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Thursday, January 15, 2004
Comelec prepares for manual count on May 10
MANILA -- Elections must go ahead on May 10 even if the votes have to be counted manually, President Arroyo said on Wednesday while the country's largest business group warned that a postponement will rattle investors.
Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. said the commission is ready and can still shift to manual counting after the Supreme Court (SC) scrapped the P1.3-billion contract for an automated counting system.
"We were assured of getting the budget should we go manual. We will proceed with the elections as mandated by law," Abalos said.
Abalos, together with President Arroyo, House Speaker Jose de Venecia and Senate President Franklin Drilon, met Tuesday night to discuss the manual counting system.
Drilon said it was agreed during the meeting that there was no need to postpone the elections because Comelec has ample time to implement the manual system.
"We told Chairman Abalos that Comelec should prove to the people it is still capable of holding clean, honest and orderly election in May. Comelec will have to project that it can regain the people's faith and confidence that it is capable of holding credible elections," Drilon said.
Comelec needs at least 106 to 120 days to prepare for the manual system of elections.
Field offices of Comelec in Cebu are bracing for a manual count, after the SC ruling against the Comelec's contract with a private supplier of automated vote-counting machines and election forms.
Comelec 7 Assistant Director Marshall Rubia said their preparations may have been geared for the automated counting, but they will easily adjust to manual operations.
"We're a veteran at that," said Rubia.
Cebu City Election Officer Simaco Labata said automation may still be used since the SC ruling does not prohibit the use of the machines.
But with only four months before the elections, there may no longer be time for the commission to enter into contract with other suppliers, he said.
Labata was in Tagaytay City in Cavite on Wednesday to join the meeting of Comelec officials on how to go about the May elections.
"Hopefully, there is still a remedy for this but the problem is, who will supply the machines? We still have to have a bidding before we can purchase but we don't have time for that anymore," Labata told Sun.Star.
The Philippine Chamber of Commerce of Industry (PCCI), the country's biggest business organization, supported the High Court's decision to nullify the contract on account of bidding irregularities.
No postponement
But the chamber, in a press statement, also said the election should go on as scheduled, because "business can't live in uncertainty, and postponing the elections will only hurt investor confidence."
In an ABS-CBN interview, former Comelec commissioner Christian Monsod urged that the elections be postponed to May 31, to give the poll body enough time to prepare for a manual count.
Up to 40 million votes will have to be counted.
But President Arroyo called on Comelec to "focus its efforts and capability to implement the elections as scheduled," for the sake of political and economic stability.
"The future of our democracy is at stake," said Arroyo, who is facing five challengers for the presidency this May.
Appeal
Abalos separately said Comelec will appeal the court ruling.
He said the SC ruling "only indicates that the commissioners are not criminally liable because not all of the 15 SC justices are convinced that they should be held accountable for the alleged illegal deal."
"We are to seek consideration not only to clear our name but clear the institution we are representing," a teary-eyed Abalos said in a press conference.
The SC in a 9-3-2 vote nullified the contract entered into by Comelec with Mega Pacific solutions for the procurement of more than 1,000 automated counting machines for the May 10 elections.
Abalos and other Comelec officials are also facing possible investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman over the invalidated contract with Mega Pacific Consortium.
According to the Solicitor General, Comelec officials responsible for the country could face charges in violation of the anti-plunder law.
Abalos, at the same time, rejected calls for him and other commissioners to resign following the SC ruling. He maintained that there was nothing illegal or improper in the contract.
"No one is resigning. I am taking it as a challenge if only to prove my desire of redeeming the name of the Comelec," he said.
He said the decision to have them investigated by the Ombudsman is not proper since they are an independent body and they can only be investigated once impeached.
Embarrassing
While many local officials welcomed the Supreme Court's ruling, Cebu Vice Mayors' League President Ricardo Ramirez expressed "disappointment" over the development.
"We could have joined other developed nations in leaping into using modern-day technology. It's one good chance that we Filipinos have blown away again, and it's not doing good to our country's image. We Filipinos proved again to be an embarrassment to other countries by going back to our pre-war system of elections," said Ramirez.
Meanwhile, Capitol consultant Gwendolyn Garcia and Ronda Mayor Mariano Blanco joined those who prefer the manual count. "At least we already know what kinds of fraud to expect and can watch out against them," said Gwen.
But Rubia, for his part, said one advantage of the computerized elections would have been to ease the pressure on teachers from the time the votes are cast to the proclamation of a winner.
What Comelec needs to do if it decides to revert to manual counting is to update election officers on the procedures. The law allows them to tap private school teachers in case of a shortage, said Rubia.
In a separate interview, Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano said that while we must abide by the High Court's ruling, remedies must be taken so the May 10 elections will not be affected.
Ouano, Lakas-CMD spokesman in Cebu, added that if the election will be postponed, there should be a "valid reason" for doing so.Marie Neri/JPM of Sunnexluzon and JPM/LCR/AAG of Sun.Star Cebu
(January 15, 2004 issue)
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