Wednesday, May 19, 2010

When Your Customer is the Government

Imagine the Philippine government transform itself into a single living, breathing member of the human population. It would be the most irrational, most indecisive and ultimately most annoying of all customers in your local supermarket.

With all the frenzy surrounding the national elections on alleged vote-rigging, I wouldn't be surprised if Smartmatic's CEO Cesar Flores is at his wits end trying his very best to please the Filipino people. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if he would curse us under his breath after a stressful ambush interview. The customer is king after all, and it's usually near impossible for kings to be pleased. Let alone be nice about it.

There is nothing wrong with questioning the results of the automated election as is the case with Jamby Madrigal, Nicanor Perlas and JC delos Reyes. Neither is there anything wrong with a possible whistle-blower coming out into the open. Skepticism, in fact, is often a precursor to truth.

I'm only wondering, with all the accusations thrown to COMELEC, what signals are we trying to give foreign investors with how we run our country? The peso has slightly slipped. Exactly how much economic side effects are we willing to take in the name of skepticism?

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