Press Release
March 5, 2009

Zubiri: Poll automation is on

Senate Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri today challenged the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to do its job after the Senate close to 1 a.m. on Thursday approved on third and final reading the passage of the P11.3 billion supplemental budget for the automation of 2010 elections.

"I challenged the Comelec. We did our job, its time for you to do your job," he said.

He urged the Comelec to ensure that it gets the right equipment and right training to be able to proceed with the proper implementation of election automation.

The Senate before adjourning on Wednesday for a month long break convened itself into a Committee of the Whole to fast-track the passage of House Bill No. 5715 or the Supplemental Budget for Poll Automation.

"As promised the Senate was able to deliver and approved the supplemental budget of the Comelec as a first step in modernizing our election for 2010," Zubiri said.

The poll automation budget was approved on third and final reading with a vote of nine (9) affirmative and four (4) no.

The senator who voted for the approval of House Bill (HB) No. 5715 or the Supplemental Budget for Poll Automation were Senators Edgardo Angara, Richard Gordon, Loren Legarda, Rodolfo Biazon, Lito Lapid, Ramon Revilla Jr, Gregorio Honasan, Aquilino Pimentel Jr. and Juan Miguel Zubiri, while Senators Jamby Madrigal, Benigno Aquino III, Francis Escudero and Jinggoy Estrada voted against the measure.

He earlier explained that if the Senate did not convene itself into a Committee of the Whole to undertake the supplemental budget and waited until after the resumption of session, "it will be five weeks lost of work for the Comelec to bid and train" for next year's election automated system."

He also commended the efforts of the thirteen senators who stayed to close to 1 a.m. to deliberate and approve the poll automation budget.

He likewise reiterated his previous statement that the approval of the measure will be the legislative department's gift to the Filipino people in terms of the conduct of honest, orderly, peaceful and credible elections in 2010.

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