By Princess Enriquez
Failures in the 2010 and 2013 automated elections were part of ‘lessons learned’ said Commission on Elections (COMELEC) last Sept. 17, at the Senate committee Hearing on the 2016 National and Local elections updates.
The Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Automated Elections System (JCOS-AES) and COMELEC, addressed the concerns on Optical Mark Reading (OMR) machines and allayed fears threatening the May 2016 polls.
The Joint Congressional Oversight Committee on Automated Elections System (JCOS-AES) and COMELEC, addressed the concerns on Optical Mark Reading (OMR) machines and allayed fears threatening the May 2016 polls.
In June, Smartmatic has already won the bid on the lease of 70,977 machines while the 23,000 OMR contract was also grabbed by the same company. The 23,000 OMR Machines are bought with P2.2 Billion while the contract for the leasing of 70,977 machines were sealed with an estimate of P7 B.
In early August, Smartmatic had withdrawn its bidding chance for the refurbishment of 81,896 PCOS machines used in the previous elections (2010 and 2013), forcing the COMELEC to lease 93,977 machines in order to proceed with automated elections in accordance to Republic Act No. 9369 that authorizes COMELEC to use an automated election system.
Atty. Glen Chong, in line with the presented details, questioned the P4.24 B labelled as "other costs" and asked COMELEC to provide a liquidation report of these expenses.
Chong also raised the issue on 2010 elections wherein 6840 precincts encountered transmission problems: In Biliran, Cebu 53 out of 186 or 23% of the PCOS machines did not transmit.
He also mentioned Tudela, Cebu which he visited last Tuesday, where the case of different serial numbers on the PCOS machines were presented in the 2013 elections after malfunctioning which, in his point of view, is a sign of electoral sabotage that is blamed to them, congressmen.
Chairman Andres Bautista fended off the allegations and said that it is the Tele-Communications companies which promised 100% connectivity on the day of the elections but later on said that the signals were jammed.
Commissioner Christian Lim, on the other hand, suggested that those precincts which encounter connectivity problems could transfer to other precincts and have an access to better connectivity for faster transmission.The Millennial Post
In early August, Smartmatic had withdrawn its bidding chance for the refurbishment of 81,896 PCOS machines used in the previous elections (2010 and 2013), forcing the COMELEC to lease 93,977 machines in order to proceed with automated elections in accordance to Republic Act No. 9369 that authorizes COMELEC to use an automated election system.
Atty. Glen Chong, in line with the presented details, questioned the P4.24 B labelled as "other costs" and asked COMELEC to provide a liquidation report of these expenses.
Chong also raised the issue on 2010 elections wherein 6840 precincts encountered transmission problems: In Biliran, Cebu 53 out of 186 or 23% of the PCOS machines did not transmit.
He also mentioned Tudela, Cebu which he visited last Tuesday, where the case of different serial numbers on the PCOS machines were presented in the 2013 elections after malfunctioning which, in his point of view, is a sign of electoral sabotage that is blamed to them, congressmen.
Chairman Andres Bautista fended off the allegations and said that it is the Tele-Communications companies which promised 100% connectivity on the day of the elections but later on said that the signals were jammed.
Commissioner Christian Lim, on the other hand, suggested that those precincts which encounter connectivity problems could transfer to other precincts and have an access to better connectivity for faster transmission.The Millennial Post