Press statement of Senator Edgardo J. Angara

Senator Edgardo J. Angara today asked critics of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to cease from the relentless verbal attacks on the poll body adding that the critics can instead channel their energy into crafting a concrete plan of action to check electoral fraud which can be supported on a multi-partisan basis.

A concrete and viable action plan to check fraud which can inspire multi-partisan support is what we need, not the relentless sniping against the poll body , said Angara.

Angara said that he has one expectation from the Comelec even in this atmosphere of doubt.

The Comelec, this is my expectation, will rise to the occasion and oversee a fair and clean election and shatter all those doubts on its credibility as a frontline democratic institution, said Angara .

Angara said that he does not think that Comelec commissioners , some of them former human rights lawyers and street parliamentarians, would want to end their Comelec term under a cloud of suspicion and doubt.

Angara said that the combined work of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) , the other poll watchdog groups and the international groups who will observe the May 14 election will be enough to deter even the most determined effort to commit electoral fraud.

What is missing, he said, is the share of the political parties in fraud-prevention work.

There is a defined need for a multi-partisan action plan to safeguard the integrity of the elections. I ask the critics to craft one, a viable and workable action plan that would inspire across-the-board and multi-partisan support, said Angara .

Angara said that the integrity of the May 14 election is necessary for the strengthening of the democratic institutions in the country.

And it is in this context that I believe that the Comelec will in and oversee the elections to every partys satisfaction and peace of mind, he said.