Ako Ang Simula

Para sa Pilipinas… WALA AKONG IHINALALAL NA SENADOR KAHIT ISA…nuong 2004 at 2010 eleksyon! At iyan ang gagawin ko habang hindi nagiging PARLIAMENTARYO ang systema ng ating gobyerno, sapagkat gusto ko ng kaunlaran at AKO ANG SIMULA NG PAGBA-BAGO!

IT’S ABOUT TIME TO CHANGE!

We have been using this Constitution for almost 25 years now and still we are wallowing in the quagmire of economic stagnation and political instability. The system did not help us attain economic growth and political stability.

We are at the bottom of the race for economic growth and political stability among our Asean neighbor…because our political arena consists of too many politicians, actors, actresses, etc. with their own personal agenda rather than a solid group of people representing their common advocacy through their party’s platform of government  thus moving towards the same direction.

All our progressive Asian neighbors are using Parliamentary form of government and we envy and often point to them as an ideal model. But we are so afraid to adapt their form of government!

Presidential form with bicameral legislative bodies works only in rich nations, like the USA, because it can afford the expenses/budgets of the Senate and Congress.

Nevertheless, most rich and developed European nations have Parliamentary form of government. We, a striving nation, CAN NOT AFFORD TO MAINTAIN TWO LEGISLATIVE BODIES!

One legislative body will save us the following and the saving from the budget of the senate could be used in creating job opportunities that would address the problem of unemployment which is one of the main causes of poverty.

In 2008 each senator receives:

• 35,000 = Monthly salary
• 2,000,000 = Monthly fixed budget
• 500,000 = Monthly Maintenance & Operating Expenses
• 500,000 = Monthly Staff & Personal Expenses
• 760,000 = Monthly Foreign Travel Expenses
• 1,000,000 = Committee Chairmanship
• 200,000,000 = Yearly CDF

For the CDF alone we could generate a saving of PhP28.8 billion. At PhP200M/yr CDF of the 24 Senators for six[6] years terms. Imagine the job opportunities this amount could generate.

Besides we have seen elected officials of both the Senate and Congress doing their own gimmicks to earn “pogi” points” notwithstanding the needs of their constituents. They have their own political and financial vested interests, changing their political colors for their own convenience.

This is the time for us to change our system of governance, a system that would stabilize our political environment which in turn would push our economy to grow.

A form of government where we will vote for the Economic and Political Programs of a party rather than the “personalities” of candidates.

Forget the ghosts of GMA or FEM, we have seen what a strong two-party-system in a unicameral body can do in achieving political stability and economic growth (Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Australia, Indonesia, South Korea, and Malaysia).

A unicameral assembly with a strong two-party-system is what we need if we want to be at par with our more progressive Asian neighbors.

Minority President

Before the last presidential election I asked this:

Aquino, Estrada, Gordon, Teodoro, Villanueva, Villar, if one of them became the president he will be the president of the more or less only 20% of the voting population. How about the remaining 80% who did not vote for him?

Are we going to allow to be ruled by the president of the minority? And if he is the president of the minority, how does he expect to implement his programs/plans of governance?

All of them promise to fight/eradicate corruption;

• ergo our GOVERNMENT is CORRUPT!

All of them promise to fight/eradicate poverty;

• ergo our PEOPLE are POOR!

All of them promise economic growth;

• ergo our ECONOMY is STAGNANT!

Nice promises, but not of them give us how he will make good his promises. How he will eradicate corruption, and poverty? What are his plans for economic growth?

Not one of them laid out the plans/steps to achieve his promised goals!

Why? Because for each of his promise, he would need a law to implement his program of government!  And if he is the president of the minority, how does he expect to push for the enactment of a law in a house/senate ruled by his opposing legislators? A house and a senate where every member has his own vested interest and/or agenda of power!

So what will happen to our country during his term? NOTHING!

And it would be another six (6) years of agonizing corruption, poverty, and economic stagnation!

This is the weakness of a presidential form of government where multi-party system exists!

And come to think of it,

• WE ENVIED OUR ASIAN NEIGHBORS AND ALWAYS LOOK AT THEM AS MODELS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DISCIPLINE.

But did anyone of us ever think that, our Asian neighbors like, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, and South Korea, has a parliamentary form of government!

A form of government where a strong two-party system exist; where the people vote for a party (NOT PERSONALITY!) with progressive platform of government; where political in-fighting is confined within the parliament; where people are disciplined because of the strong political will of government leaders to implement the laws.

• IF WE WANT TO EMULATE THEM, THEN LET US HAVE A PARLIAMENTARY FORM OF GOVERNMENT!

