Stop talking of Failure - COMELEC

Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairman Jose Melo on Wednesday appealed to the public to put a stop to circulating talk about the possibility of failure of elections in May.

"Wag na kayo magsalita (Stop talking) about failure of elections. There will be elections nationwide," Melo told reporters in an interview.

Earlier, Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said that there has never been a nationwide failure of elections in the history of the Philippines.

Melo said that in the past, only isolated areas had failure of elections for reasons which cannot be "controlled."

"Kunwari, biglang may nagpatayan sa isang barangay, natakot mga tao. They did not go out and vote. Walang nakaboto (Let’s say, violence suddenly ensued in one village and the people got scared. They did not go out and nobody was able to vote)," he said.

He likewise reminded the public that these kinds of incidents happened even during manual elections and cannot be "connected" with automation.

Sarmiento, for his part, just said that voters do not have to worry about failure of elections as long as they come out to vote on election day.

"Vote so that there would be no failure of elections. Even if everything failed to function, as long as people voted, there (will be) elections," he said.

The commissioner said that the Comelec rules of procedure provide that in the case of a national failure of elections, voting will be suspended and a verified petition must be filed with the Comelec.

A due notice and hearing must then be conducted to determine when the next elections can be conducted, which should not be later than 30 days after the day of the elections.

As this developed, an official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said the religious sector will not hesitate to “provide guidance to our flock" should the elections fail.

Caloocan Bishop Deogracias Iñiguez, chairman of the CBCP committee on public affairs, added that "one way or another, kapag nandyan na yung gulo, may mga bishops na haharap doon (when the unrest comes, there will be bishops who will handle it)"—stopping just short of saying that the clergy will be at the forefront of another EDSA-type people’s revolt.

Deputy presidential spokeswoman Charito Planas had raised the possibility last week of a military junta being formed to govern the country should the elections fail and no new president is proclaimed by June 30.

Iñiguez said that such statements coming from Palace officials simply fuel the public’s fears and their distrust of the government.

Several political parties and poll watchdog groups have also raised the possibility of failure of elections due to what they claim as lack of preparations by the Comelec.
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