Hiding the truth

That Gloria and her allies — including those in the Supreme Court (SC) — are deathly scared of a recount of presidential votes can easily be gleaned from the dismissal of the poll protest case filed by opposition standard-bearer, the late Fernando Poe Jr. where his widow Susan Roces sought to become a substitute protestant for her husband.

In doing so, however, she made it clear she does not seek to take his place as a presidential bet but to provide the people the chance to know just who won the elections.

Even before the high court dismissed the case, it was already a foregone conclusion that the Davide Court would rule against Roces, because these justices knew that granting Roces her petition would open the Pandora box and lay bare the massive cheating engaged in by Gloria and her camp.

The justices did the same in the protest case against then President Fidel Ramos who was being challenged by Miriam Santiago.

In both instances, the high court dismissed the poll protest suits on a “technicality” in Miriam's protest, when it was getting evident that Ramos had cheated his way through the presidency, the SC quickly claimed technicality.

This has made Filipinos wonder why there is even that need for a Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), which is the SC, when was made clear by the court itself that presidential poll protestants have no chance at all legally in getting the high court to right of electoral wrong.

The way it goes, there really is no chance in hell for a presidential opponent who has been cheated at the polls to get the justice due him.

It was clear that after polls, and as Congress met in joint sessions to come up with the rules on the congressional canvassing, that the allies of Gloria were making sure FPJ would be given no opportunity to have any and all election documents examined during the canvassing. They even made sure that any opposition to moves by the canvassing board on questions of authenticity of the documents and the numbers in them, would not be given its time of day, because they already knew Gloria had lost.

More to the point, Gloria and allies claimed questioning the election documents should be done before the PET, not before the congressional canvass board.

Then came the railroading of the proclamation of Gloria, in the wee hours of the morning, but the right time really, since it is the usual time for thieves to rob homes. In Congress' case, it was the “right time” to rob the Filipino people of their sovereign will.

And so, the opposition lodged a protest before the PET, but this too was quashed by the high court's ruling to dismiss the case.

What is the common thread that binds Gloria, her congressional allies and the high court justices, if not fear that the massive cheating the administration engaged in would be exposed and cause the legal ouster of Gloria?

At the heart of the issue is not whether Susan Roces qualifies as a substitute protestant, but whether the opposition presidential candidate had been cheated out of his electoral victory.

So he died, but with a recount of the votes to know for certain whether he won the elections bar the rampant fraud, it makes sense for the PET to at least give due course to the poll protest, precisely to know whether the sovereign will of the people had been thwarted.

The people's sovereign will is undeniably higher than the government, as all government power emanates from the people — and the people certainly want to know the truth, which they could have, if the high court allowed the Roces petition to continue, instead of dismissing it outright, and on a claimed “technicality” which never bothered this prostituted Davide Court before anyway.

The idea behind the dismissal of the protest was obviously to lay the basis, the second time around — for the legitimacy of Gloria's presidency.

Ironically, as the court itself and its chief justice have obviously lost the faith and trust of the people — as shown in the recent surveys with the heavy plunges in approval/satisfaction ratings, that plan to vest her the legitimacy she desires boomeranged on all of them.

For one, that sought for legitimacy status that could bring about political stability and gain for Gloria the true mandate to govern, especially in a crisis, has not been achieved. People still don't believe she won the polls honestly.

For another, instead of gaining political instability, the high court's dismissal just opened the doors to more political instability, with the issue of massive fraud that accompanied the presidential election and of Gloria cheating Poe of his victory, back in the forefront again.

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