Phillipine
Daily Inquirer
Eight
is enough
Editorial
June 1, 2004
Three weeks after the Filipino voters went to the polls and
after one whole week of heated and often senseless debates,
Congress has finally settled down to the business of
canvassing the results of the presidential election. On
Monday, the first ballot box, containing the certificate of
canvass showing how Filipinos living in Cambodia voted, was
opened before the watchful eyes of senators and congressmen as
well as an increasingly impatient and exasperated nation.
For several tension-filled days, it was not clear when
Congress would start its work as the National Board of
Canvassers or whether it could start at all. Debates over the
rules, which were initially set for two days, dragged on for
three more days, punctuated by some scandalous outbursts by
so-called honorable lawmakers. The seemingly interminable
questions and objections raised by opposition lawmakers gave
rise to suspicions that they knew that their candidate, actor
Fernando Poe Jr., lost but they would rather keep the election
results sealed rather than see his main rival, President
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, proclaimed as the winner.
|
|
The administration lawmakers, however, had the numbers and
they used that to finally get the process moving by voting to
approve the rules and appoint the members of the committee
that would actually tally the figures appearing on the COCs.
Even so, the opposition continued to gripe, saying it was not
adequately represented in the committee. This led the House
leadership to revise the composition of its panel to include
three opposition members, increasing to eight the opposition's
representation in the 22-member committee.
Still some opposition members continue to insist on equal
representation. But the pro-administration majority would not
hear of it, obviously knowing it could be a formula for
gridlock. Even applying the principle of proportional
representation by party is not going to get the opposition
near the number that it wants.
But eight should be enough. Unless all of them sleep on the
job, even a smaller number can be effective in checking any
scheme to cheat their candidate. The majority may outvote them
in committee, but it is doubtful if it can fool an entire
nation into believing and accepting the results of a flawed
and dishonest canvass. And the nation will be watching how the
committee and Congress will conduct the canvass every step of
the way.
Around this time in 1992 and 1998, the official canvass being
done by Congress held nobody in suspense anymore. By then the
Filipino people already knew who was going to be their next
president, courtesy of the quick counts done by Namfrel and
the private media.
No such luck this time. Namfrel and the private media seem to
have abandoned the effort, with a substantial number of
election returns still uncounted, after they were accused of
manipulating their tallies to create a trend favoring one
candidate or the other. Instead, all that people hear are
competing claims of victory by the camps of the two top
contenders for the presidency. The administration says Ms
Macapagal won by about one million votes, based on its own
tally of its own copies of the election returns. The
opposition claims it was Poe who won, by a similar margin.
This is why it is essential to get the official canvass
going-and moving fast. By June 30 the new president has to be
sworn into office. Otherwise there will be a power vacuum that
some adventurers might rush to fill. Then there will be no
election winners, just losers--and they will include the
Filipino people.
|
|