By TJ Burgonio (Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100507-268515/Palace-No-meetings-for-No-El-only-on-security
MANILA, Philippines—The “no-election” scenario was never on the Palace menu.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been meeting with top security officials because of her concern about unrest arising from the May 10 polls. A failure of elections was never discussed in any of the meetings, Malacañang claimed Thursday.
This whole idea of ‘no elections’ is, just to quote the cardinal, ‘crazy, crazy, crazy and irresponsible,’” Secretary Ricardo Saludo, Ms Arroyo’s spokesperson, said in a briefing. (He was quoting Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales’ reaction early this week to a warning of “people power” by Liberal Party standard-bearer Benigno Aquino III.)
Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza also said it was the threats by communist and secessionist rebels to disrupt the polls that topped the agenda of the meeting on Wednesday.
In that meeting, Saludo said, Ms Arroyo reminded members of the National Security Council (NSC) to maintain stability on Election Day and onward in the face of possible protests.
Ready to handle situation
Asked later in an ambush interview why Ms Arroyo had called military and police officials to the meetings, Saludo said: “If problems arise in some areas, which are no different from those in previous elections where we have to do manual count, problems in counting crop up and there’s public unrest, we stand ready to handle that kind of situation.”
“That’s about the level that we need to worry about,” Saludo said.
He said the Palace would leave “anything bigger” and “whatever glitches” to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to “contain.”
He added that if related problems arose, these would be fewer this time because “the automated system is less prone to errors.”
3 scenarios
Ms Arroyo also met on Tuesday with senior Cabinet and security officials following glitches in Monday’s trial runs of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines in certain parts of Luzon.
In that meeting, she directed the military and police to study the implications of a failure of elections, a postponement of the automated balloting and a return to full manual count, according to a key security officer.
But Saludo sought to downplay the three scenarios, saying these always arose in the run-up to national elections.
“These other scenarios, you don’t have to get that from Malacañang. The Comelec has discussed them,” he said, adding:
“But of course, the one who will manage and run the elections will still have to be the Comelec. And they will have to decide which scenario will happen.”
Saludo, however, said none of the scenarios was tackled at the NSC meeting: “One thing is sure: there was never any mention of ‘no elections.’ That option is not on the table anywhere in any government discussion. ‘No elections’ is not an operative or serious scenario [in any meeting] that I have attended.”
Earlier Thursday, Mendoza told reporters in an ambush interview that government preparations for the elections as well as threats to security were tackled in the NSC meeting.
He said the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the communist New People’s Army had “plans” but that the military and police were “addressing them.”
Mendoza also said the Commission on Information and Communication Technology had briefed Ms Arroyo on the foul-ups in the PCOS machines.
“We agreed that we have to give the Comelec the opportunity to make sure these machines work and the elections push through,” he said.
Damaged credibility
A postponement of the May 10 elections will benefit Ms Arroyo and allow her to hold on to power, according to the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).
In a statement, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said any “no elections” and “holdover” scenario could arise from problems in the automation system.
Reyes said the polls would be conducted “under a cloud of doubt and suspicion because of recent events that are the doing” of the Comelec and its supplier, Smartmatic-TIM.
He said the foul-ups were “not just glitches but a potentially fatal nationwide malfunction.”
“Even if these are resolved, as Smartmatic says they will, the damage to the polls’ credibility has been done,” he said.
According to Reyes, a reduction in the credibility of the May 10 elections “can be exploited by those who are pushing for a ‘no elections’ scenario or postponement.”
“This is what the Arroyo regime can use to justify a holdover,” he said.
Reyes said massive troop deployment in at least 10 cities in Metro Manila was not only aimed at easing the tension in the so-called election hotspots, but would also be used to quell protest actions that might erupt if the elections failed.
He called on the public to monitor the testing of the PCOS machines “because that is one indicator of how the poll automation will be carried out.”
Accountability
Nacionalista Party (NP) guest senatorial candidate Liza Maza said the Comelec should be held accountable for reneging on its mandate “to [hold] honest and credible elections.”
“With only a few days to go before the elections, the automated elections with Comelec’s partner Smartmatic have [become] problematic,” Maza said.
She said the Comelec was “liable for the serious doubts on the credibility of the elections,” as well as for “the looming irregularities and lack of contingency measures.”
Maza also said the errors and glitches that arose during the testing of the PCOS machines could be a prelude to a failure of elections.
