DATE: January
2, 2003
PUBLICATION:
Malaya
TITLE: Hail, GMA!
AUTHOR: Ducky
Paredes
JUST when one has
given up hope for this country, the main cause of the feeling of hopelessness
does the unthinkable by deciding that she is no longer running. By doing what
she did, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has shown herself to be a stateswoman and a
patriot. Now maybe we can all get together and push the country towards some
kind of future. Had she still been in the running, the country would have gone
nowhere in 2003.
She has done the first
thing that needed doing. Now, can she please call off her attack dogs,
including, among others, Victor Corpus and his dummy witnesses. We all ought to
assure that the decision of GMA should not be wasted. Others should also forego
politics, among them, Cardinal Sin, the bishops, the Philippine branch of the
Roman Catholic Church, Fidel Ramos and others. Erap Estrada and Ronnie Poe's
disavowal of presidential politics now and in the future would also ease
tensions a bit. (I would even suggest Ping Lacson doing the same thing but
cannot do so since the only objection to Ping would be if the unproved charges against
him are accepted as truth. In the case of the actors, their cinematic popularity
makes their running for national office an unfair
race.)
Then, maybe, we can
all get down to the business of doing something for this country. With the GMA
decision, this country can be great again and her contribution to that future
greatness is invaluable. Now, if only those around her would accept the decision
quietly. They must stop telling her that she should still run despite her public
announcement. Let her sacrifice be a lasting one.
* *
*
Sen. Edgardo Angara
is among those pushing for the Absentee Voting bill. Ed tells us that we have
more than 7.41 million Pinoys abroad. (His latest figures are as of December
2002.) Of these, 2.73 million are Overseas Filipino Workers, 3.04 are permanent
residents and 1.62 million are the undocumented or TNTs. In addition, there are
255,269 seamen.
Considering that
these overseas Pinoys are all over the world, why not use Botong Pinoy for their
voting. Remember Botong Pinoy? Here is how the proponent 'Raffy Garcia of
MegaData ' introduces it: "How would you like a voting system that allows you to
vote for the candidates of your choice simply by pointing at their photos, names
or party names on the computer screen as these are displayed on the screen for
all candidates and all positions? "How would you like a voting system that
automatically prints your ballot showing all the candidates that you voted for,
complete with your computer generated fingerprint, so that the ballot can be
used for a manually tabulated audit count to avoid any questions on the
integrity of the computer system?
"How would you like
a voting system that automatically counts all votes cast in each precinct, then
after printing the tabulated votes for the precinct at the end of the voting
day, transmits the same to a secure Internet Website where its electronic
signature is verified before it is allowed to post its tabulated votes, and
where all the votes from all precincts are automatically tabulated on a
Barangay, City/Municipal, Provincial, Regional and National levels, totally
eliminating the pernicious practice of Dagdag-Bawas that has eroded the trust of
the people in the electoral process, and making all vote buying practices such
as kadena, lansadera and carbon copy useless?
"How would you like
a voting system that uses the latest state of the art computer systems, every
election year, since the Comelec never has to buy the computers and merely pays
for their use for each election?"
Sounds too good to
be true? Welcome to Botong Pinoy! Ang kalaban ng mandaraya!"
From where I sit, the best
way to go into absentee voting worldwide is to go to Botong Pinoy. As it has
been set up, all that one needs is basically a computer. Any PC will do. These
can be set up in our embassies and consulates and the voters can come in and
make their choices and the results can be sent through the Internet back to
Manila the very same day that they
vote!
In fact, going
further, why not apply the Automated Teller Machine and Cellcard technology to
our OFW voters? On registration, they are issued cards which will have a PIN
(Personal Identification Number). This card can be used only by one person and
only once. The OFW voter can then go on the Internet to the Absentee Voting Web
Page available only on the day of election where the OFW will enter the website
by typing in his name and his PIN. No PIN, no entry. Wrong PIN, no entry. Wrong
name, no entry. Then, he would be asked to check the names of the candidates of
his choice for whatever positions are at stake. It could be that simple. The
fact is that we have the technology, capability and the technical personnel who
can give us the most modern automated election system in the whole world, all
homegrown. Sadly, the bureaucracy is just not moving fast enough to make it
happen.
* *
*
The way it looks, there
will not be enough time to do a computerized election by 2004. The country can
at least see computerization at work with the Absentee Vote. Then, having seen
that it works, perhaps, the bureaucracy can be convinced to try something new,
which is Pinoy-driven and conceptualized in the Philippines for Filipinos. There
are still too many advocates of purchasing scrap voting machines that have
already proven themselves unreliable in Florida and elsewhere. Botong Pinoy is what is
right for the Philippines. Hopefully, by showing what it can do for
Absentee Voting, Botong Pinoy can convince us all to give it a try, perhaps, in
the 2007 elections.
Email address:
duckyparedes@yahoo.com
|
|
