Press Release June 9, 2015
SPONSORSHIP SPEECH
AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE MINIMUM CONTENTS MR. PRESIDENT, AND ESTEEMED COLLEAGUES, GOOD AFTERNOON. "A democracy requires accountability, and accountability requires transparency." -Barack Obama I stand before you today to sponsor and humbly seek your support for the passage of Senate Bill No. 1719, AN ACT PROVIDING FOR THE MINIMUM CONTENTS OF A COMPREHENSIVE REPORT OF ELECTIONS TO THE PRESIDENT AND TO CONGRESS BY THE COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS, per Committee Report No. 142, taking into consideration Senate Bill No. 1675. Mr. President, in our Constitution's Preamble, we implored the aid of Almighty God in order to establish a Government that shall embody our ideals and aspirations. To attain this, we need genuine representatives in the Government--leaders that we have elected in true, honest, orderly, and free elections. Transparency in the manner the elections are conducted is vital to the citizens' trust--for it is only when the people's trust is full can a government truly have the mandate and moral ascendancy to lead. This trust is attained when the people believe that their votes have been counted properly such that the results of the elections yield leaders who truly represent the ideals and aspirations of the people. To ensure transparency in the conduct of our elections, Article IX-C, Section 2, Paragraph 9 requires the Commission on Elections to submit to the President and the Congress a comprehensive report on the conduct of each election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum, or recall. Although the Comelec has been complying with this provision after every regular election, interested parties, candidates, and researchers still find the basic electoral data contained in the report inadequate. As Chairperson of your Committee on Electoral Reforms and People's Participation and the Senate Panel's Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on the Automated Election System Law, this representation witnessed the stakeholders' clamor for more data and information from the Comelec during the hearings before the said Committees. This representation, in fact, even made numerous requests for Comelec to provide the Committees with additional data to aid the crafting of electoral reform laws, such as data on biometrics registration, precincts with unaccounted votes for 2010 and 2013 elections, details on transmission failure, and canvassing for 2010 and 2013 elections, among others. Moreover, the people are entitled to know how their money is being spent. In 2013, the Department of Budget Management augmented the Comelec's budget to provide PhP 4.14 Billion to prepare for the 2013 elections. Per Comelec's report, the total actual obligations incurred by the Comelec for the conduct of the May 13, 2013 National and Local Elections is Eleven Billion Two Hundred Thirty-Nine Million Two Hundred Seventy-Two Thousand One Hundred Thirty-Six Pesos and Forty-Four Centavos (PhP 11,239,272,136.44). Per 2015 Annual General Appropriations Act, the approved budget for the Preparatory of National and Local Elections total Twelve Billion Six Hundred Forty-Two Million Eight Hundred Eighty Thousand Pesos (PhP 12,642,880,000). Mr. President, the proposed bill, Senate Bill No. 1719, per Committee Report No. 142, taking into consideration Senate Bill No. 1675, seeks to address the problem at hand and also to inform the voting public how their money was spent by providing for the minimum contents of the comprehensive report to be submitted by Comelec. At present, the contents of the Report to the President and Congress of the Republic of the Philippines on the Conduct of the 2013 Automated National and Local Elections are the following:
The proposed bill upgrades the contents of the current report by requiring the Comelec to submit the following:
To cope with the modern times, and also for practicality, and since your Committee on Electoral Reforms and People's Participation understands that the statistical data required under the bill are, in fact, voluminous, the bill allows the Comelec to submit such statistical data in digital form stored in a compact disc or other suitable digital storage device, which shall be attached to, and shall form part of, the Comprehensive Comelec Report. As mentioned earlier, to truly attain the citizens' trust, it is crucial that we can provide transparency in the conduct of our elections. To take transparency one step further, the bill requires accessibility of the Comprehensive Comelec Report to the people by lodging a copy thereof with the University of the Philippines Law Center. The report shall likewise be posted on the official website of the Comelec. In addition, the bill requires Comelec to also post in its website the official results of the election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum, or recall until the official results of the immediately succeeding election, plebiscite, initiative, referendum, or recall are released. When the citizenry is provided with transparency, they become armed with a weapon against the dishonest and corrupt officials whose aim is to defraud or manipulate elections. This representation asks you, Mr. President, my dear colleagues, to protect and arm the citizenry by approving this bill. Thank you very much. |
Friday, April 26 Thursday, April 25
|