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House to pass P11.3-B poll budget, but with conditions

By Gerry Baldo,Angie M. Rosales and Riza Recio

02/27/2009

The House of Representatives is going to go for partial poll automation in 2010 despite threats from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Jose Melo — who wants full automation --- that partial automation will bring about a repeat of the fraud in the 2004 presidential polls.

Melo, however, has not given any guarantee that a full automation of the 2010 elections will be fraud-free, especially as it will still be the same Comelec officers who will be handling the conduct of the automated polls. The Comelec has not rid the agency of known poll operators.

Even as the Senate is all out for full poll automation, the House isn’t, as it is likely to insist on partial automation, along with the condition that even if the House passes the Comelec supplemental budget of P11.3 billion, Comelec still cannot purchase these machines unless a bill amending the election law is passed.

The consensus on the adoption of partial automation was arrived at an all-party caucus presided over by Speaker Prospero Nograles Wednesday night.

According to a source who was among those present in the caucus, the lawmakers were of the opinion that fully automating the elections could not be achieved in time for the 2010 elections.

“They have agreed that poll automation in 2010 is very risky,” the source who asked for anonymity told the Tribune Thursday.

Those present in the caucus were Citizen’s Battle Against Corruption Rep. Joel Villanueva, House Minority Leader Ronaldo Zamora, Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez, Iloilo Rep. Arthur Defensor and around 16 other congressmen.

The congressional source said the lawmakers had weighed the pros and cons of pushing the automation of the elections and

concluded that it is going to put the presidential elections at risk.

The source added that the lawmakers were of the belief that full automation could be done during the 2013 elections.

The same source also said that automation may have to be partial with the counting still done manually by the teachers while the transmittal of the returns from the precinct level to the municipal up to the provincial level will have to be automated.

Another factor that grabbed the attention of the lawmakers was the possibility of some individuals questioning the bidding process for the supply of the automated counting machines.

A ranking officer of the Kabalikat ng Malayang Pilipino (Kampi) earlier raised some questions on the plan to automate the elections in 2010.

Lawyer Reginald Velasco, deputy secretary general of Kampi, in an earlier interview, said that poll automation may not make it to the 2010 elections given the timeframe that Congress has to pass the necessary legislation in an automated polls.

Velasco said the Omnibus Election Code would have to be amended to conform to the new electoral process aside from legislating the funds needed for the purchase of the automation equipment.

Anak Mindanao Rep. Mujiv Hataman also joined the lawmakers in expressing doubts about the individuals who are going to operate the poll counting machines. Hataman pointed out that electoral reforms should be a priority more than the planned automation.

The supplemental budget bill was passed yesterday on second reading, but conditions have been set by the House. A bill will be drafted that will guide the Comelec on the manner the machines will be utilized.

Nograles said that lawmakers agreed to give the nod to the supplemental budget, which is conditional, to ensure that the voting and counting of votes would be fast and fraud-free.

Full computerization in the 2010 polls, which should have been in place five years ago, is practically in the bag, with senators already assuring Comelec the passage of the proposed P11.3 billion supplemental budget to fund the automation, even if Congress will have to carry out special sessions.

A manual or “hybrid” system for counting votes in the 2010 presidential elections will both benefit the candidate of Mrs. Arroyo, the president of the United Opposition (UNO) said today.

“Retaining the manual system or even a combination of manual and automated counting will favor the administration candidate,” Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay said today.

Binay said no serious effort to reform the election system has been made since 2005. Despite the Hello Garci scandal, no serious effort has been made to overhaul the election system. Unless we fully automate in 2010, we will be playing with practically the same rules that led to the fraud-ridden election of Mrs. Arroyo in 2004,” he said.

Binay said if there is one lesson from the 2004 presidential elections, it is that the incumbent administration will stop at nothing to guarantee victory.

But this time, he said “there are bigger stakes for Mrs. Arroyo in 2010. She doesn’t want to go to jail,” he said.

Sen. Edgardo Angara, finance committee chairman, said they have agreed in principle to push the complete automation of the next electoral exercise, with the senators rejecting a “hybrid” or a combination of manual and computerized system.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo reiterated before the Senate panel the need for the bill to be passed the soonest time possible as they still have to hurdle the tedious bidding process and customizing the estimated 80,000 machines, the minimum period of which would entail four months.

“We will try to convince them (House) again to go into full automation. It will be difficult if we end up with a compromise…we would end up with a manual system. By April 12 or 16, if it does not become a law, we will already be pressed for time.

Melo however, gave a different “deadline” in a media interview, saying that May would the absolute deadline.

Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said: “We have to push electoral reform even if that’s the accusation against us (administration). We must push electoral reform, not hybrid and Congress should pass it now. Congress should approve without any collateral that they will decide on which mode,” Zubiri, who is believed to have cheated to win his Senate seat claimed.

“We are time-bound. That’s why I’m willing to talk to the President, together with our senior leaders of the Senate to hold special session,” he said.

Malacañang, for its part, has left it to Congress to tackle the hybrid election by 2010 even as the Senate has called for the President to convene a special session to approve the P11 billion supplemental budget for automated poll.

Palace sources said the Senate would be met with a “non-committal” response from the Chief Executive.

The proposed hybrid automated election will be up to Congress to debate, the Palace said.

“The President has signed very urgent the proposed bill on supplemental budget for automated election. The bill is still in Congress and they are in talks on how to pass this bill,” Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said.