eateries, featuring everything from Italian, to Japanese, Chinese, Thai, or Yankee cuisine. The target market: Why, the Japanese, of course. (Foreigners are tolerated, but Japan’s well-heeled population is sufficient for Disneyland Tokyo and Disney Sea to hit paydirt.)

For example, Universal Studios opened its theme park in Osaka City only a few weeks ago. Japanese rushed to it like lemmings, pushing into the "Universal" grounds like a tsunami. The influx of visitors was so great that the ticket counters broke down. The operators had to shut down "Universal" for a few days to upgrade the ticket-dispensing machinery and repair the damage caused by the crush – leaving (as Nippon television depicted it) hordes of weeping teenagers pounding the walls in frustration outside.

Japan Incorporated may have gone bust in the "outside world." But inside Japan, it’s still going strong.