Bringing Home Essential Lessons from Singapore

My husband and I took advantage of the week-long declared holiday during the APEC summit in Manila last November 16 to 20 that we decided to have a family bonding in Singapore (again, last was in 2010). It was a great time to take a break from stress brought by demanding work, monstrous Manila traffic, and rising crime statistics that send fears in every corners of my mind . At last! After more than five years, I get to set foot again in one of my favorite places. This place is where I experience all the best things I only hope that the Philippines could have, efficient transport system, clean surroundings, secure place to wander around, magnificent structures, gender-sensitive places/people and the list goes on.

But this post is not about the places that we visited in Singapore, this is all about my wishful thinking... a look at the Philippines on a different perspective, maybe a shallow comparative analysis of these two countries. Shallow in the sense that I only touch on topics that I see only the basic differences but could have huge impact in the Philippines' struggle to be among the best in the world in terms of governance.

 To understand better how Singapore became one of the cleanest, safest, best countries in the world, one really has to have a first hand experience and immerse himself in its day to day activities. But our almost two weeks of stay could not be enough so I bought a book that will somehow give me an idea on how this little red dot became one of the best countries in the world.

Before I share with you my book review and the insight I got about Singapore and the Philippines, let me share with you this relevant video from Word of the Lourd...

~ to be continued

Unripe, Ripe, Rotten: The different phases of the 2010 election

UNRIPE…the pre-election perception

Less than a year before May 10, 2010 election, Comelec entered into a contract with a foreign firm Smartmatic to carry out the project for poll automation. The sealed deal officially marked an important milestone for the government’s thrust for poll automation and indicated a new era in Philippine politics. Such move did not escape critics who mulled over the high probability of a failed election which eventually created uncertainties among the public. As Comelec played an “against-all-odds” role and Smartmatic resolves its own issues with its local partner TIM, the calls for cancellation of the poll automation all the more became louder. The Arroyo administration endured public scrutiny, relentless media probe and doomsayers’ prediction of an impending crisis but palace did not deter from its plan to pursue an automated election for 2010. Comelec and its contractor faced bigger challenges as the project reached its phase by phase implementation, it also created a bigger question if the country is really ready for the poll automation. Different issues as regards the testing and distribution of PCOS, the clustering of precincts, the testing of ballots, the training of BEI, the public awareness campaign, the mock election and all doubt about this new system to be implemented became the talk of the nation which was covered in every news headlines. There were groups who engaged in hunger strike and barricaded in front of the Comelec office to push for the parallel manual counting as they question the integrity of the automated election. Two days before the election, Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM was once again in hot water when manual count did not match the PCOS-generated returns during one of the random testing. This issue heightened the groups demand for parallel manual counting while other groups and even two presidential candidates called for postponement of the election. Comelec and the contractor gave different explanation for such an occurrence, but fairly enough Smartmatic was quick to act on the matter and dispatched the memory card replacement in 76,000 precincts nationwide in less than 48 hours. Comelec responded with a resolution for no parallel manual counting and an affirmation that the May 10 election will push through as planned although most groups perceived the move for automated election as still “unripe for the picking”.

RIPE…the election outcome

The big day event came and as perceived, problem as regards the introduction of a new system was evident such as disenfranchised voters, PCOS that bogged down, lengthened waiting time as a result of precinct clustering, rejected vote due to strict ballot scan process by PCOS machines and add to that the perpetual problem of vote-buying and other desperate shocking schemes perpetrated by politicians who refused to be out of the limelight.

The eleven hours allotted time from 7AM to 6PM for casting of votes was extended by Comelec for another hour up to 7PM to address the prolonged waiting time while Smartmatic deployed service technician and reserved PCOS machines to either troubleshoot or replace non-functional ones. After passing through the rigor of this whole new poll process and almost two hours after the closing of precincts, election results started to be transmitted to the central server which gave Comelec the chance to have a televised conference to provide update to the public and release an official partial count of the election. It was a total different scenario from the previous elections wherein teachers were subjected to a hard-days’ work and a stressful and tedious nights and days of manual counting. It is also evident that people were more vigilant of the election process and actively participated in this exercise as Comelec reported almost 75% turnout of voters despite the pre-election glitches that took place.

Then days after the Philippines’ first ever automated election, it was such an uplifting experience to see a different political landscape being carved for the country. It was also a relief to see good news running through TV, radio, newspaper and internet feeds, for once in my life I feel proud of the Philippines thus I cannot help but put into account some news stories here. It is not everyday that I got to read positive reports about the country much more about the dramatic change in the country’s political arena that was tainted with blood, violence and deceit. Presidential candidates who lost in the race like Gilbert Teodoro, Manuel Villar and Dick Gordon were gentleman enough to quickly accept defeat that showed their confidence on the integrity of the automated counting, a move that etched a new picture of well-cultured personalities. The United States, European Union and foreign community conveyed their congratulatory message to the Philippine Government and to all Filipinos for the peaceful and successful execution of the automated election. There is also a noticeable drop in election-related violence, as AFP and PNP reported. The positive pronouncements brought constructive advantage for Philippine business sector as peso gained strength over foreign currencies. The shortened counting process resulted in swift proclamation of winners in the local level which could be translated into savings in energy, effort and money as unnecessary expenses were considerably cut down which could have otherwise been spent if we were still into manual counting. So far, so good! Although we were all just starting into the process of assimilation in this computerized election, the fruit of everyone’s decent labor for poll automation has been ripe after all!

