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By Harvey S. Keh Amidst the nation's mourning over the passing away of international democratic icon and former President Cory Aquino, the Supreme Court decided to rule against the appeal of Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio to stop the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) from proceeding with its decision to start the recounting of votes casted during the last 2007 Gubernatorial Elections in Pampanga. It will be recalled that in 2007, various civil society, church and peoples organizations bonded together to support Panlilio against two of the closest allies of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, then Board Member Lilia Pineda and then incumbent Governor Mark Lapid. Despite having very meager resources and no political machinery to bank on, the support of thousands of ordinary Kapampangans led Panlilio to victory over his two well-financed rivals. This inspiring victory of Panlilio in the home province of the President gave hope to millions of Filipinos worldwide that people power is still alive and well in our country inspite of the numerous political and corruption scandals that many of our current government leaders have been involved in. Despite having no prior experience in politics, Panlilio has since tried his best to govern effectively and ethically, recently leading his province to win the prestigious Gawad Galing Pook Award for Outstanding Local Government Units in 2008. Now, two years after Filipinos all over the world celebrated this momentuous victory, we are now in danger of losing it because of a pending recount which was filed in the COMELEC by Pineda. While every losing candidate has the right to file an electoral protest, what is surprising is the undue haste and attention that the COMELEC has been giving to this particular case against Panlilio. Currently, there are several other earlier electoral cases that have been filed but have not been acted upon by the COMELEC, doesn't the COMELEC think that these cases should first be resolved before the Panlilio case? Also, Chairman Jose Melo of the COMELEC even said on record that instead of the usual 4 teams that will conduct the recount, the COMELEC will be forming 21 teams to hasten the recount process. Why single out the Panlilio case again? Could there be a hidden hand from Malacanang moving behind the scenes and influencing officials of the COMELEC? In addition to this, many ballot boxes that have been transported already to the COMELEC main office were found to have been tampered or missing their locks, how can we trust that these ballot boxes still contain what is the true mandate of the people of Pampanga if their contents have already been altered prior to the recount? Finally, the COMELEC has already said that it will spend millions of pesos for this recount, given that Panlilio has less than 10 months to serve before he finishes his term, wouldn't it be better for COMELEC to focus its attention to ensuring the automation of the 2010 elections and to spend this amount for other more worthwhile expenditures such as providing better pay to poll watchers and public school teachers? As we continue to celebrate the life that former President Aquino lived in the service of every Filipino, we must also realize that it is now our main duty and responsibility to protect the democracy that she and Ninoy Aquino worked and ultimately died for. One of the main pillars and gifts of this democracy is our duly-mandated right to elect and choose our leaders, this right is again being threatened by politicians whose only aim is to promote their own self-interests at the expense of millions of poor Filipinos. Let us remember that this is not just Panlilio or the Kapampangan's battle but this is a battle that must be fought by all Filipinos who believe that we can still elect honest and upright leaders in our government. This is a battle to protect the democratic gains that ordinary Filipinos like you and me have made against the politics of guns, goons and gold that continues to be perpetuated by many of our traditional politicians. Finally, this is a battle to prove once again that the true power in a democratic and free society resides in the people and not in the hands of the wealthy and powerful elite. Let us all remember the wise adage that the only way for Evil to Prevail is for Good men to do Nothing. Will the Filipino people do nothing and allow our hard fought democracy to be usurped once again by a few? I hope not. Comments are welcome at harveykeh@gmail.com ________________ Harvey S. Keh is Director for Youth Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship at the Ateneo School of Government. He is also the Lead Convenor of Kaya Natin, a national movement for Good Governance and Ethical Leadership.

CHECK out Philippine Daily Inquirer editor John Nery's latest post in Current, the joint blog he maintains with Inquirer columnist Manuel Quezon III. Here's an excerpt:

Sometimes we can read too much into the "meaning" of a particular vote. I found Raul Pangalangan's last column, on the meaning of the Honasan-Trillanes vote, a provocative read. I especially thought this particular passage was right on the money.

By manipulating the various arms of government to harass its enemies and protect its own, the Arroyo government has weakened the rule of law. It has conditioned the people to look to end-results � stop corruption, improve education, expand health care, make housing more accessible � and be indifferent to the means, constitutional or not. It has lowered the bar, so to speak, that the law has placed to guard against extra-constitutional power grabs.

This weakening of the rule of law � "culture of impunity," anyone? � must be counted as one of the main legacies of the Arroyo administration.

MANUEL L. Quezon III, who maintains the joint INQUIRER.net blog Current together with John Nery, gives a summary of past Philippine elections in his latest blog post. Here's an excerpt:

In a democracy, it's the will of the majority that decides to vote, that counts.

The other interesting thing is, is it premature to write the obituary on the command vote? In 1998, I wrote that as far as presidential elections were concerned, the days of party machinery determining the outcome were over (the aberration would prove to be 2004: and that was a questionable election). This election marks 100 years since we've had lower house elections; and 66 years since the first national senatorial election. We are only a young democracy in terms of our personal memories. I've put together a summary of the elections from 1907-2004, and it is in the context of all these past races that the present one should be considered. Please take a look (unfortunately, 1971 is a kind of "ghost year," I've never been able to find the House results for that year, though we have the Senate results).

HERE'S an excerpt from an interesting post by Mong Palatino for Global Voices Online:

Statistics vary on the actual number of internet users in the Philippines. It may range from as low as nine million to a high number of thirty-five million users. This figure is enough to compel politicians to recognize the value of online campaigning. Many candidates who aspire to tap the youth vote are using the internet as a platform for their candidacies. Inevitable Karma believes internet penetration is not yet that impressive in the Philippines and politicians must still rely on mainstream media. This observation is shared by so many political analysts who insist that internet campaign cannot reach the most number of Filipino voters.

Still, the 2007 midterm election campaign has effectively shown how candidates can increase their chances of winning by maximizing the cyberspace. Candidates have put up their own personal websites, blogs and Friendster accounts (Friendster is the most popular social networking site in the Philippines).

How about you? Do you believe the Internet will have a big impact on the May elections? Are online resources providing you the information you need?

ONE of the most popular blogs covering the upcoming Philippine elections is Philippine Eleksyon 2007. Here's an excerpt from the latest blog entry:

Full Report of CMFR Below is the full report from CMFR - CMFR MONITOR OF NEWS MEDIA COVERAGE - OF THE 2007 NATIONAL ELECTIONS First Report (February 13 - March 2) TV, broadsheets covered TU most in first three weeks of campaign The media advocacy group Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility (CMFR) has found that the six leading television news programs and the three largest Manila broadsheets covered the Arroyo administration's Team Unity (TU) candidates most in the first three weeks of the campaign. CMFR is monitoring the 2007 elections coverage of selected media organizations.