Nanawagan ngayong Sabado ang iba’t ibang militanteng grupo, sa pangunguna ng Sanlakas, upang ipagpaliban ang proklamasyon ng mga nanalong senador at party-list organizations, hanggang hindi pa naiimbestigahan ang akusasyon ng umano’y dayaan sa eleksiyon.
Sinabi ni Sanlakas Secretary General at Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM) Party-list nominee, Atty. Aaron Pedrosa, na ang mga usaping ito ay nakaaapekto sa kredibilidad ng resulta ng halalan, at nagiging kuwestiyonable ang pagiging lehitimo ng mga “winners”.
Iginiit ni Pedrosa na “it is only through public access to the data logs will we allay suspicions of electoral fraud arising from vote manipulation”.
“We have manifested this matter before the National Board of Canvassers (NBC) but we were rebuffed,” ani Pedrosa.
Binatikos din ng PLM Party-list, Murang Kuryente Party-list, at iba pang grupo ng party-list ang pagtanggi ng NBC na kilalanin ang mga nauna nilang petisyon.
TINANGGIHAN NG COMELEC
“Under the rules, parties are allowed to manifest on matters concerning the canvassing of the votes,” sabi ni Pedrosa. “If we cannot raise these matters before Comelec where then can we raise these?”
Muli ring iginiit ng mga abogado ng mga party-list organizations ang nabanggit na mga usapin sa Commission on Elections (Comelec).
Ayon sa labor leader na si Leody De Guzman, hindi maayos na maipaliwanag ng Comelec ang pagpalya ng maraming vote-counting machines (VCMs), ang mga ulat ng boto na hindi nakalagay sa resibo, at ang pagkakaantala ng pagre-report ng transmission sa transparent server.
“Is it too much to ask the Comelec for an independent investigation of what had transpired and the scope of these issues? We cannot simply ignore them, for they will surely happen again if not addressed,” ani De Guzman.
DIGONG, HINAMON
Hinamon din ng grupo ng mga obispo si Pangulong Rodrigo Duterte na patunayang hindi nagkaroon ng manipulasyon sa naging resulta ng botohan nitong Lunes upang matiyak ang panalo ng mga pambato ng administrasyon.
“He must disprove that he coerced and coopted the Comelec to manipulate election results, as the breach in the transparency in the Smartmatic automated election system and the suspicious failure of VCMs are widely believed to be merely ploys to guarantee the victory of his administration’s candidates through wholesale election fraud,” saad sa pahayag ng Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF).
“We challenge President Duterte to answer accusations that he has engaged in, and tolerated electoral malpractices that will allow him to establish a political regime based on a concentration of power at his hands,” bahagi pa ng pahayag.
‘RETHOUGHT, REDESIGNED, RETOOLED’
Kaugnay nito, umapela ang Comelec ng pang-unawa sa publiko at muling iginiit na walang naging iregularidad sa katatapos na halalan.
“I understand that there's a lot of discomfort with the fact that these things happened at all. We share that discomfort. We're just as upset as you are,” sinabi ni Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez nitong Biyernes ng gabi.
“Everything that went wrong in this elections will have to be rethought, redesigned if necessary, will have to be retooled,” ani Jimenez. “But again each of these problems that cropped up are presented with solutions and the solutions worked.”
Chito A. Chavez, Leslie Ann G. Aquino, at Martin A. Sadongdong