Senate panel to probe 2022 poll issues – Imee Marcos

MANILA, Philippines — The Senate committee on electoral reforms will be conducting a public hearing tomorrow to examine issues being raised over the May 9 elections as a means to move forward, Sen. Imee Marcos said over the weekend.

Marcos enumerated these issues as the malfunctioning of the vote-counting machines (VCMs), which were first used in 2010; health protocols; and concerns of tribal groups, senior citizens and persons with disabilities, among others.

She said the hearing would also help the government and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) prepare for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections scheduled for Dec. 5, 2022 and also for the midterm elections in 2025.

“These (malfunctioning VCM, concerns of tribal groups, senior citizens and persons with disabilities) are the issue to be discussed moving forward,” Marcos said in a mix of English and Filipino during her interview over radio station dzBB yesterday.

She said there is a need to have a hybrid system of voting in order to give political parties or politicians concrete proof in the event they resort to filing election protests.
Believing that tangible proof generates public confidence in the electoral process, the senator said hybrid voting will only require an additional step to allow parties to count votes manually and not rely entirely on the automated count.

She said other highly developed and rich countries like Australia, Singapore and Austria also adopt a manual counting of votes.

Marcos said another issue to be discussed during the hearing on Tuesday is the expanded early voting as different sectors were complaining about their failure to cast their votes.

While there were claims of irregularities in the elections, she stressed that the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections and the Comelec agree that all these issues pertain to votes which would not significantly change the final outcome.

“On our part, in aid of legislation, what we can do moving forward (is) clarify the budget, (address) concerns with VCM which should not be used in 2025 polls,” Marcos said.

As to postponing the barangay elections on Dec. 5, the Senate would discuss concerns that barangay officials should be given a fresh mandate as the new president will assume office on June 30.

She noted that the barangay elections have been postponed two times already and that officials of the SK have all aged beyond their mandate.

The senator said legislative measures should be considered to address vote-buying which, under the present law, was hard to prosecute.

“It’s really hard (to prosecute those involved in vote-buying). It’s still important to look at it, they said vote-buying was done through GCash, it’s not right. It’s not fair for those who have no money. It should be the best man for the job, not the richest man for the job,” Marcos said.