Arroyo may call for special session over poll automation bill

MANILA, Philippines - President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo may call for a special session to enable Congress to pass the bill providing for the full automation of the 2010 national elections, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde said Friday. In a press briefing, Remonde said President Arroyo will call for a special session "if there are calls from both houses of Congress. If kailangan [If necessary], the President will be open to that." He said the full automation of the 2010 elections is one of the top priorities of the Arroyo administration. Remonde called on Palace allies and supporters in Congress to immediately pass the measure so the Commission on Elections (Comelec) can implement it right away. "The President stands pat on her commitment for automated elections in 2010 and sana ang Congress and Comelec na sila ang mag-i-implement ng programang ito [who will implement this program] will sort out these things to attain this goal to be fully automated and therefore less fraud-prone ang conduct of elections," he said. Remonde said the Palace will not support a combination of automation and manual processes, as proposed earlier by some House members who said automation in local provinces may cause confusion among voters, that it is not necessary since results for local polls come out relatively fast compared to vote-counting for national officials, and that it may open avenues for cheating. House Speaker Prospero Nograles had earlier thumbed down the idea of a special session, but Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said on Thursday that he is willing to ask President Arroyo, if necessary, to call for a special session to ensure that the supplemental budget for poll automation will be approved as soon as possible. "I’m more than willing to sponsor a resolution to the President for special session to approve the poll automation budget as soon as possible. I’m willing to attend and convince my colleagues on a special session right before Holy Week, if necessary," Zubiri said. The proposed P11.3-billion supplementary budget for the automation of the 2010 polls was approved on second reading by the House on Wednesday night, but the Comelec cannot utilize the allocation until a special legislation detailing certain conditions regarding voting procedures and mechanisms is passed. The Senate version, meanwhile, is still pending in the Finance committee. Committee chair Edgardo Angara said the panel cannot approve the measure until the House version is passed on final reading since it was a "money bill." "We cannot pass it unless the House has first approved it because this is a money matter eh, money bill. So we have to wait for the House to pass it on final reading," Angara told reporters on Thursday. Congress goes on a recess starting March 7 and will resume session April 13. - Johanna Camille Sisante and Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV