LOW KEY TELECOM EXPERT SAYS CHEATING TAKES PLACE IN 2022 ELECTIONS

 TELECOM EXPERT DEBUNKS CLAIMS OF HONEST AND FAIR ELECTIONS IN 2022

 Netizens say if cheating occurred in the 2022 presidential elections, why does the political opposition hardly complain? Why does Leni Robredo, Kiko Pangilinan, and the opposition senatorial candidates do not raise howls in every conceivable forum like the streets and the court? Why are they not filing any protest before the Commission on Elections (Comelec)? Why is there is no passion, spark, or spirit of protest in the opposition ranks?

 The issue of election cheating appears rooted in insufficient data. Concerned parties, including the private election watchdog organizations and the political opposition, could not openly claim any election cheating for lack of official data. They could not prove if Comelec and its private partner Smartmagic reneged on their mandate to ensure free, honest, orderly, and clean elections in 2022.

 The public has only gained recently of insights on the possibility of election cheating, but it did not come from the current crop of politicians and watchdog specialists, who hardly dare to stand up and make any expose. The insights mostly came from low-key retired Gen. Eliseo Rio, a telecommunications expert and former DICT top honcho.

The usually reticent Rio, who is not associated with any particular political persuasion, revealed what he considered as cheating on the basis of the official election data, which came from Comelec, the constitutional body mandated to manage the elections.

This year, Rio went public when he noticed the unusual traffic in the quantity of votes, which were counted in the first hour of counting. According to Rio, it was impossible for Smartmatic’s automated elections system to have counted more than 20 million votes in the first hour of counting, saying its system did not have capacity and capability. Rio surmised that Smartmatic and Comelec had conspired to cheat and give doctored results.

It was not automatic elections that had happened in 2022. It was the manipulation of election results to come out with the automatic winners, according to Rio. The conspiracy appeared blatant, he said.

Leni Robredo, or anyone in the political opposition, is nowhere to be seen opposing the alleged manipulation of election results. Seven months after the election day, Robredo was saying the political opposition was not in possession of any piece of evidence to conclude that cheating  took place in the last elections.

It took Emil Maranon, an election lawyer who worked in the Leni Robredo camp, to correct Leni’s statement saying that although the political opposition did not have any evidence to prove election cheating, her statement should not be taken to mean that no election cheating indeed took place. It was his way to say that the people should keep on open mind on this issue because concrete evidence could probably surface in the future.

Leni has proven to be an excellent community worker. Her skill and dedication to community development and public service is beyond doubt, as community works through her NGO, Angat Buhay, showed exceptional results. She is no longer in power, but she keeps her presence felt by doing community projects.

 But she is not a political strategist. Her knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of political strategy is wanting. She hardly understands the complexities and ultimate necessity of a strategy to win political power and enjoy unhampered governance.

The late ex-Sen. Ernesto Maceda, who, in his time,  established a reputation for political pragmatism, once said that a great political leader is one who could cheat and stop cheating, at the same time. Ultimately, he wins in every election that he participates.

The Liberal Party did not have a political strategist, who perceived election cheating. The LP did not have any ace on its sleeve to put Comelec and Smartmagic on the defensive. The damage to its cause was exacerbated when Leni Robredo immediately left for abroad with her daughters to take some selfie shots in some parts known and unknown.

Hence, the LP seeme to have been transformed into a halfway house for political orphans, who felt abandoned by their leaders. Not one among the opposition leaders spoke the perceived election cheating.

It took Gen. Eliseo Rio to come out in the open to denounce publicly what he considered election cheating. Political stalwarts from every conceivable side of the political fence either ignored him or dismissed him as another political charlatan. He does not possess the skill for public speaking. He is not a orator, who could wake up his audience from stupor.

But Rio has a scientific and  scholarly mind, who could breathe life on all the cold statistical data from Comelec. Rio could interpret them appropriately on the basis of science and technology. On the basis of what Rio was claiming, Comelec was forced to reveal the official data it has in its possession.

Rio could see the anomalies in these data. More statistical data from him are to come out in the open. The Comelec data is proving to be the proverbial nooze that would hang its neck before the court of public opinion.