By Tetch Torres ( Philippine Daily Inquirer)
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100420-265385/Unprepared-poll-body-worries-lawyers
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—Be on the right side of history, the oldest voluntary national organization of lawyers told the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as it expressed concern over the poll body’s lack of preparation for the forthcoming national and local elections.
In a statement, the Philippine Bar Association (PBA), through its president Atty. Simeon Marcelo, enumerated the problems plaguing the Comelec’s preparations to include: malfunctioning Precinct Count Optical Scan machines, lack of independent source code review, delayed printing of official ballots,
Controversies in the public bidding for the supply of indelible ink and ballot secrecy folders, use of unreliable logistics firms, lack of transparency in the canvassing of votes, lack of contingency/continuity plans, lack of an effective voters’ education campaign, and lack of a legal framework in case of failure of elections.
Marcelo said the Comelec should have followed the advice of several election watchdog and business groups to conduct a parallel manual count on May 10 after the automated election process for president, vice president, governor, congressman, and mayor so as to ensure trustworthy results.
The poll body earlier cautioned doomsayers, saying that undermining the credibility of an election is an election offense.
But Marcelo said: “It has been said that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. The PBA believes that the issues raised by various concerned quarters go into the core of the Comelec’s constitutional mandate to ensure the conduct of a free, peaceful, fair, and credible elections.”
Link: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20100420-265385/Unprepared-poll-body-worries-lawyers
BAGUIO CITY, Philippines—Be on the right side of history, the oldest voluntary national organization of lawyers told the Commission on Elections (Comelec) as it expressed concern over the poll body’s lack of preparation for the forthcoming national and local elections.
In a statement, the Philippine Bar Association (PBA), through its president Atty. Simeon Marcelo, enumerated the problems plaguing the Comelec’s preparations to include: malfunctioning Precinct Count Optical Scan machines, lack of independent source code review, delayed printing of official ballots,
Controversies in the public bidding for the supply of indelible ink and ballot secrecy folders, use of unreliable logistics firms, lack of transparency in the canvassing of votes, lack of contingency/continuity plans, lack of an effective voters’ education campaign, and lack of a legal framework in case of failure of elections.
Marcelo said the Comelec should have followed the advice of several election watchdog and business groups to conduct a parallel manual count on May 10 after the automated election process for president, vice president, governor, congressman, and mayor so as to ensure trustworthy results.
The poll body earlier cautioned doomsayers, saying that undermining the credibility of an election is an election offense.
But Marcelo said: “It has been said that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom. The PBA believes that the issues raised by various concerned quarters go into the core of the Comelec’s constitutional mandate to ensure the conduct of a free, peaceful, fair, and credible elections.”
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