Whether pro- or no-el, reform the Comelec

If Philippine elections were your house, you wouldn’t want to live in it. That quip says everything wrong with the system: its dirt, confusion, and alienation of occupants. But most of all, its very house head – the Comelec. All this to-do about no elections in 2007 somehow puts focus anew on that Constitutional body that has failed all these years to clean up the house.

No-election proponents say the exercise is expensive and divisive. It is only so because Comelec dithers to jail vote buyers and over-spenders. Too, Comelec itself commits dagdag-bawas (vote padding-shaving). And it spoiled an automated balloting that would have stopped the modus.

Pro-election advocates harp on a blatant conflict of interest in sitting officials extending their own terms via Constitutional caveat. In doing so they point to the Comelec’s similar refuge in the Charter to shun liability for offenses like the automation mess.

The present Comelec had among its commissioners ill-famed Virgilio Garcillano. He embodied its myriad afflictions. A past Comelec chair, now an Opposition lawyer, had warned him then to be straight, but apparently failed to bring up charges to end his notoriety. An Opposition leader, when he was in power to do so, also had endorsed Garcillano’s promotion but now accuses him of the Mindanao dagdag-bawas of 1995. An Administration reelectionist had complained in 1998 of Garcillano’s bias, but tapped him as cohort in 2004. And when embroiled in the "Hello Garci" tapes, Garcillano promptly hid from Congress inquiry. Appearing when he thought the coast was clear, he then disclosed 30 legislators who had phoned him during the 2004 campaign, implying that mere association with him was bad news. Yet he still has to shed light on the tapes that practically everybody has heard.

The other commissioners are as callous. The Supreme Court already had chastised them for the anomalous automation contract worth over P1 billion. Their reaction was to shrug and say they would try to recover what they already had paid to the supplier, with emphasis on the iffy word "try". Last week, with not a single cent recovered, the commissioners came under Senate demand to resign. Their reaction this time was a defiant "make us", citing the Constitutional proviso that only impeachment could make them leave. And they have the temerity to suggest at any opportunity to use the warehoused counting machines, thus proving that they’re still pushing for the voided contract.

This is the same Comelec that spent hundreds of millions of pesos for precinct mapping that fell through. Yes, and the same Comelec that spent hundreds of millions more, and even had voters lining up long hours, for photographing and fingerprinting of official ID cards that were never issued. Not to forget, the same Comelec that fielded hundreds of personnel overseas for absentee-voter registration and balloting, supposedly for 7.5 million overseas Filipinos, but only a handful of whom actually cast votes. Truly, it is the same Comelec that in 2004 mixed up the voters’ lists and precinct assignments, which was why a million were disenfranchised.

With the Comelec as it is today, efforts to clean up elections would be for naught. Canceling the 2007 balloting would only sweep the dirt under the rug. Having elections would be having the same dirt.

* * *

CHRISTMAS RACKETS. Even crooks long for a merry Christmas. And here are two rackets they’ve devised for quick bucks from the unsuspecting.

The first is at the international airport. A tired balikbayan is eager to collect his baggage from the carousel and have well-wishers take him home to sleep off the jetlag. He does not know that somebody has slipped a bullet or two through an unpadlocked zipper of his bag. He is accosted by an "anti-terrorism" cop who menacingly rambles about "aiding and abetting" by "concealing an accessory to a dangerous weapon." The balikbayan naturally is shaken up. He is not allowed to call anybody on the cell phone. But this is the Philippines. So he is allowed to haggle for the right amount of dollars to get out of the scrape.

Airport authorities cannot confirm if a 75-year-old woman was so victimized upon arrival in November and departure weeks later. But they say such things can happen. It is best to advise balikbayan relatives and friends to not fall for the ruse, but to demand to be taken to the highest officials, or to create such a fuss that would grab others’ attention.

The second involves impostors posing as Meralco inspectors out to check if homeowners are overloading their electrical circuit with Christmas lights and gadgets. Wearing the blue shirt-jacks of real Meralco repairmen, these con artists aim to determine if the house owner is out and only the provinciana maid is home. If so, they ransack the house and cart away the appliances in a waiting van. If the owner is home and does not know any better, they can wheedle him for some hundreds of pesos to avoid their threat of electricity cutoff.

What to do? If Meralco men come a-visiting, ask to see their ID cards and office number. Have them wait outside while you phone to check. But if they tell you it’s all about inspecting your Christmas decor or the number of appliances you have, then it’s a setup for robbery. Call the police instead. Meralco has not authorized any personnel to go holiday inspecting.

Other rackets are likely being cooked up this very minute. Don’t be a sucker. Those merry-making crooks know there’s one born every minute.

* * *

E-mail: [email protected]