Vultures, Too

(UPDATE: Folks, still hoping your your links and eyewitness accounts to corroborate the leads below.)

Another quick post, folks.

The vultures everywhere are coming all out in force. Here are some of the things we've seen online:

1. Government officials allegedly not distributing relief goods in Provident Village Marikina because no media to cover their distribution.

2. Citizen apparently being told by SSS person that no funds are available for calamity loan.

3. DSWD allegedly repacking ABS-CBN relief goods in Pasig, reducing package contents.

4. Relief goods apparently being acquired by residents of a gated community for P1000 (sort of like shopping and delivery).

5. Taxi cabs doing "kontrata" (Metro Manila cabbies, what else is new).

6. Syrofoam care packages and plastic bags of relief goods with politicians's names.

7. Looters in Provident Village, Marikina.

8. On Plurk, a volunteer reported that some people are throwing stones at vehicles making their way to areas of greater need.

9. On Twitter, a comment saying "The politics on relief operations -- reports of donors being stopped, being told of the need to ask permits from barangay captains before distributing goods daw."

10. On Twitter, a comment saying "Unconfirmed via friend: 1 Valenzuela barangay not given relief goods because barangay captain is an enemy of the mayor."

11. On Twitter, a report that Customs personnel seizing relief goods from international organizations despite presidential directive.

12. On Twitter, reports of some top adminstration officials and possible presidential candidates stopping relief efforts/ seizing relief goods of non-governmentt organizations for the purpose of getting photo-ops and PR material.

13. On Plurk, a report of donations given to an entertainment giant not being distributed. They are awaiting for the availability of their stars first, presumably to capture the stars' distribution of said relief goods on camera.

Well, let's help our friends in the media use the information as leads to blow these people out of the water, so to speak.

Here's what we'll do:

1. Leave a comment, preferably not anonymous (dapat may bayag ka, 'tol).

Tell us what you know and a link to the original Plurk message/ Twitter message/ Facebook message/ blog post/ and so on.

Eyewitness accounts/ personal stories are best, and avoid sharing replurks and retweets.

Photos will be excellent, especially if you can tell us who and where they were taken.

2. I'll continue updating this post.

Don't worry about messages on the same topic from different people; multiple eyewitness accounts are good for verification.

3. There is no 3. Let's just hope mainstream media uses our leads.

***
Let's go.

Relief goods labeling

Manny and Cynthia Villar plastic bag being passed around in Plurk



Manny Villar styrofoam package being passed around in Plurk



Relief good claim stub -- allegedly, one cannot claim relief goods without such a ticket



(Updating ongoing -- thanks, cyberPinoys.)

Fight the Vultures!

Folks, a quick post.

Looting in Marikina only shows that during times like these, vultures come out and prey on the public.

That said, doubtless there'll be unscrupulous individuals who will try to cash in on the disaster, especially on critical items like food and bottled water, cooking fuel, medicines, and transportation fares.

This post is an attempt to give direction to whom to ask help from.

Price watch, folks, and despite the battering we got from Ondoy, let's not be cowed.

***
For complaints regarding food and bottled water costs: report to the Department of Trade and Industry. Click this consumer complaint link to file a complaint online.

For complaints regarding LPG and other cooking fuel costs: report to the Department of Energy. Click their contact details here to find at least one person who will attend to us (I hope).

For complaints regarding the cost of medicines: report to the Department of Health. They have provided Health Emergency Management Service hotlines (+632) 711-1101 and (+632) 743-0538. With any luck we can depend on the Bureau of Food and Drugs; find from the BFAD contact information someone willing to talk to us. (So sorry folks, best I could do at short notice.)

For complaints regarding transportation fares: contact the Land Transportation and Franchising Regulatory Board. Click on the LTFRB complaint form to file a complaint online.

***
Also, do make the effort to furnish a copy to the media; it will be useful for the public to know these things. From the previous post, maybe these numbers can be of some help.

ABS-CBN Typhoon Ondoy Hotline: (+632-4163641)

Jam 88.3: (+632- 6318803) or SMS at JAM (space) 883 (space) your message to 2968

GMA Kapuso Helpline: (+632-9811950-59)

***
Finally, the top coordinators have to know about any and all attempts to fleece the public during disasters. Again from the previous post, contact the NDCC -- with hopes they can deploy the police and whoever else can respond.

National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) (+632-9125668, +632-9111406, +632-9115061, +632-9122665) Help hotlines: (+65 734-2118, 734-2120) ndcchelpdesk@gmail.com

It will also be useful to contact your local disaster coordinating council and your local government officials.

***
Still keeping an online eye on the country, folks. Let's help however way we can.

Typhoon Ondoy Help List

I am indebted to Ade, Bong, Dementia, Manolo, and so many others on Plurk and Twitter. This is their work, and I'm lifting from them to make this little post to help out.

***
Online Information
All calls for help, please help us by filling out information here at the Rescue InfoHub Center.

Ondoy situation map (Metro Manila)

Sahana Disaster Management System (http://sahana.kahelos.org) needs IT volunteers. Email sahana@kahelos.org.

