Looming Failure Of May Polls Warned

[Mr Lee]

I think I have been saying this for months now, now they finally see it coming. While Philippine politics is none of our business, what I wonder is, how will a failure of election affect us?Ex-officials warn of looming failure of May pollsMANILA, Philippines - All indications of a looming failure of the May 10 elections are becoming more visible with the delays and glitches involving the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines, former government officials opposed to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Saturday."Deliveries, testing, calibration, validation and training for automated elections are delayed. Ballot printing is also delayed... The risks of failures of the 2010 elections are increasing everyday," the group, Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO), said in a statement.The group said that Mrs. Arroyo should be blamed if the May 10 national and local polls fail."All preparations for the [automated elections] occurred under the GMA administration and the Melo Comelec, as the Abalos Comelec, are mostly or totally composed of GMA appointees," the FSGO said. The FSGO said a failure of elections, even in an automated system, can only be "deliberate" and "engineered by the GMA administration." Link to the whole story

[Mr Lee]

I can tell you all from my electronics experience as a ham radio advance class, that whatever is transmitted can be blocked (jammed) and then retransmitted with info that they want received, so electronic transmissions of data will probably cause a failure of the elections or at the very least and easy way for people to cheat. Buys 5,000 satellite antennas Smartmatic vows to solve transmission failuresMANILA, Philippines – Smartmatic has acquired satellite antennas for areas in the Philippines that have no stable telecommunication capacity, a company official said.“We already acquired 5,000 satellite antennas,” said Smartmatic International Sales Director Cesar Flores during ABS-CBN News Channel's (ANC's) E-Leksyon Forum held Friday at ABS-CBN's Dolphy Theater. Smartmatic is the Venezuelan company that won the bid for the country's first nationwide automated elections. It is supplying Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines that will automatically count the votes cast. Lack of a telecommunications signal or GSM signal, would hinder the electronic transmission of results from the precincts to the municipal, provincial, and national canvassing.“What happened to Taguig and Pateros is just that,” Flores said, referring to the field tests done Friday, which had problems transmitting the results.Link to the whole storyHow electronics transmissions work, or at least the part they are willing to tell people about

[Jake]

I think I have been saying this for months now, now they finally see it coming. While Philippine politics is none of our business, what I wonder is, how will a failure of election affect us?Ex-officials warn of looming failure of May pollsMANILA, Philippines - All indications of a looming failure of the May 10 elections are becoming more visible with the delays and glitches involving the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines, former government officials opposed to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo said Saturday."Deliveries, testing, calibration, validation and training for automated elections are delayed. Ballot printing is also delayed... The risks of failures of the 2010 elections are increasing everyday," the group, Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO), said in a statement.The group said that Mrs. Arroyo should be blamed if the May 10 national and local polls fail."All preparations for the [automated elections] occurred under the GMA administration and the Melo Comelec, as the Abalos Comelec, are mostly or totally composed of GMA appointees," the FSGO said. The FSGO said a failure of elections, even in an automated system, can only be "deliberate" and "engineered by the GMA administration." Link to the whole story

Good morning guys, It comes to no surprise that this is the norm rather than the exception. The corruption machine is well lubricated and will continue for generations to come. Additionally, look at how many political parties are pushing their anointed or chosen presidential candidates. Unlike our traditional two party system, at leasthalf a dozen candidates (one of which is a B rated actor) are campaigning for the golden egg. In other words, a new president can be elected based on only 20-30% of the voting population! We will read more headlines about the three G's (guns, goons and gold) as the campaign strategy becomesoverheated. Disclaimer: this is only my personal comment as a frustrated Filipino.... Respectfully -- Joaquin

[Mr Lee]

Ask yourself, why now and not right after the last disaster? Could this just be a smoke screen for the impending Marshall Law when the elections fail? That is what concerns me and I do not wish to get into the politics of the Philippines except to wonder how Martial Law will affect those of us who live in the Philippines and those of us who spend a lot of time in the Philippines? Would planes still fly in? Would we be able to leave? Would the Internet be shut down? Would phone calls to the outside world be cut off or curtailed? So many what ifs. Gonzales wants RP reservists hiked to 1 million MANILA, Philippines - Defense Secretary Norberto Gonzales wants the country’s reserve military force increased from the present 350,000 to one million to assist the military in disaster Link to the whole story

[tropicalwaste]

I dont see martial law being implemented simply because its not needed. Even if some form of martial law did take place who would be in control of it? Only person who would be looking for that is the current president. Would it make any difference to Foreigners ? I doubt it they may not like us but they like our money and lets face it 10million Filipinos work abroad they dont want to upset the international markets that could cost them in that corrupt treasury pocket. Also the fact most Filipinos dont seem interested in Politics any more simply because it doesnt matter who is in power they are all aware that none of them can be trusted so even if someone went for a revolution nobody is likely to support it because of this factor. Although if Manny Villiar gets into power the Property markets might open up since he has his fingers in most of the developments which could be beneficial to the foreigner market.

[Mr Lee]

I must be a mind reader. Don't say I did not tell you all so when there is mass cheating or a failure of elections from the signals being jammed and then other data being sent to replace the correct data. Read the last line of this post.Transmission fiasco feared with 5,000 signal jammersAlarmed by reports that 5,000 signal jammers have been imported into the country, possibly to disrupt transmission of the election data on the scheduled polls date, Commission on Elections spokesman James Jimenez expressed fears on prospects for their use yesterday, but nevertheless assured the public that the Comelec is now working on counter-measures to prevent the signal jammers from disrupting the transmission of data. Smartmatic Corp., the supplier of the 82,000 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines also assured that it has drafted all the necessary contingency measures to ensure that attempts to manipulate the results of the elections will not succeed. Cesar Flores, Smartmatic president for Asia Pacific said this in reaction to the reported importation of some 5,000 cellular line jammers aimed at disrupting the conduct of the political exercises this May 10. Flores said “the only achievement they (line jammers) can do is delay the transmission a few minutes.” 5000 signal jammers in the RP nowAnd what do you suppose they will then do within the few minutes, of course replace the data with their own data, and then since the receiver already has the data for that spot in their system, all future data will be rejected. What a twisted plan they weave when they practice to deceive. Anyone have any better ideas what might be planned for the use of those jammers?

[Jake]

I must be a mind reader. Don't say I did not tell you all so when there is mass cheating or a failure of elections from the signals being jammed and then other data being sent to replace the correct data. Read the last line of this post.Transmission fiasco feared with 5,000 signal jammersAlarmed by reports that 5,000 signal jammers have been imported into the country, possibly to disrupt transmission of the election data on the scheduled polls date, Commission on Elections spokesman James Jimenez expressed fears on prospects for their use yesterday, but nevertheless assured the public that the Comelec is now working on counter-measures to prevent the signal jammers from disrupting the transmission of data. Smartmatic Corp., the supplier of the 82,000 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines also assured that it has drafted all the necessary contingency measures to ensure that attempts to manipulate the results of the elections will not succeed. Cesar Flores, Smartmatic president for Asia Pacific said this in reaction to the reported importation of some 5,000 cellular line jammers aimed at disrupting the conduct of the political exercises this May 10. Flores said