Why should we suffer corruption, poverty and economic stagnation when we can start the change NOW!

• LET US START BY VOTING A PRESIDENT WHO IS WILLING TO SACRIFICE HIS POSITION TO INITIATE THE TRANSFORMATION OF OUR FORM OF GOVERNMENT!

Last election I did not vote for any senator and I will do the same now;

• BECAUSE THEY ARE A DRAIN OF OUR FINANCIAL RESOURCES!

• ergo, WE DO NOT NEED THE SENATE!

In fact, one lady senator realized its uselessness and DARED ALL MEMBERS OF THE SENATE TO RESIGN!

• What a shame to realize it  just now because it has been there for TWENTY FOUR (24) YEARS!

And now that we are being led by a minority president and an OJT at that, it is about time to change the system of our governance. To achieve economic growth and political stability at par with our Asean neighbors, we have to adopt a Unicameral Legislative form of government.

THE CHANGE STARTS NOW AND IT BEGINS WITH ME!

Infinity

"Ask and IT will be given..."

THE SOURCE OF INFINITE WISDOM

Philippines – How to attain Economic Growth and Political Stability

Philippines – How to attain Economic Growth and Political Stability

We often heard the words “be patient with our President, he is just on his second year of office and still learning.”

The President has only a fixed term of six years to solve the problem of the country and to lead the country towards economic growth and political stability among others.

Hence, the office of the President is neither a classroom nor a training room where the sitting president will be taught how to perform the duties and responsibilities of the office of the president. Much more, the office of the President is not a workshop seminar room where the sitting president will be taught how to prepare short and long term program of works.

The person who occupies this office MUST, before hand, have the solutions to the problems of the country. He must bring in with him, all the short and long term program of works in achieving his mission and vision for the country.

So the question arises, what is his mission and vision for the country?

Compared with our Asian neighbors, where would he put our country after his six years term?

One of the President’s Men said, “No compelling reason to amend the constitution.” This shows the shortsightedness of this administration, its lack of foresight and real care for the future of the country.

Economic growth and political stability could be achieved if we would use a system of government that fits our needs, and that is, a Parliamentary Form of Government with a Unicameral Legislative Body.

We are the only country among ASEAN members who is using the Presidential form of government patterned after the USA. All our neighbors are using Parliamentary form of government and they have left us behind the race to economic growth and political stability, by leap and bounds.

We have been using the Presidential system for more than 25 years now and it doesn’t bring us to the promised growth.

How much longer shall we use this obsolete system that pushes us down political instability and economic retardation?

Why should we suffer corruption, poverty, political instability and economic stagnation when we can start the change NOW!

It is about time to make the painful change for the rebirth of our country.

WE OWE THIS CHANGE TO OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN!

What will happen to them, if we are not going to act now? Will they be like us, wishing and dreaming to be at par with their Asian neighbors?

 

TIME TO CHANGE

We owe it to our children and grandchildren……!

The recent hostage fiasco and now the on-going probe by the Incident Investigation and Review Committee (IIRC) shows it all; how an on-the-job-trainee (OJT) works in the office of the Chief Executive Officer.

The IIRC is now the lead player in the aftermath of the hostage crisis. It is so adept in explaining and interpreting the accounts of the resource persons. And it is tasked to produce an “assailable report” to the President.

The President’s question should be, where is DOJ during the hostage crisis?

From the start, Mendoza was demanding for the confirmation and/or reversal of his case with the Ombudsman. And negotiation for the release of the hostages should revolve within this framework. The demand involved legal issues which is the milieu of the DOJ.

Mendoza is not a terrorist asking for ransom or the freedom of political prisoners that would justify the use of SWAT and/or SAF.

All he wanted was justice to the perceived injustices done to him!

His simple demand makes me think aloud…

The DOJ could easily resolve the demand of Mendoza. Why was his demand not granted TO SAVE THE LIVES OF THE HONGKONG NATIONALS? And most probably the last option of using guns could have been averted thus there could have been no collateral damages!

What is more important, the LIVES OF THE HOSTAGES or the legal battle that would ensue after acceding to his demand?

At this point, it’s all hindsight, water under the bridge!

With what happened, how I wish to have a unilateral legislative body composed of strong two-party system, where one voice of “vote of no confidence” would make all inept and incompetent officials removed from their offices.

All our Asian neighbors have this form of government and look where they are now in terms of political stability and economic growth. We envy our Asian neighbors and look at them as model of progress. But we are so adamant in adapting their operating system (OS).

