SPECKS OF LIFE – How safe and clean are the 2016 polls?

A day after May 9, 2016, the Philippines will have elected a new president who will rule in authority for six years.
Since the 2010 balloting, when the first computerized elections were held, the issue about widespread cheating has not died down. Despite protestations and accusations from several IT experts, notable of which were those that came from former Comelec commissioner Gus Lagman himself, the poll body has remained dogmatic about its position.
(Lagman, whose posture did not please the appointing authority, was eased out consequently. His appointment was not renewed by Pres. Noynoy Aquino.)
The safeguards that were established by technology service provider Smartmatic did not appear impenetrable as the succeeding 2013 midterm elections were not themselves spared as several occasions of cheating and other irregularities were filed with Comelec.
There are persistent rumors circulating in political circles and in the grapevine that the forthcoming presidential contest will be marred by a sophisticated web of computerized cheating.
This would emerge as mind-boggling to those who are simple-minded but to those who have a good grasp of democratic governance, cheating of whatever form does not deserve even an iota of space in our existence.
Elections all over the world, whether in a democratic set-up or in semi-controlled atmospheres are the cornerstones of genuine governance for, of and by the people. Lives of martyrs and even inconsequential people – collateral damage as this is often called – are lost and wasted for its sake.
The hackers who recently entered into the Comelec website exemplified just how easy it is for IT nerds to penetrate the Comelec website despite poll officials’ vehement claims against hacking.
And to add credence, the international gambling syndicate who stole $81 million from the BanglaDesh Central Bank stored into its account with the New York Federal Reserve Bank proves without doubt that nothing prevents professional hackers from stealing information, secrets and monies from those who believe their websites are completely safe.
The rumors are machiavellian in shape, form and character and spread by word-of-mouth because there isn’t much documentation that can be gathered at the moment. We can only marvel at the grandiosity of the idea, however illusory it may seem because the protestations of Lagman and other IT experts are coming back to the fore.
The political surveys, at this point, may be of consequential help as they statistically pre-determine the heartbeat of the nation. If a candidate whose survey rating is way down below the totem pole suddenly arises from out of the blue to win the presidency, then it is logical to assume that his/her victory is something we have to doubt for its authenticity.
Who among the presidential horses want to win the race at all costs regardless of the consequences?
By the campaign messages they deliver to the electorate, we know who they are already. They woo the Filipino voters with promises made in heaven but realistically lacking in credibility and substance. They put up a front that will put to shame St. Teresa – mingling with the downtrodden, cuddling babies, hugging the poor and shaking the hands of the unshod and the illiterate.
Personally, I think the candidate who wants to win at all costs is the candidate who will brazenly attempt to thwart the will of the Filipino people. He/She will buy him/herself out of the deep hole that he/she is in because snatching the presidency is the only thing that matters.
Who was it who said that “vigilance is the price of liberty?” (Email your feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) God bless the Philippines!