Friday, June 18, 2004

I applauded Neal H. Cruz's today's Philippine Daily Inquirer Editorial/Opinion entitled, Tyranny of The Majority which he mentioned too many things related to what I understand and observed with the current situation in the country as far as the May 10 Polls is concerned. I'd thought earlier all media people are scared to discuss the truth behind massive disinformation campaign. I was really disgusted with the performance of the Senate and the Congress lately. You can really sense the "shared forces" are there, blocking every way possible, including media, to stop the opposition from exposing the truth to the public.

By June 30, if canvassing of votes does not meet the deadline and no president will be proclaimed, the Senate President, Franklin Drilon, will preside as acting President of the Philippines.

May God bless the Philippines! And, to Neal H. Cruz, your editorial is well-written, keep up the good work!!!

Sites To Read:
REPUBLIC ACT No. 7166: SYNCHRONIZED NATIONAL AND LOCAL ELECTIONS
RESULT OF CANVASSING OF ELECTION RETURNS
CONGRESS APPROVES CANVASSING RULES
THE SEARCH FOR DULY ELECTED PRESIDENT

For the record, here are some of the interesting issues he mentioned in his today's editorial:

• members of the majority in the joint committee doing the canvassing do not want to open the election returns to determine the authenticity of the numbers written on the provincial certificates of canvass (CoCs)
• the opposition claims the numbers in some CoCs do not tally with the totals of the election returns (votes for Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo were inflated while those for Fernando Poe Jr. were deflated).
• if there was no cheating and GMA really won, the election returns will show that.
• but hide those election returns and people will believe that GMA did steal the presidency from FPJ as she did earlier from his close friend Erap.
• GMA will then land in the Guinness Book of World Records as having stolen the presidency not only once but twice.
• Her supporters in Congress think they are being loyal to her but they don't realize that they are actually doing her a disservice -- if she had really won without cheating.
• By blocking every opposition move to make the canvassing more credible, they show how much they fear the election returns. You fear them only if they will show proof of cheating.
• The public is understandably fed up with the very slow count, and the blame is being heaped on the opposition, the canvassing is being delayed not by the opposition but by the fear of the administration to open the election returns.
• The excuse of those in the majority is that opening them would delay the canvassing and the proclamation of the new president, adding a threat of a power vacuum and chaos if no president is proclaimed by June 30, which is not true, and they know it.
• A delayed proclamation is better than proclaiming a bogus president.

Source: Inquirer Online Edition, Neil H. Cruz Editorial/Opinion