Rotten…the post-election scenario

The tons of garbage from the election, win or lose the candidates has the obligation to clean up their mess, it isn’t nice to see your names and faces hanging around just anywhere. To all losers, if you can’t be the winner in the election, just become a champion for the environment. And to all winning candidates, you now have every power to make this country a greener and cleaner place otherwise you also need to be thrown out of the garbage.

Electoral protest and claims of massive cheating - life is really like that when you are at the losing end, you always have this feeling of being deceived, you have every right to voice out your concern but please not to the point of being scandalous and violent, things can be resolved in a civilized manner, take some lessons from the three gentlemen Gibo, Manny and Dick.

Senate and Congress not yet starting with their official canvassing - Wow, isn’t that ironic? We all seem to hang in the balance because the two most important positions in the land are still yet to be proclaimed. Senate and Congress will convene only when they reach a quorum, if that is the case it only defeats the purpose of an automated election. So how long shall the nation wait? Just don’t make it too long and don’t make it too slow. Don’t make this country a laughing stock please.

Fear for constitutional crisis brought on by outgoing administration’s “overnight appointment” and incoming administration's refusal to recognize them. Well, well, well…she is still the president up to June 30, what can anyone do? She promised for a smooth transition of the presidency, let us just hold on to that promise and give her a graceful exit. Obviously she is designing a road for herself, whether people will follow her on that road will all depend on them.

Threat of impeachment against President-apparent Noynoy Aquino for refusing to recognize Renato Corona’s appointment as Chief Justice - Mr. Aquino hasn’t even seated yet in Malacanang for him to be threatened with impeachment. Give the guy a President’s welcome that he deserves, he was voted President by a large population, we all need to respect the voice of the people.

The outgoing president is making her late plans come into fruition for the remaining days of her term, whether that will be left to rot or be preserved will be up to the incoming president. A reminder to the incoming administration, please don’t forget to prune the rotten system and plant a new seed that will yield first-class produce.

Go Out and VOTE!

I just finished exercising my right to suffrage. Feel so good to have a successful process in the precinct where I am listed. My ballot was the 151st to be counted in the PCOS. It took me at least 20 minutes waiting in line outside the precinct room. My husband and I arrived at the precinct at around 9AM this morning. When we arrived, there were at least more than thirty people ahead of us waiting in line. Since there were at least five precincts clustered into one room, it really took a lot of waiting time thus you really need to put in mind that patience is a virtue. There was a piece of paper that was provided to us where we put our full name, date of birth, precinct number and sequence number (it is the sequence number opposite our name listed on the voter’s list displayed outside the precinct room). I think this was implemented by the BEI assigned in our precinct as they already anticipated a long line of voters and this step will make the validation process faster both for the BEI and the voter as it will become easier for the BEI to check one’s identity by the details that we provided. I think it was effective although it was not included in the COMELEC’s advertisement. I just heard in the news that the voting time has been extended until seven o’clock in the evening (7PM) as there were many voters in other precincts who have been waiting for more than three hours already, even presidential candidate Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino was not spared from this since the PCOS machine assigned at their precinct was not working (took him almost 4 1/2 hours of waiting time, according to news report). Anyways, I hope that this first automated election will still turn out generally peaceful and successful. To those who have not voted yet or who have already been there at the precinct but lost the patience while waiting for their turn, I hope you will still give it a try. Just think that you are doing it for the next generation and for the future of the Philippines.

Philippine Election: Ten Days and Counting

Exactly ten days from now, as election fever hits high range, we will surely feel the chill and frenzy accompanied with it. Sure the freebies are great as almost everyone will benefit from the commercialism brought on by election campaign with those free shirts, caps, baller ids, fans, food, monetary allowance, etc. but may we all be reminded that public service is not only during the campaign period and it is not all about the free stuff that we could get, elected officials have greater things to do to reconstruct a nation submerged in corruption and poverty. Just think of those million Filipinos who are deprived of even the basic necessities (without food, water and shelter). Yes, some good things come with a price but I hope that our vote is not among them. A few hundred or thousand pesos may not suffice to last for more than six days. Another six years of the Philippines’ future is at stake here and it is only fitting that we thoroughly think about it and be intelligent enough to choose who among those candidates is best suited for the position. If someone offered money for a vote, that candidate is not worth even a drop of ink on your ballot. We will benefit more from a clean and honest election and much more we will gain if we elect the decent and responsible ones who will not give us a lame excuse and fool us into saying “I AM SORRY!” for all the irregularities and inadequacies of the government.

We might be too saturated to see the candidates’ faces on their TV advertisements and too numb to feel the sincerity of their dialogues, our ears bleeding with their speeches on political platforms and promises, our eyes sore with all their banners and political colors but somehow we knew that this election is neither a popularity contest nor an acting award ceremony. May 10 will be the day, when this nation will decide who among the candidates deserve our most coveted vote of trust and confidence. This will be the day when we will decide who among them seem to be sincere enough, responsible enough, and capable enough to be the leader of this country. Are leaders really born and not made? I don’t really know but whether he is born or made, I hope the outcome of the election will not lead us to doomsday. May GOD bless the Philippines!