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I hope the Commission on Elections will manage to do
better in the May elections. It has to—after the furor that arose
from the downright misbehavior and incompetence of some of the
commissioners and employees in the course of conducting the last
electoral exercise. In fact, this time around they should bend over
backward as far as fairness allows to prove they are competent,
honest and firm about how to manage elections to the general
satisfaction of all so that the results will not be questioned or
questionable.
Some of the issues that they must
tackle and be clear and efficient, fair and equal about are the
following:
Nuisance candidates
What defines a nuisance
candidate? Is it the merely that he can manage to campaign
nationwide despite the fact that his other qualifications are
dubious at best, unknown for the most part and notable only for
having a similar name to another more well known and familiar public
figure by virtue of previous political experience or popular
recognition?
It is becoming a farcical twist
in every election more and more often that suddenly some unknown
with no decent credentials appears to register as a candidate for a
post that a more well known namesake is gunning for. Comelec better
put a stop to this nonsense by firmly excluding these characters
that are making a mockery of fairness and equality in our elections.
Elections are not meant to be a comic opera.
Place for posters
Where is the place for campaign
posters and other electoral propaganda? Comelec knows where but the
public does not. Therefore, they should advertise even if ad nauseam
where campaign materials may be placed and where they may not.
Having done this, they should implement the rule by pouncing on and
punishing the candidate whose campaign materials are out of place.
Ignorance of the law is never an excuse, why should feigning
ignorance regarding what one’s campaign workers do be an excuse
for candidates whose campaign materials are in the wrong places?
Just because we have an election
is no excuse to trash our public places with what is in effect a
disfiguring, dirtying, destroying, dumbing down activity that we can
all do without for our own tranquility, cleanliness, neatness and
dignity. The electorate has to be treated maturely not deafened,
blinded and desensitized by trashy material both in spirit and in
reality. Credit must be given to voters’ ability to discern
without heavy browbeating via ads.
We expect Comelec to make a major
effort to save our cities, public conveniences, open spaces and
trees from defacement. It should apply the law including the
sanctions that come with it and no candidate’s plea of ignorance
should stop them. Only this way will the lesson of proper placement
of campaign materials be learned and understood.
Violence prevention
Comelec has to see to it that the
gun ban is taken seriously and that any election violence should
immediately be investigated and solved and the necessary measures be
taken to file cases against and prosecute culprits.
Prevention of violence is the
best way, not waiting for it to happen when lives are lost or
damaged and the public terrorized by its having occurred. In the
hotspots that Comelec is aware of and has warned about, they should
be all the more vigilant and in control using all the resources they
have at their command from the police to the military as well as
civic organizations and private citizens to fear of the law in
would-be criminals.
Professionalism
Comelec’s professionalism must
be clear in the public eye. There must be no suspicious reassignments,
removals or reshuffling of its officials for reasons of
accommodating political figures or influential persons.
(Concluded tomorrow)
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