***
Rescue Operations

National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) (+632-9125668, +632-9111406, +632-9115061, +632-9122665) Help hotlines: (+65 734-2118, 734-2120) ndcchelpdesk@gmail.com

Philippine Coast Guard (+632-5276136)

Philippine Air Force (+63908-1126976, +632-8535023)

Metro Manila Development Authority (136)

Marikina City Rescue (+632-6462436, +632-6462423, +632920-9072902)

Pasig Rescue Emergency Number (+632-6310099)

Quezon City Rescue (161)

San Juan City Hall Command Post (+632-4681697)

Bureau of Fire Protection Region III (Central Luzon) Hotline: (+63245-9634376)

Senator Dick Gordon (+639178997898, +63938-444BOYS, +632-9342118, +632-4338528)

Senator Manny Villar (+639174226800. +639172414864, +639276751981)

***
Civil Society/ Media

Philippine National Red Cross (143, +632-5270000)

Philippine National Red Cross Rizal Chapter operations center hotline: (+632-6350922, +632-6347824)

Go to GMA Facebook page & post complete addresses and names of people in need of immediate help.

ABS-CBN Typhoon Ondoy Hotline: (+632-4163641)

Jam 88.3: (+632- 6318803) or SMS at JAM (space) 883 (space) your message to 2968

GMA Kapuso Helpline: (+632-9811950-59)

***
Rubber Boat, 4×4 Trucks, Chopper Requests

NCRPO (+632-8383203, +632-8383354)

Private citizens who would like to lend their motor boats for rescue please call emergency nos: +632-9125668, +632-9111406, +632-9122665, +632-9115061)

You can also text (+632917-4226800 or +632927-6751981) for rescue dump trucks.

For those who are able to lend 4×4 trucks for rescue: Please send truck to Greenhills Shoppng Center Unimart Grocery to await deployment, Tel No. (+632920-9072902).

Petron & San Miguel Corporation are lending choppers for rescue operations, call/text: (+632917-8140655) ask for Lydia Ragasa

***
Power Supply

Meralco (+63917-5592824, 16211, +63920-9292824) If you want service cut off to your area to prevent fires and electrocution.

***
Relief Aid and Donations: Businesses/ Commercial Establishments

Aranaz Stores in Rockwell & Greenbelt is accepting donations of any kind for Payatas communities affected by Ondoy

Binalot at Greenbelt 1, call Tetchie Bundalian at (+632922-8573277)

The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf will be accepting canned goods, water, clothes, blankets, towels, medicine, and emergency supplies (no cash) in all our branches on behalf of the victims of Typhoon Ondoy starting today until Friday. Your generosity will be much appreciated during this difficult time for our brothersand sisters in need.

Luca stores (Rockwell, Shang-rila, Eastwood, or GA towers): Send your old clothes & donations (no cash pls).

Manor Superclub, Eastwood City will accept goods and other emergency items starting Sunday at 10 am.

Ministop IBARRA (Espana cor. Blumentritt, Sampaloc Manila) is also accepting relief goods, food (non-perishable goods only), clothing, medicines, beds, pillows, blankets, emergency supplies to help Typhoon Ondoy victims.

Moonshine boutique in Rockwell also accepting relief good to help Ondoy victims in Marikina and Cainta.

Papemelroti stores in 91 Roces Ave. / Ali Mall Cubao / SM City North EDSA / SM Fairview / SM Megamall / Glorietta 3 in Makati / SM Centerpoint / SM Southmall are accepting relief goods (canned goods / milk / bottled water / clothes – NO CASH pls.)

PowerPlant Mall accepting donations for ABS-CBN foundation. Dropoff at admin office, P1 level.

R.O.X. – Recreational Outdoor eXchange is accepting donation for relief good for Typhoon Ondoy victims. You can bring it in the store located in B1 building Bonifacio High St., Tel. No. (+632-8564638/39)

Team Manila stores in Trinoma, Mall of Asia, Jupiter Bel-Air and Rockwell shall be accepting relief goods (Canned Goods, Ready-to-drink Milk,Bottled Water and Clothes) for distribution by Veritas.

Whitespace 2314 Chino Roces Ave Ext as a Makati drop-off for relief goods.

***
Relief Aid and Donations: Government/ Civil Society Organizations/ Other Groups

Victory Fort is opening its doors to those affected by the typhoon. Call 813-FORT.

ABS-CBN through Banco de Oro account number 56300-20111 account name: ABS-CBN Foundation Incorporation

Akbayan’s taking donations, call 433-69-33/433-68-31 to donate or volunteer.

Citizens Disaster Response Center (CDRC): Relief goods for typhoon victims being accepted at 72-A Times St., West Triangle, QC. Tel (+632-9299820/22)

Sen. Kiko Pangilinan is accepting donations @ AGS Bldg Annex, 446 EDSA Guadalupe Viejo. Contact Vina Vargas at (+632917-8081247)

Luzon Relief: Donations can be brought to RENAISSANCE FITNESS CENTER, 2nd Floor, Bramante Building, Renaissance Towers Ortigas, Meralco Avenue, Pasig City starting MONDAY (Sept.28) / 9am – 7pm Contact Person: Warren Habaluyas (+632929-8713488) or email at luzonrelief@gmail.com.

Move for Chiz is asking for volunteers and donations at Bay Park Tent, along Roxas Blvd., beside Max Restaurant and Diamond Hotel in Manila, or at Gilas Minipark at Unang Hakbang St., Gilas Q.C.

NoyMar relief Operations: Clare Amador (+639285205508) or Jana Vicente at +639285205499). Drop off for relief donations is at Balay Expo Center across Farmers Market Cubao.

Operation Rainbow (Zac Faelnar Camara) at Ayala Alabang Village needs Canned Goods, Ready-To-Eat Food, Bottled Water, Ready-To-Drink Milk/ Juice, Clothing, Blankets, contact (+632-4687991)

Philippine Army Gym inside Fort Bonifacio or GHQ Gym in Camp Aguinaldo are now distributing donations for Ondoy Victims.

Philippine National Red Cross' different ways to donate here.

