‘Comelec should prepare for manual polls’ Christine Avendaño Philippine Daily Inquirer
July 05, 2009
MANILA, Philippines -- Even if the Commission on Elections (Comelec) was able to bring the 2010 automation project back on track, it should still prepare for manual elections, Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile said Sunday.
The Senate leader made the call on the eve of a Senate Blue Ribbon Committee investigation into the botched pullout of Filipino firm Total Information Management (TIM) from its partnership with Dutch firm Smartmatic International.
The two firms patched up their differences last Friday and were set to sign the contract to automate next year's polls with the Comelec this week.
Enrile told dzBB radio that Comelec “must assume the possibility” that the automation of the polls would not push through.
“They have to prepare for manual elections just the same so that we will not have any problem because it would be dangerous if the polls do not push through,” he said as he underscored the need for “every safeguards” to be adopted by the Comelec.
Still, he said he was certain that poll officials would “consider all these problems and anticipate it.”
And that's why he said he believed the Comelec's contract with the two firms “provided for contingencies that could happen again between the two partners.”
Calling the reconciliation between the two partners as a “relief to our people,” Sen. Loren Legarda cautioned the need for people to be vigilant and to watch the poll canvassing process “with hawks' eyes.”
Legarda said that the “dark forces” who wanted to manipulate the polls “continue to loom like phantoms.”
“People’s watchdog organizations, including trained representatives of political parties, should be allowed to closely scrutinize the election and counting process to ensure total honesty and accuracy,” she said in a statement.
Legarda said people “cannot afford to relax.”
On Monday's Senate blue ribbon committee hearing, Enrile said there would be no need to delve into the fight between Smartmatic and TIM as they have ironed out their differences. Enrile also said there was no need for senators to get into speculations on the ownership of TIM, who are said to be close to the Arroyo family.
What he wanted was for the Congressional oversight committee on poll automation to monitor the automation process and to “anticipate the problem that may crop up.”
Legarda, meanwhile, said it was important for lawmakers to know the background of the people behind the automation project, especially their competence to do the job.
“We also have to ensure these people are not shady,” she told dzBB radio.
She agreed on the importance of looking at the implementation of the automation project –from the purchase of the counting machines to their delivery in provinces as well as the problems come election day.
