by Mikhaela de Leon
If Rizal were alive today, he would have been our next president.
National hero Jose Rizal was declared president in a mock elections held simultaneously in different parts of the country by the Commission on Elections last year.
Rizal, who received 118 votes from nine different polling precincts, was declared “president-elect” by the Comelec two hours after the voting concluded.
He bested rival General Emilio Aguinaldo, the country’s first president and founder of the Philippine republic.
The simulated elections was conducted to test the machines and the system that would be used for the 2010 May 10 national elections. For the mock elections, Comelec filled the ballot with names of heroes and former politicians. For the party-list, the Comelec used names of popular musical acts.
Rizal’s fellow scholar and propagandist Marcelo H. Del Pilar won as vice president with 76 votes.
The mock senatorial elections was topped by three Aquinos, namely, former Senator Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., his wife former president Corazon “Cory” Aquino and his father Benigno Q. Aquino.
The others who made it to the top 12 were: Epifanio delos Santos, Robert Z. Barbers, Pio Del Pilar, Julian C. Felipe, Francisco Dagohoy, Regidor R. Dela Rosa, Macario S. De Leon, Mariano C. Alvarez and Felipe C. Agoncillo.
For the party-list mock polls, local rock band Bamboo got the most number of votes among 17 winning party-list groups.
The other winning candidates were: Manomano, Apo Hiking Society, 14K, Maria Cafra, MYMP, Natural Born,Aegis, Mi Ultimo Adios,Bukas Palad, El Filibusterismo, Pinay, Mocha Girls, Men Oppose,Parokya ni Edgar, Mastaplann and Banyuhay.
“Almost perfect”
With the exception of a few minor glitches, the Comelec has declared Saturday’s mock polls generally “successful.”
“I would say almost perfect, expectedly,”saidComelec ChairmanJose Melosaid of his assessment of the practice polls.
At the Maharlika Elementary School in Taguig, a voter had reportedly been able to vote twice without being noticed by theBoard of Election Inspectors(BEI). According to the “flying” voter, he deliberately “tested the vigilance” of the BEI after a member forgot to put indelible ink on his finger.
Also in the same precinct, the PCOS (precint count optical scanner) machine failed to read off the names on three ballots.
In Davao, a ballotjammedinside a PCOS machine, which took a Smartmatic technician five minutes to remove and restart the equipment.
PCOS machines at the Pines National High School inBaguio Cityand the Bulacao Community School inCebu Cityfailed to read one ballot each.
Other hitches include transmission delays due to poor mobile network signals and improperly shaded or smeared ballots.
The mock elections started at 8:00 am and ended at 10 am. The results were announced by the Comelec Board of Canvassers inIntramuros, Manila a little past 12:00 noon. Aside from getting actual registered voters for the mock polls, the Comelec also hired actual teachers to serve as BEI.
Despite some difficulties, Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez remained optimistic about the success of the practice elections.
“We think it’s [elections] gonna be a good day. PCOS machines are opening quite well,” he said.
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Article originally appeared here.