Between the devil and the deep blue sea

Some thinking Filipinos ask: should we vote or should we not vote in May 2013 elections?

It would be simple to answer no. Without a source code review and a secure electronic transmission, a true election will not take place.

But if we do not vote, there is no guarantee that our individual boycott will affect the outcome of the election. A fraudulent election will take place anyway with or without your vote. We are between the devil and the deep blue sea.

It is time to face our dilemma on what to do about the Smartmatic-PCOS with elections just around the corner. To use Rene Azurin’s words we are “on the brink of a precipice.”

If we are on the brink of a precipice then it is time to pull back except that we also do not know the consequences of pulling back. We may not fall into the deep blue sea but that is what the devil is waiting for. We hear nothing from top government officials. They are too busy campaigning.

In my opinion, the time for finger pointing is over. However many gaffes the Comelec Chairman commits or he may, on his own admission, be an IT illiterate the problem of a transparent electronic election is beyond him to solve. That does not exonerate him from his faults.

To me he is a compliant, misinformed bureaucrat bent on pursuing a national policy that was wrong from the start.

He miscalculated the dedication of concerned citizens to expose what was wrong with the May 2010 elections and that it should not be repeated in May 2013. The two are inseparable. What was left unsaid is “that the wrongs of the May 2010 cannot be corrected.“

In the Philippine impasse, concerned citizens working with computer experts are suggesting solutions on how and what to correct in the automated voting system on one hand and on the other hand Comelec refuses or is unable to comply with this request.

Frankly, even if Comelec said tomorrow that they would implement the corrections needed, get the source code and correct flaws and all, we should not believe them. Why? Because at bottom it is not a technological problem. It is a political problem.

The automated voting system in 2010 was a political maneuver on how to win elections and ultimately dominate the agenda of a country. If that is the intent then we are barking at the wrong tree.

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More sophisticated countries, Federal Republic of Germany, the Netherlands and particular states in the United States, have banned electronic voting of one form or another. Concerned citizens in those countries recognized the contradiction between automated voting systems and transparent elections.

A CIA expert said categorically that electronic voting machines are not secure. Steve Stigall told the US Election Assistance Commission that “computerized electoral systems can be manipulated at five stages, from altering voter registration lists to posting results.

Here’s a crucial piece of information for us: Stigall summarized what he described as “attempts to use computers to undermine democratic elections in developing nations.”

From No more stolen elections. org: “Problems with voting machines remain widespread, including equipment malfunction, shortages, hacking, and non-verifiability. Sixteen states have no paper record for the majority of ballots cast in their elections, which makes verifiable elections impossible. Recounts have historically exposed the electronic machines’ abilities to flip or lose votes.

“Private companies, who often have connections to prominent political candidates, own the source codes and control most of the programming for these machines that determine our elections. The use of electronic voting machines has increased since the passage of the Help America Vote Act in 2002, despite compelling testimony from computer scientists about the machines’ security vulnerabilities.” This is the US, not the Philippines. Can’t we learn from them?

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Over at Metrobank’s Chinese New Year dinner party I asked Chito Sobrepena of the Metrobank Foundation if he had access to information that might give us a league table of companies for corporate social responsibility in the Philippines. Since there is a league table on who are the richest men, courtesy of Fortune Magazine, the public would also like to know how much the richest in the Philippines have given to society. More important where do these moneys go in promoting good governance. He promised me some data and some connections that I ought to call myself.

Listing the companies into a league table for their contributions to the well being of the society in which in they do business makes good business sense. After all, it is in this society that their business flourishes. In more developed countries, corporate social responsibility plays a significant role and is ranked high in company strategy.

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So it was good to know that Metrobank Foundation was recently awarded the Signum Ministerii Medal (Model of Outstanding Leadership in Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility) by the De La Salle University (DLSU) during their 166th commencement exercises last February 16th.

The Signum Ministerii Medal means “Sign of Service” and is an award granted by DLSU to outstanding social agencies for significant service to the country and to society. Other awardees in the past were Radio Veritas in 1983 and NAMFREL in 1984.

“I am pleased that this and other recognitions validate our contributions in social development and the promotion of excellence among key sectors of our society,” said Dr. George S. K. Ty, founder of Metrobank Foundation.

“These public acclamations encourage us to continue contributing to nation-building through our core programs, he added. The award coincides with Metrobank’s celebration of fifty years of service to the banking community.”

Aniceto Sobrepena, president of the Metrobank Foundation, Inc. said “it is only now after three decades that the DLSU is giving the award to a corporate philanthropic foundation.”

“Specifically, it recognized the Foundation’s various programs and accomplishments on the promotion of a culture of excellence and improvement of the quality of life among Filipinos,” Sobrepena added.

The Foundation’s flagship programs include the Search for Outstanding Teachers (SOT); Metrobank Art & Design Excellence (MADE); The Outstanding Philippine Soldiers (TOPS); Country’s Outstanding Police Officers in Service (COPS); Metrobank-MTAP-DepEd Math Challenge (MMC); College Scholarship Programs (CSP); and the Metrobank Foundation Professorial Chair in the Judiciary and the health programs for the poor of Manila Doctors’ Hospital.