“Seemingly, the stage is being set for the elections to fail, to pave the way for the extension of Ms Arroyo’s rule,” Maza said.
“We are calling on all opposition groups and individuals to be vigilant and to act against all moves to retain the current administration,” she said.
Conspiracy
Even the son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos said something appeared to be brewing with the mass foul-ups that occurred on Monday.
Interviewed by reporters at an NP rally in Pasig City on Wednesday, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., also a guest senatorial candidate of the party, voiced the suspicion that the machines’ misreading of votes was part of a plot to have the automated elections fail.
“The idea that this is part of a conspiracy to maintain the status quo in different government positions from President down is not entirely inconceivable for the simple reason that this administration has made many, many attempts in the past to do just that,” said the dictator’s son.
“We know that they are capable of this kind of deceit, and the fact that this may be an attempt is something that we have to consider,” he said, adding this could be Ms Arroyo’s last attempt to perpetuate herself in power.
Marcos said that at every turn, the Comelec had shown that it was not capable of conducting automated voting.
“Some are saying that [the Comelec is] doing this on purpose, that [it is] up to something. The point is that the entire process, the mistakes made and the incompetence shown have not exactly given us a great deal of confidence in the system,” he said.
“And if we, the candidates, have no confidence in the system, how can there be confidence in the system by the voters themselves? And what of the results, if they ever come?” he said.
World is watching
Other NP senatorial candidates, Gilbert Remulla and Susan “Toots” Ople, had their own comments to air.
Remulla said the issue was no longer about whether the automated polls would be a success or a failure because the machines had already failed.
“This is now about the stability of the Philippines. The whole world is watching us—we recalled 76,300 flash cards. This is not just an ordinary election; this is a transition toward hopefully a more democratic and just country,” Remulla said.
Ople said a specter of doubt was already looming over whoever would win the presidency.
She called on all presidential and vice presidential candidates, as well as the heads of the leagues of governors, mayors and councilors to meet with the Comelec and Smartmatic and agree on whether to push through with the automated elections or shift to manual voting. With reports from Alcuin Papa, Michael Lim Ubac and Nikko Dizon
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/nation/view/20100507-268515/Palace-No-meetings-for-No-El-only-on-security
MANILA, Philippines—The “no-election” scenario was never on the Palace menu.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been meeting with top security officials because of her concern about unrest arising from the May 10 polls. A failure of elections was never discussed in any of the meetings, Malacañang claimed Thursday.
This whole idea of ‘no elections’ is, just to quote the cardinal, ‘crazy, crazy, crazy and irresponsible,’” Secretary Ricardo Saludo, Ms Arroyo’s spokesperson, said in a briefing. (He was quoting Manila Archbishop Gaudencio Cardinal Rosales’ reaction early this week to a warning of “people power” by Liberal Party standard-bearer Benigno Aquino III.)
Executive Secretary Leandro Mendoza also said it was the threats by communist and secessionist rebels to disrupt the polls that topped the agenda of the meeting on Wednesday.
In that meeting, Saludo said, Ms Arroyo reminded members of the National Security Council (NSC) to maintain stability on Election Day and onward in the face of possible protests.
Ready to handle situation
Asked later in an ambush interview why Ms Arroyo had called military and police officials to the meetings, Saludo said: “If problems arise in some areas, which are no different from those in previous elections where we have to do manual count, problems in counting crop up and there’s public unrest, we stand ready to handle that kind of situation.”
“That’s about the level that we need to worry about,” Saludo said.
He said the Palace would leave “anything bigger” and “whatever glitches” to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to “contain.”
He added that if related problems arose, these would be fewer this time because “the automated system is less prone to errors.”
3 scenarios
Ms Arroyo also met on Tuesday with senior Cabinet and security officials following glitches in Monday’s trial runs of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines in certain parts of Luzon.
In that meeting, she directed the military and police to study the implications of a failure of elections, a postponement of the automated balloting and a return to full manual count, according to a key security officer.
But Saludo sought to downplay the three scenarios, saying these always arose in the run-up to national elections.
“These other scenarios, you don’t have to get that from Malacañang. The Comelec has discussed them,” he said, adding:
“But of course, the one who will manage and run the elections will still have to be the Comelec. And they will have to decide which scenario will happen.”
