Old ballot boxes (Linus Guardian Escandor II/MANILA BULLETIN)

Lawmakers in the House of Representatives warned that if controversies continue to hound the Commission on Elections (Comelec), particularly its P18-billion automated election contract with Korean firm Miru Systems, the country could find itself reverting to manual vote counting.

Deputy Majority Leader and Iloilo 1st district Rep. Janette Garin warned that manual counting will “taint” the outcome of the upcoming 2025 midterm elections.

“Bilang Pilipino, hindi dapat magkakaroon ng taint ‘yung ating election. Hindi kasi pwedeng patuloy na minamantsahan yung ating mga eleksyon kung walang basehan,” Garin said during a recent press briefing.

(As Filipinos, our election should not be tainted. Our elections cannot continue to be tainted if there is no basis.)

“We are already at this point of time that we are following what the global community is doing in terms of elections. So sa mga away-away diyan sa hanapbuhay, tapusin niyo na ‘yan kasi hindi ‘yan ang dapat para sa mga mamamayang Pilipino,” she continued.

(So with all the conflict, put an end to that because that is not what should be for the Filipino people.)

Former Caloocan Rep. Edgar Erice recently filed an anti-graft and corruption practice complaint against Comelec Chairman George Garcia with the Office of the Ombudsman over the P18-billion contract with Miru. 

Earlier, SAGIP Party-list Rep. Rodante Marcoleta also questioned Comelec’s awarding of the contract following the alleged existence of 49 offshore bank accounts that received money from South Korean banks.

For Garin, the most ideal solution is to address these problems “as soon as possible”.

“Put a solution and let's move forward. Dahil ako, sa tagal ko dito sa politika ng Pilipinas (Because I, during the time I spent in Philippine politics), I believe that automated election, though it is not really perfect, have many, many, many safeguards as compared doon (to) sa manual elections,” she said. 

Lanao del Sur 1st district Rep. Zia Alonto Adiong cautioned the public that returning to manual vote counting would not only be more costly for the government; it would also be violation of the law.

“The counting is supposed to be automated. Mahirap po iyong counting taras (counting taras is difficult),” Adiong said, referring to the old “tara” system that involved counting sticks that represent respective votes for a candidate.

“I hope the Comelec will not see that as an option because may automated law na po talaga tayo eh (because we actually have an automated law) and that would be a violation of the Automated Election law,” Adiong said.

Regarding the allegations put forward by Erice and Marcoleta, the Lanao del Sur lawmaker noted that it is up to the courts to decide.

“Kung ano yung mga allegation nila (Whatever their allegations are), let the courts decide on that. But we should not make it an option to revert back to the old practice of manual counting,” he added.

Adiong said that the old practice of processing votes is “exposed” to fraud. He added that it may only lead to more violence if such counting returns.