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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Comelec starts delivery of first batch of ACMs to Mindanao

Comelec starts delivery of first batch of ACMs to Mindanao

Published Apr 4, 2025 05:33 am

With more than a month left before the May 2025 midterm polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) started on Friday, April 4, delivering the first batch of Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) to Mindanao.

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Commission on Elections (Comelec) starts on Friday, April 4, delivering the first batch of Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) to Mindanao. (Comelec photo)

At midnight on Friday, Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia supervised the shipping of 3,700 ACMs to three of its hubs in Mindanao.

"Kinakailangan po kasi nasusunod yung ating pagdedeliver na eksaktong oras at schedule upang hindi madelay kasi alam natin 49 na araw na lang eleksyon na (It is essential that we adhere to our delivery schedule and timing to avoid delays, especially since we only have 49 days left until the election)," he said in an interview.

He added that Comelec remained on schedule for the elections, such as with the printing of ballots and voter information sheets.

ACMs that will be brought to the Iligan hub will be for Lanao del Sur, Lanao de Norte, and Iligan while the machines that will be shipped to the Zamboanga City hub will be for Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, and Zamboanga City and in the Kidapawan Hub, it will have the machines for Maguindanao North, Maguindanao South and Cotabato City. Trucks carrying the machines will be accompanied by members of the Philippine National Police (PNP) until they reach their intended destinations.

The poll chief said that they prioritized delivery in more distant areas first like Mindanao so that in case of any issues, the hubs have already secured the machines.

He also stated that these "principal" machines that were shipped out of the Comelec warehouse have already been inspected and will be the ones mainly used in the polling precincts.

“Nangangahulugan ito pong machines na ating ishi-ship out, na atin na pong ide-deliver, nakapasa na po ‘yan sa lahat ng klase ng tests, and therefore, handa na po, pupwede na pong magamit natin yan sa ating eleksyon (This means that the machines we are going to ship out, which we are set to deliver, have passed all types of tests. Therefore, they are ready and can be used in our elections),” he added.

After this, Garcia said that the next delivery to the same areas would be for contingency machines. He said that the poll body has 16,000 contingency machines, stating that each municipality will have more or less eight to 10 ACMS. The number of machines will depend on the voter population in the area.

"Para 'pag may isang nagkaproblema, sa isa sa mga presinto o barangay maitatakbo agad yan sa bayan [at] mapapalitan at maibabalik agad yung bagong machine (If there's a problem at one of the precincts or barangays, it can be quickly reported to the town, and a new machine can be deployed immediately)," he said.

"Umaasa naman tayo na yung pagkaaberya ng machine, di mangyayari ngayong election na 'to sapagkat bago lahat ng makina na ito. Yung machine na ginamit dati tatlong beses na ginamit: 2016, 2019 at 2022 (We hope that the machine malfunctions won't occur in this election since all of these machines are new. The machines that were used before were utilized three times: in 2016, 2019, and 2022)," he added.

Garcia said that for the first time, there are 110 repair hubs nationwide that will serve as a contingency measure during the May 2025 polls. According to him, this means that when an ACM encounters a problem, there will no longer be a need for it to be brought to Comelec's warehouse in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

For the ballots, Garcia said that they will begin shipping these out by April 22 for it to arrive just before the final testing and sealing. This will be five days or a week before May 12, 2025 election day.

Related Tags

automated election system (AES) comelec chairman george garcia matalinong boto 2025 Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) Commission on Elections (Comelec)
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