(This is a guest post from Jake Ramos of Bruised Leaf)

Normally I wouldn't give the following sort of tabloid writing the time of day, but right now I think I should make an example of it and drive home some simple and often overlooked points for the greater good. The author whose piece I'm critiquing today should feel free to donate any large sum of money to his favorite charity to signify the appreciation for his article even making it to this particular venue/forum.

From a sublime piece entitled Kapalmuks ang Smartmatic on Vic Felipe's Bagong Tiktik column “GANITO 'YON” are portions to which I suffix my comments and/or rebuttals:

Ganoon ang paulit-ulit na naipagdidiinan ng marami sa sinasabi ng Smartmatic, kakontrata ng bagsak ang sa paniniwala pa ng publikong Comelec, na umano ay tagumpay ang naisagawa nilang kauna-unahang national automated elections nitong nakaraang Mayo 10, 2010. Kapalmuks lalo na sa maagang pagpapahiwatig na muli silang susubok sa nakatakdang 2013 mid-year elections.

Let's look at this objectively. Granted that some of those candidates who lost in this year's elections may have a good number of followers who could band together and appear “marami” but not “marami enough” to get their bets to win, they most certainly will have a differing opinion as to whether the automated election was a success. So there is no surprise that the same people would object to Smartmatic potentially being the technology partner of the poll body once again in 2013. Setting aside the obvious bias of those complaining, there really is nothing wrong with the tech firm in seeking repeat business where there has already been a very successful transaction.

Napakarami ng nagsasabi na hindi malinis ang halalan. Nagkaroon ng malawakang dayaan. Nai-pre-programmed na ang marami sa mga machine na nagamit sa halalan.

These claims are too easy to make. Where is the proof of this pre-programming? Anything short of proving it is hearsay, plain and simple.

Kahina-hinayang lamang na mismong mga nakalaban sa eleksyon ni president-elect Noynoy Aquino ang nagsisuko at sumurender na. Ano pang legal na paraan ang maipaghahabol? Sourgraping na lamang na lilitaw ang lahat.

When your bet acknowledges defeat even before the last ballot is counted, it's safe to say even he/she could find no other legal option to turn the tables. So, yes, at this point it does look like sourgraping.

Gaya nitong sinasabi sa 0926-8400627 na “Sana ay maisulat n'yo sa Bagong Tiktik ang buong katotohanan sa dayaang nangyari.”

When you say “buong katotohanan” it's really hard to ignore the word “buo” used for emphasis, and with only hearsay behind the allegations, there is mostly doubt cast on said allegations.

“Marami po silang ebidensya at talagang nagkaroon ng anomalya. Nawala talaga ang 5 milyong boto ng JIL at 5 of Christ. Talagang ninakaw.”

Hearsay and more hearsay. Never mind that it's something that came from some text message sent from who knows? Mr. Felipe could have received that text message from me and still remain none the wiser.

“Pati si Bro. Eddie ay hindi naniniwalang kulang pa sa 2 milyon ang bumoto sa kanya.”

Frankly, it doesn't matter whether or not Bro. Eddie believes it.

Pagkatapos ay kasunod na ang magarbong nagagastusang thank you party ng Smartmatic. Gustong mapagtakpan pa ng byuti at kaseksihan ng isang dating Ms. Universe na sila na rin ang nagsisipagyabang sa taas at laki raw ng talent fee sa bawat pagpepersonal appearance nito.

It's their party and they'll cry if they want to. But they'd rather party after a successful election, I'm sure. Nothing wrong there especially following a job well done.

Marami ang nagsasabi na huwag nang ibigay pa ng Comelec ang anumang balance pa sa kanilang kontrata ng Smartmatic.

There is no better way to destroy a working business relationship than not delivering on agreed obligations like meeting performance expectations and on-schedule payment of dues. Whoever those “marami” are, those completely unnamed unsubstantiated forces that media practitioners bandy about, I'm sure the Comelec knew the extent of how Smartmatic met expectations well enough not to keel over and take flat out bad advice.

Unfortunately in a country of any-which-way-you-can politics, we have an endless supply of hearsay that media professionals like Mr. Felipe waste no time believing and repeating, regardless of how all these electoral fraud allegations could be the product of some other tech company that wants to grab the multibillion peso contracts it lost to Smartmatic. Worse, the same media “professionals” employ cheapshots like name-calling “kapalmuks,” an appalling sense of logic intertwined with undoubtedly emo hearsay as I've exposed above, and channels of communication that obviously make the less privileged, poorly informed masa the real victims of wrong and/or severely incomplete information.

I am at odds how to end this on a positive note, as it is only one of probably – not just possibly – many opinion pieces written on a daily basis that leave most of their readers just about as clueless as before they began reading. Lesson learned: Don't believe everything you read. Make it a habit to think, verify, and employ reason. Come to think of it, the country wouldn't be in a quagmire if we took that lesson to heart decades ago.