Gibo wants Comelec to be forthright on polls

December 23, 2009, 2:43pm








Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/235327/gibo-wants-comelec-be-forthright-polls


Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard bearer Gilberto “Gibo” Teodoro Jr. called on the Commission on Elections(Comelec) leadership to be more “forthright” with the public and bare whether it has the time and capability to implement computerized elections in the May, 2010 elections.

“They must tell the public whether they can still automate next year’s national elections and what measures they will implement in case the automation fails,” Teodoro said.

The Lakas-Kampi-CMD standard bearer said he is especially concerned with the Comelec’s refusal to tell the public whether it is really capable of automating next year’s elections as his opponents will use the issue to bolster allegations that the administration will cheat to insure his victory in the presidential race.

“I am really concerned as this (automation failure) could be used by opponents in questioning my victory in case I win next year’s presidential elections,” Teodoro, the 1989 bar topnotcher, said.

Shipping costs and the surging volume of goods brought by increased trade during the holidays have delayed the delivery of 12,000 voting machines, the Comelec earlier said.

Only 30,000 of the expected 42,200 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines will be delivered to the Philippines by the end of the month, according to Comelec Chairman Jose Melo.

“I’m not very comfortable at this time until I see the 30,000 machines to be delivered by December," he said. “I want more."

Contractor Smartmatic-TIM (Total Information Management) will have the poll machines delivered in early January, when shipping costs are expected to have lessened by 20 percent and the traffic of deliveries to have decreased, Melo said.

However, Melo clarified that the delay only covers transportation and delivery to the Philippines and not in the manufacturing of the machines, since most of the PCOS machines have supposedly been assembled already by Smartmatic-TIM’s factory partner in Suzhou, China.


Original Story: http://mb.com.ph/articles/235327/gibo-wants-comelec-be-forthright-polls