Ducky Paredes

Malaya (05.30.07)

“If it can be proven that the Maguindanao tally for the national vote for the Senate has been compromised, there is only one way to resolve this – call for a special election for Maguindanao. Chances are, in that case, Migz would still win!”

by Ducky Paredes

It comes as no surprise that Administration Team Unity candidate Juan Miguel “Migz” Zubiri is slowly emerging as the winner in the tabulation of votes in Maguindanao and would most likely overtake the lead of Genuine Opposition (GO) bet Aquilino “Koko” Pimentel III for the last spot in the senatorial race.
In the initial tallies by the special provincial board of canvassers three days ago, Zubiri already had a total of 127,039 votes from 16 of the 22 towns of the province, while Pimentel only had 45,678. That’s a ratio of 2.78 Zubiri votes for every one for Pimentel.
The Commission on Elections (Comelec), however, will not be proclaiming Zubiri as the 12th senator even if he wins in Maguindanao and in the national total. There is the Supreme Court to answer to. The Supreme Court has been asked to exclude votes of Maguindanao by Pimentel. The reason is obvious. Pimentel knows that including the Maguindanao votes will result in a Zubiri win!
The reason he gives the SC, however, is that these votes have been compromised and may well not be votes cast by Maguindanao voters at all.
The SC, however, wants Pimentel to prove his allegations and support these with facts or evidence. The Court also wants to hear what the Comelec has to say about this. It even wants to hear what Migz Zubiri thinks. This is as it should be.
In our system of balloting, every vote counts. Unlike in some systems (as in U.S. Presidential elections where individual votes count only as far as deciding how many electoral votes one receives in the electoral college or in other systems of voting where one’s votes matter only if it is part of the majority vote (50%+1), in our system, every single vote counts and must be counted.
We spend millions, for instance, to capture less than 100,000 votes from our OFWs. So, how can we so cavalierly leave the votes of one whole province like Maguindanao uncounted and excluded from the final tally? That makes no sense at all.
Our elections are imperfect. There is cheating and miscounting. But, giving in to fears of losing and unproven allegations is not the way to go. What is needed is wholesale reform not bad decisions that will only lead to further unfairness. In the meantime, bad as they are, we have to go with the imperfect elections that we have and abide by their results.
Clearly, there is no justice in excluding the results of one whole province just to make a Senator’s son win. That would set back our electoral system by several decades and can only lead to even worse elections in the future. If it can be proven that the Maguindanao tally for the national vote for the Senate has been compromised, there is only one way to resolve this – call for a special election for Maguindanao. Chances are, in that case, Migz would still win!
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Two events are awaited here in the U.S. as I write this prior to boarding the Philippine Air Lines flight back to Manila. (I am expected in Manila on Friday at around two in the afternoon. I leave here Thursday at a little past 9 in the morning. The flight is only 10 hours but there is an 18-hour time difference between here and there,)
The first one – which leaves me totally cold is the expected announcement that the Spice Girls will reunite and do concerts around the world. This was a group of singers who, frankly were better seen and not heard. Victoria Adams, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm, Geri Halliwell and Emma Bunton were some of the best-looking four females ever gathered on one stage starting in 1994 but could they sing?
I never really knew nor could I tell who was who among them. I never could tell who was Posh Spice, Scary Spice, Sporty Spice, Baby Spice or Ginger Spice although Ginger was the first to leave which led to the final dissolution of the group. They simply looked good enough to add spice to any occasion. As for their voices, it was no secret that these were digitally enhanced. Computers corrected their sound; thus, if it was singing that one was after, the Spice girls were no treat at all. Going to a Spice Girls performance for the music was like taking a blind man to “watch” a beauty contest.
Thus, good luck to them and to what fans they may still have. They certainly were a treat for the eyes as teen-agers. Now that they are in their thirties, they may still look great but the world has probably moved on to better things.
(By the way, we had our own spice boys, too. Young congressmen in the 11th Congress (1988) — Rolando Andaya, Miguel Zubiri, Oscar Moreno, Robert “Ace” Barbers, Ricky Zandoval, Joseph “Ace” Durano, Mike Defensor, and Hernani Braganza.– were very prominent in the impeachment trial of Joseph Estrada. One doubts, considering their current situations, whether this Spice group will ever get together again. In this case, too, the Philippines has moved on, away from the silliness of the Spice Boys period.)
The other event that I would have loved to witness is the actual launch of the IPhone, Apple’s latest product, that, according to industry commentators, will be a bit steep for the American consumers at $499 for the 4GB model and $599 for the 8GB.
Is that steep? That’s only P22,494 and P27,554 (at P46 to a dollar) which a lot of us have paid for lesser phones from other makers, without the storage, calling, Internet, photo and other capabilities of the IPhone. This phone has no keyboard, does not need a stylus and with a screen that will not scratch (it’s made of glass not plastic), is the most advanced ipod ever and has so many advanced features that it may be a whole decade more advanced than any other cellular phone.
Too bad, though that – for now – it is available only for AT&T service.
Now, that really excites me while the Spice Girls reunion leaves me totally cold.
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Readers who missed a column can access www.duckyparedes.com/blogs. This is updated daily. Your reactions are welcome at duckyparedes@yahoo.com

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hvp (06.29.07)