MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Jamby Madrigal and fellow presidential candidate Nicanor Perlas may face a police probe for opening some of the more than 60 vote-counting machines kept in a private home in Antipolo without authority from the Commission on Elections.
Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said they have asked police to investigate the two after they were seen on television tinkering with the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines.
“The probe will include all individuals involved,” he said.
“If it happens to be those you see on TV, then so be it.”
Madrigal and Perlas said the machines found in the residence of a Smartmatic technician were proof of massive cheating in the May 10 elections.
The technician reportedly brought home the machines because the Comelec in Rizal province refused to take them after polling centers had closed.
Meanwhile, Comelec will hold special polls in some towns and barangays in Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Western Samar and Iloilo on May 28.
Speaking to reporters, Larrazabal said in Lanao del Sur, the special elections will be held in Lumba Bayabao, Lumbaca Unayan, Marogong, Masiu, Sultan Dumalondong, Tubaran and Bayang towns.
The poll body was forced to declare a failure of elections in these towns because “no casting of votes occurred” on May 10, he added.
Larrazabal said a special election was also set in two barangays in Upper and Lower Mahaybayay in Maluso, Basilan after the Board of Election Inspectors refused to report to their assigned polling precincts.
Special polls will also be held in some precincts in Barangay Generosa, Guimbal, Iloilo and in Barangay Buenas Aires in Pagsanghan, Western Samar next week, he added.
Official ballots for the concerned precincts got interchanged, Larrazabal said.
However, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said they are open to holding the special polls on a later date as they learned that it would fall on the worship day of Muslims.
“If it becomes necessary, then we are open to discussing the dates again,” he said.
Every Friday afternoon, Muslims hold congregational prayer called Jumu’ah.
Yasay to take back concession
Bangon Pilipinas Party vice-presidential candidate Perfecto Yasay Jr. is taking back his concession of defeat.
In a statement, Yasay said reports of massive fraud and irregularity during the May 10 elections prompted him to reconsider his earlier announcement.
“Please be advised that because of the supervening widespread fraud and irregularity in the verification and counting of ballots that point to the violation of the sanctity of the ballot and thus infringe upon the suffrage right of the electorate, I am hereby withdrawing my conceding the elections,” read the statement.
Yasay said the elections were a sham if there had been deprivation and curtailment or limitation of a person’s right of suffrage.
“Furthermore, the lack of transparency in the registration and appreciation of the ballot, where the public is unable to effectively monitor, swiftly examine and verify the process for any fraud, irregularity and manipulative conduct, including unintentional errors in the receiving and accurate counting of votes makes any democracy untenable,” read the statement.
“Blind and ignorant reliance upon the capability and functionality of an automated system is not enough.”
Yasay said being informed by an electronic display that the voter’s ballot has been registered, without benefit of verification for truthfulness, is not enough.
“We have received alarming reports and complaints from a growing number of voters who attest that their choice of candidates in the May 2010 election have not been properly registered or counted by the PCOS machines,” read the statement.
“They claim under oath that in the precincts where they voted, the election results show a much lesser number of votes obtained by Bangon Pilipinas candidates than the actual number of votes cast in their favor.
“They also claim that the PCOS machines in their clustered precincts do not provide them with any receipt, record, documentation or any other visible means of verifying the registration of their choice of candidates, thereby clearly violating the requirements of the law and the Constitution.
“These complaints which could ultimately involve millions of voters are matters of great and urgent national importance because they impact on the right of suffrage of the citizenry and constitute a grave threat to Philippine democracy.”
Bangon Pilipinas is verifying these reports and complaints and has asked its team of lawyers to study the possible adequate remedies to uphold and safeguard the rights of voters, Yasay said. —With Evelyn Macairan