MikeLigalig.com

By Christine O. Avendaño
Philippine Daily Inquirer

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s election lawyer Tuesday sought the postponement of the May 10 polls for 15 days “as the only remedy to prevent a failure of elections” and to give poll officials enough time to prepare for manual elections.

Lawyer Romulo Macalintal said the Omnibus Election Code allows for the Commission on Elections (Comelec) en banc to reset the polls “based on serious cause like the apparent failure of the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to properly and correctly function.”

“Under the present situation, a 15-day postponement would be reasonable to give time for the Comelec to print additional forms for manual tally and canvass,” he said in a statement. He stressed that this was “not the time to blame anybody but the time to solve this serious problem.”