Comelec to discuss poll protests with electoral tribunals

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will meet next week with the Presidential Electoral Tribunal (PET), Senate Electoral Tribunal (SET) and House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal (HRET) to discuss how to deal with electoral protest cases filed in connection with the country’s first automated polls last May 10.

In an interview, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said there seems to be varying interpretations on how to handle the cases so the poll body found it necessary to organize the meeting.

“There are also many inquiries (from the tribunals). We have to have unified procedures on how they should handle the cases,” he noted.

Larrazabal added they have to formulate clear-cut policies, especially on the recount of ballots.

For cases involving the president and the vice president, the Supreme Court convenes as the PET while senators act as the SET that handles cases related to the senatorial election. 

The HRET, on the other hand, is composed of congressmen who deal with cases concerning congressional seats.  

The Comelec had automated the May 10 local and national polls using the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines and the canvassing system supplied by Netherlands-based Smartmatic International Corp. and its Filipino partner Total Information Management Corp.

Voters just had to shade the ovals corresponding to their chosen candidates and then fed the ballots into the PCOS machines where they were automatically counted. The results were transmitted to the canvassing centers electronically.