And the irony of it, was there was once a time when we were at par with Japan, and above the rest. Now, we are at the bottom of the group, into a pit where we are wallowing in the quagmire of political instability and economic retardation.

This makes me ask, are you not wondering why we stick to DOS, when there are better OS such as Microsoft Windows, Open Office, or Linus which are more user- friendly and readily available for us to be efficient and effective in doing our business?

We have been using this operating system for more than twenty (20) years now and still we are at the bottom pit compared to our Asian neighbors.

And now, because of the outmoded OS we are using; we are now governed and led by a new graduate without management and leadership ability doing the job of the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a multi-billion peso organization that needs to turn around! And this happened to us because of using an obsolete operating system that does not fit our needs.

And for the next six (6) years, we are going to bear the agony of being led and managed by an OJT who is at the helm of the office of the CEO!

How much longer shall we use this obsolete operating system that pushes us down political instability and economic retardation?

It is about time to make the painful change for the rebirth of our country.

Forget about GMA, she is a lame duck (she doesn’t have the numbers) as far as the Senate and House is concerned!

If we want to be at par with our progressive and developed Asian neighbors, we have to start making the necessary change NOW! This is our legacy to our children and grandchildren!

WHO AMONG YOU WOULD GIVE HIS/HER CHILD A DESKTOP WHEN ALL THE REST OF HIS/HER CLASSMATES ARE USING LAPTOPS AND NOTEPADS?

Stop hurling invectives to each other; let us move as ONE towards a single direction to achieve political stability and economic growth! Let us change our obsolete operating system into a more responsive one.

WE OWE THIS CHANGE TO OUR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN!

What will happen to them, if we’re not going to act now? Will they be like us, wishing and dreaming to be at par with their Asian neighbors?

HOSTAGE CRISIS – WHO’S TO BLAME?

In the aftermath of the Quirino Grandstand Fiasco, investigations are conducted here and there by every government agency including the senate and congress.

Fingers are pointing in every direction.

The nagging question – WHO’S TO BLAME?

Who’s to blame in this given scenario?

Scenario – Hostage Crisis

Implication – International repercussion any which way the crisis ends.

Players:

• Hostages – Tourists Hongkong nationals
• Hostage Taker – Ex-policeman
• Crisis Management Committee Head – Mayor
• Police SWAT
• Broadcast Media – TV and Radio
• Civilian onlookers

Situation:

• Hostages are tourist Hongkong nationals.
• Hostage taker is a police captain dismissed from the service, demanding speedy resolution of his case in the Ombudsman.
• THERE IS ONLY ONE hostage taker.
• Hostage taker could monitor the events happening outside the bus.
• The crisis is taking place inside a tourist bus in front of Quirino Grandstand in Luneta.
• Situation has an international implication any which way it ends.
• Media is everywhere, each doing its own ways in presenting the news. Some are even in direct communication with the hostage taker.
• Civilian onlookers are everywhere.

Issues:

• The hostage taker is a LONE ex-policeman demanding justice to the perceived injustices done to him by the Ombudsman.
• The hostage taker is NOT A TERRORIST.Where and/or to whom does the crisis committee reports?
• What are the action plans of the crisis management committee?
• Up to what extent the negotiator could accede to the demands of the hostage taker?
• When should the negotiator give up?
• When to use the SWAT?
• What are the acceptable collateral damages?
• Why was the media allowed to take live footage of the “handcuffing” of the brother of the hostage taker?
• Why was the civilian onlookers allowed to approached the bus after the shooting?

News Item: Noynoy: Heads will roll over hostage rescue lapses (Philstar; 31 August 2010)
“But again, at the end of the day I’m commander-in-chief, I was in touch with (Philippine National Police) Director General (Jesus) Verzosa, I asked who the ground commander was, I was informed it was (Manila Police District director Chief Superintendent Rodolfo) Magtibay. I was also informed that the NCRPO (National Capital Region Police Office) was there to back up Magtibay, I was informed that the SAF (Special Action Forces) would be the primary unit tasked in case there was a need to employ the final option. A lot of these things did not happen…why exactly the assurances given to me were not done, and that is where I will show you corrective action this week,” Mr. Aquino said.

From these statements of the President, it is clear he knew what’s happening and the focus of the rescue operation evolves in the use of police force to save the hostages with a justified collateral damages. The president was assured by the PNP that this is the best they could do to save the lives of the hostages.

However, from the onset of the crisis, it’s a pity that:

• Nobody among the president’s men advised him of the international repercussion the crisis would bring any which way it ends.
• Nobody advised him collateral damage IS NOT ACCEPTABLE because of the adverse international impact it would bring to the country.
• Nobody advised him the lives of hostage Hongkong nationals SHOULD BE SAVED AT ALL COST!
• Nobody advised him the crisis could be solved without the use of guns.

