Namfrel: No need to declare failure of elections

The people’s will prevailed in last week’s congressional and local elections, and there is no need for a failure of elections to be declared in any part of the country.

Jose Concepcion Jr., chairman of the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), told reporters yesterday the figures they have received showed the elections were "representative" of the people’s will.

"There is no need for a failure of elections (to be declared)," he said. "If we accept the premise on the evidence presented that there is a failure of elections, that means we hold new elections," he said. "But from the figures we have received, the election is fairly representative of what truly has happened –the will of the people."

However, Concepcion said the reported anomalies in the counting of votes could have been avoided if the elections had been computerized.

"This is the importance precisely of the use of counting machines as required by law," he said.

Concepcion refused to give details of the anomalies but related how the similar last names of two candidates in elections in San Juan and Caloocan had confused the voters.

"What is the best solution?" he asked. "Modernization."

Concepcion said Commission on Elections Commissioner Luzviminda Tancangco was "spreading lies" that Namfrel was pushing for poll modernization for its own benefit.

"That’s a brazen lie!" he said. "I challenge her (Tancangco) to face me in court. Who bought the equipment? Who had the biddings shortlisted? The Comelec. Since the time of (former Chairman) Christian Monsod, we have already been pushing for modernization."

On the other hand, Guillermo Luz, Namfrel secretary general, told reporters yesterday Tancangco’s motive in making the accusations is questionable.

"What evidence (does she have)?" he asked. "We don’t deny ever supporting the computerization program. The law stated that there should be a computerization program. That has been on record. I ought to tell you that when it came to opening bids for the equipment at the Commission, they opened financial bids before technical bids."

Luz said the poll body was already trying to make a "quick" decision even before the technical specifications in the bidding had been reviewed.

"It was even (lawyer) Angie Matibag ... a member of the panel of review, who was asked to sign and did not sign because she was not able to view the technical specifications (in the bidding)," he said.

Luz said the Comelec must investigate its own ranks to find out who was giving favorable deals to suppliers because the irregularity could not have been done from outside.

"No one has ever pushed a supplier from outside," he said. "And they have more than enough opportunities to review all their suppliers."

Meanwhile, Bohol Rep. Ernesto Herrera urged Namfrel and the poll body to "compare notes" and hold a joint audit of election returns from municipalities and cities where "glaring mistakes and inconsistencies in the counting of votes" have been detected.

"These errors must be promptly corrected," he said. "More important, Namfrel and the Comelec should look into reports that there appears to be a pattern of tabulation errors and vote-shaving in other localities in the Visayas and Mindanao that have adversely affected PPC senatorial candidates."

In Estancia town in Iloilo province, a Namfrel audit of the summary of votes in at least five precincts showed that a total of 934 votes were shaved off from the PPC’s 13 senatorial candidates, he added.