Comelec official open to manual recount

A senior poll official said Tuesday he is open to conducting a manual recount in areas where there is a large discrepancy in the results of the May 10 automated polls. "Para sa akin okay lang, wala naman kaming tinatago (For me it's okay, we have nothing to hide)," Comelec Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer told reporters in an interview. Ferrer issued the statement after poll machine Smartmatic-Total Information Management (TIM) said that it is eyeing a manual count to clear its name from accusations of poll fraud. Smartmatic Asia president Cesar Flores even expressed certainty that manual counting would produce the same results as those churned up by the counting machines. Ferrer, however, clarified that they have yet to receive a formal petition asking for a manual recount of the votes cast in the May polls. "Siguro there will be guidelines, kung maliit lang diperesenya ok lang siguro (There will probably be guidelines, if the difference in votes is just small, then maybe there is no need for it)," he said. Ferrer said the Comelec alone has received more than 80 electoral protests since May 10. "Akala ko nung ma-automate na ito mawawala na mga complaint eh (pero) it's part of our culture (I thought automation would get rid of these complaints but it's part of our culture)," he said. But he said that they will not let the electoral protests and the surfacing of alleged plots to rig the polls to delay the proclamation of the president and vice president by a joint session of Congress. "We will see to it that it will not delay the proclamation," Ferrer said. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ/LBG, GMANews.TV