JIL National Operation

Bro. Eddie Villanueva congratulates the Filipino people for taking back power in their hands through their resolute will to elect a new President.

In a statement, Villanueva said, "Salamat sa lahat ng Pilipinong nanindigan para bumoto at magluklok ng kanilang lider sa pwesto. Yan ang kapangyarihan ng eleksyon!"

Villanueva, a fighter of democratic rights, said he submits to the will of the Filipino people.

"With the new President elected, Bangon Pilipinas will find ways to help in nation-building, especially in areas where we could pursue social reforms that would benefit the majority of the Filipino people," Villanueva said.

Villanueva added that while he did not get the Presidency, he will continue advocating for righteous governance and will pursue the ideals and principles that guide Bangon Pilipinas. He also assured the new President that he will be praying for his success and blessing.

He also said that he will ask the next President and the legislators to look into election laws so that it could be perfected to further strengthen our electoral system as a democratic process. "Bangon Pilipinas national headquarters received numerous reports of our supporters voting for us but the election returns showing zero. The problem is that the PCOS machines do not issue receipts showing the voter that the ones he voted for are the ones that were counted. That is why many of our supporters cannot believe that we scored less than a million votes only. In Luneta alone we had 1.2 million people. We believe that this is an imperfection in the system that should be addressed by corrective legislation."

There were also complaints about the transparency of how the votes were counted by the precinct count optical scan machines. "These are valid complaints that needed to be addressed and which we hope will no longer be issues in future automated elections," Villanueva said.

Villanueva also thanked his supporters who were steadfast from the beginning. "Bawat isang boto nyo ay boto para sa tunay na pagbabago. Sa panahon na kakaunti ang naniwala sa atin, hindi kayo natinag. Salamat sa inyong tiwala!", he said.

During the campaign period, farmers and fisherfolk, indigenous peoples, overseas Filipino workers and Muslim communities joined Villanueva and helped him explain his platform on new politics and a new economic model that would bridge the gap between the rich and poor.

Villanueva called on other candidates to also find common grounds where they could all work together for a fresh beginning for the Philippines.

"Pagtulung-tulungan natin ang pagbangon ng Pilipinas!", Villanueva said.

Bangon Pilipinas Party (BPP) today asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to conduct more random tests on at least 500 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines on or before Friday to allay fears amidst serious system failures in test runs.

BPP standard-bearer Bro. Eddie Villanueva, along with lawyers Ted Pascua and Lyndon Caña went to the Comelec office around noon-time Thursday to formally file the petition to postpone Monday’s elections if  the new random tests on PCOS machines continue to show glitches.

“We are asking Comelec to assure the public that it assure the integrity, smooth performance and legal requisites of the automated elections by doing more random tests.  If after the tests, it still encounters problems, then we are asking Comelec to consider the postponement of Monday’s elections to May 24,” Villanueva told reporters upon filing the petition in Comelec.

The rescheduling of the elections, he said, will give the poll body time to correct glitches and place safety nets in the automated polling system.

Villanueva said they decided to petition the Comelec following reports that the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines misread and miss credited votes upon testing its preparedness for May 10, 2010.

"Our supporters from different parts of the country who witnessed the tests of PCOS machines attested that inaccuracy pervaded the operations of the machines such that even if the name of another candidate was marked as voted for, the machine will read and credit the vote to the name of another candidate. This is very alarming," he said.

"If the PCOS machines are not counting accurately, this May 10 elections would be more horrible than the rigged election of 2004. The Comelec must be accountable later for this unmitigated disaster,” Villanueva continued.

He said that if the Comelec needs time to correct all the defects, then it must be given the shortest possible time to make all corrections just to ensure that the elections will not be a farce.

According to BPP’s petition, the recent problems encountered with the PCOS machines and their compact flash cards have cast doubt on whether the elections “would work with the least problems and with results that the people could trust and accept.”

The petition said that wholesale recall of the PCOS machines’ flash cards would qualify as a basis for the postponement of the election under Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code and Rule 26 of the Comelec Rules of Procedure.

“That while Smartmatic may have assured the public that the technical remedy to the problem can be obtained and implemented before the original schedule of May 10, 2010, the more substantial requirement of credibility of the holding of such an election cannot be assured, satisfied, or complied with such technical remedy alone,” the petition said.

It also warned that forcing the holding of the elections in May 10 under the present circumstances could result in a public rejection of the elections’ results and the possibility of “public upheaval, chaos, or social disorder.”

A reset of the election date for May 24, the BPP petition said, will be enough to grant the Comelec, Smartmatic, and the electorate “sufficient time to reach an acceptable level of readiness and competence to carry out the automated election system and to gain an acceptable level of confidence in the election results.”

The petition also asks the Comelec to order its provincial, city and municipal offices to schedule a re-testing of the machines in public, in the presence of the watchers of the parties and all stakeholders.”

“Consequently, and considering the recent developments, petitioners respectfully implore this Honorable Commission to see the overriding merits of this petition vis-à-vis the mere simple desire to have an electoral exercise ‘done away with’.”

Aandap-andap man ang ilaw ng ating demokrasya, naniniwala pa rin ako na sagrado ang eleksyon bilang isang makapangyarihang proseso ng demokrasya.

The dubious discrepancies that resulted from the testings of the PCOS machines – if not properly addressed – would result in yet another lasting scar in our electoral process.

Among others, we received reports that in many areas in Metro Manila and other provinces, test results yielded only one presidential candidate: that of the administration.

What was equally alarming was that the number of voters and the number of votes did not match. This easily puts to mind our eternal problem on dagdag-bawas.

After studying this development thoroughly with its legal panel, Bangon Pilipinas files a petition today for a 15 days postponement of the elections so that the Commission on Elections would have enough time to continue with the testings and correct all irregularities in the machines’ compact flash cards. We hold the Comelec responsible to make the testings and corrections the most transparent as possible so the public would not have reasons to doubt these corrective measures.

We take the path of the legal means provided by Section 5 of the Omnibus Election Code  so that we could set the stage for a credible 2010 elections. We need sufficient time to finish the machines’ testings and make sure that on election day, there would be no – or at least the most minimal – occurrences of irregularity.

The petition does not in any way condone an overstaying President. Rather, it seeks to allow a reasonable time to correct errors so that there could be a credible and peaceful transition of power after the elections.

We hold the incumbent administration accountable for the legal and moral responsibilities of Smartmatic. It is under its watch when the contract with the said firm was signed under the assurance of Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s officials at the Comelec. At this period when the machines have obviously failed, the government must already consider issuing a hold departure order for all Smartmatic executives.

Elections are one specific period when the Filipino people decisively take back power into their hands. Sa eleksyon, ramdam nila na may kapangyarihan sila. Ayaw nating tuluyan nang mawala ang tiwala ng ating mga mamamayan sa eleksyon. Panatilihin natin itong sagrado.

GOD bless the Philippines!