Nevertheless, even in the absence of these advisers, an experience and decisive leader would initiate the basic management resolutions for a crisis with this magnitude and he would immediately:

• Convene all his men (DFA, DOJ, DILG, DND, etc) for crisis assessment and brainstorming of solutions.
• Assign a point man between him and the ground commander, if he does not want to do it.
• Choose the course of action that would save all the hostages AT ALL COST.
• Decide and implement the chosen course of action.
• Take the responsibility whatever the result might be.

All of these could have been done before that fatal handcuffing incident. Where were the president’s men when he needed them most!

With this scenario, Mr. President, whose head should roll?

HOW TO STOP THE FLOOD

HEADLINE: MMDA to Buy Boats, CCTV Cameras for Rainy Season. And just recently, news showing various equipment for rescue operation were paraded.

This just shows how our government thinks and prepares solutions to the problem of our country.

Our government programs and/or policies are focused toward spending (source of graft and corruption) to REMEDY AND/OR CURE THE SYMPTOMS/EFFECTS RATHER THAN STOP AND/OR CURE THE CAUSE.

Instead of spending for these reactive measures, why not spend on the design and development of a Metro Manila flood control structures and/or system that would PREVENT FLOOD.

The government should initiate and/or develop solutions that would have long term effect.

Metro Manila is provided by nature with natural waterways in and around it. All we have to do is rehabilitate these waterways. Develop a flood control system out of these natural waterways.

Sadly these natural water ways slowly or totally disappeared, like the creek which is now Fernando Street in barangay Pio del Pilar, Makati City.

And with regard to the development of existing natural water ways as integral part of a macro flood control system a good example will be the Medina Creek at Barangay Pio del Pilar, in Makati City.

Allegedly the city of Makati cannot rehabilitate nor develop this creek because the responsibility is in the hands of the national government (bureaucracy!). And because of this bureaucracy, Pio del Pilar is flooded every time it rains.

During regular rains, flood in this area is chest deep.

MMDA could rehabilitate the Medina Creek make it wider and deeper similar to Amorsolo Creek. Once MMDA has done this, I am confident Pio del Pilar will never be flooded.

And this could be done to other natural waterways within Metro Manila.

Doing this, MMDA would only spend ONCE and CURE THE CAUSE rather than the effect;

THUS, MMDA STOPS THE FLOOD INSTEAD OF FIGHTING THE FLOOD!

ELITE STRIKE FORCE

News Headline:

Government to Form Elite Strike Force vs Hostage Takers

Here’s another case of “knee reaction.” What they called in gun club circle as “utak pulbura” shoot now ask question later. Where the only acceptable action to achieve an objective is through the use of bullets!

I don’t have anything against forming an elite strike force to handle a hostage situation where the hostage takers are TERRORISTS whose lives are ruled by the barrel of guns.

But for similar Quirino Grandstand (QG) fiasco, where a lone hostage taker is demanding justice for alleged injustice done to him, negotiation for a win-win situation should be the only course of action.

NOT AN “ELITE STRIKE FORCE” WHERE COLLATERAL DAMAGE IS ALWAYS A POSSIBILITY! Like what happened in the QG fiasco.

What the government should form for a similar QG fiasco is a crisis team management headed by a decisive, logical thinking leader with high level of authority. A leader who could give his negotiator the authority to grant the demands of the hostage taker.

Again, I am not claiming to be an expert, but in the last QG fiasco a win-win situation could have been achieved if SOMEBODY asked or FORCED (to save the lives of the hostages and hostage taker) the Ombudsman to reverse its decision against Mendoza.

The President through the DOJ could order this. And after his surrender, the DOJ could throw all the legal books on him.

Ergo, no deaths (collateral damage), no adverse international repercussion, and we hide our dirty linens from the eyes of the international community!

Please, no more “utak pulbura!”

QUIRINO GRANDSTAND FIASCO – WHAT WENT WRONG?

Lack of funds, lack of equipment, lack of training, lack of coordination, lack of an “elite strike force”, lack of etc…. were the reasons why the hostage taking drama ended into a tragedy.

These are not acceptable reasons in any failed operation, military, police or otherwise. Especially when the situation involves foreign national, that any which way it ends will surely have an international repercussion.

And now, its finger pointing, investigations here and there and senate inquiry in aid of legislation (pogi points?). What we are doing now is showing our dirty linens to the international community! l

I am thinking aloud and wonder, with all the president’s men around him, nobody was able to advice him to exhaust all peaceful efforts!

