Revolution vs poll cheating

Batas Mauricio

NOW, it would seem Davao Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is poised to become the next president of the Philippines, as more and more people are expressing their desire to vote for him. The latest Pulse Asia survey results, released on Tuesday, 26 April 2016, showed him pulling away beyond the reach of erstwhile survey leader, Sen. Grace Poe.

Reports about this survey indicated that Duterte managed to maintain and even increase his lead over his rivals, even if there is still a heavy barrage of criticism against his supposed joke over the rape of an Australian lady missionary.

Too, he was the runaway favorite across all social classes: Class ABC with 43%, Class D with 32% and Class E with 40%. Duterte is likely going to be “it”, unless the computerized “dagdag bawas” scheme now being complained about by overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who have already voted abroad could not be remedied.

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Something does not tally in the supposed arrest of Paul Biteng, the 23-year-old computer expert who allegedly hacked and defaced the website of the Commission on Elections the other week, resulting in the uploading in the Internet of personal information of the 55 million or so voters who will vote on May 09.

I think that the arrest was simply too easy. Of course, don’t get me wrong. I know that our law enforcement authorities like the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) have the capacity to arrest any offender if they wanted to, but gauged from past website hacking of government sites, arrest did not come that easy, as in fact no other arrests have been reported in the media so far of other hackers.

In the case of Biteng, however, not only was his arrest immediately carried out, in an almost miraculous fashion, but that there were previous positive declarations that he would in fact be arrested. This made many people wonder: was the hacking of Biteng of the Comelec website his work alone, or he was merely part of a grand design to discredit the coming elections?

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Have you heard of the “Rebolusyong Duterte Kontra Daya”? It appears to be a spontaneous grouping of people who are supporting the presidential candidacy of Duterte, and who are even now undertaking preparatory moves to fight off any form of cheating against him.

My latest information is that Duterte supporters are now being mobilized for a possible “people power revolution” if the results of the May 9 elections will show that his rivals have won over him. On top of this, however, I have been informed that there is now a furious negotiation with top military and police authorities to join this “revolution against cheating”.

The battle cry here seems to be “if they cheat and make a mockery of the people’s will, then get ready for a Rebolusyong Duterte Kontra Daya.” Who are the “they” that are being warned against cheating here? Those who control the Commission on Elections and the voters’s counting machines, who else? The times are indeed interesting!

E-mail: batasmauricio@yahoo.com