May 7 2010 is Black Friday in Philippine Democracy

May 7 or this coming Friday will be a very critical period in Philippine history. Our entire future for the next six years will entirely depend on the actions of political personalities and forces on this date. The Filipino People will be at the mercy of these powerful forces. This day, May 7, will be our Black Friday. By this date, we will entirely mourn the death of democracy or will see ourselves entering another dark period of our History. This is not a joke my friends. Our democracy is now under extreme threat.

First, on Friday, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is expected to appoint the successor to Chief Justice Reynato Puno. Puno is set to retire by May 17. Despite protestations against it, the Supreme Court recently decided to grant Mrs. Arroyo the prerogative to appoint the next CJ inspite of the fact that it falls within the prohibitive period for appointments as traditionally exercised and also as stated in the 1987 Constitution.

Why are sectors opposing this? One, mistrust. Sectors are suspicious and distrustful of Mrs. Arroyo. They think that Mrs. Arroyo would gain an upper hand if she personally appoints Puno's successor. These sectors believe that with this appointment, it will make the SC as Arroyo's official rubber stamp, a rump court, as some say.

With a Supreme Court for a rubber stamp, anything is possible. Mrs. Arroyo's henchmen still occupying sensitive posts in the government can very well use the SC to legitimize any illicit action. One illicit action will actually be the institution of a transitory government.

May 7 will also be a very crucial one for the Commission on Elections. Depending on certain actions by SMARTMATIC-TIM, the poll body will face two options: push thru with the elections and implement manual counting as a contingency plan or heed calls for the suspension of the elections, as proposed by Arroyo's election lawyer Atty. Romeo Macalintal. Macalintal proposes that the poll body suspends the elections for 15 days.

On Friday, the COMELEC, ICTC and SMARTMATIC-TIM would have finished replacing 76,000 compact flash cards of 76,000 PCOS machines which were already deployed in various parts of the country. Compact flash cards hold the instructions or "program" which the PCOS machines "obey". If these flash cards contain wrongful instructions, then, that would affect the results of the elections.

A defective flash card would lead to the erroneous reading of official ballots which are fed into the machines. IT experts have not noticed this before, simply because flash cards are considered not as substantial as the source codes which, until now, the COMELEC refuses to reveal to various political sectors.

Ray Roxas Chua, chairman of the ICTC, says that the "malfunction" of the PCOS machines arose when the National Printing Office (NPO) and the Comelec made certain changes in the configuration of the official ballot. Chua was not able to explain why SMARTMATIC-TIM and the Comelec failed to do an integrity check (quality assessment) prior to the deployment of the machines. Ces Orena-Drilon, host of The Rundown news program over at ANC asked him why the poll body and SMARTMATIC-TIM failed to do a quality assurance check, an SOP. Chua was speechless.

Atty. Calleja, counsel for the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting or PPCRV, says that they already talked with SMARTMATIC-TIM and that the company assured them that by May 7, they would have replaced all defective flash cards. Calleja promises to go after those personally involved in this debacle.

Now, Calleja assured the people that they are ready should Comelec decides to do a manual count but is the poll body ready for manual counting? The Comelec fails to assure us.

If the Comelec proceeds with manual count and this results again to massive cheating, then, the end result will still be a catastrophe. With a very intense elections such as this one, no political group will give even an inch of advantage to its political rivals. Groups are ready to slug it out so to speak for power. The elites are really ready to fight it out, come what may. And this is very, very serious, indeed.

In this scenario, something has got to give way. Someone has to stand down. If all these political groups clash, this will be a very serious and a very long drawn out struggle that will eventually result to something which I think every single Filipino will definitely regret later on.

By the way, a source confirmed earlier suspicions that the "alleged discovery" of defective flash cards was timed. It was reportedly part of a bigger scenario, a bigger action, that will justify an extraconstitutional move. The appearance of former General Reyes and a known close chuwawah of Mrs. Arroyo in the Comelec affirms this.

Why was Reyes acting like a rabble rouser in the Comelec today, as if he wants to instigate chaos and confusion there? After Reyes' appearance, out came the President's election lawyer calling for a postponement of the elections. Were these actions part of a bigger scenario? Most likely.

After Macalintal, out came the news of AFP Chief of Staff General Delfin Bangit's meeting with the Catholic bishops. Coincidence?

