An opinion piece I critiqued yesterday had me thinking when the author said that the Comelec may have made “the mother of all bad deals.” This was told in the context of the poll body spending about Php 11 billion to run this year's automated elections without necessarily owning the vote-counting machines.

The Comelec will have much lower spending in future polls, with several billions in savings compared to this year, if it agrees to buy the 76,000 machines used last May according to Smartmatic's president for Asia Pacific Cesar Flores.

The author of the opinion piece seemed under the impression that the Comelec agreed to be charged too much this year because the same technology could be used in future elections and yet cost a lot less. Since we're not privy to how exactly Smartmatic would conduct the same magnitude of a project but charge several billions less, let's just entertain the idea of Comelec actually purchasing the machines, partly because it's the rational thing for it to do.

Even more rational is getting the machines to serve other purposes. Consider it maximizing the utility derived from the expenditure. What else could we use those machines for?

Well, in-between elections, possibly sooner than the next one even, the PCOS machines could be instrumental in the conduct of a plebiscite for a People's Initiative. Filipinos could have a real chance at improving on the 1987 Philippine Constitution's provisions to suit the country's needs.

Automation that works, with systems and processes that have been found to work as well last May, plus improvement tweaks of course for better efficiency, could prove to be the clean, legitimate way to run a plebiscite where any and all proposed amendments to the Constitution will be approved or rejected by the people through voting. Amendments that are approved will be ratified within a much shorter time thanks to the automated count, and the results will be verifiable.

If we Filipinos want to bring about change like for example, boosting economy by getting more foreign investors to bring millions of jobs here, or the holding of public officials accountable via a Freedom Of Information law, a plebiscite for a People's Initiative using the Smartmatic technology we've already used looks like the way to go.

It will be a level playing field, the way to really participate in a democratic process, where even the naysayers of Charter Change could easily vote “no” to any proposed amendment that smacks of term extension. Who knows, maybe truly worthwhile legislation will have a real chance of being passed into law, now that we have this technology. That will have made the investment in the PCOS machines definitely worth it.

I appreciate their acknolwedgment of the project's success and their admission that they were wrong. I do not however find the tone of their latest statements acceptable. For context, refer to this philstar.com report:

Automation critics happy to be wrong
By Edu Punay (The Philippine Star) Updated May 13, 2010 12:00 AM

MANILA, Philippines - Critics have conceded that the automated election system (AES) used in last Monday’s polls was a success.

The Concerned Citizens’ Movement (CCM) of University of the Philippines law professor Harry Roque Jr., one of the groups that earlier opposed the AES before the Supreme Court (SC), admitted that it was “absolutely thrilled to be wrong” about its earlier fear of failure of election due to glitches in the automated system.

The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) and the Financial Executives of the Philippines (Finex) issued a statement yesterday congratulating “the Filipino people who were all engaged in exercising their right of suffrage,” the Commission on Elections (Comelec) “for a job well done” as well as “the teachers, the military, the police and all those involved in the elections.”

The two business groups also congratulated presidential frontrunner Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III and offered their support for “his quest for honest, transparent and good governance.”

MAP member Manuel Alcuaz Jr. said they are not going to apologize to the Comelec for doubting the elections and have already thanked the poll body but maintained that their fears were justified.

“We are happy to be wrong. There is no substitute for vigilance,” Alcuaz said.

The CCM said that despite their worse apprehensions, the elections did not fail. “Credit should be given to both the Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM for this triumph of democracy. As we have repeatedly stated, we would be more than happy if history were to prove us wrong. And by God, we’re absolutely thrilled,” the CCM said in a statement yesterday.

But Roque stressed that the success of the AES could be attributed to the vigilance of the public and poll volunteers.

“In hindsight, failure was averted because of the timely intervention of our public school teachers and the media. In precincts where the PCOS (precinct count optical scan) machines did not work and a replacement was not immediately forthcoming, the teachers proceeded with the voting sans the machines, anticipating that a replacement would arrive by end of the polling day,” he explained.

The CCM also thanked the media for “exhorting the electorate to be patient as at stake is the future of democracy in the country.”

The Philippine Bar Association led by former Ombudsman Simeon Marcelo also took back their earlier criticisms of the new poll system.

In a phone interview, Marcelo agreed to the popular perception that the national elections held last Monday were successful.

“I’ll give it a passing grade. Most of the commissioners, including Chairman (Jose) Melo, did their job well,” he commented.

But Marcelo believes that it is the “eternal vigilance” of the public, teachers and volunteers that was key to the success of the AES.

“It’s really just a miracle in the last minute that made it a success,” he added.

The Legal Network for Truthful Election (Lente) also lauded the poll body for a job well done.

“The Comelec, its deputies and the teachers deserve a high mark for being able to push through with the conduct of the polls despite the apprehensions and doomsday scenarios painted by some sectors,” Lente founder and former Comelec chairman Christian Monsod said.

Asked if the country can now do away with poll watchers because of the speed in transmission, Monsod said it is false to assume that speed would deter fraud but qualified that “speed with proper safeguards deter fraud.”

He also praised the teachers who were able to innovate and make up for the shortcomings of the Comelec.

Kudos to poll’s unsung heroes

The Department of Education (DepEd) said that the public school teachers deserve much of the credit for the “generally successful” automated elections.

Jonathan Malaya, DepEd assistant secretary for special projects and programs and department spokesman, said that the more than 229,000 teachers who served as Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) had done the department proud for doing their tasks efficiently and professionally.

