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Erap to ask SC to postpone polls for parallel manual count preparations


Pwersa ng Masang Pilipino (PMP) standard-bearer former President Joseph Estrada on Thursday said he would ask the Supreme Court to postpone the May 10 polls to enable the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to prepare for a 100-percent parallel manual count. At a press conference in San Juan City, Estrada said he would personally file the petition with the Supreme Court on Friday morning. He said that at present, the petition is still being prepared by his lawyers. The former president said he does not mind waiting a little longer for the polls as long as there are sufficient "safeguards" to ensure the credibility of the elections. "The Comelec has been preparing for the elections for almost 10 months, and we should have prepared fallbacks in case [the] automation fails. At least, by way of a parallel manual count, we will have a safeguard," Estrada said. He added that he feels he "has been cheated so many times" that he wants the results of the elections to be credible. "I was cheated when I ran for mayor. My friend, Fernando Poe Jr., got cheated during the last presidential elections… Thwarting the will of the people is a heinous crime. It is a national shame," he said. Estrada, however, said the elections should be postponed for not more than two weeks, as stated in the Omnibus Election Code. He added the Comelec should be the one to determine the amount of time they will need for a full parallel manual count — which will be the number of days the polls will be deferred. On Tuesday, lawyer Romulo Macalintal proposed the postponement of the May 10 polls, after the counting machines to be used in the elections failed to read votes accurately when they were tested last Monday. [See: Postponing elections 'the only remedy,’ Arroyo lawyer says] But the Comelec maintained on Wednesday that the county’s first nationwide automated polls will proceed as scheduled, assuring the public that the poll machine glitches will be resolved. [See: Automated polls to proceed as scheduled, Comelec assures] — RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV

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