Comelec official on hybrid polls: 'Not now'


An official of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) believes there is no more time for a hybrid election system in the May 2022 polls.

Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Commissioner Rowena Guanzon (Photo from Rowena V. Guanzon / Facebook page/ MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)

"Maybe it can be done in the next elections. Not this 2022...We are running out of time," Comelec Commissioner Rowena Guanzon said in a radio interview over the weekend.

"Not now because if we do hybrid the counting is manual, the transmission electronic. If manual, the counting is three days. For president, maybe a month," she added.

The poll official said the teachers will also be at the losing end as they may get shot at, receive threats, or get the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

"We have to protect them also," Guanzon said.

The country is set to use the old vote counting machines from Smartmatic in the May 2022 polls.