How rumors keep
the Philippines unstable

THE RUMORS had been rife for weeks. The government was going to cancel the presidential elections in May because no one in their right mind would want movie star Fernando Poe Jr., to be elected president. The country had to be protected at all costs from a re-run of the Joseph Estrada presidency.

Political chatter last week rose to a fever pitch, with everyone -- from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to various representatives -- saying they still wanted the constitution changed to allow a shift to a parliamentary system. This is an old canard that is regularly brought up, always of course in terms of saving the country from itself. Then the rumors that Poe is allegedly not a real Filipino citizen, but rather American or even Spanish, were dredged up by those violently opposed to Poe's bid for the presidency. That the Commission on Elections (Comelec) had accepted his registration as a presidential candidate obviously was lost on all those desperate to derail Poe at any cost.

Then on Tuesday of this week the Supreme Court foolishly, in my opinion, struck down part of the modernization program of the Comelec by voiding the vote-counting machine contract that had been signed with Mega Pacific Consortium. This means that instead of having machines count all of the votes cast in the May 10 elections, counting will have to be done manually again, which of course means that final results won't be known until weeks after the polls close. Ay caramba!

After that bombshell decision, Comelec officials were scrambling to make sure they would have enough leadtime of 106-120 days to prepare for the manual counting of votes, including 60-90 days for the importation and production of dandy rolls, 10-20 days for the printing of ballots, and another 10 days for distribution. According to my calculations, Comelec now has 114 days to get prepared, which should be plenty of time.

I agree with Supreme Court Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr., who voted against voiding the vote-counting machine contract, because he was afraid it might mess up the Comelec's planning for the election, possibly forcing a delay in the poll. Other nay-sayers warned darkly of possibly rigged vote-counting machines, which to me seems a bit on the paranoid side, although I don't deny that vote rigging unfortunately has a long history in Philippine politics.

All of this rumor-mongering forced the government to vow on Wednesday to hold the elections on May 10, come hell or high water. As President Macapagal told a emergency meeting of political leaders at Malacañang on Tuesday night, the future of democracy is at stake and that the holding of the elections on their scheduled date is critical to political and economic stability.

The Philippines is already unstable enough as it is. All of these wild rumors are a real distraction to nation building, and only serve the dastardly purposes of their nasty perpetrators, which is to confuse the citizenry and slow down the advancement of the country. These rumors are but mere smokescreens for those who desperately want to cling to power and fear a government that for once takes everyone's interests at heart, not just that of the ruling elite.

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National dialogue for reconciliation

FOLLOWING THE HORRIFIC May 12 bombings of housing compounds in Riyadh by al-Qaeda terrorists last year, and of course the September 11, 2001, attacks on the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., the Kingdom has woken up to the fact that extremist religious thought has produced a monster in Saudi society.

Crown Prince Abdullah has launched a series of meetings, dubbed the National Dialogue for Reconciliation, at which religious, political and educational leaders meet and discuss ways of dealing with the extremism that has sprung up in the country. Two have been held already, the first in Riyadh and the second in Makkah. The next one is scheduled to be held in Madinah in a few weeks and will tackle women's issues. Thirty women and 30 men will attend this meeting.

These dialogues are part of the Saudi government's measured steps toward political and social reforms. Countrywide municipal elections are scheduled for later this year, the first ever in the Kingdom.

I strongly support all of these measures and just wish that reform could be introduced at a faster pace. I think the political awareness and sophistication of most Saudis is often underestimated not just by the government but also by the individuals themselves. It's true that Saudis don't have personal experience of holding orderly elections, but it's something that can only be learned through practice.

It is unfortunate, but true, that many Saudis resist change and reform because it scares them and consequently they hide behind religion and their own hypocrisy to avoid change. But nowhere in Islam does it say that elections are forbidden, or that women shouldn't be allowed to drive.

At a recent press event I was chatting to a Saudi journalist about my uncle Abdullah Abou-Alsamh, who writes a weekly column in Okaz newspaper. A liberal and a maverick, my uncle has managed to irk and annoy many conservatives in this country with his often provocative articles. Indeed, a "fatwa" [religious edict] on his life was issued a few years ago by an Islamic leader, and my uncle still receives death threats and hate calls on a regular basis.

"Thank God your uncle hasn't been included in any of the national dialogues," the Saudi journalist said to me.

"Why do you say that?" I asked.

"Because he is a secularist," replied the man.

"Well, I think he should have been included. What our country needs are more people like my uncle! The conservatives are holding back our progress," I retorted.

The journalist then hastily said that he really liked my uncle; indeed he had often sipped cappuccinos with him at a doughnut place after Friday prayers!

In Saudi Arabia, being called a secularist is still considered an insult by many, who don't realize that one can be a secularist and still be religious at the same time.

As my uncle pointed out in a recent column of his, why weren't more women included in the second dialogue held in Makkah? And why did they only participate via closed-circuit TV, while just a few hundred meters away in the Holy Haram Muslims of both sexes were freely worshiping God and praying next to one another? Indeed, his comments were taken in consideration and now the third dialogue meeting in Madinah will include 30 women and focus on their issues.

Comments or questions? E-mail the author at manilamoods@hotmail.com.