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Friday, March 12, 2004
Comelec decision to do manual counting lauded
THE decision of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to abandon the use of automated counting machines (ACMs) in selected areas is a “wise” move.
Jose Concepcion, chairman of the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) said this after the Comelec en banc unanimously decided to desert the idea of automating the May 10 elections in some regions of the country.
While Malacanang is just shrugging off Comelec’s move, Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan welcomed the decision to totally junk the selective poll automation, saying the move of the Comelec would remove doubts on the integrity of the coming May elections.
According to Concepcion, it is a welcome development that the poll body has finally settled to resort to manual counting as this will definitely erase any doubts the selective poll automation will be used to manipulate the results of the canvassing to favor particular candidates.
“Maganda ang kanilang decision, so now what they must do is to focus on the implementation of manual counting,” Concepcion said.
He pointed out that, although manual counting would be very difficult and that cheating and other forms of electoral fraud could still be performed by majority of the politicians, the Comelec must put in place stringent measures that would safeguard the results of the canvassing.
“This election is very crucial so Comelec must ensure that strict measures will be implemented to prevent the politicians from cheating,” the chairman of the of the poll watchdog said.
Guillermo Luz, secretary general of Namfrel, for his part, stressed that aside from the Comelec, politicians should also be held responsible in securing the sanctity of the forthcoming May elections since majority of the election-related violence are created by them.
“The violence are mostly perpetrated by politicians so they should also be made accountable in helping the Comelec and the watchdog in ensuring a clean, honest and orderly elections,” Luz said.
He added that the Comelec would be facing a court case if they would push through with the selective automation even as they had been claiming the ruling of the Supreme Court does not cover the use of the automated counting machines.
“That’s a wise decision because the Supreme Court has ruled with finality,” Luz lamented.
In an earlier interview with Comelec chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr., he announced that the en banc decided to discard the proposal of Comelec Commissioner Resurreccion Borra to automate only certain areas, namely, the National Capital Region, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao
(ARMM) and some parts of the Visayas region.
About 1,500 of the 1,991 counting machines were supposed to be borrowed by the Comelec from Mega Pacific eSolutions had the selective automation been implemented.
Luz said instead of losing their time in pushing for the selective automation, what the Comelec should work on now is the recovery of the P1.3 billion they have paid to Mega Pacific eSolutions for the acquisition of the ACMs.
Meanwhile in the Senate, Sen. Pangilinan said the Comelec, under the leadership of Abalos, is considering the welfare of the public in abandoning the selective automation scheme.
“We welcome the decision of the Comelec to shelve the partial automation of the election count. It shows that Chairman Abalos and the commission as a whole is sensitive to the public pulse,” Pangilinan said in his statement.
Likewise, he said, the decision would yield to renewed faith and trust in the Comelec as an institution that can assure a clean and honest electoral process.
He then called on all sectors to support the Comelec and help it to conduct orderly and peaceful elections.
It can be recalled that the Senate has expressed disagreement on the use of the automated machines since the Supreme Court has voided the contract to use them.
Pangilinan said the Comelec is not allowed to push through with the contract because the Supreme Court has found it to be questionable, add to it the report the machines are not accurate and reliable to use.
Malacanang, meanwhile, on Thursday shrugged off Comelec’s decision to completely junk its plan for automated elections on May 10.
Presidential spokesman Ignacio Bunye said what is important to the administration is for the elections to push through and that they should be clean and credible.
He added in a telephone interview that it is entirely the discretion of the Comelec whether to do manual or automated canvassing in the May 10 elections.
“We believe in the institutional integrity of the Comelec. Whether it is automated or manual, we are geared for clean and credible elections,” Bunye said.
Abalos said the commission is dropping its plan for selective automation following continued opposition and criticism from some sectors.
He said they do not want the people to think they are resorting to cheating to ensure certain candidates would win. (Mari Neri, JPM and JMR)
(March 12, 2004 issue)
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