Commissioner Rene Sarmiento said he is confident that the Commission on Elections (Comelec), with backing of the Senate, can convince the Supreme Court (SC) to rule that the P7.2-billion supply contract for the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines is constitutional and that a fully automated national poll is feasible in May 2010.

Speaking before the members of the Makati Business Club, Sarmiento claimed that the Comelec is not at all distracted from preparing for full automation of the upcoming elections despite the pending petition for a restraining order filed by the Concerned Citizens Movement before the highest tribunal.

“The case with the SC is not really a major issue or distraction that affects our preparation but somehow its delay affects some aspects of the groundwork. Nevertheless, we are confident that with Senate intervention, the SC will rule in favor of full automation,” he said.

But if the SC prefers a partially automated election for next year, Sarmiento said the Comelec will have to “study the possibilities,” even if they would consider a complete manual election better than partial automation.

“We can assure the public that total election failure is far from happening with the automated elections. But if the SC directs us not to pursue with it, our Plan B is a total manual elections. Hopefully by February, we will know whether to prepare or not for manual elections,” he said, adding that the agency will need at least three months to prepare. (Kris Bayos and Jesselle Maminta)