TANGGULANG DEMOKRASYA: In defense of democracy!


 
In 1898, our forebears rose in arms to expel the colonial masters. In 1946, the last vestige of colonial rule ended. In 1986, the people dislodged a despotic ruler. In May 2010, the Comelec stole our suffrage rights in the confused darkness of the night.

Nary was a whimper heard in mainstream society. The post-election euphoria blended with the chorus song of "resounding success".

"WHERE DID OUR VOTES GO?"

Two highly objective reports that shed light on this issue were submitted to the Authorities.

One report, prepared by the Philippine Computer Society, reveals the clear and unmistakable failures of Smartmatic and Comelec to comply with the safeguards for automated elections prescribed by the Automation Law. The Technical Working Group of the Philippine Computer Society recommended essential safeguards, but these were totally ignored.

The Global Filipino Nation Election Observers submitted a separate report reflecting the onsite monitoring by a team of overseas Filipino and foreign professionals. Their report exposed the existence of a systemic mechanism for perpetuating electoral fraud woven into the structure of the automated election process. Consequently, this group, in strongly-worded terms, challenged the legitimacy of the election results.

In a multi-sectoral truth forum on June 19, 2010, conscientized citizens sounded a hymn, divergent from the “success song”, on the mechanism for fraud that the May 2010 elections ushered in. That mechanism defeats the spirit and objective of the Automation Law -- which is to eliminate the electoral fraud inherent in manual elections. The resulting fraudulent elections betrayed the electorate, crushing our democracy--swiftly, efficiently. The automated fraud taunted the IT sector. It made a mockery of our right of suffrage.

In the face of the serious threat to our democracy, individuals and organizations formed a multi-sectoral coalition and they christened it Tanggulang Demokrasya (or TanDem, for short). TanDem is non-partisan. It does not support or oppose parties or personalities. The focused objective of TanDem is to bring to the peoples' attention the serious electoral crimes; to demand accountability; and seek an immediate rectification of the corrupted Automated Electoral System (AES) before any other automated elections are held. All of these are in the pursuit of unblemished democracy!

Shall we idly sit without even being aware of the piracy of our suffrage?

But, realizing the daylight piracy, shall we allow ourselves to be robbed of our most cherished democratic rights?

Or, shall we rise in defense of democracy?

E: info@tandem.org.ph

Bank Account:
BPI Harrison Buendia
Pilar Calderon
Evelyn Kilayko
0305-2368-61