Comments on: TU: Proclaim failure of elections in Metro Manila

By: justice league

justice league — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 15:50:33 +0000

Benj,

The % of the partylist vote depend on the number of votes cast for partylist.

Example:

Total of votes cast is 20 million but only 1 million ballots had votes for a partylist representative.

So in that example; 20 thousand is the raw number of votes equivalent to 2%.

By: gabriela

gabriela — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 08:38:21 +0000

I thought I heard Abalos and administration rah-rah boys say this election is generally peaceful and allegations of cheating are mere allegations and cases are just isolated. If Makalintal himself says the GO cheated, is this not an admission of the weakness of the COMELEC, whose head GMA herself appointed? And Mr. Makalintal, even gradeschoolers would laugh at the way you and the defenders of TU justify the beating youa re getting. Unang-una bakit ganuon ang line up ng candidates ninyo? Wala na bang iba na kasing brilliant ninyo at ni GMA? Bakit si Chavit? Bakit si Sotto? Bakit si Oreta? Sino si Kiram? At ang political ads ng TU gasgas na. No touch of what is really now and new. and command votes spell v-i-o-l-a-t-i-o-n of the omnibus election code.

By: benj

benj — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 11:36:19 +0000

Slightly tangential question, how many votes are needed by Party Lists to get a seat in congress? It’s at 2.0%, right? What would that be equivalent to in raw numbers?

By: UP n student

UP n student — Wed, 30 May 2007 21:34:32 +0000

Namfrel may not want to complete the count because the odds are that the Namfrel numbers will be different from the Comelec numbers.

By: Bencard

Bencard — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:57:17 +0000

tagasulong, in a country of laws and representative democracy, a “proper forum” is the exclusive body empowered to adjudicate legal issues and whose final decision is binding on every one in its jurisdiction.
the “people” (whether at large or majority) cannot take the law into its own hand without violating it. while said people, in proper circumstances, may change the laws through its elected rtepresentatives, it cannot directly make its own rules, regulations and statutes.

So, rather than “masturbate” (your word) intellectually, you would do well just abiding by the law and observing the due process of law, assert your rights and, if you are patient, you may get results – sooner or later.

By: tonio

tonio — Wed, 30 May 2007 07:19:25 +0000

what, pray tell, should we do in order to “get off”, following your analogy?

By: tagasulung

tagasulung — Wed, 30 May 2007 06:08:02 +0000

rego, et al.

In this country, merely hoping for cheating in elections to reach the proper forum makes sense only if the cheat is anti-administration.
When it is the administration and pro-administration doing the cheating, not even news reports showing the “snow-paking” of SOVs and returns can open the eyes of Comelec’s Abalos who readily finds justifications therefor instead of looking into it, at the very least.
SInce election officials are unwilling to act even when evidences are right before their eyes, hoping that allegations of cheating reach the proper forum would only be a dream.

And in the first place, the court of public opinion has never been an “improper forum” when the subject involves the government or public affairs. It is in relegating public discussions to the sidelines, labeling or implying such as an “improper forum” (much like restricting public assembly to “public parks” while not even requiring permits for religious processions or prayer rallies), that ensure that the “hoping for the cheats to be brought to court” remains merely that — a mere hope.

And that is exactly what we have allowed the present administration to do, leaving those of us who write about these things in blogs like this to indulge in our intellectual masturbations, unwilling, as the Comelec, to do something about it.

Saying “Tama na! Sobra na!” is good only when public opinion matters and institutions, like the prosecutors, police, the courts, etc., can be trusted to do what they are supposed to do.
The question, as it should always be, is “what are we to do about it?” When will “Palitan na!” be added to that sacred phrase most popular during the Marcos years? And, more importantly, when will the words be accompanied by actions?

Nah! Better to indulge in intellectual masturbations, never you mind not having an ejaculation. Or is it?

By: tonio

tonio — Wed, 30 May 2007 06:06:28 +0000

you would think that instead of limiting their updates to twice a day, in this crucial final phase of the counting, NAMFREL should be at the forefront.

well, perhaps it’s passing the torch.

i wonder who’ll take it?

By: torn

torn — Wed, 30 May 2007 05:42:06 +0000

“NAMFREL should finish their count. The fact that theyÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ve scaled back their operations is disheartening. I agree with the 100% count. NAMFREL should do it, and do it FAST.”

I agree completely. NAMFREL has been described by social scientist Lotta Hedman as Ã¢â‚¬Å“the mother of all election-watch movementsÃ¢â‚¬Â and is one of the few areas where the Philippines leads the world (dagdag bawas is another, but perhaps we wonÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t go there). When Cambodia, another country wracked by crooked electoral politics, was looking to set up a secondary count it looked to NAMFREL as a model.

After all, what is the point of a half-hearted effort? Every one knows that it is the last 10-15% of votes that makes the difference.

And as for speed, for NAMFREL to be overtaken by COMELEC, possibly the worldÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s slowest counting organization, is very strange.

When the country needs it most, NAMFREL seems to be fading away Ã¢â‚¬Â¦

Disheartening, as Toniong Pagod says.

By: mlq3

mlq3 — Wed, 30 May 2007 05:15:59 +0000

zerline, tonio, thank you very very much!