Press Release
November 9, 2008

GORDON URGES GMA TO CERTIFY AUTOMATION
BUDGET BILL AS URGENT

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon today urged President Arroyo to certify as urgent the P21-billion supplemental budget the Commission on Elections has proposed it needs to start preparations for the full implementation of the automation of the 2010 elections.

Gordon, the Father of the Election Modernization Law, made the call as Congress resumes its regular session on Monday (Nov. 10), with the Arroyo administration's proposed 2009 P1.4-trillion national budget on top of its legislative agenda.

"The Comelec eyes a very tight timetable for the automation of the May 2010 elections. Right now, its hands are tied to implement the law unless the President endorses its budgetary request, and that Congress acts on it with dispatch," he said.

Comelec Chairman Jose Melo has earlier endorsed to President Arroyo and Congress the P21-billion supplemental budget the poll body needed to implement the law that mandates the automation of the country's electoral exercises, starting with the May 2010 elections.

The bulk of the Comelec's proposed supplemental budget is intended for the purchase of Direct Recording Electronics which is far more secured than the Optical Mark Reader because it requires less human intervention, and thus, less prone to vote-cheating.

The senator stressed that while the poll body's proposed budget for the automation of 2010 elections would have to be justified before Congress, he hopes it would also be immediately acted upon to meet the poll body's rigid timetable for the next two years.

"The Comelec has no choice but to implement the automation law. It is our obligation however to provide the poll body with the necessary wherewithal in order that it can meet its timetable if we want to see an honest, orderly, and credible election in 2010," he said.

"Let us therefore move beyond partisan politics and show our sincerity in pursuing an automated election in May 2010. It will definitely take a strong political will on Malacanang and Congress to provide adequate funding for the full automation of 2010 elections," he added.

Gordon, co-chairman of the joint congressional panel on Automation Election System, also pointed out that President Arroyo will be leaving a great legacy at the end of her term if she exercises strong political will now and support nationwide poll automation program.

"It is her (Arroyo's) commitment to the Filipino electorate, like other presidents before her. While the speed by which the world knew about the results of the US elections awed us, with strong political will, we can emulate it for the next elections," he said.

The automation of the electoral process is included in the President Arroyo's 10-point agenda, which will be implemented through the use of the latest technology for voting, counting, canvassing, transmission of election results, in a move to make polls fraud-free.

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