Configuration of PCOS machines starts

MANILA, Philippines - The configuration of the 76,340 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines started yesterday afternoon in order to meet the April 25 deadline, said Louie Campo, manager of the Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) warehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna.

Campo told reporters during the inspection of the Joint Congressional Oversight Committee (JCOC) for poll automation at the National Printing Office (NPO) in Quezon City and at Cabuyao warehouse that at least 2,000 machines will be configured in a day. The 5,860 spare machines will not yet be configured.

Campo noted that experts from Power Serve Inc. are doing the configuration with Comelec personnel.

Meanwhile, Sen. Francis Escudero, a staunch critic of the automated elections who co-chairs the JCOC with Makati Rep. Teddyboy Locsin, was a no-show when they were supposed to check on preparations for the automation.

Locsin assailed his colleagues, saying, “I don’t think they should open their mouths about any aspect of the printing and the machines since they did not even show up.”

According to Locsin, the JCOC had decided on the inspection to get a look at the preparations being undertaken by the Comelec and Smartmatic-TIM.

“We want to see the whole process, the machines in Cabuyao, the actual printing, the integrity of the ballots. We want to know because this is where cheating was done in the past. That’s why we are here,” he added. – With Delon Porcalla