Never-say-die Filipinos

When there is a legitimate reason for protest, you can be sure there will always be the few who will make a stand. In the beginning, the Smartmatic designed “hocus pcos” May 10 elections had few followers. In the first place they talked in computer lingo that was hardly understandable to the wider public. And just as bad was that the opening salvo came from a man who covered his face (understandably because his life would be in danger) and got the infamous name of Koala Bear. The intent was to make the issue something to laugh about.

But these few Filipinos plodded along determined to be listened to regardless of the odds.  Never mind if their cause of exposing the fraud in the May 10 elections only got minimal attention from media. The same media, by the way, that made such a big thing about “honest elections: and fighting “corruption”. Their persistence has paid off. 

Last Thursday the Angono room of the Valle Verde Country Club where they held a press conference was filled to the brim. It also served as a meeting place of conscientious objectors, computer experts and political partisans to renew their determination to make sure “we are not fooled again by an automated election system” that effectively did not count our votes properly. It is ironic that automation which was supposed to make a swift and accurate counting of votes may have ended in using a flawed system as fraudulent is not more fraudulent than the manual counting of the past. 

Political reform groups have coalesced under the banner of Tandem (Tanggol Demokrasya). They “called for the government to forego the use of automated election machines in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao polls. With the questions on the Smartmatic election system still unanswered, they are resolved that these defective machines for what they called that “tainted the results last May 10 are not used again.”

I saw familiar faces from supporters of experts from the Philippine Computer Society and Cenpeg. The coalition includes at least a dozen youth, migrant workers and social reform advocacy groups according to their press release.

They asked Congress to make sure that COMELEC will not purchase the defective PCOS (precinct count optical scan) machines used in 2010.

“TanDem is nonpartisan. Our objective is to bring to the people’s attention serious electoral crimes, to demand accountability and seek an immediate rectification of the corrupted automated electoral system before any other automated elections are held,” the group said.

I did get a chance to talk to Edmundo Casiño of the Philippine Computer Society who said Smartmatic, its supplier, was “not qualified” to bring election technology to the Philippines as doubts continued to surround the 2010 election results. As computer experts, the question of who won or who lost was not the issue. The integrity of the Smartmatic machine electoral system was what was crucial. He added that all Filipinos should band together and help in the effort to find out what really happened on May 10. I am sure that there are many out there who can testify on what they saw and did then.

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I am surprised that despite the dubious reputation of Smartmatic’s electoral system, the Philippines went ahead and used the system. One need only google dozens of articles on Smartmatic in the Internet to know that it has a number of suits around the world as well as in some states in the US.

I remember having read a story about an American version of the Philippine Koala bear. A technical expert was at the heart of automated electoral system and knew what he was talking about decided to come clean. In brief he said that an outfit like Smartmatic could be useful in manipulating elections in developing countries. The problem is when the same system can be turned around and used against US elections which was what happened in fact in some states. The state authorities have sued Smartmatic for selling what they called a fraudulent electoral system. Like Koala Bear, the witness requested that he should not be known. Imagine his surprise when a day after he made the revelations, he was the subject of unflattering media stories.

The first problem that confronted US authorities was the group’s identification with Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. According to one report “No foreign government or entity - including Venezuela - has ever held an ownership stake in Smartmatic” (sic). That’s a lie:

“A large and powerful investor in the software company that will design electronic ballots and record votes for Venezuela’s new and much criticized election system is the Venezuelan government itself.”

Its probably true that Smartmatic has no relations however tenuous with Hugo Chavez. It may have begun its business in Venezuela but it then ventured afield looking for potential clients all over the world for their electoral system. It was less interested in the politics of the country than it was in making money. That is how they came to the Philippines and made some people very rich.

Strangely one of the places where it managed to sell its “expertise” was in Cook County in Chicago according to an article written years ago before May 10, 2010 by Alexsander Boyd: Venezuela’s Smartmatic Caught In Its Lies. Boyd quotes Smartmatic boasting “We are confident it will clear the air so we can focus on what we do best.” His reply to this Smartmatic boast was “yes – indeed – what they do best is as seen in Venezuela and more recently in Cook County in Chicago.”

He adds that “none of the electoral processes in which Smartmatic has taken part, either in Venezuela or the USA, have been normal or transparent. On the contrary fraud and inadequate performance have characterized all events.

Hopefully US authorities will not allow a bunch of Chavez’s lackeys to take over some of its electoral processes.”

So these never-say-die Filipinos are doing a great service to the Philippines. Any attempt by government officials concerned to purchase or use a flawed electoral system will endanger if not destroy our democracy that is based on properly conducted elections not just when we vote but also when our votes are counted.