This discovery is a subterfuge meant to divert the attention of the public on the possible appointment of the next Chief Justice. It is also an occasion for unscrupulous individuals to change the flash cards. How certain are we that those flash cards which the Comelec and Smartmatic-Tim will re-install and seal are not tampered with? How sure are we that these new flash cards are not programmed to rig the results?

The very slim chance of us relying on democratic means to effect change is getting dimmer and slimmer by the day.

Breaking News! Comelec mulling on selective automation

I had a chance to talk with various sources yesterday on the May 10 elections. And it seems likely that we will have a manual instead of an automated elections. And the manual count is being planned curiously and quite strangely, in Mindanao.

Why in Mindanao? No body knows for sure why there when the region was known as a traditional election hot spot and source of widespread fraud. Think of Garci and you'll remember Mindanao. 

A group of lawyers (Lente) and the IBP chapters throughout the Philippines are apprehensive about the automation, calling it a "very dangerous experiment". Lawyers worry on the expected huge number of disfranchised voters that this will create, given that it will take 22 hours for all voters to finish casting their votes while the law only allows half of the time. (Voting is only from 7am to 6pm--or about 11 hours).

The limited time already puts the entire process in jeopardy because of the huge number of voters per clustered precincts. If you have 50 million voters clustered in 50,000 precincts and every one votes, it will take 22 hours for every one to finish the casting of votes. The inevitability of a massive disfranchisement of voters will surely cast doubt on the entire poll process.

And granting, for the sake of argument, that everything is finished by 11 hours, you still have a huge problem---counting the ballots will be done in the evening which opens the possibility of physical sabotage. There are already groups out there who are thinking of destroying these optical machines to force manual counting.

Worst, both PLDT and Globe Telecommunications already indicated their unwillingness to provide Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM of digital data centers, fearing of sabotage. Seems that these two telecommunications firms will not risk their own multi-billion peso facilities for the elections. 

That's why, there's a bigger possibility now that the Commission on Elections will announce selective automation instead of full automation. The question is---will this change the contractual obligations of SMARTMATIC-TIM? 

Talks are rife that the Comelec will only do automated elections in Metro Manila, Metropolitan Cebu, Metro Davao, some key cities in Ilocos region and some in Northern and Southern Luzon. Mindanao will have manual counting of votes. 

It should be, given that the requirements are changing. Comelec already paid two billion pesos to Smartmatic-TIM. And given that it is still unable to deliver the rest of the counting machines even up to this time, government should re-visit its Contract and invite Smartmatic-TIM to sit at the negotiating table again and reduce the financial considerations of this contract.

In the end, the penultimate loser in all of these is still the Filipino People who pays billions for a project that the proponents planned to fail. 

KC Concepcion sex video?

Since this is a Friday, let me write a "soft piece", so to speak. Rumours are circulating that KC Concepcion, daughter of Megastar Sharon Cuneta, is also a victim of a sex video, involving, who? You guessed right---Dr. Hayden Kho.

Hay naku. This doctor is really a messed up guy. The video reportedly shows KC while having a body sculpturing job inside the Belo Medical Group clinic. Kho reportedly shot KC with his mobile phone. And KC allegedly did not know about it.

There are also rumours of a sex video, this time, with Anne Curtis. While Curtis "sex video" simply shows her kissing a guy, KC Concepcion's "video" seems to have generated more buzz over the net and percolated even in the mainstream because Sharon reportedly paid 20 million pesos to the guy who threatened to release the video in the mainstream.

Sharon has denied all of these things. There's no "sex video" and she did'nt pay anyone 20 million pesos. I believe her.

Why pay when she can very well ask police to arrest the guy with that video? Sharon is not that foolish to allow an extortionist to do that to her family. Question is---how about Gabby? Ano kaya ang pupuwede niyang sabihin tungkol dito? He's supposed to protect his daughter.

BY the way, speaking of videos, remember that controversial video showing FF Cruz signing alleged poll automation papers inside the COMELEC toilet room? Sources say the ones who leaked it out were PR operators of Smartmatic. That one, did not involve 20 million pesos.

Smartmatic-TIM scandal and The Arroyo Connection

True---the Antunez clan is not close with the family of the Arroyos. Yet, what it failed to disclose is, their closeness with the Aboitizes, their business associate and close family friends. But, does this really matter? Yes, because that'll be the key in unlocking the links of the First family into this deal.

