Admin asks opposition to stop using no-el as campaign gimmick
President Arroyo’s supporters in the House of Representatives said on Sunday that the opposition should stop spreading stories that the May 14 elections would be scrapped. House Majority Leader Prospero Nograles of Davao City and Rep. Monico Puentevella also chastised the critics of the Arroyo administration for insinuating that Commission on Elections Chairman Benjamin Abalos Sr. would be blamed if a failure of election was declared.
Nograles played down the suspicions floated by two unnamed prominent opposition figures that the failure of election would lead to the scrapping of the midterm polls.
“If that is really the belief of the opposition and administration critics then why are they so hot about participating and putting up their opposition ticket? If they think it’s a no-el [no-election] scenario then they ought to boycott, right?” Nograles told The Manila Times.
Another Arroyo ally, Davao del Sur Rep. Douglas Cagas, also scoffed at the idea that Abalos was being made into a fall guy.
“That’s improbable. The President wants automation, the reason she signed the automation bill into law. It’s the Comelec which has been honest to accept that automation can’t be done because of time limitations,” Cagas said.
He said the opposition should find other excuses for its impending defeat in the elections.
Nograles said the opposition should refrain from raising suspicions that would only confuse the public.
Puentevella, chairman of the House Committee on Youth and Sports and known Arroyo ally, turned his ire on Sen. Richard Gordon, who had insisted it was still possible to automate the elections.
“This is Dick Gordon’s time for media mileage... after a few days this will fizzle out,” Puentevella said.
He assured the public the May 14 elections would go ahead as scheduled, even if the poll automation law is not implemented.
Puentevella suggested that if Gordon wanted to he could experiment with automated elections in his hometown, Olongapo City.
Cagas, who heads the House contingent to the Electoral Tribunal, also denounced attempts by government detractors to politicize the issuance of a Comelec resolution that sets the guidelines for the filing of a new people’s initiative.
By Maricel V. Cruz, Reporter Manila Times
Nograles played down the suspicions floated by two unnamed prominent opposition figures that the failure of election would lead to the scrapping of the midterm polls.
“If that is really the belief of the opposition and administration critics then why are they so hot about participating and putting up their opposition ticket? If they think it’s a no-el [no-election] scenario then they ought to boycott, right?” Nograles told The Manila Times.
Another Arroyo ally, Davao del Sur Rep. Douglas Cagas, also scoffed at the idea that Abalos was being made into a fall guy.
“That’s improbable. The President wants automation, the reason she signed the automation bill into law. It’s the Comelec which has been honest to accept that automation can’t be done because of time limitations,” Cagas said.
He said the opposition should find other excuses for its impending defeat in the elections.
Nograles said the opposition should refrain from raising suspicions that would only confuse the public.
Puentevella, chairman of the House Committee on Youth and Sports and known Arroyo ally, turned his ire on Sen. Richard Gordon, who had insisted it was still possible to automate the elections.
“This is Dick Gordon’s time for media mileage... after a few days this will fizzle out,” Puentevella said.
He assured the public the May 14 elections would go ahead as scheduled, even if the poll automation law is not implemented.
Puentevella suggested that if Gordon wanted to he could experiment with automated elections in his hometown, Olongapo City.
Cagas, who heads the House contingent to the Electoral Tribunal, also denounced attempts by government detractors to politicize the issuance of a Comelec resolution that sets the guidelines for the filing of a new people’s initiative.
By Maricel V. Cruz, Reporter Manila Times
posted by OlongapoCity Zambales at
7:25 AM
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