Evil in the electoral process

In the presscon held at Anabel’s restaurant in Quezon City last Saturday, May 7, 2016 attended by journalists and reporters of media groups, former senator Francisco “Kit” S. Tatad read the Statement of the National Transformation Council (NTC). The Statement is entitled “OUR PEOPLE MUST REJECT THE ILLEGAL AND FARCICAL ELECTIONS”: An Urgent Appeal from the National Transformation Council, May 7, 2016.

With senator Tatad were Lipa Archbishop Ramon Arguelles, former CBCP President & Davao Archbishop Emeritus Fernando R. Capalla, Protestant Pastor Art Corpus, and former National Security Adviser & Defense Secretary Norberto B. Gonzales. Also in attendance were supporters of NTC former CBCP President & Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz and Butch Valdes president of Save the Nation Movement.

The Statement says that, “Today, we must confess that even before the voting begun, the elections have already turned out to be a defective, fraudulent, illegal and illegitimate exercise which poses an incalculable threat to the security of the State and the well being of the nation.” Pointing to BS Aquino 3rd as the instigator of the electoral manipulation through the COMELEC, the statement mentions the following factors as violations of Automated Election System Law:

1. 9 SD card reconfiguration centers set-up by unidentified parties without COMELEC authorization;
2. Pre-shaded ballots retrieved from the National Printing Office;
3. COMELEC website hacked to show 70 million registered in excess of the publicized 54.3 million;
4. Of the four major security features, which were illegally removed in the 2010 and 2013 elections, only two — the ballot verification feature and the voter verified paper audit trail (VVPAT) or voter receipt — have been restored to a minimum degree;
5. Review of source code withheld by Smartmatic;
6. Digital signature for the BEIs replaced with machine signatures without third party authentication;
7. The Technical Evaluation Committee has failed to certify that the hardware and software were operating properly and accurately 3 months before Election Day.

In view of the above anomalies, the NTC Statement concludes:

“We therefore call on our people to reject the illegal and farcical presidential elections, and work for a just, responsive and sustainable alternative to such elections. The nation’s moral and spiritual leadership coming from the Catholic, Protestant/Evangelical and Islamic institutions should now enter into immediate consultations with the leadership of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), in its institutional capacity as the constitutionally-mandated protector of the people and the State, to determine what concrete steps to take to bring about this alternative. We do not propose a military takeover of government. We are firmly and vehemently opposed to it. But we do not wish to see the military exploited by any political faction to support any program or activity against the national interest.”