SATURDAY |FEBRUARY 03, 2007 | PHILIPPINES

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A reunion


Editorial
 

‘Cheating can only occur when Comelec is an accom-plice to the act.’

Newly designated Defense Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane was wrong in volunteering the use of military transport to carry election materials. The offer is clearly against the letter and the spirit of the Memorandum of Agreement signed by his predecessor, Avelino Cruz, which seeks to limit AFP participation in the conduct of elections.

But Ebdane is right when he said that the military’s participation is the Comelec’s call. The Comelec is empowered to deputize any government agency or personnel to help conduct the elections. So when the Comelec says soldiers should take a role more active than that specified in the MOA, Ebdane cannot do anything about it. All he can do is salute and say, "Yes, sir!"

Of course, that rests on the supposition that Ebdane, like Cruz, wants to stop the use of soldiers in election cheating. As we said earlier, Ebdane has no exceptional qualification to head the DND. He was appointed nonetheless despite the Feliciano Commission recommendation that the DND portfolio be reserved for a civilian.

The suspicion is he is out to reprise his role as "coordinator" of the "special operations" that got Gloria proclaimed as the winner by a compliant Congress in the face of cheating.

All eyes are now on Ebdane and what he will do in the three months or so. But thanks to his outburst during his first appearance before the media as secretary of defense, he called attention to the fact that the Comelec, after all, is the body that will oversee the elections.

Cheating, even by soldiers, cannot take place if only the Comelec does its job. Cheating can only occur when Comelec is an accomplice to the act.

The "Hello Garci" tapes should be a reminder that the actual mastermind and orchestrator of "dagdag bawas" was a Comelec commissioner, with Comelec field men doing the dirty work.

Former elections commissioner Virgilio Garcillano may now be out, but his "dagdag bawas" machine remains intact. The cheaters can easily insert another "Garci" - if it has not already inserted one - in the second top layer of the Comelec bureaucracy and it will be 2004 once again.

With Ebdane at DND and Chairman Benjamin Abalos still at Comelec, it’s a reunion of sorts.

We’re in for the dirtiest election yet, and 2004 was dirty enough.

 


 



















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