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Philippines
Friday, March 29, 2024

Frustrating the people’s will

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There are so many questions left unanswered in connection with the slaughter of police commandos, now called the “Fallen 44” by a combined force of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters. The BIFF, supposedly a breakaway group from the MILF, has ties with the jihadists of the Middle East.

And many more are coming up as the days go by because of President Aquino’s lackadaisical attitude in the aftermath of that massacre. The attempts of Malacañang and its friends and supporters in Congress to whitewash what really happened is far too obvious.

The would-be cover up would conveniently allow the President and his former bodyguard, suspended Philippine National Police chief Alan Purisima, to escape responsibility and accountability. Remember that they broke the chain of command and deliberately kept Interior and Local Government Secretary Manuel Roxas II and PNP Deputy Chief Leonardo Espina out of the loop.

Roxas should have resigned immediately if he had any self-respect left.

There’s also a proposal to have a Truth Commission composed of independent-minded personalities.

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The nation’s anguish, pain and anger must be assuaged. And only the truth can do it.

It is said that the morale of the police is now very low, and that even in the military, there is growing discontent. There is speculation on a mounting unrest among the PNP and the AFP that could lead to a destabilization of government.

What is happening now is another dark page in our history. We may never know the truth about the Fallen 44.

Even now, President Aquino’s lapdogs and lackeys in Congress are surrounding the wagons, as it were. Speaker Sonny Belmonte tried to issue a gag order in the House of Representatives, only to flip-flop later when he realized the mood of the House. My gulay, I still cannot understand why my good friend, Sonny (we covered together the old Central Bank, Sonny for the Manila Chronicle and I for the defunct Philippines Herald) would become a lackey and a lapdog of President Aquino.

Senate President Frank Drilon has even said that the President has no command responsibility for the Fallen 44, since it applies only to people who send their men on unlawful missions.

As I wrote yesterday, not only the wives and relatives of the Fallen 44 are crying. The nation grieves as well, for justice and accountability.

* * *

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes and two other commissioners retired last Monday. But not before the outgoing chairman could sign a contract with Smartmatic, as service provider, to refurbish some 82,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan machines, and to repair them if necessary.

Some people have wondered why Brillantes, who we know full well to harbor undying love for Smartmatic despite doubts on the credibility of the PCOS machines, chose to do what he did. Couldn’t his replacement have done it?

Members of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP), The Automated Election System (AES) Watch, the Makabayan bloc, Citizens for Clean and Credible Elections, former Comelec Commissioner Augusto Lagman, Bayan Puna Party-List Rep. Neri Colmenares, and many other civic groups and like-minded individuals have a common concern. Foremost among these is the inefficient, inaccurate, fraud  ridden  counting of ballots in 2016 polls. It’s the same concern I have had for so long.

Sadly, Brillantes and other Comelec commissioner have a “love affair” with Smartmatic—for obvious reasons.

Brillantes made it worse when he said “Que sera, sera” (what will be will be) during his retirement ceremonies, as if to point his middle finger at all of us.

Well, what will be will surely happen now that Brillantes has signed that “midnight contract” with Smartmatic. He even dared those who opposed the contract to go to court to stop it.

Brillantes and the the commissioners may have retired, but it still puzzles me why they did not address the issues and concerns long before he signed the contract. Brillantes and others simply evaded and ignored the issues, especially on two points. First, about the doubts and concerns about PCOS machines which were referred to as “Hokus-PCOS” in the 2013 polls. There was a pattern that became so apparent in favor of the Aquino administration.

And then, there are also questions on whether or not Smartmatic was just a supplier, not the PCOS manufacturer. A confident Brillantes defended Smartmatic.

My gulay, Brillantes was so in love with Smartmatic that he even violated the Procurement Law by entering into a negotiated deal with the Venezuelan service provider. Even the Comelec legal division advised him to conduct a public bidding but he did not. Why?

What I’m truly concerned about is whether or not we will have credible l elections in 2016 with the use of PCOS machines.

Amid all these, President Aquino’s silence is deafening.

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