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Monday, October 14, 2024

Overeager

The Commission on Elections cannot remain deaf, dumb and blind to the overwhelming clamor for the votes in the vice presidential race to be recounted considering the numerous instances that give credence to suspicions that some sort of hocus-pocus and manipulation might have been employed, what with Mr. “Hello Garcia” making unauthorized “cosmetic changes” in the source code. The timing is inopportune and suspicious because it was done at the height of the transmissions. Besides, they already knew that some of the candidates had the letter “ñ” in their names, so why did they not do that cosmetic thing beforehand? It’s not as if they only got the list of candidates names on the day of the elections itself. As people are asking, añare (What happened)?

But the biggest surprise of course is Congresswoman Leni Robredo who seems to know exactly how many votes she will get, which makes you kind of wonder. After all, appearances can be deceiving, and now that the campaign season is over, masks are off. Why, she was so eager to declare herself the winner, when one would have expected her to take the high road which is how she projected herself during the campaign. After all, they kept claiming to be the decent candidates, didn’t they? The ones who had more manners, the “good” ones since they have painted their rivals to be evil—so the least one would have expected from Robredo is to show some restraint and delicadeza, knowing very well that her numbers are in question and with good reason.

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But then again, the yellows have always operated on the notion that they alone have the monopoly on what is good and civil and refined.

Aside from former Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, two university professors have also come out with their suspicions regarding the anomalous increase in the votes of Robredo from the time Mr. Hello Garcia tweaked the source code. Early on, Professor Antonio Contreras of De La Salle University, in a Facebook post, had already questioned the “linear progression” in the increase in Robredo’s numbers, in increments of 40,000 per 1 percent. This straight line is not normal, Contreras said, and it’s obvious why—the increase should have also been at random since the results were being transmitted from random polling precincts with different voting populations. So why the regularity? Because the increases have been programmed.

Remember, too, that the anomalies did not only occur in the vice presidential race but in the presidential race with evidence that the vote tally of Poe and Roxas have been switched, and this was screen captured, showing at least two different networks reflecting the anomalies. Much much earlier, GMA 7 apologized for the “typographical error” in the votes for Chiz Escudero—but how come CNN also had the same “typographical error” as pointed out by alert buddies?

Another professor, Rogelio Quevedo of the UP College of law who is also a member of the Comelec advisory council, correctly pointed out that Mr. Hello Garcia’s act of changing the program for the source code, despite the latter’s insistence that the act was mere cosmetic, was already an indicator that something was not right.

It is also rather disturbing that the Comelec and the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting—supposedly the watchdog to make sure the conduct of the elections is above board, has easily dismissed the anomalous incident saying the change did not alter the result of the votes. How can they be sure? As both professors pointed out—“no IT expert in his right mind would dismiss it as a minor change.”

Unless of course the Comelec and the PPCRV had already decided who would be the likely winner.

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