That defining moment on May 9 (Sabong News)

This coming May 9 election is a defining moment for the Filipino people. We could not think of a better subtext than Palawan Pawnshop’s quintessential tagline: “Alahas ang isinasangla, hindi ang iyong kinabukasan.” Beyond endorsing VP Leni, it challenges the Filipino people to avoid making a wrong decision on May 9. For there are existential issues that we need to be mindful of. What will happen to the fundamentals of People Power that deposed President Marcos when his own son and namesake is establishing a foothold on Malacañang? We have laws and Supreme Court decisions that ruled that Marcos committed plunder of the country’s treasury up to the amount of $10 billion and violated human rights through torture, arrest and imprisonment. Marcos Jr and his family breached tax laws and owe the government around P203 billion. Marcos Jr is offering his services without clearing these issues and defining his platform of government by attending public debates. We could not imagine contending for our destiny based on guesswork. We, the taxpayers, are paying for our leaders’ salaries, allowances and all the funds at their disposal. If they fail, we suffer. It is not difficult to understand why Marcos Jr is reticent with media. The civil society has a long list to ask him to explain. It would help the electorate if COMELEC maintains the debate among the candidates rather than settle for one-on-one taped interview. For instance, he needs to disprove that his intellectual preparation is not enough for him to lead. The people need to know his strategy for economic recovery against the backdrop of the continuing pandemic crisis and more recently, the Ukraine-Russia conflict and everything else in its wake. The surveys seem to indicate that many are prepared to anchor their votes on TikTok and YouTube uploads that have been carefully decked for years. We lose if we cast our votes based on puttied image of some candidates. It would be a great disservice to our heroes of old to dismiss merit and honor as a badge of leadership in favor of urban legend about gold and the golden years of martial law. By all means, we should avoid building this nation on lies and disinformation, rather than on truth and facts. We need to decide on the real meaning of May 9. It is not just about Leni or Marcos Jr. It is what each of them represents in the past and implies for the future. What is at stake on May 9 is certainly bigger than both of them. John Arcilla certainly knows: “…Pag pinili mo ang bayan, kasama na roon ang iyong pamilya, kasama na roon ang iyong sarili, sapagkat pag ang bayan natin ay umunlad, uunlad tayong lahat. Pag ang bayan natin ay bumagsak, babagsak tayong lahat.” It is also crucial to safeguard the integrity of the election and its results. Less than two weeks before voting day, several issues still threaten the electoral process. For one, poll watchers were not allowed by COMELEC to observe 70% of the ballot printing operations according to the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL). If this report is true, the COMELEC is violating the Omnibus Election Code. NAMFREL was not alone in this experience; other poll watchers’ groups were also prevented from checking the regularity of the ballot printing process. Fake or not, COMELEC and the Philippine embassies and consulates should assure the community that the ballots used in the overseas voting of Filipinos are not pre-shaded, or the names of some candidates are not missing, or the stamps on the return mail are sufficient. This season is absolutely an excellent opportunity for the Filipinos to strengthen our democratic institutions and processes. 1Sambayan’s recent initiative is therefore a strong stand against further incurring democracy deficit in the Philippines. With Cornerstone Technologies, it launched a mobile election application that can empower every Filipino voter to “guard and protect” the public’s votes. HOPE or Honest Open Philippine Election app is now available for download on mobile phones for free on both GooglePlay and App Store. With this app, every Filipino becomes a poll watcher. This integrity act starts by taking pictures of the Election Returns (ER) required by law to be posted within the voting precinct premises. Anyone with HOPE app in his mobile phone can do this. If the ER has no hash code, it means the vote counting machine was tampered. These pictures will be automatically submitted by the app to the HOPE national counting center at the iAcademy Auditorium in Makati. They will be digitized and the results will be counted per local level up to the national level. It is also a quick count app, publicly available in HOPE and 1Sambayan websites, as the results are tallied on real time. Any tampering on any level will easily be discovered. Multiple submissions by the public and the official poll watchers will not result in multiple counting because the app has the algorithm to detect. Empowering the people should be the end goal of any good government. In the Philippines, this is not a tall order because of the enormous volunteerism that VP Leni has generated. This is the essence of lifting all the boats with the tide. This is why May 9 is a defining moment. Bayan, mamili ka!