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Congress to pass additional outlay for poll automation


MANILA, Philippines - Congress is amenable to approving a supplemental budget to fully automate the 2010 general elections. Finance committee chairman Senator Edgardo J. Angara said the chamber will pass the P11.9-billion supplemental budget in "mid-February." "I gave instructions to my staff to get a copy of the supplemental budget so we can already schedule it for public hearing," Mr. Angara said in a phone interview. At the House, Majority Leader and Iloilo Rep. Arthur D. Defensor, Sr. (3rd district) said they are amenable to passing a supplemental budget for the automated polls in 2010, but did not commit an amount and date of approval. "We are amenable to passing a supplemental budget. As of the moment I cannot say when the supplemental budget will be passed and released, because a bill to increase Comelec’s budget has not even been filed yet. However, we can fast-track it, because it is of immediate concern," he told BusinessWorld in a separate interview. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has submitted the supplemental outlay to the Budget department in late September, but the Executive had only transmitted the proposal to the House committee on appropriations on Jan. 9. Comelec had earlier proposed a P21-billion poll automation find but this was cut after scrutiny by legislators. The additional budget is on top of the P5.3-billion outlay for Comelec this year, which is included in the proposed P1.415-trillion General Appropriations Bill. Congress is expected to restart deliberations on the budget when sessions resume on Jan. 19. Congress is on a month-long break that started on Dec. 17. Senator Richard J. Gordon, author of the automated elections system, said poll automation will curb election fraud that has since tainted the electoral process. Mr. Gordon and co-chairman at the congressional oversight committee on automated elections system Makati Rep. Teodoro "Teddy Boy" L. Locsin, Jr. have pushed for poll automation. "We have enough reason to be happy and with that, public bidding will start by March," Comelec Spokesman James Arthur B. Jimenez told BusinessWorld in an interview. He added the poll body’s advisory council has recommended the use of the direct recording equipment (DRE) system which involves touch-screen voting, and optical media reader (OMR) system where traditional ballots were shaded and counted through high-speed scanners to be used in the 2010 polls, but the terms of reference have yet to be finalized. During the Aug. 11, 2008 elections at the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, Comelec had spent P525 million for the DRE system provided by Venezuelan firm Smartmatic International, while P125 million was spent for OMR system that was provided by American firm Avante International Technology, Inc. — Bernard U. Allauigan with J. F. S. Valdez, BusinessWorld
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