Several candidates who lost in the recent May 10 automated elections and hundreds of their supporters held Tuesday a protest rally in front of the Batasan Pambansa building in Quezon City to denounce alleged irregularities in the conduct of the polls.

Among those who attended the rally were defeated presidential candidate JC de los Reyes and Bangon Pilipinas Party (BPP) senatorial bets Lawyer Zosimo Jesus Paredes, Count Habib Adz Nikabulin, Dr. Israel Virgines, and Reyehnaldo Alonto and their supporters from various multi-sectoral groups.

The rallyists demanded that a manual count of the votes be held nationwide to determine the true will of the electorate.

They also pressed for the implementation of election rules which, they claimed, were violated during the polls such as the installation of a voter’s vote verification feature and the requirement for a digital signature by the members of the board of election inspectors in the polling precincts.

The protesters also sought a full investigation into allegations of election fraud which, they said, should be conducted with the participation of the Philippine Computer Society, Center for People Empowerment in Governance, and other non-partisan, civic, and professional organizations.

They said such probe will help determine the accuracy and reliability of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines that were used during the voting.

The rallyists were joined by members of multi-sectoral organizations such as the Concerned Citizens Movement, Kontra Daya, PMP Sulong Pilipino, Agrarian Reform groups, Bagumbayan Party, Bangon Pilipinas Party, and Philippine Computer Society.