Our First Trip to COMELEC Office of Cebu City

2011-09-07T00:14:00.000-07:00

From left to right: Carmi Masangkay, Lee Emphasis, Election Officer Atty. Marchel Sarno(seated), Ron Poblete, Ces Denolan, and Miguel Esparagera

Last Monday, September 4, 2011, group two of the class of IT and the law under prof. Atty. Gloria Ramos went to pay a visit to the COMELEC office here in Cebu City. The group met with Atty. Marchel Sarno who is the election officer of COMELEC for Cebu City.

The group discussed on what ways the group can provide a lending hand to COMELEC. One of the things that was of importance was what the aspect of the electoral process the group should tackle. This should also be determined in consideration of the fact that not all data that the COMELEC has can be obtained without any authorization.

Among some of the things that were discussed in the meeting or “interview” was what data the group can collect from the COMELEC without infringing any laws. Also, there was also talk about what the general consensus was among COMELEC staff regarding the May 2010 Automated Elections.

On that issue, Election Officer Atty. Marchel Sarno pointed out that although the staff at COMELEC concluded a lesser percentage of success it was still an overall success. To be specific, some of the things that did not help was the lack of transportation and the lack of qualified personnel who were assigned in some areas. This is also further exacerbated by the lack of awareness among the voters themselves. However, he said that these things were minor and he is hopeful they can be fixed in the next automated elections this coming 2013.

Overall, the said meeting was a success. From this point onwards, the group plans another visit in order to focus on what is needed for the successful implementation of the site.

Welcome

2011-09-06T23:30:00.000-07:00

Image courtesy of nazreth of sxc.hu

According to www.merriam-webster.com, democracy is defined as:

"a : government by the people; especially : rule of the majority

b : a government in which the supreme power is vested in the people and exercised by them directly or indirectly through a system of representation usually involving periodically held free elections"

The Philippines operates under one such system. However, a closer look reveals that there is actually something left to be desired. There is due discrimination on how candidates win and how candidates lose. Besides that, there is the lack of discipline among among the people. This contrast was clearly demonstrated during the May 2010 elections, when the country experienced firsthand the automated form of elections. It was a success according to some, and it was also a failure according to others too. However, the overall scenario shows that there is still hope.

With that said, we would like to welcome you to our website. We are a group of law students from the University of Cebu. This website is in partial fulfillment of the requirements in IT and the Law subject. As per group decision, we have decided to use IT(information technology) to inform citizens about voter's education. With this in mind, we have tied up with COMELEC here in Cebu City. The COMELEC will provide us with all the needed data that will help us with our goal -- to provide and guide voters about making informed decisions when it comes to one of the most important milestones that happens in every democracy -- the elections.

Please do come back and check this website for more updates.

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Our First Trip to COMELEC Office of Cebu City

Welcome