ANGARA PANEL SEEKS CLARIFICATION ON POLL AUTOMATION BUDGET

Sen. Edgardo J. Angara today led the Committee on Finance in threshing out details of the proposed eleven billion pesos (P11-B) supplemental appropriation for the use of an Automated Election System in the conduct of national and local elections.

"We should take into consideration that our main aim is to ensure the conduct of a transparent, credible, fair, accurate and fast election. Thus, ironing out all aspects of this planned automated election is a prerequisite in achieving our overarching goals. Election is at the heart of a democracy, and it we must exhaust all efforts to ensure that it will always reflect the will of the people," said Angara who chairs the Senate Committee on Finance.

He added, "The Committee on Finance will conduct follow-up hearings in order to flesh out major aspects of this automated elections. We will focus on areas such as security features of the automated poll system, the use of biometric system on voter registration and, education and training of our teachers and the general public. These are some cardinal features that we need to look into before approving the budget."

Angara, who led the recent passage of the FY 2009 budget in the Congress, emphasized the need for education and training of our teachers and even the general public in using the technology to ensure maximum efficiency and utilization of the system. He cited a case in the 90's wherein computer packages where distributed to a pilot area, however, these computers were underutilized due to lack of technical know-how and capability building.

He also agreed that the cleansing of the voter's list should be prioritized. The Finance committee chair cited that purging the voter's list would save us from a "garbage in, garbage out scenario". "Proper project management is the key aspect here," said Angara.

The Commission on Elections, in the Finance Committee hearing, cited the breakdown of the P11 - billion supplemental budget, to wit:

Cost of lease of the Precinct Count Optical Scan units - P8,168,580,000

Cost of Services - P1,166,858,000

Canvassing Units - P200,000,000

Cost of ballot paper - P1,000,000,000

Transmission Cost - P50,000,000

Project Management Cost - P100,000,000

Ballot box - P78,170,000

This amounted to the total supplemental budget of P11,301,788,400 which includes a +5% contingency budget.

Angara filed SB 2984 which seeks to authorize a supplemental appropriation in order to conduct an automated election.

Of the total amount of P11,301,790,000 (Eleven billion three hundred one million seven hundred ninety thousand pesos) P9,959,710,000 will go to the acquisition of machines for the 2010 automated national and local elections. Moreover, P1,342,080,000 will be allocated for the preparatory activities in relation to the conduct of 2010 automated elections.

This supplemental appropriation is on top of the P5.3 - billion allocation of COMELEC as part of the proposed P1.415 - trillion FY 2009 General Appropriations Act.

RA 8436 as amended by RA 9369 authorizes COMELEC to use an automated election system in the conduct of national and local election. RA 8436 and RA 9369 was passed as early as December 22, 1997 and January 23, 2007 respectively.