On Open Election System

Another kind of 'hybrid' COMMONSENSE By Marichu A. Villanueva Updated March 02, 2009 12:00 AM

There’s a different kind of “hybrid” system, with manual vote counting but automated canvassing that perhaps could be feasibly adopted in the Philippines for the coming May 2010 national elections. Such a proposal was presented by former Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Christian Monsod before the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines at their plenary held January in Manila .

At the end of his presentation at the CBCP, at least 39 bishops signed a manifesto endorsing this “hybrid” system of automated cum manual elections as a better and more cost-efficient poll counting and canvassing system. Monsod calls it as the open election system and refuses to describe it as a kind of “hybrid” election system. Nonetheless, Monsod’s OES was endorsed by the CBCP to the Comelec for adoption under its poll automation program.

National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales noted Monsod’s proposal could be a better alternative than the “hybrid” poll scheme proposal by the House of Representatives. This is because, he pointed out, it squarely addresses the “cheating” concerns aired by both camps of the administration and opposition, especially those running for the May 2010 national and local elections.

He maybe a Cabinet member of President Arroyo but Gonzales believes Monsod’s alternative “hybrid” system of election is more acceptable than the Palace-backed fully automated polls. Gonzales, who heads his own Partido Demokratiko- Sosyalista ng Pilipinas (PDSP), animatedly explained this to us when I bumped into him along with former House Speaker Jose de Venecia during the wake of the mother of Paraña-que City Rep.Roilo Golez Friday night at Mt. Carmel Church in Quezon City .

Thus, Gonzales got a ribbing from Golez and De Venecia that if he really is a staunch supporter of Monsod's OES , as the National Security Adviser he should start it first at the home grounds and convince his boss at the Palace to endorse the Monsod scheme. Unfortunately, Gonzales ruefully admitted, he is also unsuccessful with his Cabinet peers to join him in this crusade.

Monsod estimated the OES would only cost the government between P2 to P4 billion at the most compared to the P11.3 billion that Comelec wants for its poll automation. Given the shortened timetable that the Comelec would have to prepare for the automated polls, there is merit on Monsod’s proposal as some kind of a good transition period to full automation after its test run in 2010.

The full automation program of the Comelec would adopt an optical mark reader (OMR) from voting to canvassing to transmission of results of the entire national and local elections.
Monsod’s ‘hybrid’ proposal is to do the manual voting and counting at the precinct level but the vote canvassing and transmission of election results from the town to the municipal to the provincial all the way up to the national at the Comelec central office in Manila would be computerized. But only one system will be used for all the candidates. This Monsod says would conform with the requirements of Comelec at definitely much lower cost.

Monsod’s idea is to take advantage of the open access election system whereby the general public can closely monitor the poll canvassing through the internet. This is unlike the computer technology of the Comelec which is a “registered” system and therefore its use and access is restricted. The “hybrid’ proposal of Monsod is more transparent as this would allow the public to closely monitor the election process so the people can just use their computer internet access to click to the Comelec canvassing site at the comforts of their homes or offices or at internet cafes.
Opposition Representatives led by Golez, meanwhile, have proposed a “hybrid” system of elections in lieu of the fully automated polls being strongly pushed by both the Comelec and the Palace. In the House-proposed “hybrid” system, there would be two systems of elections.

They want the voting and canvassing of the local polls done manually while the automated electoral process would be applied to senatorial, vice presidential, and presidential candidates.
The House had reportedly pre-conditioned the approval of Comelec”s P11.3 billion supplemental budget for poll automation to a companion bill that would apply a “hybrid” system of elections. Comelec officials led by its chairman, retired Supreme Court Associate Justice Jose Melo warned against the House “hybrid” proposal as something that could bring back the ghosts of the “Hello, Garci” election fraud scandal. Melo is afraid that too much human intervention in the election process would not be eliminated if the manual election process would still be used in the 2010 polls.

But during the House hearing on the poll automation budget, Golez found to his dismay that some of the Comelec commissioners may not be even computer-literate. This he sensed when none of the Comelec commissioners even has an e-mail address when he queried them to test them if they understand anything about computer technology.

Golez is willing to consider the “hybrid” election system of Monsod. However, the National Movement for Free Elections have been pushing for Comelec to adopt its full automation. Gonzales expressed disappointment that Namfrel chairperson, former Ambassador Henrietta “Tita” De Villa gave all-out support for the full automation of the Comelec.

It would not be surprising for her to support this because De Villa, who also heads the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), sits as a member of the Comelec advisory council on poll automation. Lately, however, Melo has taken an open mind to consider Monsod's OES. Surely, this would make Namfrel-PPCRV shift to re-think her position on the matter.
Congress is set to adjourn for their Lenten break this week and sessions would resume on April 12. Press Secretary Cerge Remonde strongly indicated President Arroyo is open to call for “special sessions” of Congress to ensure the passage into law of the poll automation budget. The Comelec chief had earlier moved back their timeline for the approval of the supplemental budget to April 2.

In the meantime, a decision has to be made now on the “hybrid” or fully automated system of elections.