A New Independence: Automation

With the proclamation of Noynoy Aquino and Jojo Binay as president-elect and vice-president-elect, respectively, we have sealed a new chapter in our democracy: automation. Finally, automation has freed us from the manual process of electing our leaders that only perpetuated large-scale cheating as seen in GMA's "Hello Garci".

We congratulate Noynoy and Binay in their well-deserved victories. More importantly, we thank the Comelec and each one of us who made sure we succeeded in our pioneering endeavor. When I cast my vote, for example, I was most impressed by an elderly male voter I saw who carefully filled out his ballot, waited patiently in line until it was his turn to feed his ballot into the PCOS machine, and afterwards, smiled with relief upon seeing the "Congratulations" message.

There were problems and even allegations of fraud, but in the end we made it to having our new president and vice-president proclaimed in record time. Incidentally, Mar Roxas should do well to now concede defeat to Binay. He should no longer pursue his planned electoral protest, which at core is pathetically speculative like the matter of null votes that is even a non-issue. Why should time and effort be wasted to "count" a ballot where the post of vice-president was left blank or more than one oval was shaded? Even as null, such ballot still reflects the will of the voter.

Notably, if we were to brand this election, it is that of the massive outpouring of People Power once again. In short, this was a yellow election. Noynoy got this point right, for which reason he won overwhelmingly. Jojo Binay also knew this, for which reason he surged ahead of Mar by his Coryista and Rambotito record and as a true opposition against GMA together with his "Ganito kami sa Makati." Regrettably for Mar, he marketed his own blue, but fake padyak driver label, even as against Noynoy. Of course, the people saw through it.

For that matter, Jojo Binay's victory is our people's will for a check and balance to Noynoy. I trust that Noynoy will never forget that he owes his victory to the people and not to Mar or the Liberal Party or the "Hyatt-10" and other interest groups. On this note, I remember my mother who during the days of Cory magic voted for Enrile as opposition senator in the 1987 elections. "But why?" I asked her then. Mama smilingly explained that she had been with Cory and the people around her as early as the campaign, and she saw it best for the country to have a strong opposition.