KALIBO, Aklan (PIA) -- Commission on Elections Chairman George Erwin M. Garcia gave his assurances to the  public that the 2025 national and local elections will be fast, reliable, and honest with the introduction of more innovations in the voting system. 

In a press conference, Garcia introduced the Full Automation System with Transparency Audit/Count (FASTrAC) which is the new machine that the Commission will be using for the midterm polls.

He revealed that the almost P18 billion FASTrAC contract was awarded to the joint venture of South Korean firm Miru Systems Co. Ltd.,  and pure Filipino companies Integrated Computer Systems, St. Timothy Construction Corporation, and Centerpoint Solutions Technologies, Inc. (MIRU-ICS-STCC-CPSTI).

Under the contract, the joint venture will provide 110,000 Automated Count Machines, 110,000 ballot boxes, ballot papers, laptops, printers, accessories, and peripherals such as memory cards, marking pens, security cards, and batteries.

“For the information po ng lahat, ‘yung 110,000 machines na gagamitin natin para sa susunod na halalan ay rerentahan lang natin. Gagawin po yan, i-mamanufacture,  i-cucustomize po yan ng anim na buwan,” said Garcia, adding that leasing of the machine is more advantageous that buying because  it will save the government from the warehousing cost and even ensure that the machine to be used will always be new.

(For the information of everybody, the 110,000 machines that will be used for the next elections will be only rented out. These will be made, manufactured, and customized in a span of six months.)

The Comelec Chair noted that the new ACM to be used next year is unique as it cannot be found anywhere except here in the Philippines.  The machine will be built by MIRU but will be based on the ideas and requirements set by the Commission.

“Bago kami mag-contract signing, sinabi ko in front of the owner of MIRU and the Filipino partners: Don’t ever attempt to mess with our elections as under Republic Act 9369 there such a crime called electoral sabotage punishable by life imprisonment, non-bailable and I warned them not to ever entertain any politicians, political parties, any entities na sasabihin bibigyan namin kayo ng malaki kapalit ng gawan ninyo ng paraan ang result and if gusto nila makasunod muli ng procurement sa amin o makaparticipate, ayusin nila ang election ng 2025. Hindi tayo papayag na magkakaproblema tayo,” noted Garcia.

(Before our contract signing, I said in front of the owner of MIRU and the Filipino partners: Don’t ever attempt to mess with our elections as under Republic Act 9369 there is such a crime called electoral sabotage punishable by life imprisonment, non-bailable and I warned them not to ever entertain any politicians, political parties, any entities that will offer them a large sum to put the election results at their favor, and if they still wanted to enter procurement again or participate, they should put everything in place during the 2025 elections. We can’t afford to have problems.)

Further, Garcia stressed and ensured that the Comelec would have absolute control of the elections as the Commission has the only power to hold elections in the country as provided by the law.

“We did not include the transmission in the current contract. Unlike before, the transmission was done by the same company that won the bidding of the machine, and if may kailangan ka, hindi mo kaagad makuha kasi hindi ikaw ang kausap ng mga Telcos kundi sila. Dapat ngayon tayo ang kausap nila,” Garcia informed.

(We did not include the transmission in the current contract. Unlike before, the transmission was done by the same company that won the bidding of the machine, and if we have needs, it takes quite a while to get them because they are the ones coordinating with the Telcos. This time, it should be us.)

All the demos for the new machine will be done by Comelec employees. The Commission’s  IT Department personnel have already undergone training to take charge of these machines.

The Comelec Chair guaranteed that it has always been in the interest of the country and that the people should be the paramount consideration of all the people in the Commission.

Another development that Garcia discussed during the press conference was Comelec’s implementation of the Register Anywhere Program (RAP) which was internationally awarded and recognized for being a unique and creative innovation.

The program started on February 12 of this year and will run until August 31.

RAP is somewhat of a one-stop shop for voter registration. Under this program, one can register to vote regardless of their current residence at designated sites across the country. The Comelec installed it in capital cities, towns, and highly urbanized cities. 

Also, the first things to be done by the Commission for the 2025 elections are the internet voting that will be rolled out first for Filipinos overseas and the early voting hours for pregnant, senior citizens, and physically challenged individuals.

The Commission will also maintain mall voting but this time for a larger number of malls or about 171 malls nationwide. Said malls offer the free use of their space as well as of their personnel as part of their corporate social responsibility. 

Meanwhile, in the same event, Director John Rex C. Laudiangco of the poll body’s Education and Information Department briefed the provincial election supervisors and election officers in Western Visayas,  members of the Aklan media, and the information officers of the local government units in Aklan about the different and improved features of the  FASTrAC as compared to the VCM.

Some of the important features FASTrAC offers are the capacity of the machine to show the voter the summary of his/her votes for about 20 seconds, and the faster feeding of ballots or about 200 mm/sec, which is a very big improvement compared to the 70 mm/sec of VCM.

The new machine also has the auto-align feature, avoiding jamming of ballots and the battery used is smaller but the capacity could stand for about 14 hours, addressing the issue of brownouts and blackouts.

“With regards to the ballot papers, they are thinner around 90 to 100 gsm. The paper is thin but the marking pen does not bleed through the paper despite prolonged pointing of the pen to the ballot,” said Laudiangco.

Another breakthrough of the new machine, according to Laudiangco, is the elimination of the transparency server which was replaced with the feature “send to all.”

“Bibigyan na po natin ng server ang dominant majority party, dominant minority party,  dalawang citizens’ arms, Comelec, and media at ang server po na yan ay nakaloob sa isang data center. Pagpadala po ni ACM, lahat po tayo sabay-sabay na makatatanggap,” he explained. 

(We will give a server for the dominant majority party, the dominant minority party,  two citizens’ arms, Comelec, and media, encompassing a data center. Sent by the ACM, everyone can simultaneously receive.)

The Comelec also addressed the breakdown of the machines, aside from acquiring more contingency machines, they will install more technical repair hubs placing them in every province. 

“This innovation made by the Chairman was insisted dito sa ating terms of reference para sa masiguro na mas madali na para sa ating lahat at hindi magtatagal and turnaround time ng pagrerepair,” he added. 

(This innovation made by the Chairman was insisted on in our terms of reference to ensure efficiency among all of us and the turnaround time of repair.) (AGP/SQP/PIA-Aklan)