It is really hard to take on an entire system by yourself.

Ask Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento.

Hailed by almost everyone as a good appointment to the discredited Commission on Elections, everyone expects him to bring credibility to an organization that has none (the same is said of Brawner and Ferrer – oh boy we are wrong).

At first I was afraid that he was appointed just for that – to bring credibility. The actions of that commission, however, show us that it is too much for one man to take on a bureacracy.

The warning signs were there. First, he was assigned to be in charge of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao a month before the elections. Second, the Garci lieutenants were in place even before he could say “Bulaga”. Then, when charges of fraud in Maguindanao were raised, he was made head of the task force that will investigate the matter. And there’s the special elections in Lanao del Sur.

He should have seen the sandbags falling. He was given a loaded gun, and he didn’t know the bullet was for him.

Now, to “cap” his stint, he threw himself in the mud with his sad reaction to a news footage by ABS-CBN News showing blank election returns being transported to a hotel 1.5 kilometers away from Marawi City. By denying and then changing his mind, Sarmiento has tarnished his reputation.

Was everything a setup? Based on his initial reaction, he doesn’t know what’s going on. But the next one was pathetic. He knew by then that the system is working against him; instead of footing his foot down, he crumbled.

It can be said that it is a good thing he doesn’t know; at least, when he retires, he can say that he is not part of it. Unfortunately, ignorance is never a great excuse.

I cannot help but feel sorry for Sarmiento. Here is probably one good man defeated by a well-entrenched system. It is really hard for one man to take against an entire system.

—

We learned a lot of things from this episode. It seems that what happened in Lanao del Sur (the failure of elections in 13 towns, the special elections) happened for a reason. Whether it is to discredit one man (highly unlikely) or to make cheating possible (highly likely), the solution to the problem resides in the people in Mindanao.

MNLF and MILF people are clamoring for independence from the Philippines. The reason they failed is that they are barking at the wrong tree. They should free themselves from the culture and the warlords instead.

Also, it seems that Mindanao is not politically ready for autonomy. The political culture is not conducive for democracy.

We (here in Luzon) cannot do anything about the problem in Mindanao. What we can do is to tell our leaders here in Luzon to stop exploiting the kinks in Mindanao’s culture.