Press Release
February 26, 2009

Press statement of Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri
on 2010 Poll Automation

As Senate Majority Leader, I'm willing to push for a special session to approve the additional budget requirement for automated poll with the President, so that she will call for a special session during the break

Itong poll automation maganda ito. We strongly believe that poll automation should not be postponed for 2010 election and should be pursued on a national and local basis. We should not agree to a hybrid proposal where the old system and the new system will be jointly implemented.

Let us remove the cloud of doubt this coming 2010 elections when it comes to electoral fraud by computerizing the national and local elections without exception. The manual counting has in the past shown a tremendous cause for fraud or tremendous chance for fraud. [And] when we leave it to the subjective decisions of poll officials in the field manipulation of results can happen.

We have to push for electoral reform even if that's the accusation against us we must push for electoral reform not hybrid and Congress should pass it now. Congress should approve without any collateral that they will decide on which mode, let the Commission on Election (COMELEC) do its job it's had experience on poll automation in the previous ARMM elections and they know which system is best utilize.

Let's pond it now and make our legacy or the legacy of the 14th Congress be a clean and honest, orderly automated polls in 2010.

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