VIGILANCE IS KEY TO ORDERLY POLLS,
DESPITE AUTOMATION - ANGARA

Sen. Edgardo J. Angara today urged the public to affix their votes wisely and stay watchful of any anomalous actions in voting precincts in the coming May elections. He reiterated that despite the automation of this year's national elections and the lower risks of rigging, everyone is still responsible for keeping the elections free from fraud and violence.

"We are faced with the challenge to show the world a clean and honest elections. The Filipino people values justice and fairness; it is time for them to be afforded such through an orderly elections," said Angara, Chair of the Senate Committee on Finance.

Just after the confirmation of the COMELEC's decision to award the automation project to the winning bidder last year, there had been issues on the efficiency of automated polls and its capacity to fraud-proof the elections. Further, the pace of educating voters was also raised as potential detriment to the government's assurances that no rigging of election results and manipulation on the part of voters will take place in May.

Angara called on the Filipino voters to actively participate in familiarizing themselves and their neighbors the dynamics of the automated elections, which is a first in the country.

"Automating the elections is only half of the equation in achieving clean and honest vote count; the other half being our capability, as citizens, to ensure that our liberty to choose is upheld. The public's vigilance should not stop in passing appropriations, neither the COMELEC's work is done after the automation budget was passed," noted Angara.

He 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 also agreed that the cleansing of the voter's list should be prioritized, citing that purging the voter's list would save us from a "garbage in, garbage out scenario" in this year's 2010 elections and in the future.