Ballot distribution begins; Coast Guard to deliver poll machines

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has started shipping the ballots to be used in the May 10 automated elections to various areas nationwide.

The distribution of ballots to municipal and provincial treasurers’ offices in Mindanao and Luzon started last Saturday, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said yesterday.

Larrazabal said ballots were sent to the provinces of Maguindanao, Sultan Kudarat, Agusan del Sur, Agusan del Norte, Zambo Sibugay, Bukidnon, Lanao del Sur, Palawan and Masbate.

He said the Comelec opted  to distribute the ballots first in Mindanao provinces and other areas, which would take a longer time to reach.

He added that as a general rule, ballots should be delivered directly to the municipal treasurer’s office, but in some instances they are distributed directly to the provincial treasurer’s office because of security concerns.

“We have to protect the ballots that’s why we have to do that,” Larrazabal said.

He added that the Comelec already completed the pre-bid for the purchase of 80,000 ultraviolet (UV) lamps necessary to check the ballots’ authenticity.

Despite the bidding delay, Larrazabal expressed confidence that the Comelec would still be able to procure the necessary UV lamps and deliver them in various polling precincts before election day.

He also reported that a total of 41,817 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines have already been deployed to different provinces or so-called “hubs.”

Of the total, Larrazabal said 35,279 were distributed in the Visayas and Mindanao while 6,538 were sent out to different Luzon provinces.

“So far we have already deployed 54 percent of the total PCOS machines,” Larrazabal said, adding that distribution of the units has to be done in batches.

“The deployment of machines depends on the proximity of polling precincts because we have to ensure that all PCOS are properly audited,” he stressed.

Meanwhile, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said the poll body is no longer buying new ballot secrecy folders and will just use the long folders previously bought for the last elections.

The Comelec cancelled a multi-million contract for the purchase of 1.8 million ballot secrecy folders at P380 each, but ordered a probe into the controversy.

Coast Guard to provide sea marshals to secure PCOS machines

In a related development, the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said it would provide sea marshals on ships that have been hired to transport PCOS machines, ballot boxes and other election paraphernalia to the provinces.

PCG commandant Admiral Wilfredo Tamayo yesterday said they received marching orders from Transportation and Communications acting Secretary Anneli Lontoc to provide security in the transport of election paraphernalia.

The PCG was informed that the forwarding services of Argo International Forwarders, Inc., Ace Logistics, Inc. and Germalin Enterprises, Inc. have been tapped for the purpose of transporting the equipment.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), meanwhile, will be placed on red alert nationwide from April 30 to May 20 to monitor the movement of PCOS machines.

“We want to be prepared because we have to deliver the PCOS machines and make sure that all events will be monitored,” said Col. Ricardo Nepomuceno, spokesman of the AFP Task Force HOPE (Honest Orderly and Peaceful Elections).

Nepomuceno, however, said they might downgrade the alert level at an earlier date or prolong such declaration depending on the security situation during the elections.

Nepomuceno said troops were placed on blue alert or normal heightened status starting yesterday until April 29 in preparation for the declaration of a red alert on Friday.

Meanwhile, National Capital Regional Police Office chief Director Roberto Rosales said they would set up closed-circuit surveillance cameras at the central hub in Tandang Sora in Quezon City to guard and secure PCOS machines against saboteurs.

In Masbate, military and police, including former UN peacekeepers, of Special Task Force Masbate (STF Masbate) had set up a tight watch on the PCOS machines and other backup gadgets as they arrived in the province yesterday on board a cargo ship, barely two weeks before the first poll automated election takes place in this Bicol island, a known election hot spot.

Senior Superintendent Victor Deona, STF Masbate commander, said that 724 PCOS machines, 1,106 portable batteries, and 22 generators had been immediately secured as the ship docked at the Masbate City port, while security measures are in place to ensure their safe transport to their respective destinations in the 20 towns and a city comprising Masbate.

Deona said they had already started yesterday marathon conferences attended by election officers, law enforcers, Smartmatic technicians, telecommunications companies, and other concerned government and non-government agencies, to effect strategies and measures to ensure orderly conduct of automated elections in the province, listed by the Comelec as one of the areas of immediate concern in the country. – Non Alquitran, Evelyn Macairan, Cet Dematera