Red Cross Load Donations: Right now the easiest way to make donations from the seat of your chair is via mobile phone load. The Red Cross Rescue and Relief Operations. Text: RED[space]AMOUNT to 2899 (Globe) or 4483 (Smart)

Relief Efforts for Pasig at Valle Verde 1 Village Park, contact (+632916-4945000, +632917-5273616)

Sagip Kapamilya hotlines (+632-4132667, +632-4160387) #13 Examiner St. West Triangle, QC. and Scout Mayoran, cor. Morato, near Alex III.

Tulong Bayan hotlines for donations and volunteers are (+632908-6579998) Marilyn, (+632939-3633436) Jenn (+632-9137122, +632-9136254 & +632-9133306).

TXTPower now accepts donations via SmartMoney 5577514418667103, GCash 09179751092 and Paypal http://is.gd/3GvuN

World Vision partners with Phil Coast Guard and kind individuals for relief distribution to 3k families. Call (+632-3747618 local 242) or text (+632917-8623209) to help.

Worldvision Foundation is also accepting donations/volunteers to pack relief goods in QC. For $-donations, BPI:USDacct #4254-0050-08

***
Relief Aid and Donations: Religious/ Schools & Universities

Assumption College San Lorenzo is now accepting donations. Please drop them off at the AC guardhouse.

Ateneo de Manila University is now accepting donations for the victims of Ondoy. Relief operations now centralized at COVERED COURTS. For those stranded/those who need help: To all students who need help or know of people who need help. Please text the name, location, and contact number to (+6329088877166). ATENEO, which is now an open shelter, accepts refugees. Call (+632917-8952792)

Caritas Manila Office at Jesus St., Pandacan Manila near Nagtahan Bridge (+632-5639298, +632-5639308)

CFC Center Ortigas is now open for donations in cash or kind. Call (+632-7270682 to 87) or text (+632922-2542819)

Hillsborough Village Chapel – Water, blankets, shoes, and clothes may be sent to Hillsborough Village Chapel in Muntinlupa City. These will go to families whose houses were washed out in the nearby sitios.

La Salle Greenhills for Greenhills/Mandaluyong/San Juan Area, if you want to help out with the rescue and relief operations, you can drop off your donations (clothes, food, etc..) at LSGH Gate 2 or volunteer from 9am to receive, sort, repack the donations.

Our Lady of Pentecost Parish (+632-4342397, +632-9290665) per Gabe Mercado, donations are very much welcome. The Parish is located at 12 F. Dela Rosa corner C. Salvador Sts., Loyola Heights, Quezon City.

Playschool International in Better Living is open to receive relief goods. Feel free to drop it there for your convenience. No Cash Pls.

Radio Veritas at Veritas Tower West Ave. Cor EDSA (+632-9257931-40)

Simbahang Lingkod ng Bayan Task Force Noah, a disaster response arm of the Jesuits, is accepting donations. Please drop it off sa Ateneo Cervini Dorm.

Xavier School in San Juan is now accepting donations, please bring to Multipurpose Center (MPC).

***
Relief Aid and Donations: Private Citizens

Donations of heavy duty flashlights needed for rescue operations in Cainta area. Contact Cielo at (+632918-8824356)

MAKATI: 5729 Calasanz St., Olympia Makati City or call for pick up at (+632-5017405 or +632-7290530) c/o Omel Santos

SOUTH: Accepting relief goods in SOUTH AREA. Please contact Anne at (+632915-2854240)

Karen Ang: 3 Kagandahan corner Kabutihan Streets, Kawilihan Village, Pasig (+630920-9520900)

Katipunan Avenue. Contact Erica Paredes at (+632917-4741930) — they need bread, packed juice, sandwich filling (tuna, chicken, anything) You can help her make them, deliver the sandwiches to her house, or help her distribute! Call for more details.

Miriam Quiambao drop off point: One Orchard Road Building in Eastwood, or message http://www.twitter.com/miriamq for more details.

ORCA: Ondoy Relief Collection Aid -- click for more details.

***
Cellular Services

People Tracker (using your phones, get your friends and family to turn on their FINDERSERVICE for you)

FINDERSERVICE. For Smart, text "wis [your name] [your mobile]" to 386.
FINDERSERVICE. For Globe, text "find [your name] [your mobile]" to 7000.

***
Other News and Announcements

NDCC Situation Reports

Sept 26, 2009, 6pm: ndcc sitrep no 3 on the effects of ts ondoy as of 26 sept 2009, 6pm

Sept 27, 2009, 1am: ndcc sitrep no 4 on the effects of ts ondoy as of sept. 27, 2009, 1am

Sept 27, 2009, 12nn: situation_report_on_the_effects_of_tropical_storm_ondoy_6

CHED, DEPED: Classes at all levels in Metro Manila & Rizal province have been suspended Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 28-29.

MRT and LRT are open 24 hours today. MRT fare is temporararily P10.

UP Diliman Chancellor Cao to All Deans: “If there are faculty, staff, students stranded in your colleges, let them spend the night. Alumni Hostel and University Hotel are already full. Eateries in the Shopping Center are also open. Thanks much.”

***
Medical Reminders

For all those who’ve come into contact with floodwater, please take your leptospirosis prophylaxis ASAP: 2 capsules doxycycline 100mg. Single dose. Just once. Take with food and avoid taking with dairy products. DO NOT GIVE to children or pregnant women, or those who are allergic. For children and pregnant women, look for alternates via your family doctor. Thanks! (Source: Pao Pei Salvan/ Dr. Jae Salvan.)

