House to junk JDV P30-million e-voting project

MANILA, Philippines – Three months after its installation, the P30-million electronic voting system project of ousted Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. may be abandoned by the House of Representatives after the state-of-the-art biometric system failed in a recent dry run.

“We will junk it if it does not work. How can we use something that does not function?” Speaker Prospero Nograles said, following the disclosure of Palawan Rep. Abraham Mitra – who was instrumental in De Venecia’s expulsion – that the system doesn’t work.

“Dapat singilin sila diyan e. (They should bill De Venecia). They should explain why until now, the apparatus is still not functioning,” said the senior House leader, who was tasked by the Speaker to head the House committee on reforms that the new leadership will be carrying out.

“We owe it to the people to make sure that every penny they spend on us is worth it,” he said. Mitra, son of the late Speaker Ramon Mitra, said he would soon raise the issue on the floor.

House insiders revealed that a dry run late last month showed the malfunctioning of the fingerprint e-voting system, as only 11 of the 50 thumbprints of House employees were recognized, leaving out the 39 others due to system failure.

The state–of–the–art session hall was put in place in late-January, but De Venecia was booted out early February, when an overwhelming number of congressmen wanted him out at the height of the botched $329-national broadband network deal, where his son Joey was the whistleblower and a key Senate witness.

The system nevertheless pushed through, as the biometrics machine and HP laptops for the 238 congressmen had already been purchased by the House leadership.

Pangasinan Rep. De Venecia said the installation of the state-of-the-art session hall will force truant lawmakers to religiously attend sessions because they have to register their thumbprints every session day and every time they vote on a measure.

His successor Nograles had likewise hoped so, but the lingering and chronic problem of absenteeism has remained. Last week, the House had to defer approval on second reading a bill that seeks to broaden the tax exemption of fixed–income earners.

Camiguin Rep. Pedro Romualdo, a veteran legislator who heads the House committee on good government, proposed the padlocking of session hall doors to prevent congressmen from leaving while they deliberate on important priority measures.

The Speaker thumbed this down, however. While he admitted that his leadership is still trying to gain headway in its reform agenda, Nograles said “it doesn’t have to come down to the point of padlocking the session hall to ensure quorum.”

Starting this week, he said the roll call will be done twice – once in the afternoon at4 p.m. and again in the evening at 7 p.m. – to see to it that congressmen will not leave the plenary right after the first roll call.

Nograles said the “double roll call” was proposed by House Majority Leader Arthur Defensor and other deputy majority leaders when they started to notice the dwindling number of congressmen after 6:30 p.m.

“I’m also disappointed because we have already improved our quorum shortly after I assumed the speakership but the problem is creeping back. I want to fast-track the approval of these measures to provide immediate relief to our people,” he said. — With Christina Paguinto, Jose Miguel Reyes