Liberal Party presidential bet Sen. Noynoy Aquino called on the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to pull out all the stops, including preparing for a full, manual count, to make sure the elections are held on May 10.
Aquino said the Comelec must not allow any postponement of the polls, to prevent a possible leadership vacuum.
“Elections must push through on Monday May 10 as mandated by law. Our people want a new leadership. The risk of elections not pushing through at all becomes much greater with a postponement,” he said.
“We demand that Comelec begin preparations for a full, manual count and present their contingency plan to the public as soon as possible,” he added.
Aquino also said he will push an investigation of Comelec officials to find out if any shortcuts were made or if they deliberately skipped steps that have resulted in the present problems hounding the implementation of the automation of the polls.
“We’re steps taken to prevent these problems, or were such steps purposely not undertaken to lead us to the dire situation we find ourselves in today?” he said.
“My job is to win the votes. Their job is to count the votes properly. If there is proof later on indicating they did not do what they were supposed to do it behooves me as leader ... to take appropriate actions,” Aquino added.
On the other hand, he stressed it is the sacred obligation of Filipinos to reject proposals to postpone elections to a later date.
He said each postponement increases the possibility of yet another postponement that will lead to a potentially disastrous crisis of a leadership vacuum on June 30.
Aquino said that while the Comelec has constantly assured Filipinos they are ready for poll automation, their efforts have so far only yielded disastrous results, referring to the glitches that marred the testing of the precinct count optical scan machines.
“This belies all their claims of being prepared. They have not come through with their promises to our people. Failure of this magnitude would have led to honorable resignations in other cultures,” he said.
In pushing for preparations for a manual count, he said what is important is the integrity of the process and its final outcome.
“If full manual counting is a practical solution then let us do it no matter how long it takes to finish. Let us set aside partisan politics and work together to find ways to resolve this issue. This is Comelec’s last chance to regain its lost integrity. We are willing to do what we can to ensure the sanctity of our elections and our democracy,” Aquino said.
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