Drink bottled water or boil your water for at least three minutes. Water-borned diseases are highly prevalent during and after typhoons. (Source: DOH)

***
I'll be trying to be of more support, in whatever way I can, even if it's just spreading the word. Thanks to all you good people.

Oh, and let's not forget, we have incoming. Whatever we're doing, we gotta do it faster.

Thanks, all.

Wasting Time on the LTO RFID Non-Issue (or, ranting about the driving public being misled by supposedly-principled legislators)

(I didn't plan to write about this -- I intended to leave my ranting on Plurk -- but after an email from an engineering colleague from a past life asking me about this and pointing out the obvious errors being bandied about in the media, the same colleague urging me to write about it, here is this little rant. Enjoy at your own risk.))

So, there in the news is the little tempest in a teacup about the LTO's plan to install radio frequency identification (RFID) stickers on vehicles. The project is supposedly part of a 2003 build-operate-own (BOO) contract with Stradcom. Bayan Muna party-list representative Teddy Casiño and Gabriela party-list representative Liza Maza figure prominently in news talking about opposition to the plan.

Usually, I don't pay much attention to these people, but then it seems that they've used the RFID issue as another bogeyman. Not that I trust the current administration, mind you, but clearly these people are misleading the public. Their disingenuous statements do not reflect the truth about the technology.

In other words, ginagago na tayong mga taumbayan. It's bad enough that the Queen of the Enchanted Kingdom does that, but for the supposed principled opposition to do the same shows what little regard all these politicians have for the citizenry. Magsama-sama na ang mga manloloko; we are not all tech-illiterate.

So, Representatives Maza and Casiño, here's us doing your homework for you. It's one thing to be uninformed and saying so, but it's another thing entirely to be misleading us with misinformation based on deliberate stupidity.

***
Representative Maza said "This technology raises fears that it might be used to violate the right to privacy of individuals. The LTO’s microchips might, in turn, be used as ‘spychips’ for the government’s surveillance operations on those critical of the current administration... Apparently, the LTO will act like a 'Big Brother.' It can be used as a spying device, since radio waves from a microchip will identify all information about the vehicle in real-time basis."

Nakakahiya. Soundbites instead of fact. Shooting one's mouth off without doing one's homework.

So then, RFID 101.

Radio frequency identification is employed via fairly ubiquitous gadgets. You have them in stores attached to products, often with the intent of preventing shoplifting, some of them already replacing barcodes for price checks (after all, stuff like clothes won't do well to have bar code stickers stapled to them). You have them attached to vehicles that ply the expressway, as a means of automating toll payments -- these ones are usually the active RFID boxes, take note, and not the same technology as the passive RFID tags that the LTO tags will be. You have them tracking manufacturing parts boxes on the shop floor, as a means of efficiently segregating and shipping them to where their supposed to go.

How does do RFID systems -- specifically, passive RFID systems such as the LTO vehicle sticker -- work? Check out the basics; this article is also a must-read for more detail.

It's simple, really. Note the absence in the block diagram of listening devices, cameras, and suchlike.

There are several concepts that need to be made clear (and which Maza does not seem to understand; sabagay, one does not learn engineering concepts by chanting slogans on the street).

- The RFID vehicle tag to be deployed by the LTO is a passive device -- it has no integrated power source and thus cannot send out radio waves that provide information about the vehicle on a real-time basis. The RFID vehicle tag will only send information about the vehicle if queried by an RFID reader. To repeat, Representative Maza, your protest against "spychips sending out radio waves containing information in real time" does not hold water. How can a device transmit RF signals on its own without a power source?

(Oh, right, scientific and physical laws are subservient to political ideology.)

- The read-out range of a passive RFID system is dependent on the power output and sensitivity of the RFID reader; the cheap-ass LTO passive RFID tag and its component reader will typically have a range of less than 10 meters -- and that's pushing it (Lomibao's claim of 20 meters notwithstanding). As such, Representative Maza, to be able to track vehicles with "spychips", you will have to place RFID readers spaced every tenth or twentieth of a distance between manhole covers, not to mention networking all of these RFID readers to the purported central monitoring systems. It would be far cheaper to install GPS locator systems should you want to track vehicles and their movements.

(Oh, right, one doesn't learn cost-benefit analysis by chanting slogans on the street.)

- The passive RFID chips will be of EEPROM technology containing data about vehicles that are already being made available by vehicle owners when registering them with the LTO; even then, these EEPROM chips of passive RFID tags are limited in the amount of data that they can hold, typically several hundred bits of data -- no different from that of the SIM of your cellphone. Your "spychips" have no capability of telling the reader anything beyond the owner's name, the license plate number, chassis number, engine number, date of registration, and suchlike that you write on the LTO vehicle registration form; they are incapable of telling the RFID reader who are the people inside your vehicle, if they are critics of the government, if they are armed and dangerous, or whatever else you're trying to scare the public with.

(Oh, right, Big Brother is all-powerful, no matter the technical limitations of the technology.)

How, then, are these RFID tags useful?

The automation of vehicle registration, for one, as a means of discouraging fixers is by far a public good that outweighs the one-time cost of 350 pesos per RFID tag. By making registration processes faster, the vehicle-owning public will find the services of fixers superfluous; no need for the harried vehicle owner to employ a fixer to speed things up if the RFID tag will make registration quick and easy. Surely a step in fighting grassroots corruption is a good thing?

RFID tags can also be used to catch scofflaws; running a red light with a CCTV and an RFID reader can and will result in a vehicle being tagged and flagged for violations of the law and later resulting in the vehicle being disallowed from plying the streets. Surely crime control is a good thing?

