Pangasinan 6th District Representative Marlyn Primicias-Agabas has directed the House Committee on Suffrage and Electoral Reforms to investigate whether the vote counting machines (VCMs) used by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) in the last elections accurately counted ballots.
Agabas made the call following a reported ruling by Pangasinan Regional Trial Court Branch 53 Presiding Judge Roselyn Andrada-Borja, which stated that “the automatic counting machines did not accurately read and count the votes cast by the voters.”
The court’s ruling stemmed from an electoral protest filed by a candidate in Pangasinan’s 6th District, which Agabas represents. The proclaimed winner had initially led by 1,208 votes.
However, after a manual recount was conducted, the results allegedly showed that the protesting candidate had actually won by 1,975 votes — raising concerns about the reliability of the machines used in the district.
“Ang boto ng bawat Pilipino ay sagrado. Kapag nawala ang tiwala sa proseso ng halalan, natitibag din ang pundasyon ng ating demokrasya,” Agabas said in her privilege speech at the House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The lawmaker stressed that the issue should not be dismissed, citing its potential implications on the outcome of the May 2025 elections — not only in her district but possibly nationwide.
It can be recalled that COMELEC replaced the Smartmatic system with the MIRU system for the 2025 senatorial and local elections.
“Did our automatic vote counting machines commit a grave error? Sinasang-ayunan ba ng COMELEC ang deklarasyon ng Mababang Hukuman na nagkamali sa pagbilang ang mga makina?,” Agabas asked.
“Ang boto ng Pilipino ay hindi biro. It is the currency of our democracy, the voice of our sovereignty, the hope of our future,” she added.
Agabas emphasized the need to thoroughly examine whether the VCMs used in the previous elections were capable of accurately counting votes, warning that public trust in the electoral process must be safeguarded.