Voting machines ready for delivery to Cordillera

PRECINCT Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines to be used in the first automated national polls in the country are ready to be deployed to Cordillera by April 24.

Commission on Elections (Comelec)–Cordillera Director Julius Torres said it will take some time for the deployment of PCOS machines as Ace Logistics, Smartmatic-TIM’s logistical partner, is still coordinating with the Philippine National Police (PNP) with regard to the delivery schedules.

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Torres already requested for a command conference meeting on March 30 between the Comelec and Police Regional Office-Cordillera chief Orlando Pestaño to coordinate the security detail of Ace Logistics, which will deliver the machines to designated warehouses or hubs in the provinces of the region.

He said once they iron out the security of the delivery, the machines will be delivered to the hubs.

However, Torres said Ace Logistics and Smartmatic-TIM has not submitted list of warehouses where the machines will be temporarily placed.

He said every province must have its own hub that will serve as warehouse for the PCOS machines. If the province doesn’t have available areas to safe-keep the machines, then hubs of adjacent provinces will do, he added.

“Kung hindi puwede sa Bangued, Abra for example, then pwede natin ang PCOS machine maipatago na ready for deployment sa adjacent province like Narvacan, Ilocos Sur dahil malapit lang naman kaysa sa manggaling pa sa Baguio,” Torres explained.

For the provinces of Kalinga and Apayao, he also said that nearby Tuguegarao City is the most feasible for the warehouse, as it is nearer to the two provinces than Baguio city.

For the provinces of Benguet, Ifugao and Mountain Province, Torres said the hub for the PCOS machines will be in Baguio.

The Comelec is still conducting trainings for the last batches of public school teachers who will act as Board of Election Inspectors until the end of the month.