Taking exception to the statements made by independent Sen. Richard Gordon the other day, Speaker Prospero Nograles yesterday dared the senator to “name names” and expose those whom he accuses of plotting to “sabotage” the scheduled automated polls next year.Nograles said Gordon should specify who he is alluding to as the ones behind such a supposed plot to derail the elections and not make a vague and general accusation because such a sweeping statement makes any or all of the members of the House of Representatives suspect over his allegation.
“(He should) Name names, because there are 268 congressmen and women. It is hard to solve his riddle. It is unfair to the 268 members of the House of Representatives and to all concerned who are now toiling to make the 2010 polls a success,” Nograles said.
He said even the media, when confronted with the same situation, would certainly demand that an accuser bare the identity of the one(s) he is accusing of a wrongdoing, for the sake of truth and fairness.
“A general accusation is always unfair, even to media institutions. When media is accused of being ‘AC-DC,’ you also ask those concerned to name names. It’s the same in the House of Representatives. It was really uncalled for and unfair for Gordon to drop a bombshell against members of the House of Representatives without giving the needed details,” Nograles said.
The Speaker, though, said Gordon should not underestimate the vigilance and capability of the Filipino electorate who, since the advent of modern communications technology, have been active participants in efforts to make the electoral
processes clean, honest and credible.
“The world is watching us. A clean and credible elections is a legacy we want our future generations to inherit. Maybe Senator Gordon would be able to help us clear the way to 2010,” he said.
“We must have faith in ourselves as a people. We will not countenance a no-election scenario in 2010. We will not let history condemn us for indifference,” the House leader added.
Nograles, though, said he is certain that Gordon, “a very close friend” of his, having been schoolmates in college in Ateneo, bore “no ill intentions” in making the statement.
On Wednesday, Gordon told the media about his having received information that some congressmen were working to sabotage the first-ever computerized elections next year, apparently to cause the polls to be called off.
His allegation came as reports said that some congressmen were trying to hold back the implementation of the law providing for the automated election system to be conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec).
“What I know is that there are those (individuals) plotting…some congressmen plotting, from what I had gathered,” he had told reporters.
Some congressmen have recently gone to the Supreme Court (SC) to raise issue over some provisions of the poll automation law, but such moves can hardly be categorized as an attempt to sabotage the nationwide automated elections.
Gordon, however, stressed that “there are some persons who are desperate; who fear that some of their candidates do not stand a chance in the polls” and are seeking to put off the elections slated in May.
He, though, refused to identify those he was alluding to as being behind such a plot, saying he merely got the report from a source. Yet he stressed that the electorate should be vigilant over the conduct of the elections as some sectors may try to maneuver its outcome.
Gordon is the principal author of Republic Act 9369 or the amended Automated Elections System Law.
Relatedly, the Comelec yesterday said it will bare the names of the nominees of the party-list groups to allow the voting public to know “the faces” behind each of them and would be able to have a better determination as to which organization to elect.
In the list of party-list nominees that the Comelec is set to come out with, Comelec Chairman Jose Melo said the public will have a chance to study the background of the nominee and see if he truly bears the advocacy of the group he is seeking to represent in Congress.
Ten days prior to Election Day in the 2007 polls, the SC compelled the Comelec to release the names of party-list nominees to allow the voters to know the persons that are seeking represent their organizations in the House.
Controversy arose after the Akbayan party-list group then alleged that 11 of the party-list groups seeking election were merely being used as fronts by Malacañang, namely, Babae Ka, Akbay Pinoy, Aksa, Kakusa, Ahon Pinoy, Biyaheng Pinoy, Anad, Agbiag, Banat , Bantay and Lypad.
Meanwhile, Melo said the Comelec is still studying whether to include the names of nominees in the ballot.
Also yesterday, the poll body told groups seeking to run in the party-list race to file before it their “manifestation of intent to participate” from Nov. 20 until midnight of Dec. 1.
It also asked the groups to submit their list of nominees – which should be no less than five – not later than March 26 next year.
In another matter, Melo said the Comelec will study the proposal of the Philippine National Police (PNP) for the poll body to disqualify candidates in next year’s polls who will have more than two armed security escorts.
Melo, though, said unless a candidate gets directly involved in violence, he can not be disqualified merely on the grounds of having multiple security personnel.
The PNP had made the recommendation in a bid to minimize violence in the 2010 local and national polls.
Source: http://www.tribune.net.ph/nation/20091106nat1.html
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