Noynoy, Erap ask Comelec to prepare for full manual count

Two presidential aspirants on Wednesday rejected calls for the postponement of the May 10 elections and urged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to prepare for a full manual count in case poll machines fail to function properly. Liberal Party (LP) standard-bearer Benigno Aquino III said in a press conference that he does not mind if the counting of votes takes time as long as elections will proceed as planned on May 10. "The risk of elections not pushing through at all becomes much greater with the postponement," Aquino said. "Each postponement increases the possibility of yet another postponement, bringing us closer to a potentiallty disastrous crisis of a leadership vaccum on June 30." "We demand that Comelec begin preparations for full manual count and present their contingency plan to the public as soon as possible," he said. " Aquino noted that this is allowed under the law, as the Comelec has already made initial preparations for manual counting in some areas. "If full manual counting is the practical situation, then let us do it no matter how long it takes to finish," said Aquino, who continues to lead in various pre-election presidential preference surveys. Aquino was referring to various proposals, including that of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s election lawyer Romulo Macalintal, to postpone the upcoming May 10 elections to avert possible election failure. [See: Postponing elections the only remedy, Arroyo lawyers says] Erap favors manual counting, too Even Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) presidential bet Joseph Estrada likewise said he would rather have manual counting than rely on machines that read votes inaccurately. Unlike Aquino, however, Estrada said he is amenable to postponing the elections for another 10 to15 days, as long as manual counting will be done, although he is hopeful that the May 10 polls will push through. "If there will be a delay, it should only be to put the manual counting into effect. If there will be a delay of 10-15 days but this will ensure clean and reliable elections, then why not?" he said in a statement on Wednesday. Local government officials are also clamoring for manual counting, according to Binalonan, Pangasinan mayor Ramon Guico, president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines and senatorial bet of administration party Lakas-Kampi-CMD. "I think we should go back to manual counting. If the PCOS machines are not reliable after the initial testing and they could not pass the next, what can we expect from them all throughout the election process," Guico said in a statement. Despite the glitches in some counting machines tested Monday, the Comelec said the country’s first nationwide automated polls will proceed as scheduled on May 10. [See: Automated polls to proceed as scheduled, Comelec assures] — RJAB Jr.,/RSJ, GMANews.TV