Saludo, however, said none of the scenarios was tackled at the NSC meeting: “One thing is sure: there was never any mention of ‘no elections.’ That option is not on the table anywhere in any government discussion. ‘No elections’ is not an operative or serious scenario [in any meeting] that I have attended.”
Earlier Thursday, Mendoza told reporters in an ambush interview that government preparations for the elections as well as threats to security were tackled in the NSC meeting.
He said the secessionist Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the communist New People’s Army had “plans” but that the military and police were “addressing them.”
Mendoza also said the Commission on Information and Communication Technology had briefed Ms Arroyo on the foul-ups in the PCOS machines.
“We agreed that we have to give the Comelec the opportunity to make sure these machines work and the elections push through,” he said.
Damaged credibility
A postponement of the May 10 elections will benefit Ms Arroyo and allow her to hold on to power, according to the militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).
In a statement, Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes said any “no elections” and “holdover” scenario could arise from problems in the automation system.
Reyes said the polls would be conducted “under a cloud of doubt and suspicion because of recent events that are the doing” of the Comelec and its supplier, Smartmatic-TIM.
He said the foul-ups were “not just glitches but a potentially fatal nationwide malfunction.”
“Even if these are resolved, as Smartmatic says they will, the damage to the polls’ credibility has been done,” he said.
According to Reyes, a reduction in the credibility of the May 10 elections “can be exploited by those who are pushing for a ‘no elections’ scenario or postponement.”
“This is what the Arroyo regime can use to justify a holdover,” he said.
Reyes said massive troop deployment in at least 10 cities in Metro Manila was not only aimed at easing the tension in the so-called election hotspots, but would also be used to quell protest actions that might erupt if the elections failed.
He called on the public to monitor the testing of the PCOS machines “because that is one indicator of how the poll automation will be carried out.”
Accountability
Nacionalista Party (NP) guest senatorial candidate Liza Maza said the Comelec should be held accountable for reneging on its mandate “to [hold] honest and credible elections.”
“With only a few days to go before the elections, the automated elections with Comelec’s partner Smartmatic have [become] problematic,” Maza said.
She said the Comelec was “liable for the serious doubts on the credibility of the elections,” as well as for “the looming irregularities and lack of contingency measures.”
Maza also said the errors and glitches that arose during the testing of the PCOS machines could be a prelude to a failure of elections.
“Seemingly, the stage is being set for the elections to fail, to pave the way for the extension of Ms Arroyo’s rule,” Maza said.
“We are calling on all opposition groups and individuals to be vigilant and to act against all moves to retain the current administration,” she said.
Conspiracy
Even the son and namesake of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos said something appeared to be brewing with the mass foul-ups that occurred on Monday.
Interviewed by reporters at an NP rally in Pasig City on Wednesday, Ferdinand Marcos Jr., also a guest senatorial candidate of the party, voiced the suspicion that the machines’ misreading of votes was part of a plot to have the automated elections fail.
“The idea that this is part of a conspiracy to maintain the status quo in different government positions from President down is not entirely inconceivable for the simple reason that this administration has made many, many attempts in the past to do just that,” said the dictator’s son.
“We know that they are capable of this kind of deceit, and the fact that this may be an attempt is something that we have to consider,” he said, adding this could be Ms Arroyo’s last attempt to perpetuate herself in power.
Marcos said that at every turn, the Comelec had shown that it was not capable of conducting automated voting.
“Some are saying that [the Comelec is] doing this on purpose, that [it is] up to something. The point is that the entire process, the mistakes made and the incompetence shown have not exactly given us a great deal of confidence in the system,” he said.
“And if we, the candidates, have no confidence in the system, how can there be confidence in the system by the voters themselves? And what of the results, if they ever come?” he said.
World is watching
Other NP senatorial candidates, Gilbert Remulla and Susan “Toots” Ople, had their own comments to air.
Remulla said the issue was no longer about whether the automated polls would be a success or a failure because the machines had already failed.
“This is now about the stability of the Philippines. The whole world is watching us—we recalled 76,300 flash cards. This is not just an ordinary election; this is a transition toward hopefully a more democratic and just country,” Remulla said.
Ople said a specter of doubt was already looming over whoever would win the presidency.
She called on all presidential and vice presidential candidates, as well as the heads of the leagues of governors, mayors and councilors to meet with the Comelec and Smartmatic and agree on whether to push through with the automated elections or shift to manual voting. With reports from Alcuin Papa, Michael Lim Ubac and Nikko Dizon
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