Two months after the 2007 elections, with senators and congressmen ready to constitute the 14th Congress, we must now take stock of what had happened and what is next for us.

The Maguindanao vote was not a dagdag-bawas operation; it was more of an insurance operation with no clear goal in the beginning. The operators at Maguindanao took things slowly, trying to gauge the situation by the hour.

Poll watchdogs-without-teeth Namfrel and PPCRV couldn’t even categorically say if elections happened in that province. What we can safely say is that Namfrel volunteers failed to witness the counting; that the Namfrel copies of the election returns were withheld; the news organizations were barred from witnessing the provincial canvass. And then later it was announced that the province produced a 12-0 sweep for the administration’s Team Unity; other candidates got zero votes, Luis “Chavit” Singson (an Ilocano) topped the polls, voter turnout was 90% – all statistical blips.

As the results from other places began trickling in, things became apparent: (1) most local officials affiliated with the administration won (most of them ran unopposed anyway), with several surprising and not-so-surprising upsets (Panlilio, Custodio, Binay, Lim, Robredo, among others); (2) the House remains in the administration’s side; and (3) the Senate would go opposition, 8-2-2. Also, the last slot in the Senate race is still up for grabs, and that it is possible to snatch it from the opposition. Mike Defensor and Ralph Recto conceded, leaving Juan Miguel Zubiri in the running.

Enter Lintang Bedol.

Remember that (1) Namfrel failed to witness how the Maguindanao vote was counted; (2) Namfrel volunteers failed to get the Namfrel copy of the election returns; (3) later on these returns appeared, but Namfrel refused to count them; and (4) Chavit Singson topped the TU sweep. But Singson was nowhere near the 12th slot; the Maguindano CoC will be useless. So why not lose it?

Which Lintang Bedol did. Or, it was stolen, he said. Everything – election returns, certificates of canvass, anything that would show that Singson topped Maguindanao.

The Comelec went on a field trip, looked for documents at Maguindanao, found the wall copies of the tallies, considered them authentic, and formed a special board to count these. Despite countless objections from opposition lawyers, the special board was like a charging train, unstoppable. Napag-utusan lang po (we were doing as ordered), the special board said.

And voila. Still a 12-0 TU sweep, and Zuburi topped the sweep. Amazing. Poor Chavit, he must be number 26 at the end. Or 27.

As a sidenote, one brave teacher by the name of Musa Dimasidsing cried foul, alleged that it was not a sweep, that non-TU candidates got votes in Pagalungan; he was later shot dead. But he was a man of no consequence for Zubiri and the Comelec, so they did take him seriously; they were not even bothered by his death.

Comelec was about to canvass the Maguindanao vote, Pimentel cried foul, went to the Supreme Court, and botched the job. Comelec was done canvassing the Maguindanao vote and was ready to proclaim Zubiri. Pimentel went to the Supreme Court again, and despite the glaring problems, the Court chose not to disenfranchise the operators. Zubiri was proclaimed.

It was a miracle, and Zubiri was thankful to God and Mama Mary. The Filipino people must be praying at the wrong God.

—

As in 2004, Maguindanao delivered. This time, the method was more brazen, more obvious, done in broad daylight – no need for phone calls. The operators knew the rule book by heart, and knew how to circumvent each rule. Heck, they did not have to do it clandestinely – no one cares anyway.

The opposition knew they would be cheated, but they don’t know how. The operators knew that what they did in 2004 was a one-time thing; the enemy was prepared and knew what to expect. The operators also knew that they got away with it; why not push the envelop further, and do it right in their noses? They did, and they got away with it.

So what is next? Push the envelop further. How? It depends. Maybe we should return to this topic by January, 2010, when we know who are the presidentiables. There’s a law mandating an automated elections. Hmm…. selling the software perhaps? Or an Easter egg? Or a backdoor?