HOW MUCH MORE?

NOW IT CAN BE TOLD: Our elections will never occur properly as long as the composition of the Commission of Elections is not overhauled. Why the need for overhaul of its staff and officials? This is because for many decades now it has not been able to give us an honest election, an honest election of leaders who will truly serve the country. It was only this May 2010 that we were able to see a bit of credibility (hopefully) after the elected officials most of them anyhow, show sensitivity to the plight of our long-burdened brothers and sisters.

Still the issue persists that the next elections will not be as smooth, as the last barangay elections have shown – 2,000+ barangays were not able to vote on the assigned date, a clear case of disenfranchisement as the people in those barangays should have voted exactly on the designated date for elections.

The delay is an abnormal operation and should be investigated – not because certain departments did not function as decreed but that the Comelec failed to put its foot down and to order those responsible for printing, distribution and sending of ballots to the regions to do everything with dispatch.

And so what is the problem here? Managerial of course. The image, the capability of the Comelec is heavily questionable at this point. Clearly, it does not have the managerial expertise to conduct elections. Instead it is immersed in political gimmickry, manipulation and or vulnerability to vultures ready to pay up to high heavens just to be able to get elected.

Hence, our concern as citizens of this country is to insist that the Comelec have an overhaul – let us subject it to management audit, check whether the people there are properly appointed, and have credentials appropriate to the positions they are occupying. I think that we have labored too much already from this very inept bureaucratic organization whose achievements fall below the international standards for a government agency that takes charge of facilitating the selection of leaders of the country.

How much more need we suffer?