The Commission on Elections has reiterated for the nth time that automated elections will push through. But as can be expected such assurances have done very little to allay the fears of the perennially paranoid.

In the hopes of quelling talks of the possibility of failure of elections, Comelec has now resorted to saying that manual elections will remain an option should the smooth implementation of the automated system become impossible.

Responding to the concerns of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, Comelec chairman Jose Melo that everything is in place to carry out manual elections.

Personally, I find the possibility of having manual elections again unacceptable. However, I can see why the Comelec feels it needs to dangle that old, unreliable and fraud-prone system as an option. The noise created by the perennially paranoid is just too much.

Anyway, those following the developments surrounding poll automation would be pleased to know that today is the last day of the lab tests on Smartmatic-TIM's Precinct Count Optical Scan machines. Based on the Comelec's calendar, field tests will start immediately after that. That is if the machines pass the lab tests. So far the lab tests seem to be going smoothly.