Aside from presenting himself as an alternative candidate for the presidency in 2010, Senator Richard Gordon seems to be positioning himself as the gauge for whether or not it's time to panic over the problems affecting the Comelec's poll automation project.

In an Inquirer.net report, Gordon said he is still optimistic the automation of the elections would still push through as scheduled. He also gave the following quotable quote, which should explain my statement above:

When I do comment, then delikado na talaga tayo (we are already in peril),

I can appreciate Gordon's statement. As the author of the amended Automated Election Systems Law, he should be more than familiar with the issues surrounding this project.

In that same Inquirer.net report, the senator provided a good reason why we should all support automation.

He said automation removes all other advantages available to a well-financed political campaign because “the ability to determine the winners (within an hour for local polls or by the end of the day for national elections) meant removing the bureaucratic layers like poll watching which could be corrupted.”

Of course, the ultimate goal is to make the public trust the country's electoral system once more. The way I see it that could happen if only we'd give the system a chance to prove its worth. And, while it may not exactly fix the whole electoral systeminc, poll automation would certainly bring about incremental improvements that could lead to bigger changes later on.

"We have come a long way in fighting to modernize our electoral process. Let us make this work for our young and fragile democracy, and throw wholesale electoral cheating into the dustbin of our history," he said.

"In passing the automated elections law, Congress made a decision that changes the rules of the game. Once implemented according to Congress' intent, the automated election system will indeed be a game-changer in Philippine politics," he added.

The preceding quote came from Gordon as well. I like that term game-changer.