Solon wants poll watchdogs’ links to Aquino ouster bid probed

A lawmaker wants two poll watchdog groups to explain their alleged links to the National Transformation Council (NTC), a group calling for President Aquino’s ouster.

Caloocan City Rep. Edgar Erice, senior vice chairman of the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms, demanded full disclosure of the personalities behind the Automated Election System Watch (AES Watch) and Citizens for Clean and Credible Elections (C3E), including the true nature of their relationship with NTC.

In a statement issued recently, Erice said some AES Watch and C3E leaders, who are known NTC allies and supporters, should come clean and tell Congress whether their respective groups share NTC’s call for Aquino’s resignation and the creation of a council of leaders to govern the country.

The poll watchdog groups are two of the most vocal critics of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) and poll automation.

Led by former government officials, Roman Catholic prelates and civil society groups, the NTC is calling for Aquino’s resignation over alleged leadership lapses. The group has staged protest rallies and public consultations against the Aquino administration citing the President’s alleged role in the Mamasapano incident that led to the death of 44 members of the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force.

Erice expressed concern that poll automation in 2016 could be jeopardized if it is shown that “there are ties that bind” between AES, C3E and NTC.

“Our position on next year’s election is quite simple, we want it fully automated and we want the most qualified expert in this field to help Comelec conduct it and guarantee honest and clean polls,” he stressed.