If the praises and expressions of support newly appointed Commission on Elections Chair Andres Bautista are getting from citizens and electoral groups are true, then there indeed is another reason to be optimistic on the 2016 polls. This is supposing that the new chair could steer the commission to conducting a more stable automated elections, which is at present being hounded by issues that put the PCOS (precinct count optical scan) machines under clouds of doubt.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) hopes that Bautista’s appointment brings to the table the values and principles that he is being praised for and which he showed as a PPCRV board member and head of the Presidential Commission on Good Government. If Bautista proves his supporters right in the 2016 polls that will be participated in by the political party of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, the success of the election could encourage other armed revolutionary groups to advance their legitimate causes through a peaceful and democratic process.
However, all we could do now is wait and keep both vigilance and optimism going up to the 2016 polls. After all, do we really have a choice?
—MARCO AURELIO, marc.aurelio88@yahoo.com