“Our teachers have shown professionalism and patriotism at its finest during this election. We commend them for a job well done and we are proud of them,” Malaya said.

He pointed out that teachers showed their efficiency in handling the PCOS machines and inspired trust and confidence among voters with their efficiency, especially in voting precincts that encountered problems with their machines.

“They were the ones who operated the PCOS machines. They were the frontliners. They were there on the ground,” Malaya pointed out.

Former DepEd secretary Jesli Lapus also expressed pride in the teachers’ performance in last Monday’s polls.

“I’m mighty proud of our DepEd teachers, school heads, supervisors and superintendents for their excellent work and patriotism in this first automated elections,” Lapus said.

“Our computer literacy trainings and timely election primers prepared us well. The entire nation owes you,” Lapus told the teachers. -- Rainier Allan Ronda, Evelyn Macairan, Helen Flores, Elisa Osorio

I was watching one of the election TV coverages last Tuesday and I heard one of the anchors saying that these critics should apologize to the Filipino people for their rumor mongering. I agree. If these critics were really sincere they should definitely do that -- apologize even beg forgiveness.

Why do I say this? For one thing, these critics almost succeeded in denying this country a chance to take a step forward and to experience an election that is markedly improved compared to elections past. Second, they contributed to the seemingly deliberate effort to misinform, miseducate and "stupidify" the Filipino people.

Being vigilant is one thing; being a troublemaker is another. Most of these critics did the latter. They were not being vigilant in the real sense of the word:

vigilant - carefully observant or attentive; on the lookout for possible danger
vigilance - watchfulness: the process of paying close and continuous attention

Were they on the lookout for possible danger? I don't think so. Fact is if they were really paying close and continuous attention to the project they would have easily found sound and valid responses to each and every criticism they raised. But no. Despite all the verifiable facts pointed out to them they insisted that the system was bad news from start to finish. On the issue of hacking, Comelec and Smartmatic provided a list of counter-measures designed to thwart any attempt to infiltrate and mess with the system. Did they recognize those counter-measures? No. Instead they nitpicked no end. If they were just being vigilant they should have criticized and raised their points while at the same time acknowledging the facts that dispel their alarmist views.

Sure, they've already admitted their mistake. But what should we make of the following:

MAP member Manuel Alcuaz Jr. said they are not going to apologize to the Comelec for doubting the elections and have already thanked the poll body but maintained that their fears were justified.

In hindsight, failure was averted because of the timely intervention of our public school teachers and the media.

But Marcelo believes that it is the “eternal vigilance” of the public, teachers and volunteers that was key to the success of the AES

Oh please. These people just can't swallow their pride and say it simply that Comelec and Smartmatic did a good job despite their (the critics') incessant attempts to sabotage the project so they could advance their own agenda.

Personally, I think apologies to Comelec and Smartmatic are in order, at least with regard to the poll automation project. But then, it's not really required. However, these people ought to replace their insincere praise for the teachers, volunteers and the Filipino people with a simple "we are sorry for our rumor and fear mongering." They should do this if they really are sincere.

Yesterday, the Supreme Court dismissed with finality a petition to nullify the contract between Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM. Voting 13-2, the court upheld the decision it made September last year.

Here's an excerpt from an inquirer.net report:

(The court said) the Comelec did not commit grave abuse of discretion in awarding the contract to technology provider Smartmatic-TIM.

The high tribunal also found the arguments raised by petitioners H. Harry Roque, Jr. and the Concerned Citizens Movement (CCM) as mostly “rehash.”

Now, that's one less thing for Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM to think about. But there's more, one of which are persistent concerns about the impact of looming brownouts on the implementation of the automated system on election day.

Another issue that seems to have died down but may soon be raised again concerns the source code review. Last I heard, Comelec conducted a review last Wednesday. A friend of mine who works for a major newspaper told me that the Center for People Empowerment in Governance or CenPeg and the Automated Election System Watch or AESWatch were conspicuously absent during the whole thing.

In case you didn't know, CenPeg and AESWatch led the calls for the release of the source code for public scrutiny. It is a big wonder then why both groups simply snubbed the review.

Well, I've been scouring the net for an answer and I found a report from The Daily Tribune. Here's an excerpt.

The software program that will run the automated election’s 82,000 machines will not be trusted by voters unless the Commission on Elections (Comelec) allows a real source code review.

This was the warning issued by he Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CenPEG) in response to the poll body’s move to make the software program (source code) of the automated election system (AES) available for review by political parties and interested groups.

Bobby Tuazon, CenPEG’s director for Policy Studies, in a statement, noted that the Comelec’s “source code review” is not for real and the ground rules and restrictions it has set make the activity a sham.

The review, according to Comelec, will be done under “controlled conditions” that are inconsistent with Section 12 of Republic Act 9369 which mandates the poll body for the prompt release of the source code for an independent review by citizens’ groups and parties once an AES technology is selected for implementation.

At best, Comelec will allow only a “walk through” or, worse, a mere “presentation of the results” of the source code review supposedly done by the Colorado-based SysTest labs at a cost of P70 million, Tuazon said.

“This is not the kind of review we have asked for under Section 12 of RA 9369. The review looks just like a ‘walk through’ or worse, what the reviewers will see is just the ‘results’ of the source code review done by SysTest, which is under a different section of RA 9369,” he noted.

Hmm. The hecklers are at it again.