MANILA, Philippines — The final batch of automated counting machine (ACM) kits to be used in the May 2025 midterm elections is expected to be delivered to the country within this month.
More than 1,000 ACM kits are now ready to ship from Busan, South Korea to the Philippines, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday.
This set of ACMs is part of the 110,620 made by Miru Systems in its production plant in South Korea for next year’s elections.
“The rest are either in transit from South Korea to the Philippines, and some are at the Bureau of Customs in the Philippines for clearing,” said Comelec spokesman John Rex Laudiangco.
It was on Oct. 31 when the remaining batch of ACM kits was forklifted and stored into two secure intermediate shipping containers at the CJ BND Logistics Center in Busan New Port Complex in South Korea.
Each ACM kit consists of the counting machine, hard case and power cords and adapters.
According to the Comelec, the cargo ship that will transport the final batch of ACM kits, as per the terms of the contract for the Full Automation System with Transparency Audit and Count project, is set to arrive at the container terminal on Nov. 3.
Shipment of the two cargo containers is targeted for Nov. 4.
Laudiangco said delivery of the ACM kits to the Comelec Biñan warehouse is expected this month.
“(Delivery) is within November. They can’t give an exact date yet because of (considerations such as) shipping traffic, customs traffic, port congestion, etc.,” he added.
The Comelec welcomed the early completion and delivery of the ACMs – to be used for the first time by Filipino voters in the May 2025 midterms and BARMM parliamentary elections – as very good news.
“It marks a historic first for the Comelec as the poll body beats its own timelines in preparation for the elections,” it added.
The Comelec said it was given rare and exclusive access to the Busan New Port Complex to witness the cargo storage, handling and eventual containerization of the last and final batch of ACMs.