Spokesman Jose Midas Marquez said the court found there was no abuse of discretion on the part of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to push ahead with balloting on May 10 despite possible delays in the voting and counting processes.

"These were all fears; you can't argue those contentions in court," Midas Marquez told reporters, describing the petitions to reset voting 15 days later as "speculative.”

Among the petitioners was former president Joseph "Erap" Estrada, who moved into second place in the latest opinion poll with a 20 percent rating.

Opposition lawmaker Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino of the Liberal Party has strengthened his lead to 42 percent, while Estrada edged out businessman senator Manuel "Manny" Villar, who dropped to third place.

Administration candidate Gilberto "Gibo" Teodoro is a distant fourth, with the other five official candidates registering minimal support.
 

The Comelec has called on all political parties to a meeting on Saturday to answer their concerns over automated counting of votes in the elections.

"We will do a complete briefing for all the candidates so everybody will know what's happening," poll commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal told reporters.

"We're transparent, if you have any question, we will be happy to answer all of them," he said.

Several candidates running for the upper house of Congress went to the poll agency's offices on Friday to demand an explanation over a possible delay in counting of 3.3 million votes on the southern island of Mindanao due to technical problems.
 

Officials warned that about 70 private armed groups outside the capital could threaten the elections on Monday, pointing to a rise in violence attributed to political clans.

Herman Basbano, a member of a presidential commission tasked to disarm and disband private armies, said only 40 armed groups had been dismantled in the last three months out of 112 nationwide.

"We always treat private armies as threats to the elections," Basbano said, adding security forces have been closely monitoring these remaining private armies to prevent them from disrupting the polls and influencing results to favor certain candidates.