RFID tags can be a means to identify vehicles used in crimes or are involved in them. Think of the possibilities -- carjackers will have difficulties in fencing their wares, kidnappers and holdup gangs can be tracked and traced once their vehicles have been tagged and flagged, and so on. Surely law enforcement is a good thing?

Now, then, Representative Maza, what of your charge that RFID tags might violate the right to privacy?

Two words: kalokohan.

(Yes, that's two words -- the other one is in RF code.)

First, the information on the tags are data that you ALREADY provide the LTO. Invasion of privacy, really.

Second, in no way can passive RFID vehicle tags tell authorities of what goes on inside your car. You can drive your car up to Antipolo and have a screaming boinkfest with your passengers and the RFID vehicle tag won't know the difference. Certainly an invasion of privacy if the tag cannot do what you say it can.

Third, unless and until the government installs RFID readers convering on every single road on the 205,497 km road network -- we're talking of 205,497,000 meters worth of road, and therefore 20,549,700 RFID readers networked to automated monitoring stations -- your Big Brother bogeyman of tracking vehicles blah-blah-blah is no more possible under government budget at present than your capability to repeal or amend physical or natural laws -- I dare you, amend the law of gravity, sige nga.

Susme. All we ask from elected legislators is to serve the public, not to fool us.

***
Now, what of Representative Casiño's claim that "the tagging appears to be overpriced at P350 when RFID chips are already inexpensive, costing 20 [US] cents on the average or around P10 to 15 only"?

Eh kung nag-aral ka sana tungkol sa RFID technology, Teddy. RFID tags do not work without their counterpart RFID readers. Likewise, the RFID tags being EEPROMs, you should have factored the cost of EEPROM writers used to put information on the RFID tags. You also should have factored into the project cost the need for the database software and other automation costs. There are also training and maintenance costs involved in the use of RFID tags, something else you are glossing over.

That was a disingenuous statement, Mister Casiño. Ang RFID tag ay hindi trapo na pagkabili ay agad na puwede nang gamiting pamunas.

Not that you would be able to distinguish a trapo from an RFID tag, it would seem, let alone a Bayan Muna bumper sticker from one.

***
In any case, it will be a treat to watch the slings and arrows between the LTO and these legislators. The entertainment value of arguments between a party who is somewhat mistrusted and a party who refuses to listen to self-evident technical specifications is going to be no different from a Three Stooges pie-throwing vignette.

Heck, throw into fray the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers -- it's going to be fun to watch lawyers wrangle before the court arguments about a technology that's been tried and tested and already passed over worldwide.

And to think all this arguing involves spending our taxpayers' money. Heh.

Jingle Jingle

I heard about Wille Revillame being considered to be Manny Villar's veep.

After the facepalm and remembering Willie's TV antics (and that of scantily-clad women dancing for him), I had this brainwave:

(Sung to the tune of "Nobody" by whoever K-Pop girl group that is)
We want your Manny, your Papi for you!
We want your Manny, your Papi for you!
Tutulong sa inyo, aangatin kayo!
We want your Manny, your Papi, your Manny, your Papi!

(Voiceover) Si Manuel "Manny" Villar at si Willie "Papi" Revillame... Sila ang aangat sa inyo!

Errrr. Okay. facepalm

***
Excuse me while I throw up at this sort of campaigning.

The Automated Elections Exercise: Command and Conquer (that is, strategies to keep the polls clean)

(UPDATE September 16, 1:31 AM: Refer to Rom's post pointing out possible holes in my views on this issue. We can defer to her expertise, methinks, as I understand she has more in-depth information than I.)

(I have yet to successfully pester our friends from the PCIJ to share COMELEC Commissioner Armando Velasco's PowerPoint presentation on the conduct of automated elections in 2010, so a lot of the stuff in this post will be conjecture based on seminar notes and memory. With any luck, the presentation will be shared to all and sundry; with even more luck, the COMELEC and Smartmatic-TIM will provide to the public all the relevant data that will allow all of us a means for we ourselves to combat cheating come 2010. Here's a sample of what we should be looking at: the SAES 1800 technical datasheet.)

Commissioner Armando Velasco talking of automated elections in the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism seminar attended by the jester-in-exile last week

With the Supreme Court ruling in favor of automated elections, all systems now are go for the use of an automated system of elections instead of a manual system of elections. In this post, we're going to put forward how we understand the automated system, we'll be poking the holes in the system, and we'll be proposing countermeasures and counter-countermeasures that use technology and capabilities we already have.

Hey, that's what systems engineering and quality assurance is all about. Looking critically at Smartmatic-TIM's media kit will be a good start, I'm sure.

***
The first step in automated elections is registration. A lot of people have been taking for granted this step -- I hope that the COMELEC won't make it too hard for first-time voters, voters transferring their registrations, or voters reactivating their registrations to get this step done.

For the moment I'm going to gloss over the actual registration processes (they're here on the COMELEC website) and instead focus on this idea: that the registration is one of the weak links of automated elections.

See, it's a given that if one isn't on the list of voters, one won't be able to vote. Thus, it's going to be a priority for would-be cheaters to assail the voters' list.

Failure scenarios:

- Cheaters successfully deactivate registration of voters already on the list.

- Cheaters pad voters' lists with voters, real or imagined.

I've heard coffeeshop rumors saying that certain government agencies are going around certain places trying to get their hands into the list of voters. I won't put it past election operators to be trying to do the same thing.

Countermeasure: some means must be made to secure the voters' lists, and I think that the best way to do it is to make them public continuously from now until election day.

