Provincial Election Supervisor Atty. Jerome Brillantes declared that the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) together with all government and private entities under the poll body’s control and supervision are now in a “state of readiness” for the May 9, 2016 local and national elections.
This was the confident pronouncements of Brillantes during the final command conference held at the Bohol Cultural Center yesterday, May 3, 2016 with all the stakeholders in attendance.
The 1,546 Vote Counting Machines (VCM’s) and their accessories are now under tight watch by the police in a 2Go warehouse in Barangay Taloto, Tagbilaran City while the official ballots are in the possession of the municipal treasurers.
The VCM’s popularly known as PCOS machines during the 2010 and 2013 elections are scheduled to be delivered on Thursday, May 5, 2016 to the voting centers for the Final Testing and Sealing (FTS) the next day, May 6, 2016.
The process involves the testing of each machine with 10 ballots to see if these will work properly before these are sealed one last time before election day and stored in a secured area in the voting center.
Meanwhile, the Bohol Provincial Police Office (BPPO) Operations Branch headed by Police Superintendent Lorenzo Batuan reported to the COMELEC the arrival of more than 500 additional police officers from the Regional Public Safety Batallion.
The additional policemen will augment the existing police forces assigned in the eight municipalities placed under the COMELEC Election Watch List Areas (EWAS).
The three power distributors in the province, Bohol Light Utilities Inc.(BLCI) serving Tagbilaran City, Bohol Electric Cooperative 1 and ll assured the COMELEC that all their distribution lines have undergone preventive maintenance to prevent power outages during the elections.
The National Grid Corporation also assured the COMELEC of sufficient and stable power supply during election day.
Classrooms to be used as polling precincts and rooms for the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI’s) are also ready for occupancy. (Chito M. Visarra with reports from Rey Tutas).