MANILA, May 23 — The Palace welcomes the plan of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to carry out reform in the electoral process to ensure the conduct of orderly and honest elections in the future.
“Napakahalaga ng pagtiyak ng ating prosesong elektoral na ang paghahalal ng mga opisyal ng bansa ay may integridad at maayos itong maisasagawa,” Communication Secretary Herminio Coloma Jr said in a radio interview on Saturday.
“Kaya most welcome ang reporma na itinataguyod ng Comelec (Commission on Elections) at ng iba pang mga stakeholders,” he told dzRB Radyo ng Bayan.
Coloma said he believes the Comelec learned a lot in the conduct of successive automated elections and the poll body is ready to fine tune the country’s electoral system.
With regards to the issue on campaign financing, Coloma said this must be incorporated in Comelec’s study on its planned reform.
The Palace official said he thinks the 17th Congress will have an ample opportunity to look into the issue of campaign financing, which he said in the end, the sole beneficiary will be the Filipino people.
The Comelec said it is also looking at a possible amendment of the Omnibus Election Code (OEC), or Batas Pambansa Bilang 881, which was passed in 1985.
Comelec Chair Andres Bautista said he believes the OEC is already obsolete, especially since its provisions were formulated when the elections were still manual.
The Comelec is also looking at adjusting the campaign spending limits provided in the OEC because it no longer reflects the prevailing market prices. (PCOO)