THE Supreme Court has been asked to compel the Commission on Elections to implement the receipt-printing feature of vote-counting machines to be used for the May 9 polls.
In a petition for mandamus, senatorial candidate Greco Antonious Beda G. Belgica along with lawyers Glenn A. Chong and Manuelito R. Luna pleaded for the issuance of a writ of mandamus or a mandatory injunction mandating the Comelec to activate the Voter-Verified Paper Audit Trail.
According to them, the Comelec has the responsibility to comply with the minimum system capabilities set forth by the poll automation law.
“With due respect, Comelec has been unlawfully neglecting its duty to enable the VVPAT, print voting receipts on election day as well as make provision for an on-screen verification of votes, and to fully comply with the minimum system capabilities and other safeguards of the AES [automated election system] in order to ensure a transparent and credible elections,” petitioners argued.
They said for the previous two automated elections in 2010 and 2013, the Comelec has been “remiss of its duties.”
The petitioners also disputed the Comelec’s claims that to be compelled to enable the VVPAT would cause time constraints to the election preparations because it entails compiling a new trusted build for the VCM.
The trusted build is the firmware used in the final configuration of the machines, final ballot design, and data to be used by the AES.
The petitioners also stressed that the poll body compiled the final trusted build on Feb. 8 to 9, but only announced the final decision to disable the VVPAT on Feb. 13, which delayed their legal action.
They said the Comelec should have allowed opposing parties to seek legal remedies first so it would not be burdened with the problem of redoing the final trusted build in the event they win.
“If the Comelec were straightforward enough, it should have announced its final decision to disable the VVPAT before making the final trusted build to enable the opposing parties to seek appropriate remedies before the compilation of the final trusted build,” the petitioners pointed out.
They noted that the Comelec ignored the pleas by election advocates such as Mr. Chong, and even the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines’ Jan. 31 pastoral letter to activate the VVPAT feature.
The petitioners also called on the high court to set aside the hierarchy of courts and entertain the petition. “Because of the difficult question involved, not to mention its transcendental public importance, direct recourse to the Supreme Court is warranted,” they said.