Traders, lawyers join calls for parallel manual count

Businessmen and lawyers have joined calls for a conduct of a parallel manual count, seen to guarantee credibility of results of the automated elections this May. Representatives of the Makati Business Club (MBC) and the Philippine Bar Association (PBA) met with Commission on Elections officials on Monday to discuss their proposed manual count for at least three positions before the results are transmitted by the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine. The MBC, in their open letter, asked the poll body to conduct a parallel count of the votes for president, vice president, and one local position. If the discrepancy is less than one percent, transmission can proceed. However, if it is more than one percent, a full manual count for all the positions should take place. It said that the whole process will only take three hours. If there are discrepancies, the process should last for at least two days for counting and two days for canvassing. It also said that the whole thing will probably cost the poll body about half a billion pesos. "This is a small price to pay to ensure the sanctity of the ballot and boost the people's confidence in the automated elections. We believe the proposed manual count is rational, doable and will not constitute a drain on public resources," said the group. On the other hand, the PBA wants to conduct a parallel count of the votes for president, vice president, congressman, governor, and mayor. "It is the only legal, effective, and cost-efficient way to validate the electronic results of each PCOS machine and thus ensure clean and credible polls," the group said in a separate open letter. It said that there should be no question about the legality of the parallel count because Section 30 of Republic Act 9369 authorizes the Comelec to "prescribe" another manner or procedure for the canvassing and consolidation of votes. It likewise said that the poll body has the "necessary" funds to conduct the process, given the amount of money it was initially going to spend on the controversial and botched ballot secrecy folder deal. Response But Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said that it's not a matter of how much or how little the parallel count is going to cost. "Democracy will cost how democracy costs," he said. The Comelec will still have to study how the conduct of the manual count will affect the automation process, he said. He added that conducting this proposal might actually leave the process vulnerable to more fraud attempts. "Hindi ito simpleng bagay na yes or no...sino ba naman ang may ayaw ng seguridad (This is not a simple matter of yes or no, who does not want security?)," he told reporters on Monday. Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal, for his part, said they "appreciate" the concerns raised by some groups. He was quick to note, however, that they have to discuss the matter thoroughly because they won't be the only ones implementing the proposal if ever. "At this point it's difficult to comment... we're studying it, we're getting comments and feedback," he said in a briefing held Monday. The commissioner, who heads the poll body steering committee on automation, said a decision will be released later this week. PBA chair Simeon Marcelo said that the group was quite content with its meeting with the poll body officials. "They understand that this has to be decided immediately at kailangan gumalaw na (and that they need to take action)," he told reporters. MBC chair Ramon del Rosario likewise said they were "assured" by the commission that their proposal would be "seriously considered." "We're very hopeful that they will give a sympathetic ear to the proposal we made. Whatever the decision of Comelec, we will abide by it," he told reporters after the meeting. Last week, presidential aspirant Senator Maria Consuelo "Jamby" Madrigal and the farmer-fisherfolk group Alyansa Agrikultura said that they would go on a hunger strike until the Comelec decides to conduct a parallel manual count. Meanwhile, Larrazabal said that they have already conducted a simulation of the random manual audit. The poll body is set to conduct a random audit of five precincts in each congressional district in the May polls. - RJAB Jr., GMANews.TV