Comelec says automation may fail, but not polls

MANILA, Philippines - The clock is ticking for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to finish preparations for the country's first automated polls.

Many fear the elections will end up in chaos and failure.

But the Comelec has tried to assure voters that the elections will proceed smoothly.

Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said the elections will not fail, insisting that the poll body has a back-up plan in case the machines bog down.

The Comelec said if the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines conk out, there are almost 6,000 spare machines that can be used.

This was what the poll body did when 2 machines malfunctioned in the Overseas Absentee Voting (OAV) in Hong Kong over the weekend.

If the Comelec runs out of spare machines, Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) can transfer the compact flash card of the PCOS to another machine where the votes will be counted.

In case of a problem in transmission, the SIM cards of the modem can be interchanged, a satellite facility can be used or the compact flash card containing the election results can be brought to the canvassing center.

If all these contingency measures fail, the Comelec said the votes can still be counted manually.

Forms for manual elections are being printed in case automation fails in some parts of the country.

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said they are prepared for a 30% failure of poll automation by resorting to manual elections.

The Comelec added that the National Printing Office is about to complete printing the 50 million ballots needed for election day.

Only 5 million ballots have yet to be printed.

Failure of automation, not failure of elections, the Comelec said, is the worst that can happen to this year's polls.

And even if it happens, the poll body assures the country it will eventually have a new set of leaders.

2nd disqualification case vs Arroyo filed

MANILA - Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel on Monday filed a petition before the Commission on Elections seeking to disqualify President Arroyo from running for Congress next year.

In a four-page petition, Hontiveros-Baraquel said Mrs. Arroyo should be barred from running in next year's polls because the Constitution bars the president and vice-president from running for re-election.

"If people in the two highest elective positions are barred for re-election, how much more a lower position? Mrs. Arroyo isn't even qualified to run for barangay tanod," she said.

She added that Mrs. Arroyo's congressional bid also violates the equal protection clause of the Constitution since she could tap government resources for her campaign.

Lawyer Oliver Lozano earlier filed a similar petition to disqualify Arroyo from running in next year's polls. He noted that the 1987 Constitution provides that "the president shall not be eligible for any re-election."

He said the word "any" refers to any elective post, and this includes Arroyo's bid to represent the 2nd district of Pampanga in the House of Representatives.

Loren hints at dropping 2010 political ambitions

Amid the spate of declarations from prospective presidential and vice-presidential candidates in the past weeks, Senator Loren Legarda on Monday dropped hints of foregoing whatever political plans she has in 2010 and instead, focus on her humanitarian works.

"Mas mabuti pa siguro ang hindi kakandidato. Mas magandang wag nang tumakbo at kung ano ang gagastusin sa pagtakbo ay gamitin na lang sa humaniratian help, siguro ganun. Wag na lang tumakbo," Legarda told reporters Monday.

(I think it’s better not to run anymore and instead use your campaign funds to finance humanitarian works.)

Legarda issued her statement as the country reels from the effects of tropical storm "Ondoy," which struck Luzon over the weekend.

In dropping hints that she may abandon her political plans for next year's polls, Legarda believes that politics and campaigning get in the way of governance.

"Kasi pag kampanya anim na buwan yan na-immobilized ka, lahat ng iyong resources ay nasa posters at television ads at pangangamay ng tao. Nakakain ba nila yun? Hindi. Kaya pinag-iisip isipan ko rin," Legarda said.

She added: "Really it’s dawning upon me because ano ba naman yung power, ano ba naman yung posisyon? Ang gusto mo talaga ay maglingkod e, kung yun talaga ang pakay mo. I don’t need to be famous anymore because I’m already famous. I don’t need to prove anything anymore. I’m thinking about it because really what I want to do is humanitarian help."

The senator said it bothers her to spend millions of money for advertisement and at the same time seeing people who badly need help.

"In such a poor country that is disaster stricken it’s so unconscionable to be spending so much on campaign and politics. It bothers me," Legarda said.

She also said that she is seeing the realities of life as against the dirty maneueverings in politics.

Legarda is one of two senators belonging to the Nationalist People's Coalition (NPC) who have been reported to be eyeing the presidency in the 2010 elections. The other is Francis Escudero.

In 2004, Legarda sought the vice presidency but lost to former ABS-CBN colleague Noli de Castro. In the 2007 polls, she won as senator, and will serve until 2013.