Elections in our country used to be simple compared to how it was in the last 20 years. Well, at most, more simple. I remember in the '60's, there were only two political parties, the Liberal Party(LP) and the Nacionalista Party(NP). Those who ran for elections who were not members of these two parties would ran as independents. In a national election, the maximum presidential candidates usually were three, one each from the LP, the NP, and independent. Senatorial and Congressional candidates were usually between the two parties. I also remember that each party advocated a specific platform of government (much similar to the Democrats and the Republicans of the USA) and exhibited outstanding party unity and commitment. I believe, we used to have such atmosphere in our politics. While it was true that there were some violence committed, they were not as serious as today. What I was really very surprised at these last few elections was the blatant and brazen cheating that happened. Evidences supporting these cheating were very damning and fool proof and yet had been disposed without much objection from the people. That is very disturbing and a bad sign. Dati nahihiya pang mandaya, but now, parang tanggap na ng marami at puede na. What gave many the courage to cheat was because they can get away with it anyway. Up to now, there had been just a number who had been convicted of cheating. Many had been accused, with good reasons and clear evidences, but they only went as far as having been charged, with a few being heard but not immediately consummated. The worst I have heard was a certain protesting candidate who had been proven to have been cheated but was only given his office the day before the end of his term. If this would be the trend of the decisions on cheating charges , then nobody could be stopped from cheating. And if found guilty, they could still govern throughout their term. anyway. One only has to be proclaimed by the COMELEC, and then, "maghabol ka na sa tambol mayor"!
It was a similar situation during the time of Marcos. The citizenry had become aware of the cheating done by Marcos and company. The Filipino people rallied to preserve the dignity of the elections and to fight the dictatorship. A citizen's arm, NAMFREL was born due to that need. A watchdog must appear to help the COMELEC and the parties to conduct a credible election. Some people who are willing to be non-partisan joined for the sake of the elections. I, still a seminarian then, participated as a NAMFREL volunteer in 1985 (?) elections between Cory and Marcos. We, as seminarians, were forced to actively participate just to ensure a clean and honest elections.
That should have been the last time NAMFREL, acting as a citizen arm, operated. Having gained a new set of leaders with fresh and credible mandate, it should have proceeded to more trust and faith in the system specially the elections. But it did not turn out that way. Parang lasing pa rin yung iba sa dating gawain. It seemed that the "electionem cheatarus virus" only transferred to the next set of leaders. Di pa rin nangyari yung inaasahang pagbabago. The "Kami naman." attitude prevailed. Thus, not much change had happened. In the next elections, the citizen arm was still needed.
Now we have other citizen arms aside from NAMFREL. PPCRV, an advocacy group formed by the Catholic Church, responded to the same situation. The commitment of the Catholic Church to help in having a clean and honest election was being called. "Boto Ko, Dangal Ko! was its battle cry. It was a non-partisan group that sought to promote the dignity of one's vote. It was not only a political duty, but a spiritual activity as well. We owed it to our country and our people. We owed it to God.
But do we really need a citizen arm, whether it is NAMFREL or PPCRV or any group? Do we really need to guard the parties and the COMELEC regarding how they are conducting the elections? Is it really not possible to have a clean and honest elections without an independent non-partisan group watching? Is it not a sign of lack of maturity on the part of the parties and the COMELEC? Di ba magiging para silang mga bata na dapat pang bantayan kung tama ang gagawin o kung mandadaya o hindi?
I believe the citizen arm is not anymore needed. Not that I discourage the people not to get involved and be vigilant in the election process. If the members of the parties will just toe the lines and see to it that they will be ladies and gentlemen before, during, and after the elections, who needs a citizen arm? Why the effort, time and money from a watchdog when it can be done even without them? The presence of a citizen arm will in fact give the impression that the parties and the COMELEC can not be trusted! Our country needs another group to guard and see to it that there are no cheating among the candidates? For me, it just does not look good. More importantly, it means lack of political maturity. After many years of elections, we have not matured? We have not grown? As the oldies would say, " Tumatanda ng paurong."
It was a similar situation during the time of Marcos. The citizenry had become aware of the cheating done by Marcos and company. The Filipino people rallied to preserve the dignity of the elections and to fight the dictatorship. A citizen's arm, NAMFREL was born due to that need. A watchdog must appear to help the COMELEC and the parties to conduct a credible election. Some people who are willing to be non-partisan joined for the sake of the elections. I, still a seminarian then, participated as a NAMFREL volunteer in 1985 (?) elections between Cory and Marcos. We, as seminarians, were forced to actively participate just to ensure a clean and honest elections.
That should have been the last time NAMFREL, acting as a citizen arm, operated. Having gained a new set of leaders with fresh and credible mandate, it should have proceeded to more trust and faith in the system specially the elections. But it did not turn out that way. Parang lasing pa rin yung iba sa dating gawain. It seemed that the "electionem cheatarus virus" only transferred to the next set of leaders. Di pa rin nangyari yung inaasahang pagbabago. The "Kami naman." attitude prevailed. Thus, not much change had happened. In the next elections, the citizen arm was still needed.
Now we have other citizen arms aside from NAMFREL. PPCRV, an advocacy group formed by the Catholic Church, responded to the same situation. The commitment of the Catholic Church to help in having a clean and honest election was being called. "Boto Ko, Dangal Ko! was its battle cry. It was a non-partisan group that sought to promote the dignity of one's vote. It was not only a political duty, but a spiritual activity as well. We owed it to our country and our people. We owed it to God.
But do we really need a citizen arm, whether it is NAMFREL or PPCRV or any group? Do we really need to guard the parties and the COMELEC regarding how they are conducting the elections? Is it really not possible to have a clean and honest elections without an independent non-partisan group watching? Is it not a sign of lack of maturity on the part of the parties and the COMELEC? Di ba magiging para silang mga bata na dapat pang bantayan kung tama ang gagawin o kung mandadaya o hindi?
I believe the citizen arm is not anymore needed. Not that I discourage the people not to get involved and be vigilant in the election process. If the members of the parties will just toe the lines and see to it that they will be ladies and gentlemen before, during, and after the elections, who needs a citizen arm? Why the effort, time and money from a watchdog when it can be done even without them? The presence of a citizen arm will in fact give the impression that the parties and the COMELEC can not be trusted! Our country needs another group to guard and see to it that there are no cheating among the candidates? For me, it just does not look good. More importantly, it means lack of political maturity. After many years of elections, we have not matured? We have not grown? As the oldies would say, " Tumatanda ng paurong."
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