If the lists are public, then anyone will be able to cry foul if they find their neighborhood's voters' list padded by people already dead, abroad, or whatever else that disqualifies someone from voting (qualifications here). More to the point, we should ask COMELEC to support such watchdog activities by the public -- call it the crowd-sourced means of ensuring honest registration (hat tip to Marocharim for pointing out how strong this means can be).

What to watch out for come May 10, 2010 and the counting: cheating based on blocks of approximately 1000 votes each (that is, per precinct cluster).

***
The next step will be felt rather deeply on election day itself: the waiting at the precinct.

Let's assume for the moment that the voters' lists have been validated and guarded and are perfectly sound. On election day, we'll have 1000 voters lined up from 7 AM at each precinct equipped with a single machine.

I don't know yet how long each paper ballot will be, so I won't be able to provide valid assumptions on the time that will be spent on each ballot, but as Commissioner Velasco said at the PCIJ seminar, the precinct can hold ten voters at a time. Here's how the process flow will look like:



(UPDATE September 16, 12:08 AM: Thanks to the illimitable Rom, of whom I understand has some knowledge of the PCOS machine operation, I'm updating the post based on probably more accurate estimates.)

Seemingly, the primary bottleneck of this process is the machine reading of the ballot. According to the SAES 1800 technical datasheet, the machine has a scanning speed of approximately 12 inches per second, on both sides, with the ballot size of 8.5" wide. Let's assume a machine speed of 2 seconds, then, with all the candidates... no, better make it three.

Let's say it takes about [3 minutes] 15 seconds for the voter to be able to load the ballot into the machine. Let's assume another [two minutes] 15 seconds for the load-out process (signing and whatnot). That brings us to about [00:05:03] 00:00:33 time spent at the machine station without counting stand-around time. Call it a good minute for the station time in total, bringing us up to 00:01:03.

Let's say the fastest ballot fill-out takes ten minutes, what with having to think about and shade all desired candidates. We're now up to [00:15:03] 00:11:03 time spent.

Assuming a well-run precinct, without problems or errors and anything to slow down this quasi-production line, and a 7AM to 6PM election period without any breaks (that's 660 minutes worth), we can look at a worst-case maximum number of [44] 60 voters per precinct cluster. Mind you, this is worst-case. However, queueing theory and PERT-CPM strategies as used in manufacturing production lines can drive this number up to a little past [200] 400 voters for that election period; I doubt very much if the numbers of a time-and-motion study, in a sunny-day (always perfect) scenario will show that [300] 800 voters out of the 1000 per precinct cluster will be able to cast their votes.

Yes, the actual bottlenecks are the [load/unload speed of the machine] stand-around waiting time at the machine station and the time spent in filling up the ballots.

(UPDATE September 16, 1:31 AM: Plurker Gareon pointed me out to videos demonstrating Smartmatic machine operation. Here's one. I've been watching it for the purpose of getting more detail on failure modes and ideas on possible countermeasures. I mean, after all, if one has brain matter enough to detect failure modes, one has the ability to think of fixes -- or one is a lazy dumbass.)



(Aside: is that Jam on the couch in the video?)

Countermeasures:

- Allow voters to carry with them their list of candidates they want to vote for. With such a list in hand, filling out should be easy; in fact, if possible, find a way to encourage the preparation of such a list prior between the queue and the individual polling stations -- I'm thinking of a secure holding area where voters can make their list... secure, of course, so that vote buying and vote selling won't be an issue.

- Allot a maximum time spent in the polling station. Adjust alloted maximum time based on the capability of the voter to vote (i.e., literacy and disability issues).

- Increase voting hours. (Leche, kawawa na naman ang mga titser natin.) That said, there's very little way to get past the time issue without opening the precinct on time, and closing the precinct a little later. A 6PM precinct closure won't cut it, not for a thousand-voter precinct cluster, and with the rule that the voter himself has to put the ballot through the machine. 9PM sounds like a better cut-off; the COMELEC better secure the precincts with PNP and AFP, however, and they better provide food and snacks to the teachers. I think if precincts extend to such hours, media coverage that's especially watchful at such hours will provide some degree of deterrence to would-be cheaters.

(By the way, folks, these ideas aren't all that will be of use; do put in your ideas, won't you?)

Check out this Smartmatic-TIM presentation for how it'll work out.

***
On to the potential failures as discussed by Commissioner Velasco himself, he discussed three failure modes at the PCIJ seminar:

- Unable to read the ballot

- Able to read the ballot but unable to count the votes cast

- Able to read and count but unable to transmit (I'm assuming this is after the precinct closes)

The "unable to read the ballot" problem will be one of those problems that will be slowing down the voting process throughput. So is the proposed solution, which is to use another PCOS machine (obviously, it's going to add to the throughput load of another precinct cluster).

Here's what we should add to the use of "another PCOS machine" backup:

- Security of the ballots at site

- Security of the ballots during transport between precincts

I'd recommend that the backup reading be done instead at the municipal level (or even at the provincial level, if need be), as a means to ensure data integrity. Cheating can enter via this failure mode by the use of manufactured ballots.

The "able to read but unable to count the votes" is a failure mode whose details I don't know, so I don't have much to offer in the way of countermeasure. I also don't understand the proposed solution involved, so I won't speak of it today. (I may have to update this post later.) Off the top of my head, I'd support any measures be COMELEC to hold a manual confirmatory count.

