Gordon also wants mass transport in Cebu: ‘Receipt ensures votes counted’

CEBU, Philippines - Philippine Red Cross chairman and candidate for senator Richard Gordon yesterday said the receipt the Commission on Elections is compelled to issue to voters on May 9 would ensure their votes are counted and would serve as proof in case a recount would have to be made.

“The Supreme Court did not fail the people. For the first time, makakahinga ng maluwag ang mga tao dahil makakasiguro sila na mabibilang ng tama ang boto nila sa darating na halalan sa Mayo. Nakakataba ng puso. Ibig sabihin, importante ang boto ng tao. Thank you, Supreme Court, for upholding the Filipinos’ votes,” he said.

Gordon, who was in Cebu yesterday to check the plight of the fire victims of Barangays Mantuyong and Guizo in Mandaue City, also expressed elation that the SC affirmed its earlier decision and denied with finality the motion for reconsideration of Comelec, which did not want to issue receipts to voters.

He said with the SC’s final decision, Comelec should “work hard” to ensure that the requirements of the Amended Automated Elections System Law (RA 9369) will be implemented properly “to ensure clean, honest, transparent and credible elections.”

“I’m sure the Comelec will be able to comply with the requirements of the law now that the Supreme Court has denied with finality their motion for reconsideration. As we have presented, there is enough time for the preparations. I know they can do it,” Gordon said.

Last March 8, the SC, in a 14-0 vote, granted Gordon’s petition for mandamus, which sought to compel the Comelec to enable the voter verified paper audit trail feature of the counting machines to be used in the May 9 elections.

Due to time constraint, however, the Comelec had it could only provide a simple receipt, which Gordon said would only have the name of the candidate the voter chose and would not reflect the precinct number and the time the voter cast his vote.

He said that because of this, the voter would have to take note of his precinct number and time of voting just in case there would be a discrepancy in the counting of votes later on.

Meanwhile, Gordon said that with the massive development of Cebu it, too, must already have a mass transport system.

In a press conference after visiting the fire victims yesterday, he said Cebu should not wait to have non-moving traffic before setting up a mass transport system.

“Do not wait its (a traffic) gridlock (already); otherwise, nobody will come to Cebu anymore. Traffic (congestion) is natural and there should be a mass transport (system) to address this,” said Gordon, who promised to be the “transport senator” if elected again as he would especially focus on the transport sector.

“Cebu can do better than Manila,” he said, adding that if a mass transport system is in place, there would be more jobs and cheaper goods in Cebu.

A mass transport system is also among the improvements proposed by the Mega Cebu program of the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board, a body composed of the government and the private sector.

Gordon said that aside from transportation, his platform of government would include the building of more schools as well as improvement of peace and order.

Asked why Cebuanos should vote for him again, Gordon said, “because I care about Cebu and its people.”

Gordon was the number three senator Cebuanos voted for in the 2007 elections. — (FREEMAN)