Senate OKs poll automation budget on 3rd reading

MANILA, Philippines - The Senate approved on third and final reading past Wednesday midnight the P11.3-billion supplemental budget that would be used for the automation of the 2010 national elections. Voting 9-4 with no abstention, the Senate adopted the House of Representative’s version of the bill but with an additional provision that would "guarantee transparency and accuracy in the selection of the relevant technology of the voting machines to be used for the May 10, 2010 automated national and local elections." Those who voted against the bill were Senate Pro Tempore Jose "Jinggoy" Estrada, and opposition Senators Simeon Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, Francis Escudero, and Ma. Ana Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal. Those in favor of the supplemental budget were Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri, Senators Edgardo Angara, Rodolfo Biazon, Richard Gordon, Gregorio Honasan II, Manuel Lapid, Loren Legarda, Aquilino Pimentel Jr., and Ramon Revilla Jr. Angara, chairman of the Finance Committee, expressed optimism that the Philippines would finally be able to conduct full automation of the local and national elections. “I believe this is imperative in order to respond to the crying need of our people: credibility of elections and legitimacy of leadership," said Angara, who sponsored the bill on the floor. Good for RP He added that if the automation of the 2010 elections go as planned, the country would be ahead of most developing nations. Angara said that in Asia, only India has used direct recording electronic (DRE) machines, the same type of machines used in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) automated elections in August last year. “The prospects, therefore, are good for automated elections in 2010, especially since we have the supplemental appropriation law and the security measures in place," Angara said. Before the voting, Angara presided over the hearing that lasted for about five hours after the Senate convened itself into a committee of the whole. The Senate rushed the passage of the bill after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said that they need the budget on or before April 1 to start the preparations for the May 2010 polls. The House of Representatives has approved its version of the bill last Monday. Congress is set to start its Lenten break on Friday, March 6. PCOS During the hearing, Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said they would be using the precinct count system (PCOS) where a voter would accomplish his ballot by shading his pick and then insert it into a machine that would take its photograph. The ballot would be deposited into the ballot box that is part of the machine. As with the manual system, the counting would be done after the voting period. Melo said the advantage of the system is that there would be a paper trail with the ballot and its photograph that can be used in case of an election protest. The lease of the machine would cost P102,000 per unit, and 80,000 units are needed to be leased for the 2010 national and local elections, Melo said. The Comelec would be deploying 480,000 personnel for the automated polls. The budget for the personal services is not included in the supplemental budget. During the hearing, Escudero questioned the Comelec for its alleged failure to have a design and security measure that would ensure the integrity of the votes. He said passing the supplemental budget is like giving the Comelec a blank check as the poll body still does not fully know the technology it would use. Aside from Melo, also present during the hearing were Ray Anthony Roxas-Chua III, chairman of the Commission on Information and Communications Technology and head of the advisory council on poll automation; Commissioners Rene Sarmiento and Nicodemo Ferrer, and Comelec Executive Director Jose Tolentino. - GMANews.TV