Escudero, Maceda hoping PCOS flaws won’t lead to fraud

MANILA, Philippines – Senatorial candidates Francis Escudero and Ernesto Maceda said Tuesday that despite “minor” glitches monitored in the Commission of Elections’ precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, they rest their fate on the system, but with a hope that these malfunctions would not lead to fraud.

“Buo ang pag-asa at paniniwala ko na mas magiging maganda ang takbo nito dahil sa karanasan natin last halalan. Yung kumpyansa ko bilang kandidato sa darating na eleksyon ay nasa sistema…,” Escudero said in an interview with Radyo Inquirer 990AM.

(I’m hopeful and confident things will turn out right based on our experience in the last elections. My confidence as a candidate in this coming elections lies on the system…)

Escudero said his confidence in the public’s power to choose the right person to vote remains undented.

For Maceda, the glitches are making him nervous. But he said he is confident that Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes will iron out the flaws.

“Wala tayong magagawa kundi magdasal na lang na huwag magkadayaan,” Maceda said.

(All we can do is to pray that fraud won’t take place.)

Escudero is a guest candidate of both the administration coalition Liberal Party and the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) of Vice President Jejomar Binay.

Maceda is running under UNA.