Remember Chona Mae? It was a year ago today

Do you remember where you were exactly a year ago? If you’ve already forgotten, today is the first anniversary of that 6.8 on the Richter Scale earthquake that struck us in Cebu ten minutes before noon time… but it’s epicenter was off the town of Guihulgan City. That quake resulted in the deaths of at least 13 people and destroyed many houses because of landslides triggered by the earthquake and the destruction of many roads and bridges along the southeastern coast of Negros Oriental.

While Cebu City did not suffer any infrastructure damage, the biggest thing that happened to us in Cebu is the very embarrassing reaction by our fellow Cebuanos especially after Malacañang issued a tsunami warning a full hour after the earthquake occurred. It was then that as radio reporters were talking about the tsunami warning, people from the downtown area started running towards the uptown areas. Simultaneously, this also happened in Mandaue City. A simple look at the pier area would have been enough to convince people that no tsunami was forthcoming.

But our people reacted like cattle with everyone headed to higher ground. My daughter who was then working at the Marco Polo Plaza was surprised that all of the sudden, the hotel lobby and grounds were full of people. It was only then that they realized that it was a reaction to the tsunami alert issued by the student government running things in Malacañang.

It was later ascertained that a fellow with a portable loudspeaker attached to his motorcycle was shouting “Tsunami, Tsunami.” Later on, radio broadcasters changed that to “Chona Mae” that this fellow was searching for his daughter Chona Mae. But the joke was on all Cebuanos… because we all acted like the fools we are. You have to accept that Cebu cannot be hit by a tsunami for the simple reason that we are surrounded by the various islands of Samar, Leyte, and Bohol in the east, while Negros Island lies on our western seaboard. The epicenter of that quake was a few kilometers off Guihulgan, yet the quake could not trigger a tsunami because of the short distance.

Well, let’s charge all that to experience. But most important of all, we should be on a high level of alert. Just the other day, Baguio City experienced a 4.5 in the Richter scale earthquake which sent people scampering for safety. At this point, we should also warn you that there are just too many predictions of massive natural disasters to happen in the Year 2013, which is why we should always be on the alert and prevent another embarrassment like what we experience last year.

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When we began reporting the many problems or glitches of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) just after the May 10, 2010 elections, we felt the same way as St. John the Baptist felt…a solitary voice in the wilderness. People would even tell me to stop writing about the PCOS machines and accept that Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino, III won in the first fully automated elections held in the Philippines. But no we did not stop for the simple reason that if the Comelec doesn’t fix our problems, we will always suffer the same problems over and over again.

While we were alone three years ago in the Year 2010… we are no longer alone because there are so many groups today who have tasked the Comelec for not fixing the problems of the PCOS machines as promised by Smartmatic. Last Saturday, Comelec held mock elections… and it only proved to be a mockery in our democratic processes. Even the Philippine Star editorialized the “Glitches” of the PCOS machines last Monday. I don’t have to give you details of those glitches because others are already writing about them. Computers are exacting devices…glitches mean problems.

Even that poll watchdog that calls itself “Kontra Daya” has come out in the open expressing grave concern that the Comelec is not prepared to handle the PCOS machines for the May 2013 elections because of too many glitches. Well, an obviously irritated Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes declared to his critics, “If they don’t want PCOS, let’s go back to manual count.” He said this because there was no more material time to bid out another automated machine.

Honestly, we don’t care if we go back to manual counting because even with the prospect of “Dagdag-Bawas” happening, it won’t affect the elections much, expect in the last places in the Senatorial race. Chairman Brillantes dared that if we go back to manual count, he would quit. So, please Mr. Chairman… quit already! We know that you are loyal to your appointing power and your former client, the Liberal Party (LP), which is why you are obviously biased. So let’s hope the Comelec will return to manual count.

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