We all know how close the Aboitizes are with First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and of Mr. Winston Garcia. These personalities have histories of business deals, one of which is the billion-peso GSIS card contract. GSIS, a government corporation, hired TIM for its GSIS cards. TIM was the technical supplier, while UnionBank, the bank owned by the Aboitiz clan, served as the banking services provider. They all have close personal ties.

Now, is this wrong? No, definitely, it is not. Legally speaking, there's nothing wrong with this except that its morally wrong to monopolize all government contracts under the same clans and personalities belonging to just one group, and a group with strong and very close personal ties with the First Family. This is simply a lopsided business environment.

More than this, why involve close associates of the First Family with a very sensitive issue such as poll automation? Everybody expects the poll automation to provide us with a clean rendering of electoral results come 2010.

Of course, there's no law prohibiting close business associates of the First Gentleman to make profits out of this. But, this is simply too much that even the very mechanisms that allow our voices to be heard are being manipulated, controlled and monopolized by these personalities close to the powers-that-be.

Again, going back to the initial theme of this entry---what went wrong? Where is the First Gentleman in all of these? Who served as his de-facto representatives in the deal?

After getting so much flak before, surely, the First Golfer's Group would want to cover its tracks. Surely, it needs some layers. And one of the layer is simply Smartmatic-Sahi.

If you research on Smartmatic International, it's a multinational company specializing in the design and end-to-end deployment of complex purpose-specific technology solutions. It was involved in the Venezuelan elections and some states in the US. Sure, it has technical muscle.

Now, it says that its contact in the Philippines is Global Contact Philippines. However, for the 2010 elections, Smartmatic International teamed up with Smartmatic Sahi. In August 2008, Smartmatic-Sahi managed the ARMM automated elections. Antonio Murgica, Smartmatic International's Chief Executive Officer even visited the Philippines for this.

As you already know, Smartmatic Sahi is controlled by Cezar Quiambao, Jorge Yulo and the Villas. Sixty percent of this company is controlled by Stratdec, a real and personal property firm. Stratdec has been involved in numerous government contracts, one of which is the LTO computerization. Quiambao, as earlier pointed out, is part of the ABC group of Alderito Yujuico and Bonifacio Sambilla. Now, what is the connection of the ABC group with the First Golfer Group?

Quiambao is not just a golfing buddy of the First Gentleman Mike Arroyo at Wack-Wack Golf and Country Club. He is also the biggest contractor in the Philippines, whom Mrs. Arroyo credited of having "realized the dreams of government to construct roads." Nothing wrong with just being a golf buddy of the First Gentleman, since, FG is a private citizen, no law bars him from fraternalizing with a big-time contractor involved in numerous government deals. Yet, you would agree with me that this is immoral.

So, if you look at the Smartmatic-TIM consortium, you'll find that the Arroyos are involved in both groups--through the Aboitiz clan with TIM and Smartmatic-Sahi with Quiambao. Now, what was the deal breaker if these groups pala share the same connections?

To understand this, let me go back to that meeting when a lawyer of TIM saw a powerful man conferring with an Aboitiz and principals of Smartmatic International. If you read my previous entry, sources identified the man as GSIS President Winston Garcia.

Now, you ask, there's nothing wrong with Garcia being seen with the Aboitizes since they're both from Cebu and their families are very close to each other. And again, there's nothing wrong with Garcia even talking with the principals of Smartmatic since, for all intents and purposes, he's a Filipino and his PR handlers would just simply say that he's quite interested in helping these two companies resolve their differences. Nothing wrong. And I agree.

Yet, the timing is really off. For months, critics of the administration have been accusing Mrs. Arroyo of trying to undermine the electoral process and here comes a very close Palace associate, the head of a government agency, again involved in what is turning out to be a very serious scandal.

What is Garcia doing there, playing counsel for the Aboitizes? Are the Aboitizes part of the consortium? It is not. And what is the meeting for? Reports say the Aboitizes were involved because its freight forwarding company 2GO will be the ones who'll handle the 82,000 counting machines. True. They're suppliers. Are the Aboitizes just concerned with how they'll be paid, since, in the joint venture agreement between Smartmatic and TIM, it's clear that all checks are to go thru TIM. Are you saying that the Aboitizes have an issue with Jose Mari Antunez inspite of being a relative and all?