I believe the situation should not be left to the ground commander alone. More so, this type of hostage crisis should not be put in the hands of an “elite strike force” because these guys are trained in the use of guns to achieve their objectives.  And more often than not, collateral damages cannot be avoided when these forces are used in rescue operations.

Besides, the situation does not involved hard core terrorists whose lives are ruled by the barrel of the guns that would justify the use of an “elite strike force.”

Hence the situation should not be left in the hands of the ground commander, who only thinks of guns as tools or politicians who want to earn pogi points.

How about negotiation without the use of guns?

What we forget is the use of logic in saving the lives of the hostages.

Considering, the situation involves a LONE hostage taker who demands justice to the perceived injustices done to him.

A scenario; where a determined LONE hostage taker is ready to die if his demands are not met. A scenario involving hostages of foreign nationalities hence, any which way it ends, will have an international repercussion.

The crucial objective should be to save the lives of the hostages and possibly the hostage taker at all costs because of the international repercussion it would bring any which way the crisis ends.

I believe, what we lack during the tragic incident is decisive leadership with logical mind set that should be on top of the situation.

The crisis management committee should have been headed by at least Secretary-level-of-authority, if not the President himself.

I do not claim to be an expert, but ideally the situation calls for a crisis management committee headed by the Secretary of Justice, or the National Defense, or the DLIG or the President himself who could give the negotiator the broad scope of negotiating authority and give his negotiator what he needs.

The President, or the Secretary of Justice, or DND, or DILG is the person who have the authority to ask or to FORCE the Ombudsman to reverse its decision, and reinstate Mendoza.  And after his surrender, the DOJ could file illegal detention case against him and other violations that could be thought of that would put him in jail for a long time.

This way, the gunfight will be shifted into legal issues (interpretation of laws and NOT EXCHANGE OF BULLETS) and the battle and confrontation will be transferred in the court of justice.

Ergo, we wash our dirty linens in the privacy of our court of justice.

Most of all, this would surely save the lives of the hostages and Mendoza.

And the Philippines will save face in the eyes of the international community.

Clearly, what went wrong in the Quirino Grandstand fiasco is the lack of a decisive, logical leader who should be on top of the situation with one primary objective: to save the lives of the hostages and avert the ridicules of the international community. A leader whose tools include logic, diplomatic tact and who would exhausts all peaceful efforts of negotiation before resorting to SWAT operation.

Nevertheless, the Quirino Grandstand fiasco is not the fault of Mendoza, neither the police nor the President, IT IS OUR FAULT!

We are the ones who elected the leaders we want to govern us.

And we deserve the government that we choose.

POST ANALYSIS OF CHEATING IN THE AUTOMATED COUNTING AND TRANSMISSION OF VOTES OF THE MAY 10, 2010 ELECTION.

The nation has just passed through a very important milestone in its history.

The first automated counting and electronic transmission of votes have moved the nation one notch up the information technology and there should be NO TURNING BACK!

In spite of the generally accepted credible election, the nation is divided by the pros and cons and by the experts and what-have-you.

The cons preferred to have the old way of counting votes, that is, manual. Allegations of massive cheating through vote buying and shaving/adding of votes are forwarded by everyone from every corner.

Allegations such as:

1. Pre-programed memory card of the PCOS machines;
2. Transmission of election data prior to election; and
3. Shaving/adding of votes by COMELEC Officials for a fee.

While others are all praises to the automated process of counting the votes and electronic transmission of election returns.

Nevertheless, any which way we look at what happened, it is a common knowledge that any new process or system undergoes several glitches along the way to perfection. These glitches and/or bugs in the system are eventually corrected in the debugging process.

Along this line of thought, let us look carefully at all the stages of the process flow of the automated counting and electronic transmission of votes. It is only then that we could analyze and identify the stages where the possible cheating, glitches and/or system bugs could occur.

There are five (5) stages in the process of flow of the automated counting of votes and electronic transmission of tallied votes, these are the following:

1. Stage I: Precinct Level – Manual casting of votes and automated counting of votes by the Precinct Counter Optical Scanner (PCOS) machines.
2. Stage II: Precinct Level – PCOS Electronic transmission of Precinct Election Returns (PER) to the Municipal Servers through the Data Processing Center (DPC).
3. Stage III: Municipal Level – Tallying of PER into Statement of Votes (SOV) and electronic transmission of SOV to the Provincial Servers through the DPC.
4. Stage IV: Provincial Level – Tallying of SOV into Certificate of Canvass (COC) and electronic transmission of COC to the COMELEC Servers through the DPC.
5. Stage V: Provincial Level – Delivery of memory cards and printed COC to the National Board of Canvasser (NBC).

