Comelec should not be the one to investigate its conduct of 2016 elections

HE Commission on Elections is the last agency that the public should count on for the imperative investigation Responsibility for policing the elections resided solely with the elections body. The veracity of the automated election count and the reliability of the transmissions system was the responsibility of Smartmatic as the supplier of the highly expensive automated election system.

The two organizations that are most responsible are the Comelec and Smartmatic. Therefore, they are the last that should be tapped to conduct the investigation. They can hardly be expected to investigate themselves, and do it properly. Their proper role is to answer questions, not ask them.

All the talk that Comelec spokesman James Jimenez has engaged - tion. They want, if they can, to control the inquiry and the narrative.

Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto 3rd is absolutely correct to reject outright the criticisms leveled by Jimenez at the planned

Senator Sotto, in tandem with his Senate colleagues, should proceed with their plans with the Senate inquiry through the Senate blue ribbon committee and such other committees that will be helpful. They should structure the inquiry and select the witnesses and resource persons who should be called.

The Comelec should doubtless be asked to cooperate in the inquiry, and provide vital information relevant to the investigation. Nothing can move forward without the Comelec’s help. It may be wise to also call Jimenez as a resource person; that way there will be no third column spinning another narrative about the elections.

It’s salutary for the planned inquiry that Senator Sotto is set automated polls. He has come by more corroborating information to bolster his allegations.

But announcements of more exposés are not the way to move forward. It’s time also for Sotto to structure his narrative into a coherent story. It’s also time to design the conduct of the probe.

Meantime, there are also members of the Senate and outside politicians who are anxiously awaiting what will happen in the inquiry.

The fact that there are current members of the Senate who be overlooked. There will surely be efforts to derail the inquiry.

It’s important for the Senate leadership to be fully engaged in the inquiry. The chamber should take interest because it was results. At the conclusion of the inquiry, there should be con

Beyond the Senate election, the inquiry must take interest in the Comelec’s decision to buy the expensive election system from Smartmatic. This decision is repugnant and should be reversed. During the inquiry, Comelec must be asked to defend its decision. Finally, we are wondering about the role that former Comelec chairman Andres Bautista will play in the inquiry. He surely has a story to tell and actions to defend. Will he be called to testify? Will he wind up as one of the personages to be indicted?

should learn who really were behind the entire scheme to real corrections in the results, not cosmetic changes. If necessary, there should be no shirking of changes in representation within the Senate.

The nation will be severely disappointed if all that will be logs. This cannot be the main reason to undertake a full-scale

Senator Sotto should make an earnest by revealing soonest the