Party-list group seeks early voting for media workers

A party-list organization on Wednesday asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to allow media practitioners to vote in advance and even outside their places of registration. In a three-page petition, the Alyansa ng Media at Showbiz (AMS) asked the poll body to prevent media practitioners who are on duty on election day from being disenfranchised by letting them vote at least a few days before May 10. "Reporters, correspondents, and others who maybe assigned to cover the elections in places other than where they are registered should be allowed to vote. It has been a problem for us every election," said AMS nominee Rolando Gonzalo. He said that advance voting for the media should "jive" with Comelec's testing and sealing of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) three days before the elections. "Considering that members of the media are already present and the PCOS machines are already in place, it is respectfully requested that said members of the media be allowed to be the 'guinea pigs' if you will, regarding the testing of the machines," he said. Gonzalo said this will benefit the poll body because the automated elections will undergo a "credible and realistic" simulation and media men can supposedly educate the public "more effectively" on the dynamics of the polls. "This way, media practitioners themselves can give their first impression on the processes and character of the machines involved in the polls. Through this, the Comelec and even the public would know what should be improved," he said. AMS is one of the 187 party-list organizations vying for a seat in the House of Representatives in May. Its other nominees include cosmetic surgeon Dr. Manny Calayan, actor and film director Leo Martinez, Edgardo Lee, and Joel Sy-Egco. The party-list group claims to have members from the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas, the Philippine Press Club, and the Film Academy of the Philippines. Early this year, both the House of Representatives and the Senate approved separate bills calling for advance voting in certain areas and of certain sectors, including the media, detainees and uniformed personnel. Congress, however, failed to pass a reconciled version of House Bill 6928 and Senate Bill 3570. Meanwhile, overseas absentee voting began last April 10 while local absentee voting will begin on April 24 — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ/LBG, GMANews.TV