FIRST STAGE – PRECINCT LEVEL:

Initially, let us look at what happened at the first stage of the process flow, that is, at the precinct level. Figure 1 below shows Stage I of the process flow.

Figure 1 – Stage I: Precinct Level – Manual Casting and Automated Counting of Votes.

Figure 1 – Stage I: Precinct Level – Manual Casting and Automated Counting of Votes.

At the precinct level voters manually filled up the ballots and fed into the Precinct Counter Optical Scanner (PCOS) machines. The processes are as follow:

Process:

1. Voters filled up the ballots and fed into the PCOS machine for processing;
2. If the ballot is not good, it is rejected by the PCOS and the votes are not counted;
3. If the ballot is good, it is accepted by the PCOS and the votes are collated and tallied;
4. The collated ballots and tallied votes are stored the PCOS memory card;
5. After all ballots are collated and counted, the Chairman of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI) will print the Precinct Election Returns from the PCOS machines;
6. After printing the PER, the PCOS will be connected to a modem, by a representative of SMARTMATIC, using the Subscriber Identity Module(SIM) card of either SMART or GLOBE, depending the strongest signal available and electronically transmit the election data to the Data Processing Center (DPC) which could either be SMART or GLOBE; and
7. The DPC then electronically receives and transmits the election data, PER, to the Municipal Servers.

Issues of concern:

1. Is the PCOS memory card clean?
2. Is the total number of rejected and good ballots equal the total number of voters who voted in the particular cluster of precincts?
3. Who is accountable for the safekeeping of the printed Election Returns (PER) and the PCOS memory cards?
4. Is there a way to authenticate that the printed PERs are the real content of the PCOS memory card?
5. Is the SIM clean?
6. Who is accountable for the safekeeping of the SIM cards that was used in the transmission of the election data?
7. Is the DPC clean?
8. Is the DPC programmed ONLY TO RECEIVE AND SEND DATA?
9. Is the DPC dedicated to RECEIVE DATA ONLY FROM AUTHENTICATED SIM CARDS of the PCOS machines and transmits the same data only to authenticated SIM cards of City/Municipal Servers?
10. Is the DPC allowed to receive data prior the start of election date and/or closing election time?
11. What is the control mechanism of COMELEC to the electronic data transmission of the DPC?

SECOND STAGE – PCOS ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF ELECTION DATA TO MUNICIPAL SERVERS

Figure 2 below shows how the election data, PER, from every cluster precinct are electronically transmitted to the Municipal Servers via the DPC.

Figure 2 – Stage II: Electronic Transmission from PCOS to Municipal Servers

Figure 2 – Stage II: Electronic Transmission from PCOS to Municipal Servers

Process:

1. Election data (PER) from various PCOS machines are electronically transmitted to the Municipal Servers through the DPC;
2. The Municipal Servers receive and collate the PER from the DPC;
3. The votes from PER are tallied and collated by the servers of the Municipal/City canvasser;
4. The tallied PERs are stored in the memory card of the Municipal/City Servers as Statement of Votes (SOV);
5. The Statement of Votes (SOV) are then printed;
6. The City or Municipal Canvasser proclaims the winning candidates for Congressman, Mayor, Vice Mayor and Councilors; and
7. The SOV are electronically transmitted to the Provincial Servers via the DPC.

Issues of concern:

1. Are the memory card and/or hard disk of the City and Municipal Servers clean?
2. Is the SIM card of each City and/or Municipal Server clean?
3. Can the SIM card accept electronic data (PER) from other sources outside of DPC?
4. Who is accountable for the safekeeping of the printed SOV, memory cards and SIMs that was used in the transmission of the election data?
5. Is the DPC clean?
6. Is the DPC programmed ONLY TO RECEIVE AND SEND DATA?
7. Is the DPC dedicated to RECEIVE DATA ONLY FROM AUTHENTICATED SIM CARDS of the PCOS machines and transmits the same data only to authenticated SIM cards of City/Municipal Servers?
8. Is the DPC allowed to receive data prior the start of election date and/or closing election time?
9. What is the control mechanism of COMELEC to the electronic data processing and/or transmission at the DPC?

THIRD STAGE – ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF ELECTION DATA, SOV, FROM THE CITY/MUNICIPAL SERVERS TO PROVINCIAL SERVERS

Figure 3 below shows the electronic process flow of transmitting election data, SOV, from the City/Municipal Servers to the Provincial Servers.

