Jamby, farmers to go on hunger strike until Comelec approves manual count

Independent presidential candidate Maria Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal on Thursday said that she will go on a hunger strike together with farmers and fishers until the Commission on Elections (Comelec) approves a proposal to conduct a manual count of votes before the results are transmitted. Madrigal, who barged into the office of Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento during an interview with reporters, said the poll body should approve the proposal of farmer-fisherfolk coalition Alyansa Agrikultura to enable a 100 percent precinct manual count of votes for president, vice president, and one local official before transmission.

"Sana pakinggan yung daing ng taong-bayan kasi maghuhunger strike kami hanggang sa katapusan, hanggang eleksyon na, para kung hindi ninyo kami pakinggan, at least ang Diyos makikinig sa amin (I hope they listen to the plea of the people because we will go on a hunger strike until the elections, so that if they don't listen, at least God will listen to us)," she said. She said there should be nothing wrong if the basis for the results of the automated polls is the manual count. "Ang basehan yung manual at wag yung automation, kasi pumapalpak transmission pa lang palpak na rin eh (The basis should be the manual count and not the automated because even in transmission, automation has already failed)," she said. With only over two weeks before the elections, the poll body should immediately schedule an en banc meeting to discuss the matter, the senator said. "Wala na tayong oras (We don't have enough time)," she said. Alyansa Agrikultura chair Ernesto Ordoñez, who accompanied Madrigal on Thursday, added that they only need a few minutes with the Comelec officials to explain what they want to do. The manual count would only take three hours, just a small addition to the time needed to count all the votes needed for proclamation, Ordoñez said. They sought to take matter to the en banc because the idea was shot down when they met with the poll body’s technical team. Besides Madrigal, the farmer-fisherfolk coalition led by Ordoñez claims to have the support of presidential candidates former President Joseph Estrada, Ang Kapatiran's JC Delos Reyes, Bangon Pilipinas' Bro. Eddie Villanueva, and environmentalist Nicanor Perlas. He said the other candidates have yet to respond to his proposal. Sarmiento, for his part, said that the Commission has already discussed the matter although it still has to decide what to do. "Initially nag-usap na po kami tungkol dito so siguro babalikan po natin, lalung-lalo na maraming humihingi ng parallel count po eh (We have already talked about this but maybe we will go back to this because many have been asking for a parallel count)," he said. Earlier, Perlas had already asked the poll body to postpone the elections should the Comelec fail to address questions about the automated system, including the need for a parallel manual count. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV