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House panel OKs addt'l P11.3B for 2010 polls


MANILA, Philippines - A House panel on Tuesday approved the proposed P11.3-billion supplemental budget for the automation of the upcoming national elections. Aside from automation, the P11.3-billion additional budget for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) passed by the Appropriations Committee will also be used for "cleansing" of the voters' list via mandatory biometric voter registration. The approved House Bill No. 5715 originally proposed the appropriation of a P11.3 billion supplemental budget for poll automation, but it was amended by the committee to include the motion of Cagayan de Oro City Rep. Rufus Rodriguez to incorporate mandatory registration through the biometrics system. Under the biometric system, machines will cross-match the biometric data or fingerprints of a voter to verify his or her identity. During the hearing, Comelec chairman Jose Melo said 50 percent of voters or roughly 25 million Filipinos have yet to register using the mechanism. He said he would leave it to the lawmakers to determine the deadline for registering under the biometric system. He however said that voters may be overwhelmed by the committee's proposal to de-list even registered voters who fail to register under the new mechanism before December this year. In proposing his amendment, Rodriguez said the agency should cleanse the voters' list first before allocating billions for the purchase of new poll machines. Among the new polling equipment the Comelec is planning to buy are direct recording electronic (DRE), precinct count optical scan (PCOA), and central count optical scan (CCOA) technologies. Rodriguez's suggestion was backed up by several other lawmakers, including Parañaque City Rep. Roilo Golez and Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman, the panel's senior vice chairman. "If we are going to inject into these machines ballots coming from those who are not supposed to vote, then we are going to speed up the counting of those invalid votes," Golez said. Lagman pointed out that the "backdrop" of the electoral process is voter registration, so "the avenue for fraud is limitless" if it is not cleaned up immediately. Aside from the proposed P11.3-billion additional budget, an initial automation budget of P2.6 billion has already been allotted to the Comelec, said Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr., who was also present during the hearing. Andaya said P1.4 billion of the P2.6 billion would come from the 2009 national budget, while P800 million would come from savings from the 2008 budget. - GMANews.TV
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