AN OFFICIAL said Wednesday the first batch of precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to be used in the May 2010 elections will be delivered on December.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will use more than 80,000 PCOS machines in the coming polls. Last October, some 20 machines arrive in the country, which are used to train board of election inspectors (BEIs).

For updates from around the country, follow Sun.Star on Twitter

Engineer Renato Garcia, consultant of the Office of the Chairman of the Comelec, said as soon as the first batch of machines will arrive, tests will be done like the scanning system and other vital functions.

He added: "The final configuration will be done after the software is customized and certified."

Once they complete the certification, which they are targeting on or before February 06, the software will be shown to stakeholders.

"For the political parties and groups, it will be open and available to them to show how it works," Garcia said.

After everything is approved, it will then be followed by the uploading or configuration of the hardware with the software that has been customized and certified.

Garcia also reiterates that Smartmatic will still be the provider of the PCOS machines but the plan or the facilities that will be used will be changed.

"It's still Jarl Tech which is a subsidiary of Smartmatic that is handling the manufacturing. It will be getting its second facilities in China instead of getting it from Taiwan," Garcia said.

Teachers

Comelec spokesperson James Jimenez said that by the end of January, teachers who will be asked to man the polling precincts will undergo training, which will last for two months.

In an earlier interview with Jimenez, he said Comelec will be needing around 400,000 teachers to man 80,000 precincts.

The list of teachers eligible to serve for the 2010 automated election was drafted by the Department of Education (DepEd) and will be forwarded to Comelec.

He also said the training will be easy on the part of the teachers because the machine is very easy to operate.

Deadline

Earlier, the Comelec moved the deadline of filing of Certificate of Candidacy (COCs) from November 30 to December 01.

Jimenez said they are moving the deadline because November 30 was declared as holiday (Bonifacio Day).

Commissionaire Gregorio Larrazabal reiterated that the Comelec will still be open on November 29 and 30 in regular office hours to "give ample opportunity and time" for the candidates to file their COCs. (Glaiza Jarloc/Sunnex)