It's true that the Antunez family and the Aboitizes have close ties. In fact, Julio Antunez works as one of the Aboitiz officials. And who'll bankroll the initial funds for the automation? Is it not Unionbank, a bank which the Aboitizes are involved?

Simply put, Garcia, as some high-profiled businessmen privy to this say, wants to get a piece of the action, although I am wont to believe this. Why? Because that would be too obvious.

Was Garcia there as a rep of the FG group and that meeting, which involved the Aboitizes, was a last ditch effort to persuade TIM to "toe the official line"? Why the meeting to assure? Read on...

The most critical thing of all of these is who financed the performance security bond of 350 million for the project? Is it not TIM through Unionbank? Is it not thru the combined monies of Antunez, Aboitiz and the Quiambaos? And of course, E. Villareal, who's participation in this scandal remains top secret.

So, TIM has the money, the legitimate papers and the technical wherewithal for this project. And the chance to rake in billions from this deal, why withdraw from it?

Answer---because TIM does not want to get entangled later on with the shady characters lurking and trying to get a fast buck in this scandalous marriage of convenience.

Jose Mari Antunez may have been forced to withdraw their involvement shortly after the Senate hearings. He may have thought that its not worth the trouble. If the Senate this early is trying to poke its nose to this uncanny marriage of convenience, better to drop out early rather than face the wrath of the people should anything bad happens in the elections.

Antunez, some sources say, was quite afraid when the Senate probe exposed that even Smartmatic International has dubious corporate papers. Jose Mari, says a close staff, decided unilaterally on behalf of TIM to break the deal. Besides, it was only during the Senate hearings that Antunez learned that Smartmatic International pala was registered in Barbados, a known haven of "dubious companies."

More than this, what made this worst is the suggestion made by Smartmatic to fully control the project, especially the technical work. Atty. Boy de Borja of TIM expressed this much in an interview. If trouble breaks out during the elections, TIM would be dragged into a very costly and very serious battle which, Antunez is really not ready and willing to be engaged in.

That said, it would only be a miracle if this consortium would still push thru. Why? Because the public, especially the Senate, has started its probe and that would simply drag certain powerful people again in the project.

So, the deal breaker was not money---it was the fear of these men of getting entangled with a very public controversy. TIM has so much to lose if people drag it into a messy scandal with its Aboitiz links.

Mr.Winston Garcia role in Smartmatic-TIM deal?

Inquirer headlined " 500-M demand did it" referring to the cause of the split between Smartmatic and Total Information Management (TIM). Makati Cong. Teddy Locsin revealed that lawyers of Smartmatic International received an "indecent proposal" from TIM President and CEO Jose Mari Antunez to the tune of 500 million pesos. Locsin said TIM suddenly played "hardball" when COMELEC announced the notice of award to the consortium.

Now, certain info has leaked especially on the circumstances that led TIM to play hardball. One of those information is the sudden appearance of a very powerful person into the picture. Who is this very powerful man?

Antunez revealed that his lawyers reportedly met and saw this powerful man with a member of the Aboitiz family at the Manila Peninsula hotel coffee shop last week. This powerful man is Winston Garcia, who was the one allegedly who nominated the Aboitizes to the deal. Garcia was talking with Don Enrique Aboitiz, Cezar Quiambao and Cesar Flores of Smartmatic International.
A few days after this, Antunez reportedly received a call from Aboitiz, demanding that he toe the line otherwise, he'll "offend very powerful people." That prompted TIM to play hardball to deliberately break the deal, because some sources said, Antunez does not want to be associated with "Mr. Gentleman."

Why did Mr. Antunez decide to break the deal? Sources say Antunez is an honest businessman who does not want to be associated with the "dirty antics" of this group. Which group? Read my next entry.

(By the way, who is Jose Mari Antunez? That will be my next entry.)

Smartmatic and TIM---real score

What is the meaning of administrative control? In separate interviews today with Cesar Flores of Smartmatic and Atty. Boy de Borja of Total Information Management or TIM, DZMM anchor Ted Failon was able to elicit the true cause of the "irreconciliable differences" pointed out earlier by COMELEC chairman Jose Melo to have caused the sudden withdrawal of TIM in its joint venture agreement with Smartmatic.

