ALYANSA AGRIKULTURA STATEMENT "The Alyansa Agrikultura, a nationwide farmer-fisher folk coalition of 42 federations and organizations representing all

the major agricultural sectors, advocates the position of banning Smartmatic from bidding for the machines for the 2013 elections. Aside from Namfrel and AES, the Alyansa was called routinely to Congressional hearings. They argued that since farmers and fisherfolk were the largest voting sector, their voice deserved to be heard. They had proposed an election audit procedure and secured the signatures of all but two of the 2010 presidential candidates for an election audit, but this was turned down by the Melo Commision. The major deficiencies that were encountered during the 2010 elections because of Smartmatic constitute sufficient grounds for their being banned from bidding for next year's electoral exercise. We hope the Brillantes Commision does not repeat the errors of the Melo Commision." Ernesto M. Ordoez Chair