Election lawyers on glitches: Unfair to blame entire Comelec

MANILA, Philippines — It is unfair to blame the entire Commission on Election (Comelec) for the glitches in the election, an election lawyer said Wednesday.

“It is unfair to the institution [to take the blame] kung may konting pumalpak,” Atty. George Garcia said during the weekly forum Kapihan sa Manila Bay.

He said there are employees of the commission who worked hard and had little or no sleep just to prepare for the May 13 elections.

Fellow election lawyer Romulo Macalintal agreed with Garcia, saying that the Comelec has managed to address the glitches of malfunctioning vote counting machines (VCMs), defective SD cards as well as the delayed release of the results of the transparency server shortly after voting ended at 6 p.m last Monday.

“There are some glitches but these glitches have been addressed by Comelec,” Macalintal said.

“Just because it did not properly function, it does not mean there are irregularities or inaccuracy in the result of the election,” said Macalintal. However, both lawyers said the Comelec should investigate and hold responsible those responsible for the glitches. (Editor: Julie Espinosa)