MANILA - President Rodrigo R. Duterte said he does not believe that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) could disregard the rule of opening ballot printing to election observation groups. "I do not believe it because itong Comelec naman ang mga tao diyan ay kilala ko lahat (I know everyone at Comelec)," he said in a prerecorded interview with Pastor Apollo Quiboloy aired Saturday on SMNI. Duterte said he has not heard of such violations, noting that the Comelec should always open ballot printing and operations to accredited election observation groups. "I think the ballot is being printed sa (at the) Bureau of Printing. At palagay ko naman (And I think), if there is a requirement that there should be witnesses, I am sure wala akong rason narinig na (I have no reason to hear that) this particular rule has been disregarded. I have not yet heard of it," he added. Poll watchdogs, including the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), earlier criticized the Comelec for not allowing election observation groups to see preparations for the national elections. In a statement on Thursday, the group lamented how observation of the ballot printing at the National Printing Office (NPO) in Quezon City and in the operations at the Comelec Sta. Rosa warehouse has not been opened to election observation groups, including accredited citizens' arms. "Namfrel recommends opening up the facilities for observation during the election period until termination of operations," it said. The group also expressed concern over the lack of guidelines to open up observation by accredited election monitors of the operations in the various data centers where the Comelec Central Server, backup server, and transparency server are located, including access to regional hubs. Namfrel said Comelec should release guidelines to allow stakeholders, including accredited citizens' arms, to field observers in the various data centers and regional hubs during the election period until the termination of operations. In response, the Comelec said it is eyeing more observers of its preparations for the May polls. Section 15 of Republic Act 9369 provides that watchers should be assigned by accredited political parties and deputized citizen's arms to observe the printing, storage, and distribution of official ballots. Section 187 of Batas Pambansa (BP) 881 or the Omnibus Election Code of the Philippines also provides for the presence of watchers. (PNA) }