Comelec Advisory Council to have stricter qualifications for members

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections Advisory Council (CAC) will have stricter qualifications for its members who will decide on the technology that will be used in the 2013 midterm polls.

CAC chairman Louis Casambre said qualified people should fill the nine-man panel that would study the automated election system (AES) for 2013 elections.

“We are now in the process of preparing for the 2013 elections. In fact a few weeks ago, we started to create all of the steering committees. But there’s one important body before we can move, we have to prepare for the composition of CAC,” he said.

Under Republic Act 9369 or the Poll Automation Law, the CAC will advise the Comelec on the technological aspects of the AES. The council will be composed of representatives from concerned government agencies and the private sector.

“We aim to be transparent in the selection process. Candidates will be selected based on their qualifications and personal track records,” said Casambre, also the executive director of the Department of Science and Technology’s (DOST) Information and Communications Technology Office.

Casambre said the CAC is mandated to recommend to the Comelec “the most appropriate, secure, applicable and cost-effective technology to be applied in the AES.”

It will be composed of representatives from the ICTO, DOST, Department of Education, academe, IT professionals and non-governmental electoral reform groups.

Casambre said they had decided to disqualify those with affiliation to any political party or candidate; related to a candidate for any national position by affinity and consanguinity within the fourth civil degree; and those engaged directly or indirectly with any entity that is handling software and/or hardware that may be used for election purposes for personal gain.

The CAC had recommended the use of precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines during the country’s first automated elections in May 10 last year.