Comelec Modernization? Dream On…

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You Should Be with the Winner

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REVOLVING DOORS

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A Crisis, An Opportunity

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POLITICAL CAPITAL 1: Freedom of Information

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SANA

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On 5-7 December 2007, the National Electoral Reform Summit on Electoral Modernization was convened at the Imperial Palace Suites by the Senate Committee on Constitutional Amendments, Revision of Codes and Laws; House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms; Commission on Election; and the Consortium on Electoral Reforms.

What is the state of the election administration arm of the government?Well, there is Lintang Bedol, who seems to have disappeared into thin air; the resignation of COMELEC chairman Benjamin Abalos for reasons totally not related to elections; and then the surprise appointment of a former judge, MoslemenMacarambon Sr. who apparently has a very colored past.Macarambon replaced the famous ‘Garci’.

Presently, though we only have Resurreccion Borra, Florentino Tuason Jr., Felix Brawner, Nicodemo Ferrer, Rene Sarmiento, and Macarambon. Borra and Tuason will be retiring by February 2008. That leaves three positions vacant: two Commissioners and that of the Chairman.President Arroyo will have a much bigger role in shaping the COMELEC by appointing all members of the collegial body prior to 2010. Considering the impact of the 2004 elections to the legitimacy of the Arroyo Administration and the Lintang Bedol escapade of 2007, it appears that the opposition will have the bases loaded and tilted against them come 2010.Some say it could also lead to a captive presidency.

Can COMELEC introduce change and adapt to change? The present COMELEC is composed of all males; all lawyers never associated with systems, management or operations analysis, with an approximate average age of 68 years old.There are whispers that retired justices and judges have the inside tracks in the appointment.Retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Jose Melo, who chaired the panel created by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on extrajudicial killings, reportedly is in the running for the Chairmanship.So should we feel confident that 2010 would be better in terms of administration?

I have nothing against lawyers but really, if we want to modernize the institution that administers elections, more and more management or systems analyst or accountants are needed than the adversarial nature lawyers are so used to.Prior to the roll-out of whatever technology to be used in 2010, a management audit is necessary, change management will have to be introduced and nurtured to make the organization adaptable to change, the Commissioners-in-Charge (CIC) system would have to be reviewed and reconsidered since even election officers are, by law, required to be rotated every four years.Commissioners should attend to policy formulation and decision-making, thus allowing the regional officers to handle administration of the electoral processes.

Almost seven months have passed since 14 May 2007 and until now COMELEC has not submitted its report on the conduct of elections to the 14th Congress and to the President.This is nothing new since no reports have been made for the past four election cycles from 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2007.Amazing!

When turnout rates are not defined and finalized after every exercise and total registered voters vary from one commissioner to another, it appears that the COMELEC merely wings it from election to election. Tragic!

Republic Act No. 9369 was enacted under the 13th Congress and signed into law on 23 January 2007.It amended RA No. 8436, Batas Pambansa Blg. 881, as amended, and RA no. 7166 by adopting technology neutral election system.A simple amendment, one would say, but a review of RA 9369 shows that the law further amended the manual system by adding more manual processes.Stories abound as to how the House contingent of the Bicameral Conference Committee loaded up the law to get it approved.Leaders and followers fear the unknown and do not thrust COMELEC, and the changes in the law further exacerbated such fear and lack of thrust in 2007.It’s as if, by design, politicians want to fudge the whole election procedure.It’s a sure recipe for disaster, something that is very hard to implement.Now, talks are going around for the possible amendment of a law that has not been implemented in terms of automation; its implementation is botched up because the adjustments that need to be done within the institution and on the field in 2007 were not done properly. So I raise again the issue, as I did in 2003 with Peter Wallace: is the COMELEC ready as an institution to effect change?

With 24 months left before the campaign on February 2010 for the May 2010 elections, and with only the ARMM elections in 2008 as proof of concept for the use of an automated election system, I strongly believe that the signs are aplenty towards another manual presidential election. If that is the case, decision makers should consider the position of the group known as HALAL or Halalang Marangal on punishing the cheats and the use of double-entry accounting in recording and reporting the number of election returns, ballots and votes, among others.

What is clear is that we need to learn from the lessons of 2004 for it has haunted us, the voters, and has made captive the institution of the presidency, both to detriment of the nation and of good governance.We cannot have the same harrowing experience because so much money, time, and energy are wasted just to ensure everyone observes the Rule of Law.

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