Comelec can conduct automated polls in 2010 sans 'companion bills' - solon
JOHANNA CAMILLE SISANTE, GMANews.TV
03/04/2009 | 01:31 PM
MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) can conduct automated polls in 2010 even if Congress does not approve either one of two House bills that will supposedly accompany the recently-approved P11.3-billion supplementary budget for poll automation, House Majority Leader Arthur Defensor Sr. said.
At the weekly forum in Quezon City on Wednesday, Defensor said Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia's House Bill 6054, as well as HB 6070 filed by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Camarines Norte Rep. Liwayway Vinzons-Chato, are not essential to the conduct of automated polls.
Garcia's bill proposes that voting, counting and canvassing of votes be done manually, with only the transmission of votes to be done electronically. His measure was passed by the committee on suffrage and electoral reforms on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, HB 6070 pushes for mandatory biometric registration and full automation but with a "paper trail"--that is, there should be print-outs of election returns.
Defensor said even if either one of the bills do not get approved, the Comelec can push through with automated polls since it will likely get the supplementary budget soon. Likewise, there is already an existing law on automated elections, Republic Act 9369, he pointed out.
"Let me say this again, we have already passed the supplementary budget. It is indispensable for the holding of automated elections in 2010," said Defensor, adding that the bills filed by Garcia and Rodriguez and Chato are "not indispensable for the implementation by the Comelec."
"Pwede naman yung automation ng walang biometrics [We can have automation without biometrics], if we ensure the fairness, that we should have a clean elections," he said.
The House approved on third reading the P11.3-billion appropriation for poll automation on Monday night. Defensor said he expects the Senate to approve the budget Wednesday if it completely adopts the House version, House Bill 5715.
"If the Senate decides to adopt it en toto, I mean totally the supplemental budget as passed by the House of Representatives, then the supplemental budget is considered passed by Congress and there is no need for a special session," Defensor said.
Congress is set to go on a break from March 7 to April 12. The proposed supplementary budget is still awaiting approval by the Senate finance committee chaired by Senator Edgardo Angara.
Comelec chair Jose Melo had earlier said the budget for the automated polls must be released by April so the agency will have enough time for bidding for voting machines and subsequent publishing of its terms of reference, which he said is very detailed. - GMANews.TV
At the weekly forum in Quezon City on Wednesday, Defensor said Cebu Rep. Pablo Garcia's House Bill 6054, as well as HB 6070 filed by Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez and Camarines Norte Rep. Liwayway Vinzons-Chato, are not essential to the conduct of automated polls.
Garcia's bill proposes that voting, counting and canvassing of votes be done manually, with only the transmission of votes to be done electronically. His measure was passed by the committee on suffrage and electoral reforms on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, HB 6070 pushes for mandatory biometric registration and full automation but with a "paper trail"--that is, there should be print-outs of election returns.
Defensor said even if either one of the bills do not get approved, the Comelec can push through with automated polls since it will likely get the supplementary budget soon. Likewise, there is already an existing law on automated elections, Republic Act 9369, he pointed out.
"Let me say this again, we have already passed the supplementary budget. It is indispensable for the holding of automated elections in 2010," said Defensor, adding that the bills filed by Garcia and Rodriguez and Chato are "not indispensable for the implementation by the Comelec."
"Pwede naman yung automation ng walang biometrics [We can have automation without biometrics], if we ensure the fairness, that we should have a clean elections," he said.
The House approved on third reading the P11.3-billion appropriation for poll automation on Monday night. Defensor said he expects the Senate to approve the budget Wednesday if it completely adopts the House version, House Bill 5715.
"If the Senate decides to adopt it en toto, I mean totally the supplemental budget as passed by the House of Representatives, then the supplemental budget is considered passed by Congress and there is no need for a special session," Defensor said.
Congress is set to go on a break from March 7 to April 12. The proposed supplementary budget is still awaiting approval by the Senate finance committee chaired by Senator Edgardo Angara.
Comelec chair Jose Melo had earlier said the budget for the automated polls must be released by April so the agency will have enough time for bidding for voting machines and subsequent publishing of its terms of reference, which he said is very detailed. - GMANews.TV
