Defective PCOS, Scary warlordism

HAPPY WEEKEND
Gina Dizon

Either the PCOS machine is patently defective, the persons manning the machines are ineffective or people manning these doing hocus pocus.

In Ma-ab abnot, Bunot, Paracelis, Sangguniang Bayan candidate Mike Assud complained he got zero votes when the ballot was fed into the machine for reading. He said it is impossible that such would happen when he come from the place itself. And what about the votes of his family and relatives? Where did these go?

The answer my friend is blowing in the wind. A similar comment is heard from presidential candidate Joseph Erap Estrada who bewailed that he lost in his own town at San Juan, Manila. In Addang precint, Paracelis, BEI officer Franklin Dulawon complained there is no antenna and modem in the Smartmatic kit to transmit the results from the polling precinct to the Municipal Board of Canvassers located at the Paracelis Municipal Hall.

And so with the other 41 clustered polling precincts. How could such thing happen? What does Smartmatic intend to do going against its avowed intentions for speedy transmittal of results with transmitting devises not included in the Smartmatic kits? The answer my friend again is blowing in the wind.

In this far flung municipality of Paracelis where it is notoriously known for ballot snatching and late submission of election returns in previous elections, the PCOS method has not made any change at all to warrant its existence. Election results came in late and protests are heard here over defective PCOS machines, acts of terrorism including the burning of a PCOS machine at Apalis and commotion in nearby Addang leading to the closing of the polling precinct and disenfranchisement of voters derailed the electoral exercise.

Worse, the PCOS machine in Addang was not properly sealed before it was transported to the MBOC with Scotch tape hanging loosely at the sides of the machine. Ballot sheets were unloaded from the machine, then fed into a different machine when the machine failed to read, then fed again in the original machine with a new compact flash card to record the same. In the process, the ballot sheets were already contaminated claimed mayoral candidate Ernesto Gunday.

A defective machine was also noted in Maducayan, Natonin where the machine shut down for unknown reasons. Batteries were installed but then, the machine again did not accept the votes. An electric generator finally made the PCOS machine function.

What credibility do these machines have now? Comelec should check these defects otherwise, the next elections would be derailed.

Comes now warlordism. In our beloved Mountain Province which has been recognized as having the Best Provincial Peace and Order Council in the country in 2004 and second best nationwide in 2008, warlordism has made these awards comical.

The recent arrest of three men in possession of high powered firearms and who are reportedly connected with congressional candidate incumbent governor Maximo Dalog makes it frustrating to think how an exercise of impunity despite the gun ban law could creep in our province with no less than the son of the governor and nephews of the wife of the governor alleged to be driving and riding in hot cars loaded with guns.

Comes now the supposed certification from the National Police Commission that one of the high powered fire arms confiscated is that of the governor’s. Where an investigation will lead that such gun belongs to the governor is real scary and frustrating a scene of setting a trend for political parties and people of this province to carry their own guns.

Nevertheless, my fertile imagination leads me to believe that the father of the province may be knowledgeable of the presence of guns in the three armed cars. It leads me further to believe that paranoia and the greed to hold power at all costs at the extent of holding guns and ammunition and violating the law is resorted to in order to ensure one’s victory in the polls.

This display of warlordism is scary, to think that it sets a trend to become like Abra or Ilocos Sur where violence and political-related killings happen at such pace with a victim becoming just a number added to statistics, due to culture of people in power possessing firearms.

Such a scenario is ridiculous. Who do we brandish guns to? Mountain Province is one big family where people are related by kinship either by consanguinity or affinity to each other. Mountain Province cannot afford such a culture of guns and impunity to happen. It cannot be like Abra. Definitely, it cannot be like an Ampatuan country.

Mountain Province having the best PPOC? I am not sure how true this is already.