Figure 3 – Stage III: Electronic Transmission from Municipal Servers to Provincial Servers

Figure 3 – Stage III: Electronic Transmission from Municipal Servers to Provincial Servers

Process:

1. Election data, SOV, from various Cities and Municipalities are electronically transmitted to the Provincial Servers via DPC;
2. The Provincial Servers receive and collate the election data, SOV, from the DPC;
3. The votes from SOV are tallied and collated by the servers of the Provincial canvasser;
4. The tallied SOV are stored and saved in the memory card of the Provincial Servers as Certificate of Canvass (COC);
5. The Provincial Canvasser proclaims the winning candidates for Governor, Vice Governor and Board Members; and
6. The Certificate of Canvass (COC) are printed and electronically transmitted to the COMELEC Servers via the DPC.

Issues of concern:

1. Are the memory card and/or hard disk of the Provincial Servers clean?
2. Is the SIM card of each Provincial Server clean?
3. Can the SIM card accept electronic data (SOV) from other sources outside of DPC?
4. Who is accountable for the safekeeping of the printed COC, memory cards, and SIM cards that was used in the provincial canvassing?
5. Is the DPC clean?
6. 6. Is the DPC programmed ONLY TO RECEIVE AND SEND DATA?
7. Is the DPC dedicated to RECEIVE DATA ONLY FROM AUTHENTICATED SIM CARDS of City/Municipal Servers and transmits the same data only to authenticated SIM cards of Provincial Servers?
8. Is the DPC allowed to receive data prior the start of election date and/or closing election time?
9. What is the control mechanism of COMELEC to the electronic data transmission of the DPC?

FOURTH STAGE – ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF ELECTION DATA, COC, FROM THE PROVINCIAL SERVERS TO THE COMELEC  SERVER

Figure 4 below shows the process flow of electronic transmission of election data, COC, from the Provincial Servers to the COMELEC Servers.

Figure 4 – Stage IV: Electronic Transmission from Provincial Servers to COMELEC Servers

Figure 4 – Stage IV: Electronic Transmission from Provincial Servers to COMELEC Servers

Process:

1. The Certificate of Canvass (COC) from various Provinces are electronically transmitted to the COMELEC Servers via DPC;
2. The COMELEC Servers receive and collate the COC from the provinces;
3. The COC are tallied and collated by the servers of the COMELEC canvasser;
4. The election data are stored in the memory card of the COMELEC Servers;
5. The COMELEC prints the collated and tallied COC; and
6. The COMELEC Canvasser proclaims the winning candidates for Senators and Party List.

Issues of concern:

1. Are the memory card and/or hard disk of the COMELEC Servers clean?
2. Is the SIM card of the COMELEC Server clean?
3. Can the SIM card accept electronic data (SOV) from other sources outside of DPC?
4. Who is accountable for the safekeeping of the SIMs that was used in the transmission of the election data?
5. Is the DPC clean?
6. 6. Is the DPC programmed ONLY TO RECEIVE AND SEND DATA?
7. Is the DPC dedicated to RECEIVE DATA ONLY FROM AUTHENTICATED SIM CARDS of Provincial Servers and transmits the same data only to authenticated SIM cards of the COMELEC Servers?
8. Is the DPC allowed to receive data prior the start of election date and/or closing election time?
9. What are the control mechanism of COMELEC to the electronic data processing and/or transmission of the DPC?

FIFTH STAGE – MANUAL DELIVERY OF MEMORY CARDS AND PRINTED COC FROM THE PROVINCIAL CANVASSERS TO THE NATIONAL BOARD OF CANVASSER (NBC)

Figure 5 below shows the process flow of manual delivery of the printed Certificate of Canvass (COC) and memory cards from the different Provinces to the National Board of Canvasser (NBC).

The NBC is the joint committee of senate and congress consisting of nine senators and nine congressmen.

Figure 5 – Stage V: Manual Transmission from Provincial Servers to NBC

Figure 5 – Stage V: Manual Transmission from Provincial Servers to NBC

Process:

1. A joint committee of nine (9) senators and nine (9) congressmen will be formed and act as the National Board of Canvasser (NBC);
2. The Certificate of Canvass (COC) and memory cards from various Provinces are manually delivered to the NBC;
3. The printed COC from the provinces will be compared with data from the memory cards of the Provincial servers;
4. If the COC and the data from the memory cards are the same, the COC will be tallied by the NBC canvasser, if not, both will be set aside for deliberation;
5. The NBC prints the tallied COC; and
6. The NBC will proclaim the winning candidates for the President and Vice President based on the result of the tallied COC.

