Comelec advisory council to reconvene for 2016 polls

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) is reorganizing its advisory council tasked to make recommendations to the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on the automated election system.

The DOST-Information and Communications Technology Office (ICTO) said the reconvening of the Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) is part of preparations for the May 2016 elections.

Undersecretary Louis Napoleon Casambre, executive director of ICTO, said the council is “confident” of fulfilling its mandate of giving sound advice to Comelec on matters relating to automated elections.

“Our focus in the selection process for CAC members was focused on the nominee’s technical competencies, particularly in IT systems design, software and hardware design as well as knowledge of the electoral process and Electoral Law,” he said.

“With constantly improving technologies, we intend to recommend the most appropriate for our current situation; furthermore we intend to totally eliminate security issues while maintaining transparency in the electoral process,” he said.

To bolster the council’s technical capacity, the CAC has recruited new members from information communication and technology groups like the Infocomm Technology Association of the Philippines and the Philippine Computer Emergency Response Team.

The Advisory Council comprises nine members from academe, non-government electoral reform organizations, ICT professional organizations and select government agencies. Their task is to “recommend the most appropriate, secure, applicable and cost-effective technology to be applied in the Automated Election System (AES).”

ITAP is represented by Dondi Mapa while Angel Averia Jr. will represent PHCERT.

New council members include DOST Assistant Secretary Raymund Liboro, John Paul Vergara of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV), and Rona Ann Caritos of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (LENTE).

Former CAC members who kept their positions as representatives of their respective organizations were Education Undersecretary Alberto Muyot, professor Rommel Feria of the University of the Philippines, and George Kintanar of the Chief Information Officers Forum Foundation. – Sheila Crisostomo