The "able to read and count but unable to transmit votes" has to do with this data transmission:



If I understand correctly, the proposed primary solution is to use another PCOS machine to send data, using the flash memory storage device of the failed PCOS. Here are a few weak points in this failure mode solution:

- If there is any capability at all for the data to be edited by anybody at site or during transport, the votes are in danger. (We're talking editing the contents of the flash drive using a netbook. Not difficult to imagine.)

- If the capability to edit votes only belongs to the Smartmatic-TIM technician, the votes are in danger if the technician can be made to edit the votes.

- If there is no capability to edit votes, there is the possibility for the votes (maximum number, 1000 votes) of that specific precinct to be lost and the possibility of failure of elections to take place in that precinct.

Countermeasures:

- Ensure encryption of the data on board the flash memory device. 128-bit encryption is fine, but I'm hoping for 256-bit or higher (with computer speeds being what they are and the ability to crack codes and passwords by a dedicated geek).

- Security clearances for the Smartmatic-TIM technicians, violation of which puts them behind bars for life. I kid you not.

- Preparation for all precincts for manual counting if need be (if the flash drive is lost or stolen or whatnot). Now, I hope COMELEC does so; tough shit na lang, 'pre, if candidates are unable to prepare in the event of such failure.

Preparation for manual counting and recording for a failed precinct cluster (?) puts another layer of issues (such as providing means to count and record ballots manually) for the precinct. I did not feel satisfied with Commissioner Velasco's answer that there won't be much preparation on that score because there's little chance of failure -- see, only Nostradamus could predict which machines would fail and how.

On the other hand, the "failure to transmit" problem can perhaps be fought and made less likely to happen by doing a couple of things:

- Using landlines instead of GPRS as a means of transmitting the data

- Using Smart (maybe even Sun) instead of Globe cellular communications (because our friendly neighborhood terrorist New People's Army have a policy of bombing Globe cellsites, di ba?). Ganito na lang, use Globe in areas with high NPA concentrations, so that their candidates won't have their votes counted? Nyahahahaha joke lang... pero pakyu pa rin nila.

- If we have the money, use satellite data transmission, where landline or cellular communication is difficult (like where the NPA and MILF and Abu Sayyaf bomb places).

I also like the idea of crowd-sourced vote transmission -- texting/ calling/ emailing the count as a means of confirming the data to the other end -- but this mode is vulnerable. I think it's better to prepare.

Preparation is key. Yun yun.

***
I agree with Commissioner Velasco in the thinking that the speed of counting, transmission, and proclamation will be a major deterrent to cheating -- yup, by the time the Garcis are able to start doing what they do best, the proclamations have happened.

So then, further means of securing the vote:

- Everyone's got to keep a critical eye on the proclamations. With the public server, municipal, provincial, and national data available for all of us to look at, we can easily track any hanky-panky... unless there are operators at every single one of the 80,000 precinct clusters, each municipal and provincial center, and at the national level.

- Watch carefully any and all incidents of failure modes, especially if they result in the transport of the flash memory drives and manual counting.

- Urge the COMELEC to allow the public monitoring of election proceedings. NAMFREL and PPCRV may have little to do with the counting, but they could sure help in keeping a close eye on the proceedings.

Yun muna ha. Kain muna ako.

***
Hmmmm. Premature campaigning is now recognized by the courts, as reported on 24-Oras? We'll take a close look at this later, okay?

Pretty pala si Mariz Umali. La lang.

Later, folks. Maybe I'll add more to this post, pero let's not count on that, okay? Lots and lots of things are happening.

Travel Update (or, by all the gods I miss my Charley)

Remember Seav's Lakbayan?

I felt the need to update my previous results -- for some reason I thought that I may have improved them.

Boy, was I wrong.

***
My current results, folks.

My Lakbayan grade is B-!

How much of the Philippines have you visited? Find out at Lakbayan!

Created by Eugene Villar.

Still B-minus, but the coloring's better.

That's some consolation, at least.

***
Now more than ever I miss having Charley.

Charley and me in Bacolod, in better days

Where's that Plurk heartbreak emoticon when you need it?

Haaaaay.

Four Days, Subic and Back (yes, this post is just an aide-memoire)

Hello, folks. Been a while, yes? Kuwento time.

Last Thursday, I found myself on a bus to Subic Holiday Villas to attend a four-day seminar by the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism, titled "Covering Automated Elections and Campaign Finance". The seminar was the second batch of several more sessions that the PCIJ was conducting.

It was fun.

I'm thinking that I'm going to be talking a lot about this seminar in the next few posts, about stuff I've learned and ideas have come to mind because of what I've learned. Heck, quite a lot of the stuff I'm going to be sharing will be from the PCIJ books we were given at the end of the seminar -- "News for Sale: The Corruption & Commercialization of the Philippine Media" (2004 edition) by Chay Florentino-Hofilena and "Cockfight, Horserace, Boxing Match (Why Elections are Covered as Sport): Lessons Learned from the 2004 Campaign Coverage" by Sheila Coronel, Yvonne Chua, and Isagani de Castro jr; yes, I've finished reading them, as well as Libertas' "Basic Guide to the Laws and Rules Governing Election Finance in the Philippines" -- to augment the stuff from my notes and from the large seminar hand-out.

Today, however, I'm just going to put stuff together, as a first step towards refreshing my memory... and maybe as a guide to what I can and should share in the posts to come, if you folks leave comments telling me what you think.


