"Nakakalungkot, pangarap natin lahat ang automation. Dapat may managot dito, dapat may makasuhan, hindi basta-basta na kung gusto umurong ganun na lang," Villanueva said as he demanded an explanation from the Comelec.

LAWMAKERS who were disappointed with the hitch in the poll automation project have asked the Commission on Elections to decide immediately if it will resort to manual elections.

Zambales Rep. Mitos Magsaysay said the Comelec should now start preparing for manual elections as an alternative if the automation will fail.

Congress had approved the supplemental budget of P11.3 billion for the poll automation project.

"I don’t think we still have time to look for another group. Glitches like this do happen. So Comelec should start preparing for manual elections," Magsaysay said.

Even opposition Rep. Satur Ocampo said that Plan B should now come in which is the manual process.

"Kung talagang alanganin o may problema ang implementasyon ng poll automation, dapat magpasya agad ang Comelec kung mananatiling manual ang sistema ng pagbilang ng mga boto sa halalang 2010," he said in a text message.

Meanwhile, Cibac Party-list Rep. Joel Villanueva and Muntinlupa Rep. Ruffy Biazon said that government should investigate the poll automation fiasco as soon as possible to determine who should be held liable.

"Nakakalungkot, pangarap natin lahat ang automation. Dapat may managot dito, dapat may makasuhan, hindi basta-basta na kung gusto umurong ganun na lang," Villanueva said as he demanded an explanation from the Comelec.

For his part, Biazon said there could be other bigger reasons for the pullout of TIM which the government should look into.

"The local partner of the consortium which won the poll automation contract for the 2010 elections suddenly and mysteriously pulled out of the consortium, effectively putting a monkey wrench into the first fully automated elections in the Philippines," Biazon said.