MANILA: The bill providing a P11.3-billion supplemental budget for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to automate the May 2010 elections was passed on third and final reading by the House of Representatives yesterday.
House Bill 5715, or “An Act appropriating P11,301,790,000.00 as supplemental appropriations for an automated election system and for other purposes,” was passed by a vote of 193 in favor and only one against, with one abstention.
The measure passed without a proposed “companion bill” that was intended to set the conditions for which the funds would be released and guide the Comelec in implementing the poll automation. Nueva Ecija Representative Eduardo Nonato Joson, who cast the single “No” vote, said the people who would operate the vote-counting machines could not be trusted, given the experience in past elections.
He also said the government is running out of time to fully implement the automation with only 14 months left until the elections.
“Garbage in, garbage out. If you cannot trust the men behind the elections, how can you trust them to run the machines? ...The specter of (a) failure of elections looms in the horizon when there is (a) failure of men,” he said. “I would rather trust our teachers to make things right.”
Rizal Representative Michael John Duavit cast the lone abstention.
Makati Representative Teodoro Locsin Jr. said instead of the companion bill, the House would pass a separate amendatory measure to Republic Act 9369, or the automation law.
Locsin said this was the agreement reached during a meeting yesterday of a House special task force to sort out the details of the measure.
Locsin said he would introduce amendments to the automation law within the week.
“If we get to pass this, this will be the governing law,” he told reporters.
Deputy Speaker Pablo Garcia’s motion to reconsider the approval of the measure on second reading was reconsidered by the plenary. The Cebu congressman made the reconsideration to amend a section on the use of the automation funds, which removed the conditions supposed to be set by Congress.
Shariff Kabunsuan Rep. Didagen Dilangalen objected to Garcia’s amendment but after a brief meeting among lawmakers, the plenary agreed on the amendment.
The section would now read as “the disbursement of the amount herein appropriated or any fund thereof shall be authorized only in strict compliance with provision of said RA. 9369 and other election laws incorporated in said act so as to ensure the conduct of a free, orderly, clean, honest, and credible election on May 10, 2010.”
Bayan Muna (People First) Representative Teodoro Casiño voted in favor of the measure but expressed “reservations” that automation would lead to “systematic cheating.”
“We are afraid that under the hand of an administration that is intent of cheating in 2010, automation could be most dangerous step that we could take,” he said as he explained his vote. Casiño said he would introduce amendments to the existing law that would allow for the production of a document, such as an election return, with which the automated results be counterchecked.
Sorsogon Representative Salvador Escudero III also expressed caution as he voted for the measure.
“I doubt if there is machine in the world that can be insulated from the ingenuity of the Filipino,” he said, adding that those who want to cheat always find a way to do so. He called on people to be vigilant during the elections.
Bukidnon Representative Teofisto Guingona III said he favored automation but had “strong reservation and strong hope” the system would take into account not only speed but also transparency.
While voting for the bill, Albay Representative Edcel Lagman said he wants clarification because RA 9369 also authorizes both manual voting and counting.
