PCOS machines must be error-free all the time

NO MARGIN FOR ERROR: The Commission on Elections must not take lightly the glitches experienced in the second field test of its precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines the other day.

There were transmission problems in four public schools in suburban Pateros and Taguig City. The PCOS machines reportedly failed to read four of the 10 pre-marked ballots in a school in Pateros.

It is disturbing to hear Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal say that the glitches were expected and that the field tests were successful.

Look, we will be conducting make-or-break elections, not a high school class experiment. Those expensive PCOS gadgets should work the first time and every time they are used. We expect them to operate error-free as delivered by the suppliers.

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SIM PROBLEM: The PCOS machines used in two elementary schools in Pateros and in two other schools in Taguig faltered when it was time to transmit test data.

Comelec officials explained that the problem arose when the machines used SIM (subscriber identity module) cards of telecommunications firms to transmit data to canvassing centers in Taguig City Hall and Pateros Municipal Hall.

Comelec director for Metro Manila Michael Dioneda said that after the SIMs were replaced, the machines began transmitting the data, except for the one in the Aguho elementary school.

The Aguho precinct was able to transmit only when the operators shifted to the broadband global area network, a backup satellite Internet network.

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WEAK SIGNALS: Dioneda said they first tested the PCOS machines using SIM cards of various telecommunication companies.

That detail shows that the PCOS machines may not be secure, self-contained devices shielded from extraneous hardware or software being inserted or installed into them.

Imagine a poll official on Election Day holding some SIM cards to use in trial and error fashion. How do we know if some of those cards have malicious instructions that may compromise the integrity of the election results?

It was also noted that the transmission was bedeviled by weak signals, particularly in the Maharlika school. And to think that the receiving center was just in the nearby City Hall.

These glitches popped up within 10 air kilometers of the Comelec main office in Manila. There are thousands of far-flung precincts all over our archipelago some of which have weak, sometimes zero, signals.

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LEFT-HANDED CUT: The country’s estimated 4.6 million senior citizens can only rejoice with the plan of President Gloria Arroyo to sign into law a bill passed by Congress exempting them from the 12-percent Value-Added Tax on goods and services.

While the present law (RA 7432) gives senior citizens a 20-percent discount, they are still required to pay the 12-percent VAT like everybody else. This has reduced their discount as seniors to only eight percent.

The upcoming amendment will correct the hypocrisy and the unkindness of the government’s left hand taking away more than half of what its right hand has given to citizens aged 60 years and older.

The exemption will reduce revenues, but the savings of seniors will go back into the money stream and help stimulate the economy. Besides, part of the loss can be offset by the plugging of loopholes in the imposition, collection and remittance of VAT.

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COVERAGE: The 20-percent discount will cover medicine and medical supplies and accessories; doctors’ fees; medical, dental, diagnostic and laboratory fees; fares on buses, jeepneys, taxis, shuttle services, public railways, domestic air and sea transport.

The tax exemption also applies to services in restaurants, hotels and similar establishments; admission fees in cinemas, theaters and other places of culture, leisure and amusement; and funeral and burial services.

Under the amendment, an indigent senior shall receive a monthly stipend of P500 subject to the review of Congress in coordination with the Department of Social Welfare and Development. When a senior dies, P2,000 is to be given to his family as assistance.

Senior citizens will get a five-percent discount on their water and electric bills if the utilities are in their name, and if the one-month consumption is below 100 kilowatt-hours of electricity and 30 cubic meters of water.

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SPIRIT OF THE LAW: To show its good faith, the government must observe the spirit of the law in laying down the implementing rules and regulations.

When seniors eat out with a group, how is the 20-percent discount computed? If all those in the group are obviously seniors but not all of them have their cards, what happens?

At the Aristocrat restaurant on Roxas Blvd., when the bill on take-out food is more than P300, the cashier allows only a flat maximum discount of P60 instead of the full 20-percent of the total bill. Is this right?

At Contis, a senior ordering to-go family-size sotanghon and a dozen empanadas is given only a tiny discount that the cashier decides is the buyer’s “eatable” share in the full order. Is this arbitrary computation legal?

Under the amendment, establishments and their owners, managers and personnel violating the law shall be fined P10,000 to P50,000, or imprisoned for at least one month but not more than six months.

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FREE MOVIES: Makati City is, arguably, the local unit that most pampers its senior citizens, estimated to number 50,000, under a P112-million annual budget for the elderly.

Makati Mayor Jojo Binay has so organized the barangays that he is able to keep track of seniors and extend them socialized services and benefits. Aside from discounts, seniors are given free movie passes, cakes on their birthdays and golden wedding anniversaries.

Makati’s indigent seniors receive P1,000 cash every June and December. When they die, their families get burial assistance. Seniors and persons with disabilities are exempted from the three-hour parking limit in the central business district.