Successful conclusion of May 9 polls is COMELEC’s responsibility—Duterte

MANILA—It is the responsibility of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to ensure the successful conclusion of the May 9 elections.

This was stressed by PDP-LABAN standard bearer Rodrigo Duterte amid reports that the polls could be postponed due to the Supreme Court’s decision to activate the vote verification feature of the counting machines.

“That is the problem of the Comelec because those are safety measures guaranteed for transparency,” Duterte said shortly before his visit to Monsignor Flint Capiral at the San Diego de Alcala Parish Church, Valenzuela City Wednesday.

“Ngayon hindi nila ginawa (Since they did not implement it), that is their problem,” he added.

In an En Banc resolution last March 8, the Supreme Court granted the petition of senatorial candidate Richard Gordon to compel the Comelec to implement the Voter Verified Paper Audit Trail security feature which was included in the amendments to the Omnibus Election Code.

Under the security feature, voters will be given receipts to assure them that their votes have been received and will be counted.

“Those security measures were put in place to avoid doubts on the the result of the election,” Duterte said.

“Those are the things that are put in place by law. Why didn’t they implement it? There’s a problem now. I don’t know how the Comelec will resolve that,” he added.