Photo courtesy of Atty Aileen Lizada of PPCRV
THE COMMISSION on Elections (Comelec) XI delivered automated counting machines (ACMs) to designated storage hubs for the three congressional districts in Davao City.
On Thursday morning, May 1, Comelec completed the delivery of ACMs for District 1 to the Davao City Police Office storage hub. The delivery of ACMs for Districts 2 and 3 was scheduled for later the same day, at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., respectively.
The Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) also played a key role in the process.
According to PPCRV head Atty. Aileen Lizada, the final testing and sealing of the ACMs is scheduled for May 6. The ACMs will be deployed to voting centers across the three districts of Davao City on May 5.
In an audio clip sent to the media on Thursday, May 1, Lizada said, “We were informed by the election officer of District 1 that what should be monitored is the Comelec seal. It should not be broken, because if it is, they will not accept it.”
“So, we observed three or four [machines] where either the tape on the side was almost detached, and half of the seal had a broken part, and another box with a similar issue, in Doña Soledad, Catalunan Grande, and Talomo, if I’m not mistaken,” she said.
She then requested the district coordinator to double-check the ACMs and other election-related devices and equipment. “If anything is missing, they will report to Comelec Manila, but they said they have extras at the regional office,” she added.
“On our end, we told the district coordinator of District 1 to place a cluster there, especially the three clustered precincts, to check whether or not the equipment inside the ACM is complete. That’s for District 1,” Lizada explained.
“For District 2, we gave the same guidance to the district coordinator regarding what to monitor,” she said.
“We have the list of the control numbers of the ACMs for Districts 1, 2, and 3. We are photocopying it so that we are guided accordingly when we check if the machine in this office, in this voting center, is the same as in the master list, to verify what has been deployed,” she further said.
