Coming from a history of election fraud and violence, it should have been no surprise that the same old problems were reported during the elections a month ago.

More than two weeks after the May 2010 election, the issues regarding its vulnerabilities keep on cropping up in different forums. Prior to Election Day, those who pointed out these vulnerabilities were alternately tagged as doomsayers and doubters by the Comelec and even by those who are only realizing the weaknesses now.

The first ever automated national elections with more than 50.7 million registered voters is still ongoing as of writing time since the transmission of the data to the national canvassing server is slow mainly due to problems of transmission in several areas of the country. As clear winners emerge in both national and local polls, it seems that although Comelec claims that they have successfully conducted the May 2010 elections, they cannot clearly say that the automated election system (AES) was a resounding success.

As we celebrate Earth Day 2010, let us remember that the state of our environment is tied to the political and economic aspects of our society.

This link is crucial to understand why—in spite of our country’s rich natural resources—we have remained underdeveloped, our people deeper in poverty and has become more vulnerable to the backlash of a destroyed environment.