I can't imagine what will be the Philippines look like if this person will win? I read from a news this article and I want to share this to everyone.
Bangon Pilipinas standard bearer Bro. Eddie Villanueva on Thursday became the second presidential candidate to formally ask the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to postpone the polls after glitches were encountered by the automated election system.
The poll body should move the elections to May 24 to give more time for the testing of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines and allay fears that the automated system will fail, Villanueva said in a seven-page petition.
"We need sufficient time to finish the machines' testing and make sure that on election day, there would be no — or at least the most minimal — occurrences of irregularity," he told reporters after filing the petition.
The evangelist issued the statement after some precinct count optical scan (PCOS) units tested last Monday failed to read some votes accurately, forcing the Comelec to pull out all the compact flash (CF) cards in the voting machines.
The CF cards were later reformatted and reinstalled.
He said that under Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code, the poll body has the power to postpone the elections.
Section 5 of the OEC says that an election can only be postponed "for any serious cause such as violence, terrorism, loss or destruction of election paraphernalia or records, force majeure, and other analogous causes of such a nature that the holding of a free, orderly and honest election should become impossible in any political subdivision."
Article VII Section 4 of the Philippine Constitution, on the other hand, provides that "unless otherwise provided by law, the regular election for President and Vice-President shall be held on the second Monday of May."
Last month, independent presidential candidate Nicanor Perlas also asked the poll body to postpone the elections should it fail to address questions about the automated system, including the need for a parallel manual count.
Earlier in the day, senatorial aspirant and Akbayan Rep. Risa Hontiveros likewise filed a motion, asking the Comelec to reconsider its rejection of requests for a parallel manual count.
But the Comelec chairman Jose Melo nixed both ideas, saying that the random manual count should be enough to assure the voters that theelection results are credible.
He also chided Villanueva, saying that he probably just "wants more time to campaign" like all the other candidates.
Comelec should swallow its pride, Chiz says
Meanwhile, in a Quezon City press conference held earlier in the day, Senator Francis Escudero — co-chair of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee Hearing — gave the Comelec until Friday to "swallow its pride" and say if it can still pull through the automated elections.
"By Friday, dapat sabihin na kung kaya pa o hindi...dapat at gusto ko na matuloy ang eleksyon sa May 10 pero dapat sabihin na nila ngayon kesa naman sa May 10 malaman na hindi pala kaya," he said in weekly forum.
(By Friday, the Comelec should say whether it can still proceed with the elections. It should announce it now than later.)
The senator said this will give President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo enough time to call for a special session of Congress to reset the elections before June 30.
"The Comelec has the authority to say that it cannot do it. President Arroyo should then call for a special session within 24 hours, it is her constitutional duty to do so. The Congress then should set the election date and set the parameter as well," Escudero said.
However, he admitted that the Congress has no authority to reset the election date "but what can we do if the Comelec cannot do it."
"This is because of situation beyond our control," Escudero said.
The senator feared the eruption of violence particularly in the local level "because our confidence on the machines has been shattered."
"Anumang dugong dumanak ay pananagutan ng Comelec kaya wag nilang pairalin ang kanilang pride," he said. "Sa palagay nyo ba papayag ang leading na kandidato na matalo sila at yung mga talo me dahilan na para magreklamo dahil baka mali ang basa ng boto."
(The Comelec should no longer keep its pride because it will be responsible for any bloodshed that might take place during elections. Do you think leading candidates will agree to lose and that losing bets themselves will have reason to complain because the vote was not read properly.)
- Source: http://www.gmanews.tv
Escudero also urged the Comelec to order for mandatory manual count.
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