CBCP: Comelec ‘stonewalling’ poll complaints

By Leslie Ann G. Aquino

Manila, Philippines --- The Commission on Elections (Comelec) should be held accountable for the problems experienced during the May 13 automated polls, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said yesterday.

“After one experience of the automated elections, this year’s election should have been better. But it was not. We call for accountability from Comelec officials and demand that the law be followed,” the CBCP said in a statement.

The CBCP said it was “very concerned” that safeguards of the Automated Elections Law were not followed and accused the Comelec of “stonewalling on the complaints from many quarters on the conduct of the election.”

The bishops cited the numerous reports of voter disenfranchisement and the problems during the transmission of results from the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines.

The bishops also lamented reports of massive vote-buying and vote-selling.

“We bishops are dismayed at the massive vote buying and vote selling that is experienced everywhere. The deepening hold of political dynasties is lamentable, although some political families have lost their hold in a number of provinces and cities,” the CBCP said.

CBCP – National Secretariat for Social Action (NASSA) Chairman Bishop Broderick Pabillo called on the Supreme Court, the Ombudsman and other government institution to join them in their call for accountability.

“We are calling for accountability. We hope that Comelec will answer our complaints and address them accordingly. We are also calling on the SC and the Ombudsman to intervene in this issue that is of national interest because laws were violated,” Pabillo said in a separate interview.

“Congress should also seriously look into the matter as to how the Comelec is implementing or not implementing the law,” he said.

The Comelec reported that the Random Manual Audit (RMA) of the May 2013 midterm polls showed that results generated by the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines had a 99.97 percent accuracy rate.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Sixto Brillantes described the turnout as “practically perfect.”