Cheating

Batas Mauricio

SO how are we supposed to react with disclosures that there was massive cheating  in Quezon province to favor Mar Roxas and Leni Robredo? Why, this kind of cheating and manipulation of the results of the May 9, 2016 elections is no longer confined to just one province or one locality. Reports indicate that there was cheating all over the country!

Surely, we cannot rely on the National Board of Canvassers to do anything. It is bent on proclaiming the supposed winners in the presidential and vice presidential race, which proclamation shall have already been carried out by the time this column is being read nationally and internationally, even if there is proof of cheating.

Then, there is also no hope that the Commission on Elections will act, because, judging from the disclosures of a member of the powerful Iglesia ni Cristo (INC) from the province, the order to cheat through the transmission of altered vote results to favor Mar and Leni came from top commission officials themselves!

So what can enraged citizens, like the whistleblower who comes from INC, do? This is now a very urgent question, considering that there are strong proofs that the same kind of cheating started in 2010, when computerized voting and counting first began, and then subsisted in 2013, and now in 2016.

The cheaters are continuing with their shameless manipulation of our elections, because they are of the thought that they could cheat and would not be found out, or that, even if they are caught, as the disclosures from many parts of the country prove, there is nothing that the cheated electorate can do anyway.

I believe this was the reason why some candidates for national positions were quite audacious in their not-so-subtle attempts to discredit the capacity of certain organized groups like the INC to order their members to vote as one come election time.

Because these candidates knew they have the capacity to cheat through computers, they had to find ways to justify their cheating, and this they did by making it appear that groups with block-voting capacity, like the INC, have become disunited and divided by internal wrangling, and thus could no longer call on their members to vote for specified choices.

So, once again, I ask, what can we do? File an action to question the results of the voting and counting for the vice presidential position? Seek a temporary restraining order from the Supreme Court? Or, since these legal remedies would take some time, simply hang the cheaters and their cohorts right away, pursuant to the “swift justice” style of the famous Davao Death Squad (DDS)?

I know this last suggestion is outlandish, and would be frowned upon by so-called human rights advocates in our midst. But is it not a fact that our right of suffrage, or the right to elect our officials and the right to be governed by those whom we really voted for, is a right equal to, or much more than, human rights of criminals? What do you say, President Duterte?

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Many ordinary Filipinos are now learning to ask questions about the very deprived life they and most of their ancestors have been having. Their principal query is: how come many Filipinos are poor and economically-inferior, compared to the foreigners who are not only clearly lording it over in terms of the good life, but, more importantly, who have become far greatlyicher and more politically-powerful than almost all native Filipinos?

The proof of this economic, political and social disparity is not difficult to see. It is in fact displayed all around the country. While rich foreigners are housed in beautiful palaces in exclusive and posh subdivisions, Filipinos wallow in shacks and shanties which are not even fit for domesticated animals.

While foreigners enjoy the best foods in the most expensive restaurants and hotels, accommodations in our best beaches and resorts, wear and flaunt signature clothes and apparel and jewelries, Filipinos are lucky if they can even once in a while have a treat in fast food chains like McDo, Jollibee or Mang Inasal, or, buy imitation products.

And while foreigners are now clearly the masters of Philippine politics with many of them being elected as top government officials everywhere in the islands, Filipinos have been relegated as mere clerks, janitors, and utility personnel, or are forced to work abroad as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) where they are mercilessly abused, maimed and even killed.

So, why are foreigners are lording it over right here in our own country? This is a tough question to answer. Some are saying this is because Filipinos are not business-minded, are simply un-intelligent and too simplistic to attain success in any field of endeavor. Some have also advanced the theory that Filipinos have remained small time because they do not have the money to become big-time.

Does this situation have to be so, or does it have to continue to plague future generations of Filipinos? In other words, is there hope for Filipinos regaining their owncountry from the clutches of foreigners and once again transforming the Philippines as a country for Filipinos and no longer for foreigners?

Many will say yes, and will advance theories on how to do it and perhaps there can be some sense into what they will say. But as far as I am concerned, there is a greatly sure way–among the many–to overcome the difficult life that has become the fate of many Filipinos, and restore to them the good life that was once enjoyed by them and the opportunity of shining side-by-side with foreigners.

The way I am talking about is God’s way–they way provided by Him in the Bible. If Filipinos would like to shake off the poverty that has engulfed and shackled generations of their ancestors and many of them right now, they could pursue this way by learning how to listen to God, through the Bible, and sincerely obeying His commands. If the truth be told, this is in fact the only way to live a better life, blessed with economic prosperity.

If there is anyone out there reading this column who is poor and deprived and who wants to know what parts of the Bible he or she must read and obey to become more economically well off, please read our subsequent articles here for guidance. Otherwise, you may call me now at 0917 984 24 68, 0922 833 43 96 or 09284383022. You can also email me at batasmauricio@yahoo.com.