Palace confident in Comelec’s preparations for polls

Malacañang on Sunday reiterated its confidence in the Commission on Elections’ preparations for the May 13 elections, saying it believes the Comelec can fulfill its mandate.   Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte stressed this after the Comelec was quoted as saying it no longer needs to hold mock polls for the May 13 event.   “At this point we expect the Comelec to be able to carry out their mandate for a safe and peaceful election on 13 May. We leave it up to them how best to carry out that mandate,” she said on government-run dzRB radio.   But she also pointed out the Palace and the public have high expectations of the Comelec in doing its job of conducting clean polls on May.   Earlier, the Comelec ruled out conducting another mock election after it got a positive review from the Technical Evaluation Committee (TEC).   The Manila Bulletin quoted Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr. as saying there will be no more mock polls after one was held last February 2.   Brillantes said the Technical Evaluation Committee had certified the automated election system can operate properly, securely, and accurately. — LBG, GMA News