While the social web was buzzing yesterday over Senator Pimentel's comments to Senator Roxas during the Senate plenary on the C-5 project controversy, a more solemn meeting was also in session in Metro Manila. The Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, or CBCP, convened in Pasay City for the Second National Congress of the Clergy. Prior to the meeting, the group expressed the need for a back-up plan to the automated polls in May.
           
So we asked you: How much faith do you have in full automation?

Twitter user, @CrisN73 expressed his confidence in the system, even with recent government website hackings. He added, "poll automation has to push through. Now or never." @KatarHol5 also expressed the importance of automated elections, saying, "I think it's automation or we go back to Hello Garci."

But @lyleatienza wasn’t as optimistic. He believes the Comelec isn’t sufficiently prepared and that the automated election will fail. Over on Facebook, Allan Espiritu echoed these sentiments, saying, “Almost everything can be hacked.”

Meanwhile, @kevinzana said the power is in the people, not in the machines: "Automation or not, it’s still the people who run things that make (or break) a system.”

@whamosdlrosario also put forth a possible scenario for the Board of Election Inspectors, or BEI, to consider. He asked what the BEI would do if armed groups in far-flung regions snatched computer hardware after the polls closed.

But others commented on the religious body’s decision to take part in the political sphere. @tammydavid asked, "Whatever happened to leaving it up to God?" Similarly, @oliverlim asked, “since when the CBCP became involved in politics?”

The Clergy’s Congress will be ongoing until the end of this week. So please continue to share your thoughts on our Twitter account, @ANCALERTS, or on our Facebook fan page, ANC 24/7, on whether or not you are keeping the faith with poll automation.