IT IS TIME TO FIX THE VOTING PROCESS - GORDON

Independent Senator Richard J. Gordon today insisted that it is high time to fix the voting process to achieve change, closure and continuity for the nation.

Speaking at the opening of the Election Technology Conference and Vendor Exhibition 2008 in Dusit Thani Hotel, Makati, Gordon called on the government to implement the automated elections law, which would effectively repair the electoral process.

"As long as we are having manual elections, there would be no closure, stability and continuity in our country. We cannot move forward because every time we hold an election, there are protests which spur divisiveness," he said.

"We cannot achieve the change we all aspire unless we try to modernize the elections," the senator, author of the Amended Automated Elections Law, added.

The senator lauded the government for finally taking concrete steps towards election modernization despite the difficulties they encountered in filing the bill.

"I'm glad that we have finally taken the plunge and believe in me, as author of this bill in the Senate, we literally had to move heaven and earth," he said.

Gordon, co-chairman of the Joint Congressional Committee on Automated Elections System, noted that the biggest stumbling blocks he encountered included the people's doubt and fear of the future.

"The biggest enemy was doubt and their fear of the future. People are always afraid of the future. We fear the future rather than making the future ourselves," he said.

The senator called on the Commission on Elections and other stakeholders to participate in the conference and try to look for the most appropriate and the most cost-effective system to be used in the May 2010 synchronized elections.

President Arroyo will be leaving behind a great legacy to the people at the end of her term if the automation, which is included in her ten-point agenda, would push through.