Issues of concern:

1. Are the memory cards of the Provincial Servers clean?
2. Who is accountable for the safekeeping of the printed COC, memory cards, and SIM cards that was used in the provincial canvassing?
3. Are the data inside the memory cards are the same with the printed COC?
4. Are these the real printed COC and memory cards from the provinces?

GENERAL OVERVIEW

Figure 6 shows the general overview of the whole process flow.

Figure 6 – General Overview of the Process Flow of Electronic Transmission of Election Data

Figure 6 – General Overview of the Process Flow of Electronic Transmission of Election Data

From the PCOS machines of the different cluster precincts the votes are tallied and printed as Precinct Election Returns (PER). The PER are electronically transmitted to the city or municipal servers. The Municipal Canvassers then tallied the PER and printed as the Statement of Votes (SOV) for the particular City or Municipality. The City or Municipality proclaimed the winning candidates for Congressmen, Mayors, Vice Mayors and Councilors base on the SOV.

The SOV are electronically transmitted from the cities and municipalities to the Provincial Servers. The Provincial Canvassers tallied the SOV and printed as the Certificate of Canvass (COC). The Provincial Canvasser proclaimed the winning candidates for Governor, Vice Governor and Board Members based on the COC.

The COC are electronically transmitted to the COMELEC. Based on the tallied COC, the COMELEC proclaims the winning Senators and Party List.

Later, the COC and memory cards of the various provinces will be brought to NBC for canvassing. Based on the tallied COC, the NBC will proclaim the winning President and Vice President.

Note that the COMELEC receives all electronically transmitted election data, PER, SOV, and COC from the start of the process and sends it to all accredited servers.

After the completion of each stage on the process flow of the automated counting and electronic transmission of election data, PER, SOV and COC, what are the control systems of the COMELEC to safeguard the printed PER, SOV, and COC together with the memory cards and SIM cards used at each stage of the system?

HOW CHEATING COULD HAPPEN:

Stage 1 and 2:

1. PCOS memory card are pre-programed to tally different votes.
2. The SIM card used contained different data.
3. The DPC could accept data prior to the closing time of the election.
4. The DPC would accept data from any SIM card.
5. The DPC could tally election data.
6. The COMELEC has no control system on the electronic data processing and/or transmission within the DPC.

Stage 3:

1. The memory card and/or hard disk of the City and Municipal Servers already contain election data.
2. The memory card and/or hard disk of City and Municipal Server are pre-programed to tally different election returns.
3. The SIM card of the City and Municipal servers are allowed to receive data from different sources besides the DPC and the SIM card already contained different data.
4. The SIM cards can accept election data prior the election date and closing time.
5. The DPC could accept data prior to the closing time of the election.
6. The DPC would accept data from any SIM card.
7. The DPC could tally election data.
8. The COMELEC has no control system on the electronic data processing and/or transmission within the DPC.

Stage 4:

1. The memory card and/or hard disk of the Provincial Servers already contain election data.
2. The memory card and/or hard disk of Provincial Server are pre-program to tally different election returns.
3. The SIM card of the Provincial servers are allowed to receive data from different sources other than the DPC and the SIM card already contained different data.
4. The SIM cards can accept election data prior the election date and closing time.
5. The DPC could accept data prior to the closing time of the election.
6. The DPC would accept data from any SIM card.
7. The DPC could tally election data.
8. The COMELEC has no control system on the electronic data processing and/or transmission within the DPC.

Stage 5:

1. The memory card and/or hard disk of the Provincial Servers already contain election data.
2. The memory card and/or hard disk of Provincial Server are pre-programed to tally different election returns.
3. The delivered memory cards and printed COC are not the real ones.

ANALYSIS:

Cheating, through shaving and adding of votes, could happen if there is a COMELEC and/or SMARTMATIC Officials involved, since all electronic paraphernalia, such as PCOS machines, SIM cards, and Memory Cards are controlled by the COMELEC and, in a way by, SMARTMATIC.

Outside of COMELEC, cheating could happen within the DPC.

At all stages, except Stage 5, of the electronic transmission of election data, there are four (4) possible ways of cheating that would be beyond the control of COMELEC and the site where this happens is common to all stages of the whole process flow of the electronic transmission of election data.

These four (4) possible ways of cheating are the following:

1. Items 3, 4, 5 & 6 of Stage 1 &2; and
2. Items 5, 6, 7 & 8 of Stages 3 & 4.

Figure 6 shows that the four (4) possible ways of cheating where votes could be shaved or added occurs at the same site of the electronic process flow, that is, within the DPC.

The electronic data processing and/or transmission at this site, is in a way, beyond the control of the COMELEC.