In essence, it was not money that they're fighting for---its administrative control of the counting machines, meaning, who'll be the main administrator of the entire project. Under the terms of reference, the consortium shall hire a project team to implement the project. TIM wants to hire its own while Smartmatic wants to follow the law and directly manage the project themselves, which, if you closely analyze, is logical. Why hire a third party when Smartmatic is competent enough to operate the entire system?

TIM is adamant that it should have more administrative control since by operation of law, they should comprise 60% of the company to be formed by both companies. For Smartmatic, this is not to be because under the terms of reference by the COMELEC, the company with the technical know-how should spearhead the project and in this case, it should very well be Smartmatic.

It seems prior to the approval of their bid, there was a joint venture agreement signed by both parties which maps out their working relationship. TIM claims that they encountered many problems with Smartmatic in the past yet, they initially agreed on the terms of the joint venture agreement. When the notice of award was issued, that was the time that both parties seriously tackled the issue and the issue of administrative control was raised. Why is this so important?

More than the 7billion peso contract, administrative control of the system means more money for the consortium. Whoever holds administrative control of the system can demand more money from election lawyers and operators. The possibility of manipulation is actually there since it has been proven in previous Smartmatic engagements abroad, that the system is really falliable. We know that human error can actually occur. As what Atty. de Borja suggested in his interview, automation does not guarantee clean elections. Therefore, whoever controls the administration key holds the fate of political candidates, especially the vote tally of national candidates.

TIM has engaged a PR consultant to convince the public that it stands on a higher moral ground, using nationalism as its platform. Yet, there seems to be something wrong here.

Why is TIM so concerned with administrative control? Because that's the very essence of all of these things.

How would TIM recover its initial investment put forth by the ABC group composed of Alderito Yuyuico, Bonifacio Sumbilla and Cezar Quiambao if TIM can't pay them through checks since checks to be issued by the consortium has to go through Smartmatic? Sources say it was this group that frontloaded the initial fund to ensure the grant of the bidding to the consortium. If even checks to be issued are to come pass Smartmatic, that is risky because this will expose the contacts and people really behind TIM.

Likewise, we all know the ties and links of this ABC group with Malacanang. How can Malacanang complete its hold to power if the administrative control over the automated elections is in the hands of foreigners? The main agenda of the palace is total control, even of the elections, and they cannot do that if the systems control is with Smartmatic, a foreign entity without political interests? Control has to be monopolized or centralized by Malacanang; otherwise, it loses more power enroute to 2010 and would really render Mrs. Arroyo as a lameduck.

TIM is actually using the nationalist card to buttress its claims but the core of this issue is the very fact that what Smartmatic actually refuses to do is hand over control of the automated elections to the hands of the ABC group which has very, very close links with the First Gentleman Mike Arroyo. Smartmatic, to be honest, stands on a higher moral ground. It just seems that TIM is, since it created the initiative by withdrawing from the consortium.

Now, what would happen afterwards? Should COMELEC decide to take Smartmatic in a joint partnership agreement which would definitely violate Philippine law? Or COMELEC would just revert to manual counting since most election operators are under the stable hands of the palace?

Again, the issue is administrative control. Whoever controls the elections, controls or can dictate the very fate of politicians in this country. In manual counting, the palace has complete control since it has, under its stable, the most effective and the most efficient election operators. If the automation pushes thru, control will be under a foreign entity, Smartmatic. That's why TIM wants this out of the equation since it wants control even of the technical aspects of the project. Why? Because it serves as the front organization of the ABC group, which, again, let me repeat, has very close links with the First Gentleman. TIM's contention that in case of a problem caused by the system, they'll just be the ones who'll be under scrutiny and possible prosecution is crap. In a joint venture agreement, both parties are jointly and severally liable. The government can run after Smartmatic. TIM just wants to honor its commitment with its external funding partners, which, in this case, are those very close to the First Gentleman.

Control. Money. Power. That's the real score behind the split. Now, who's the more nationalistic? These foreigners or these locals?

TIM gave reasons for withdrawing from poll automation

Total Information Management or TIM just withdrew from its consortium agreement with Smartmatic, rendering the entire poll automation contract in jeopardy. Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said that TIM officials led by its CEO Jose Antunez formally gave their letter of resignation yesterday. Melo hinted the possibility of reverting to manual counting. Or, as COMELEC legal head Atty. Ferdie Rafanan indicated, a COMELEC-Smartmatic consortium just to push thru with it.

