Credits

Monday, May 14, 2007

Killing The Vote

As the counting begins, the confusion sets in. After disqualifying Joselito "Juju" Cayetano, the COMELEC in a very late announcement said that a plain Cayetano vote will be considered a stray vote. Coming at this late stage, it sowed confusion. Many supporters of Alan have been made to believe that simply writing Cayetano on their ballots will be counted for Alan.

Last Saturday, the legal department of the COMELEC clarified that Juju despite being disqualified can still appeal his case with the Supreme Court. Alan's supporters were lulled into a sense of complacency as the disqualification was highlighted more than the appeal. Obviously, the COMELEC sat on the case long enough to hoodwink the electorate.

Through all this, Juju had remained quiet and invisible. And all we hear talking are Oliver Lozano and the COMELEC. I am now sure that Juju has more lawyers other than Lozano. For someone whose candidacy is at stake, Juju seems unperturbed. The COMELEC being the judge in this case seems to be Juju's lawyers as well. What behooves me is why an arbiter would be the accused's defense? What for?

The more this weird case rolls, the more the conspiracy against Alan is exposed. Its not about Alan Cayetano, its about subverting the will of the people. This is a way to kill the vote. As Ellen Tordesillas puts it, gone were the days when we see rampant ballot box snatching. All the cheats have to do is sow enough confusion to steal the votes of a candidate. Vergel Santos adds, just because the number of persons killed is small does not translate to a peaceful and credible elections. What is killed is the will of the people.

Alan Cayetano has really hurt the Arroyos. As I mentioned in my previous post, officials in Pampanga were promised an "early Christmas" should Alan get "0" votes in their barangays. This leads me to believe that Cayetano may indeed have the "goods" on the Pidals. One will never go to such effort to ruin Alan's candidacy if they have nothing to hide.

For now. some of the Cayetano votes were counted for Alan. The BEIs stuck to the COMELEC's resolution. The efforts of the COMELEC to spread the instructions to the canvassers did not them in time. Their attempt to subvert the people's will did not work in some areas. But for sure, many of Alan's votes have been wasted.

Intentional incompetence is what we can call the COMELEC's move against Alan. Vergel Santos and Ellen Tordesillas said that this brazen act of the COMELEC could finally str the people into action. Add the case of Naga mayor, Jesse Robredo and the set is complete. This conspiracy against the two is a showcase of how the COMELEC and the administration can thwart the will of the people. Both cases shows us how these criminals are killing the votes. Assassins? Yes they are!

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