EDITORIAL - Too late the ambassador of transparency

On the front pages of virtually all national newspapers last Wednesday, June 16, were splashed color photos of Miss Universe 2008 Dayana Mendoza. She was in the Philippines as part of her duties as "Ambassador of Transparency" of Smartmatic.

In case you have forgotten already, Smartmatic was the Comelec partner in conducting the country's first-ever automated polls, a political exercise that, depending on where you sit, was either an overall success or a partial failure.

The choice of Mendoza as "Ambassador of Transparency" did not come as a surprise. She is Venezuelan, as is Smartmatic. What did come as a surprise, if Smartmatic really intended to match technological expertise with beautiful presence, was why she came to town only now.

Again, if you remember correctly, Smartmatic was made to undergo intense congressional grilling during marathon investigations into alleged political fraud, made mostly by defeated political candidates.

As foreigners, it is safe to assume that Smartmatic officials summoned to appear in those hearings were unprepared for the kind of open hostility exhibited by some of the participants in the hearings.

One congressman -- eyes on fire, nostrils flaring, and mouth nearly frothing from livid indignation -- even called Smartmatic officials "s.o.b.s" right in front of national television cameras covering the proceedings live.

Which brings us to the question once again: Why did Smartmatic not bring in the former Venezuelan Miss Universe earlier, so she could have made a positive impact on the hostile atmosphere at the hearings?

Miss Mendoza need not have sat with Smartmatic officials at their tables. But she could have stayed behind them, on the chairs provided for their staff. Then it would have been interesting to find out how the honorable Filipino congressmen would have comported themselves.