TIM spokesperson, Atty. Boy De Borja in an interview today with DZMM anchor Ted Failon, indicated that their supposed "rift" between Smartmatic has been historically long.

Atty. De Borja said that Smartmatic approached them prior to the bidding, shortly after the Mindanao poll automation experiment. Someone recommended TIM to Smartmatic. Smartmatic then entered into a consortium with TIM. And they won the bidding.

TIM said that automated elections is really not a guarantee for clean elections. That is the beef of TIM against Smartmatic. TIM said that they are responsible to ensure that the 2010 elections is " absolute clean (ly) and beyond doubt". However, TIM protested Smartmatic's view that they'll be the ones to decide should a problem occur during the implementation of the poll automation. What problems, TIM is wont to say.

Atty. de Borja revealed a very cryptic statement indicating that certain "administrative matters", for example, the "disbursement of checks" could impact on the integrity of the elections. TIM says they want to avoid that.

De Borja said that Smartmatic agreed on a 60-40 arrangement, as provided for by Philippine laws. However, in reality, Smartmatic wants to control all decisions relating to the implementation of poll automation. In effect, what Smartmatic wants TIM to just be a paper partner. TIM refused to do that, fearing that a failure of the automation could boomerang to them, being the Philippine partner.

By the way, it's curious to note that this "break" happened shortly after the Senate investigation. Probably, there is really something seriously wrong with the consortium that TIM and Smartmatic do not want the public to know. These companies would want to avoid a full outbreak of their legal complications.

TIM was offered an impossible request

In an interview today over at DZMM, former National Computer Center (NCC) head Ike Seneres surmised that maybe the reason why Total Information Management (TIM) withdrew from the poll automation is the "impossible request" coming from "higher ups". What kind of request, Seneres was wont to say. Seneres said TIM CEO and president Jose Antonio Antunez is a man of integrity. There is a possibility, says Seneres, that there probably was a request from someone or some group either in Commission on Elections (COMELEC) or in Malacanang and that Antunez was quick to squelch it. Senator Richard Gordon opined that there could be powerful groups within COMELEC that does not want automation of the elections. Who are these groups? Gordon did not identify them.

What is certain is the possibility of manual counting remains, unless, COMELEC does something impossible, for example, a purported plan to merge with Smartmatic just to push thru with the plan.

What is the reason behind the "irreconciliable" differences between Smartmatic and TIM?

Threats to Philippine Democracy

There are reasons why people feel fear and threatened right now. The very democracy which we so love hangs in the balance.

First, the very integrity of the constitutional and electional process is under threat. Second, an elitist Lower House continues to ignore public pleas to address more significant issues like agrarian reform while they waste public money discussing charter change. Third, attempts are underway to curtail the very individual freedoms we enjoy over the Internet.

How do you know expect the 2010 elections to be sweakingly clean when the very computer system that the COMELEC intends to use, is controlled by associates of the First Gentleman of Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo?

Wittingly or unwittingly, COMELEC played in the sinister plans of this administration. What is to prevent people behind this consortium to ensure the victories of their favored bets come 2010? Answer---nothing. Gus Lagman is right---the system is not infalliable. It can be manipulated. What are our safeguards? Nothing. We don't have any weapons to fight or counter fraud except collective expression of disgusts.

And despite public opposition against charter change, the Lower House continues to discuss this despicable issue in contempt of the 76% of the Filipino People who already expressed their anger against cha-cha. Who are the people being represented by these Congressmen? I thought they are representatives of the people. The people already decided this issue. Yet, they seem ignorant or they act like they don't hear the shouts of our people against this measure.

And people like Partylist Cong. Irwin Tieng seems like playing into the hands of these anti-democratic forces working fervently within government, using the Katrina Halili-Hayden Kho sex video scandal, to justify the passage of a Philippine Cyber Law. Nothing wrong with passing such a law yet it is the duty of Mr. Tieng to explain the rights to be curtailed by his law. Instead of playing into the emotions of people, Tieng should present the merits of his proposal before the Filipino net community. We are the stakeholders here and we should be informed correctly on the merits and demerits of such a measure.

We have been deprived of our voice in 2004. And we face the very prospect of a repeat of the same come 2010. Worst, other civil liberties like internet use etc. are being put into extreme jeopardy.

What are we to do about these threats? Are we to just be "silent" or we choose the right leader or just fight it out? You choose.