Lacson: Can govt really afford automated polls?

MANILA, Philippines – With the country’s budget deficit pegged at P177.2 billion, an opposition senator on Thursday asked the government where it would source the P11.3 billion needed for the automation of next year’s elections. “One of the requirements in the Constitution is for funds to be actually available. Ang tanong, sa laki ng deficit natin, meron ba talagang pondo ang National Treasury na P11,301,709,000 [With the country's huge budget deficit, does the National Treasury have enough fund for poll automation]?” Sen. Panfilo Lacson said. The Senate approved past Wednesday midnight the budget for the 2010 poll automation, two days after the House of Representatives did the same. Congress is set to start its Lenten break Friday, March 6. The Commission on Elections (Comelec) had earlier warned that they would be forced to conduct the 2010 elections manually if the budget for the poll automation would not be approved on or before April 1 this year. Lacson said the Senate passed the automation budget to give Comelec enough time to implement the automated election system. He added that the poll body should work hard to comply with the provisions of Republic Act 9369 or the Amended Automated Elections Law or they would not be able to avail of the fund. “The supplemental budget is intended for poll automation for 2010. If they would not be able to comply with the law, they would not be able to avail of the budget,” Lacson said. The senator, who said he favors automated polls over the manual system, said the apprehension of some of his colleagues against the new system is more of a fear of the unknown. “Mas mainam nang mag-try tayo ng makabagong technology kesa sa magma-manual na naman tayo na tried-and-tested sa dayaan [It’s better that we try a new technology than have the elections done manually again which we all know is prone to irregularities],” he said. - Amita Legaspi, GMANews.TV