'We are in the process of coming up with suggestions for amendments to RA 8436 and we are opening this to technology experts to give their two cents worth in the design of a technology that could be used for the elections,' said Maria Corazon Akol, president of the Philippine National IT Standards Foundation (PHILNITS) and member of the ITFP.
Akol was one of the petitioners that sought the nullification of the modernization contract entered into by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) with systems integrator Mega Pacific eSolutions Inc.
In a recent press briefing, she said the ITFP is now not only lobbying for an automated but technology-neutral election system, but also that the Supreme Court ruling on not using the Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) be respected.
The Comelec had awarded to Mega Pacific a P1.3 billion (US$25.27 million) contract to supply ACMs for use in the May 2004 elections, but the Supreme Court voided Comelec's contract with Mega Pacific after finding that the poll body violated the law and its own bidding rules when it awarded the contract.
In December 2004, the Comelec filed a motion with the Supreme Court requesting to use the ACMs for the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) elections in August 2005. The Supreme Court denied the petition, citing 'utter lack of merit.'
Lately, however, reports have been coming out about the plea of some sectors for the Supreme Court to once again reconsider and allow the use of the ACMs in the 2007 elections.
Reacting to these news reports, Augusto Lagman, former ITFP president and also one of the petitioners for the nullification of the poll modernization project, raised several questions including why the Comelec keeps on insisting that they be allowed use of ACMs, why the commission has not recovered the money paid to Mega Pacific, and why the Office of the Ombudsman has not filed any charges.
'What we want to stress here is not whether the machines work or not, the argument is the process of acquiring the machines; just because the machines are working does not mean we should use them,' said Akol.
According to her, the Comelec must respect the order of the Supreme Court and stop pushing for the use of the machines just because 'they're there anyway."
Standing by its resolution that the ACMs failed to pass the 'critical requirements designed to safeguard the integrity of the elections," the court said 'Comelec must follow and not skirt our decisions. Neither may it short-circuit our laws and jurisprudence.'
'We therefore have two requests: that the P1 billion contract payment be recovered and that the Ombudsman come up with a report,' said Lagman, further quoting statements from the Supreme Court resolution: 'True, our country needs to transcend our slow, manual and archaic electoral process. But before it can do so, it must first have a diligent and competent electoral agency that can properly and prudently implement a well-conceived automated election system.'
STILL GOING MANUAL
'We can count on another manual system for the 2007 elections, but we can maybe expect some improvements to the system that may be implemented through new technology,' said Akol. However, if the law is not amended, then it would be too late for 2007 because even a hybrid system will not be allowed, she said, referring to RA 8436 which specifically states that only an optical mark reader (OMR) should be used for automated counting.
'There are many possible alternatives to speed up elections, but the law must be amended first so we could recommend a possible solution for the 2007 elections,' said Lagman, adding that the amendment to RA 8436 is already going through interpolation in the Senate.