Final preparations underway

THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) will hold the final testing and sealing of vote counting machines (VCM) that will be used for the May 13 elections on Friday, May 10, in around 700 clustered voting precincts in Cebu City.

Lawyer Marchel Sarno, election officer in the south district, said they will start the distribution of the VCMs by Friday morning. Final testing and sealing will immediately follow.

“From the hub, the machines will be transported to the clustered precincts where it will be tested and sealed after for election day,” Sarno said.

Sarno said the activity will be held simultaneously in all clustered precincts in the province.

Sarno said their personnel who are information technology (IT) experts will test the VCMs, along with the teachers who are trained by the Department of Science and Technology to operate them.

In case a machine malfunctions, Sarno said they will immeEVEN diately replace it, as they have 70 reserve VCMs on stand by.

Since the VCMs will be distributed ahead of election day, Sarno assured the public that the machines will be properly secured.

Aside from the police personnel who will secure the polling precincts, Sarno said all political parties have been informed of the activity to allow them to assign watchers at the polling places.

The City Treasurer’s Office will also start the distribution of official ballots early Monday, May 13, hours before the voting centers will officially open.

All voting precincts will open at 6:00 a.m. on Monday.

In Mandaue City, 226 VCMs were delivered around noon on Thursday, May 9.

Also on Thursday, 10,115 personnel from the police, military, and Coast Guard, and volunteers were deployed to Cebu and other provinces in Central Visayas as part of the security force for the elections.

During the send-off ceremony on Thursday morning, Comelec 7 Acting Director Veronico Petalcorin urged the law enforcers to follow the rules in implementing laws.

“Buhata ang sakto kay kung imo ning tumanon, dili gyud ka masayop (Do the right thing because if you do this, you will not err),” he said.

Petalcorin said Comelec 7 personnel are ready for the elections.

After prayers were said, the patrol cars, firearms and other gadgets from Camp Crame were awarded by Police Regional Office 7 Director Debold Sinas to the lower units.

Sinas also relayed the message of Police Director General Oscar Albayalde for police personnel not to take sides.

He told them to obey Comelec’s guidelines, including the rule that police officers should be 50 meters away from polling centers. /