Comelec chairman diverting attention of electorate

Commission on Elections Chair Sixto  Brillantes is very good in the art of diversion. Campaign and election periods had to contend with different issues big and small, but  Brillantes has always in one way or another managed to focus public attention on the less important ones.

One of the biggest issues hounding the 2013 elections is the efficiency of the PCOS machines which exposed some glitches even in the latest mock elections.

Another top priority that the Comelec should be working on is the acquisition of the source code for the voting machines, which is getting more urgent with every day that passes as the elections draw closer.

The electorate’s attention has also been swayed from the very critical concern of insufficient power supply in Mindanao, which could make cheating easier to do in this coming elections.

All these huge issues have somehow been sidelined because of the diversionary small issues—such as party-list disqualification, airtime limit rule, or what have you—that  Brillantes has introduced into the public conversation.

This scheme of Brillantes to divert our attention from the very important matters will hit us hard during and after the elections.

—SYLVESTER CASTRO,

castrollers@gmail.com