|
CALL
FOR TRANSPARENT 2010 ELECTIONS
(CenPEG,
March 20, 2009) - Conveners of a forum this week called for open,
transparent, and credible elections in the May 2010 automated national
and local polls.
In
a joint statement issued after the forum held on March 18, the conveners,
led by the policy study group Center for People Empowerment in Governance
(CenPEG), asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and Congress
to look into the proposed open election system (OES) to ensure a
transparent election next year. Unless transparency is ensured in
the polls, the automated election system could result in wholesale
electronic cheating, they said. (Please
see joint statement.)
At
this writing, however, the Comelec has decided en banc to adopt
the P11.3-billion optical mark reader (OMR) for the 2010 elections.
The
forum was co-organized by the Computing Society of the Philippines
(CSP), Movement for Good Governance (MGG), Transparentelections.org.ph,
and the Computer Professionals Union (CPU). The forum was joined
by IT specialists, computer science engineers and academe, media
educators, science and technology groups, poll watchdogs, interfaith
advocates, and foreign embassy observers.
Speakers
were: Augusto “Gus” Lagman, MGG; James Jimenez, director
for education and information of Comelec, IT engineer Robert Verzola,
and lawyer Neri Colmenares. Reactors were led by Rick Bahague, CPU;
Education Undersecretary for legal affairs Franklin Sunga; and CenPEG
policy study director Bobby Tuazon.
Mae
Paner of “Juana Change” fame gave a special number while
Malotz Quidala was forum moderator.
The
forum was held at the Computer Science lecture hall, University
of the Philippines, in Diliman, Quezon City. CSP president, Prof.
Jimmy Caro, currently heads the computer science department, College
of Engineering. (CenPEG News)
|
Forum
speakers (L-R): Atty. Neri Colmenares, Gus Lagman, Comelec's James
Jimenez, and Roberto Verzola
Gus
Lagman during his OES presentation