MANILA, Sept. 1 — Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman Andy Bautista today revealed that while the Commission will certainly bid out the refurbishment and upgrade of the existing 82,000 precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines for the 2019 mid-term elections, it is still looking at the possibility of refurbishing some of these equipment to augment the new machines it will lease for the May 2016 elections.
Though the Comelec has signed a lease agreement with Smartmatic for the use of a new, upgraded version of the PCOS machine, Bautista says they are still looking at the viability of refurbishing some of the old machines to bring down the voter-to-machine ratio to approximately 600 voters per cluster per machine.
A few IT firms have already signified their intention to volunteer their expertise and time to check on the old machines, and see which ones we can still use for 2016, Bautista added.
There are about 82,000 old PCOS machines that were purchased in 2012 which are being kept in a warehouse in Laguna by the Comelec. Recently, the poll body has decided to lease 94,000 new optical mark readers (OMRs) for the upcoming elections.
“One of the Comelec’s goals is to enhance the voting experience. This is why we partnered with over 200 malls all over the country for our “no bio, no boto” campaign. We are also trying to find ways on how to decongest some clustered precincts with traditionally high voter population turnouts so that our people would not be inconvenienced when they go to their precincts. Let us eliminate those long lines. And the only way to do just that is to increase the number of PCOS machines per clustered precincts,” Bautista said.
Bautista has also instructed the Comelec’s asset department to conduct an inventory of the equipment and election paraphernalia used during the last 2013 mid-term elections. This would not only allow the Commission to assess their preparedness and readiness for the 2016 elections—it would likewise afford them the opportunity to re-use old materials to save funds.
Managing government resources in an optimal manner is nothing new for Bautista. While serving as the chair of the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG), Bautista managed to save public monies by increasing revenue, maximising efficiency and cutting on costs. This performance led to the PCGG being named as the most outstanding agency under the 11-office Department of Justice cluster from 2012 to 2014.
Indeed, his efforts have paid off. A new survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS) from November 2014 to May 2015 based on interviews of 966 Filipino firms on their perception of corruption in the Philippines shows the PCGG getting a positive 15% grade in 2014/2015 as compared with its previous rating of negative 38% in 2009. The 53% upswing is the highest positive increase among all the agencies and departments under the Aquino administration.
“To save more, we are looking at partnering with government agencies on producing some of the election components such as ballot printing and logistics, one example is having a partnership with NPO (National Printing Office) and the PhilPost. If we can secure these tie-ups, then we may be able to lower the expenditure for the elections.” Bautista adds. (Commission on Elections)