WITH one day to go before election 2019, we hope and pray for peace and order to prevail.
Realistically, however, unfolding events do not sustain that hope. Changes being trumpeted to ensure clean and honest elections – as in “precinct count optical scanner” (PCOS) renamed “vote counting machine” (VCM) – are skin-deep, meant to erase our “hocus-PCOS” memories in past elections.
Falling on deaf ears are objections to the retention of Smartmatic as VCM provider and operator for allegedly doing “automated dagdag-bawas” manipulations of previous election returns in conspiracy with corrupt officials of the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Remember that the sudden resignation and departure of then Comelec chairman Andres Bautista abroad coincided with the filing of impeachment complaint against him for massive hacking of the Comelec website two months before election 2016.
Comelec has ignored pleas to stop the statistically unrealistic mind-conditioning senatorial surveys done by Social Weather Stations (SWS) and Pulse Asia despite the insistence of learned statisticians that their sample size of 1,200 respondents is as good as zero on a base of 50 million voters.
And now, for the first time come May 13, Comelec is denying the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (NAMFREL) access to election data. Whoa, no more watchdog! That would deprive us of a voice to challenge suspicious Comelec data.
On whose order, your guess is as good as ours.
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A good friend recently alerted us about a “reign of terror” showing in one of the cluster of islands of the municipality of Caluya, Antique.
He cited the case of Prescel de San Jose, a seaweed farmer and village councilor in Panagatan Island who claims “intimidation” by Caluya’s mayoral candidate May “Mai-mai” Tameta Lim and vice mayoral running mate/sister Janice Lim-Illao. They want Prescel and her family to vacate her home on a piece of land.
Prescel would not budge because no piece of the entire island belongs to Mai-mai, who is just a temporary dweller through tax declaration. The 25-hectare island is a public domain, a marine sanctuary recognized by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
Could the intimidation be politically-motivated because Mai-mai thinks Prescel supports her mayoral opponent? Mai-mai’s opponent is her first cousin Rigil Kent “Nonoy” Lim, brother of outgoing mayor Genevive Lim Reyes who is running for vice mayor.
The intimidation angle is not new and not confined to Prescel de San Jose’s family but to an entire group of seaweed farmers calling themselves Pag-iisa at Pagtataguyod ng Kasarinlan ng Tambalang Planters sa Panagatan. It was in June 2016 yet when they filed a complaint against May Tameta Lim before the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Caluya, Antique.
Yesterday, I called up Caluya municipal administrator Yaye Geroche for her opinion on whether a bigger politician is behind the actuation of Mai-mai. She said “no” because the “intimidation” had dragged since years before the present election period.
What Geroche confirmed, however, was that Mayor Genevive Lim Reyes and her brother Nonoy are campaigning for Sen. Loren Legarda for congresswoman of Antique. Loren is pitted against former congressman/governor Exequiel “Boy Ex” Javier, whom Reyes had supported in previous elections.
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What a timely gift from the Metropolitan Trial Court of Muntinglupa City!
For whatever reason – I haven’t read the decision – the court dismissed a case filed against former Health secretary Janette Garin over the “Dengvaxia homicide” by the Department of Justice.
The good news would surely boost the candidacy of Garin for congresswoman of Iloilo’s 1st District. It would support her claim that there is no connection between the deaths of dengue patients and their vaccination with Dengvaxia.
Congratulations go to her Ilonggo lawyers, namely Emmanuel Brotarlo and Noel Palomado. (hvego31@gmail.com/PN)
