By Jose Maria Sison
NDFP Chief Political Consultant
May 14, 2019

The ultimate key in Duterte’s rigging of the crucial senatorial race is his control and manipulation of the Comelec computers. The senatorial race is crucial to him inasmuch as he wants to obtain the two-thirds majority in the Senate in order to make a full-blown fascist dictatorship under the pretext of charter change to bogus federalism as well as in order to counter his possible arrest and prosecution for mass murder and other human rights violations before the International Criminal Court.

In rigging the elections, specifically manipulating the Comelec computers, Duterte paid principal attention to the senatorial race and secondary attention to the party list groups. Sheer strength of some progressive party list groups made them win but pro-Duterte party list groups were also made to win. As regards the election of pro-Duterte congressmen and local executive officials Duterte could in general rely on the effectiveness of pork barrel and incumbency.

Some people wittingly or unwittingly cover up Duterte’s criminal rigging of the Comelec computers in the crucial senatorial race by blaming the electorate for the fake and incredible pro-Duterte sweep and wrongly presuming that the overwhelming majority of voters really voted for the Senate the notorious plunderers, the chief butcher in Oplan Tokhang and ass-lickers or sycophants.###