Unknown to many residents of Laguna, particularly in Biñan, this progressive city has an important and pivotal role in the coming 2025 midterm nationwide elections.
Chairman George Garcia of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) disclosed recently that the more than 100,000 automated counting machines (ACMs) which will be used in the elections are “safely stored” in a warehouse in Biñan.
During the height of typhoon Pepito, the Comelec chairman was asked by reporters if the machines are not in danger of being reached by flood waters.
Chairman Garcia assured the public that the ACMs to be used in the elections next year are safe from possible flooding from super typhoon Pepito. It was confirmed that more than 100,000 of such machines have been delivered by the joint venture of MIRU Systems of South Korea and are stored in the poll body’s warehouse in Biñan, Laguna.
“The warehouse is safe from flooding because it is located on a high place,” Garcia assured.
Talking about the numbers, we note that the forthcoming delivery of the last batch of 10,000 ACMs would complete the 110,620 ACMs promised under the P18-billion Full Automation with Transparency Audit and Count contract (FASTrAC). The latest ACM delivery was completed last Friday, bringing the total of machines in the Biñan warehouse to 100,920 or 91.23 percent .
Garcia’s assurances should be taken with a grain of salt, though. Residents of this Laguna city know fully well that they live near the shores of Laguna de Bay, especially those in barangay Dela Paz. The Comelec chief’s words should be validated every day, especially during this time of the monsoon season. The most severe storms and typhoons visit the Philippines in November and December.
Meanwhile, it is good to note that the field testing of the automated counting machines (ACMs) and related systems in select areas of the Philippines and abroad has been a success. These field tests are crucial in ensuring the smooth functioning of the electoral process in preparation for the May 2025 midterm elections. The tests, Garcia said, assessed the ACMs' ability to count votes accurately, transmit results, and integrate with the transmission systems for fast and precise reporting from polling centers to the Comelec's central servers.
MIRU Systems also completed the external batteries, power cords, SD cards, thermal paper, and smartcards for the Electoral Boards. Also, 100 percent of the servers, printers and laptops that will be used for the consolidation and canvassing of voters at the municipal, city, and provincial levels, the modem/USB kits to be used for transmission of voters, as well as the headsets for use of voters with disability were delivered last Sept. 18.
Not only should the Comelec guarantee that the machines are physically in order, they should also be working according to their technical specifications, thus the need for field tests. The testing is a critical step ahead of the mock elections planned for December, which will include a test of the online voting system, which will be a first in Philippine elections.
"What we want to show here is that the ACMs are all working from the casting of the vote to the counting, to the transmission of the results," Garcia said.
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