COMELEC, 10 PRESIDENTIAL BETS' REPS TO SCRUTINIZE PCOS MACHINES
MANILA, JANUARY 31, 2010 (STAR) By Sheila Crisostomo - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will meet with representatives of the 10 presidential candidates tomorrow to discuss the ground rules in reviewing the source code of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines.Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said it is important to formulate ground rules to ensure order during the review.
“We will set the parameters for the source code review, the guidelines, protocol and ethics that will be observed by those who will review it,” he said in a press briefing.
Various electoral reform groups, particularly the Center for People Empowerment and Governance, have demanded that the source code be made public before election day to enable the public to know if the PCOS machines have been tampered with.
Source code pertains to a set of numbers, letters and symbols that dictate how a computer should work. If the machines have been tampered with, the source code is supposed to change.
The Comelec has tapped the United States-based Systest Laboratory to certify the source code to enable the public to determine if it was the same source code installed in the machine. The certification process is expected to begin next week.
After the source code has been certified, it will be kept at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas until the time it will be put in the PCOS system.
Larrazabal said other concerned sectors are also welcome to participate in the review but “there are certain guidelines and protocol that have to be followed and these will be strictly implemented.”
Comelec: We’re right on track
With only 99 days left before the May 10 local and national polls, the Comelec has reiterated its assurance that the preparations for the automated elections are on track.
Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said a total of 40,800 PCOS machines are already in the Philippines while some 8,000 others are expected to arrive anytime now.
“By Feb. 21, the 82,200 PCOS machines shall have been delivered (as scheduled),” he said during the dzMM Halalan 2010 forum at the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.
In a previous interview, Comelec Chairman Jose Melo urged the public to “give automation a chance,” insisting that it is the way to go in a modern world.
Melo said skeptics might as well help in the preparations and in monitoring the actual election process as the Comelec has been doing its best to make the automation a success.
During the forum, Comelec Commissioner Lucenito Tagle assured the public that the Comelec had ordered some 6,700 extra PCOS machines from Smartmatic-TIM.
Tagle said the extra units would be used in case any of the machines break down.
The Comelec submitted to Smartmatic-TIM last Friday the official list of candidates so they can start printing the ballots.
It will be a 10-cornered fight for president while eight will slug it out for vice president. A total of 64 hopefuls will run for senator while 145 party-list groups are participating in the party-list polls.
Except for the party-list system, a total of 17,888 positions are up for grabs in the May polls - one for president, one for vice president, 12 for senator, 222 for the House of Representatives, 80 for governor, 80 for vice governor, 762 for provincial board member, 120 for city mayor, 120 for city vice mayor, 1,514 for municipal mayor, 1,514 for municipal vice mayor, 1,346 for city councilor, and 12,116 for municipal councilor.
With automation, it is expected that the country’s next president will be known in two days. In previous polls, it took weeks for the winning president to be officially known.
The printing of the 50.7 million ballots by the government-run National Printing Office is set to start today.
Larrazabal said they expect the printing to be completed in 60 to 70 days as Smartmatic-TIM had imported four high-end printers that could each print 200,000 ballots daily.
Each ballot measures 8 1/2 inches in width and 26 inches in length.
Asked during the forum what may happen in case the automation system fails, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the PCOS technology is a actually a combination of manual and automation.
Because of this, he said the elections could easily revert to manual.
Under the PCOS system, voting is done manually or by shading the ovals corresponding to the names of candidates. But the counting, transmission of ballots and canvassing are done by computers.
Jimenez added that since the system has a paper trail, the Board of Election Inspectors could easily count and canvass the ballots manually if automation fails.
Conflict of laws
Meanwhile, Bangon Pilipinas Party (BPP) presidential candidate Bro. Eddie Villanueva said the Comelec should look into the expenses of candidates and should implement the law on expensive campaign activities.
Under the Omnibus Election Code, a candidate can spend P1.50 for every registered voter.
Under Republic Act 9006 or the Fair Elections Act, however, a candidate running for a national elective post is allowed to have 120 minutes of television advertisement and 180 minutes of radio advertisement.
There are about 50.7 million registered voters.
“We cannot do anything. This is part of the reality of Philippine politics. I do hope there would be a time when ordinary Filipinos who have competence and passion to serve the country would enjoy equal opportunities with moneyed politicians,” Villanueva said.
Even before the start of the Feb. 9 official campaign, some candidates have already been coming out with advertisements aimed at raising the public’s awareness about them.
They can avoid sanctions for as long as they are not directly asking the people to vote for them.
A recent Supreme Court ruling decriminalizes premature campaigning.
But even if some candidates started early in their infomercials, Villanueva said he is not worried.
“We are not bothered because we believe in the collective wisdom of the Filipino people. Eventually the majority of the Filipino voters would vote for the better future of their children,” the evangelist said.
He also reminded voters to heed the appeal of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines to vote according to their conscience and not allow themselves to be swayed by ratings or the winnability of the candidates. - With Evelyn Macairan
Group of ex-government officials to guide voters By Rhodina Villanueva (The Philippine Star) Updated January 31, 2010 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - A group of retired senior government officials yesterday said it will come up with guidelines to help voters choose the presidential candidate they will support.
The Former Senior Government Officials (FSGO) said voters must determine if the presidential candidate is likely to abuse power and government resources.
“They should watch out for such personalities or characters. We should be very careful if we do not want a repeat of what had happened, given the style of governance of our past presidents,” said former Civil Service Commission chair Karina David in a forum held yesterday at the Asian Institute of Management in Makati City.
In her presentation, David noted that among the powers of the president, the power to appoint is the most important.
“This is because we are dealing here with the most important resource which is human resource or the human being. This gives (the president) the right to put someone in office or appoint someone,” she said.
“Therefore the power to appoint also becomes the power to control.”
She said voters should also consider a candidate’s platform of governance as well as his or her political party.
She asked presidential candidates to make clear their stand on particular issues and if possible, point out the personalities they will most likely appoint to Cabinet positions.
Possible election failure
FSGO alleged that the administration could be deliberately sabotaging the success of the May elections.
“Deliveries, testing, calibration, validation and training for automated elections are delayed. Ballot printing is also delayed. Fears of logistical failures in providing the right set of customized ballots for each of the 1,630 towns of the country remain unresolved. Calls to prepare for a back-up manual elections are not being taken seriously,” FSGO said in a separate statement.
“Whatever the reasons might be, however the situation might actually unfold, one thing must be made clear: failure in the 2010 elections can only be a deliberate one engineered by the GMA administration that has benefited so much from such events,” it added.
The FSGO said the administration is taking many alarming steps to retain influence beyond President Arroyo’s term.
“It has launched government-funded public relations efforts touting its achievements as if it were itself a contending presidential candidate.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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