***
September 10, 2009: Day 1.

Welcomed by Malou Mangahas (executive director, PCIJ), Tita Valderama (training director, PCIJ), and Ed Lingao (multimedia content producer, PCIJ). First met with seminar roommates Dennis Jamito (senior reporter, Bombo Radyo) and Jay Llanto (researcher, Newsbreak). Saw fellow blogger Marocharim (check out his post of the seminar venue Silly Shootin’ Subic Stuff and Seminars). Met the other participants of the seminar soon after: Joey Aguilar (editor, Punto Central Luzon), Lei Alviz (news producer, GMA Network), Leslie Aquino (reporter, Manila Bulletin), Grace Asuncion (senior reporter, RPN 9), John Bayarong (stringer, Subic Times/ Agence France Presse), Nene Bundoc Ocampo (editor in chief, Punla - Pulso ng Madla), Sheila Crisostomo (reporter, The Philippine Star), Au Dagcutan (researcher, PCIJ), Carisa Manuel-Pancho (news desk editor, ABS-CBN News), John Roson (correspondent, Bandera), Jam Sisante (news producer, GMANews.TV). Interesting bunch of people, really; check out PCIJ's post Automation pains and paper cranes to listen to them offer their opinions on the upcoming elections in 2010. Carisa has a startling resemblance to one of the pretty classmates I had in college, but taller.

Totally bombed the little diagnostic quiz that was held.

Later met the seminar's youngest participant, Pax Andres of the College Editors' Guild of the Philippines (CEGP) and The Work of Tarlac State University. The boys and I pretend to give the fellow a hard time haha.

Spent the evening arguing with Ed about media. Heh heh.


September 11, 2009:Day 2.

Session opens with Malou giving an overview of media, politics, and elections in Las Islas Filipinas.

After the coffee break, we listen to political analyst Angelito Banayo speak on spin. Lito's fascinating talk covered more than the (Aside: if you plan to ask me to talk on this in detail, forget it. The whole thing is off the record. No, I'm not sorry that it is.)

Then, lunch.

Ed's session is on the "mojo", the multimedia journalist. His laptops and flip cameras are to die for; maybe I'll pester him to get one of each for me haha.

After the coffee break, Atty. Luie Guia (trustee and immediate past president, Lawyers' League for Liberty Libertas/Lente) had a session on election laws. I knew that my knowledge of that topic was sketchy at best, having trashed the quiz on elections, so it's great that Luie made a lot of stuff clear.

After dinner, hanging out with the media people. Luie is a cool lawyer. Introduced Jam (she's cute, right, Marocharim? Nyahahahaha) to the concept of kuwelyo (concept only, did not demonstrate).


September 12, 2009:Day 3.

Sessions. Uncovering Campaign Finance: a live training blog from Subic, where Luie now focuses on the moolah of candidates.

After coffee, we listen to Commissioner Armando Velasco of the COMELEC talk about poll automation (see Covering Automated Elections: a live training blog from Subic). Despite the fact that we more or less gave Commissioner Velasco a fairly hard time in the Q&A, he was a good sport about it. I think that he had a mild case of "deer-in-headlights"-itis when asked about stuff related to COMELEC and blogs and cyberspace.

After lunch we listen to Malou talk about investigative reporting (see Probing Politics & Elections: a live training blog from Subic). Great stuff; I now think I have a means to measure how well an investigative report I'm watching or reading was conducted.

After coffee, Malou continues with do's and don'ts in election coverage (see Do’s and Don’ts in Elections: a live training blog from Subic). Hmmm. I'll get to the idea of watching the watchdogs later (a lot of it came from reading the News for Sale book as well).

Ending the session, we get split into groups to discuss journalism best practices with regard to covering elections. I get to join Sheila, Jay, and John.

After the discussion, we chill a little. I kill time by pestering Marocharim while he writes his Blogging/Journalism post. The seminar participants are brought out to dinner in a steak place in Subic. Tablemates Marocharim, Joey, Dennis, John, Pax, and myself nearly kill ourselves laughing -- I doubt if the boys will ever forget gabi-flavor cigarettes or swallowing chewed guava leaves, especially Joey.

After dinner, some of us go buy stuff in Duty Free. We then take a stroll in the gloomy weather before going back to the hotel. At the hotel, we have another little social session, where a lyrics translator demonstrates his karaoke singing prowess together with a pretty media person (yes, we think they is cute together teeheehee).


September 13, 2009: Day 4.

Workshop output time: check out How Will We Cover 2010? A live training blog from Subic. My stuff was a slide show, check out Group Four's stuff here; it's a blog! Teeheehee.

Before we end, a course evaluation. My results? Two words: facepalm. 'Nuff said.

A sort of graduation, where we sort of introduce each other for the last time. When Malou mentions that we talked about the concept of this seminar long long ago, I'm touched that she remembers. I introduce Au and mention her little quirks -- amazing how anyone can live without eating veggies, yes?

Back to rooms to finish packing, then back downstairs to wait for the ride. At the lobby, we give Pax another hard time. Here now is me keeping a promise:

One of the fellows thinks that Lei is dreamboat-pretty.The rest of the fellows agree, of course.
(I haven't yet decided whether or not to tell all and sundry that it's Pax who is the one who said he thinks Lei is pretty.)

We organize for the ride back. Leslie, who is beside me, and I watch Deep Impact on my Vivi D., which hibernates at the last fifteen minutes of the movie. Bleh.

We make a pitstop at a gas station. One of them pretty girls takes a step or two into the men's room. Accidentally daw nyahaha.

At the jump-off point, we try to con Leslie out of her chocolates, so that she wouldn't have a hard time carrying a large and heavy duffel. We couldn't get any.

Time apart from seminar people begins with me writing this post.

Just so you good folks know, I'm cringing. What the heck had I been doing in the midst of such brilliant company for the past few days?

***
Later, folks. Will now make it home and start making paper sacks to wear over my head.