6 provinces lack telecom facilities – Comelec

MANILA, Philippines – Six major provinces have no telecommunication link to transmit election results from polling precincts to canvassing centers, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday.

However, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said they could use the Broadband Global Area Network (BGAN) or satellite antennae to transmit results.

“It does not mean that we can no longer transmit the results,” he said. “We can still transmit using the satellite.”

Site surveys conducted by Smartmatic-Total Information Management Corp. (TIM) showed 30 percent of the country lack access to telecommunication facilities.

These are the provinces of Abra, Benguet, Samar, Leyte, Zamboanga and Tawi-Tawi.

As of March 17, the number of registered voters in Abra was 147,615; Benguet, 328,010; Samar, 442,662; Leyte, 997,244; Zamboanga, 936,797; and Tawi-Tawi, 156,027, according to the Comelec.

Smartmatic started the survey in September last year to determine the availability of telecommunication facilities nationwide.

Anticipating a possible breakdown in telecommunications signals, Smartmatic had procured 5,000 units of BGAN as an alternative means to transmit election results.

Transmission might be delayed

It might take “some time” or until nighttime for the transmission of election results from some polling precincts in remote areas, Smartmatic said yesterday.

Testifying at the House of Representatives, Cesar Flores, Smartmatic president for Southeast Asia, said 30 percent or 40,000 precincts in remote areas will experience delays in transmitting election results.

“We have to wait probably for two hours of delay, but within the day, or by night, we will get the results,” he said.

Flores said Smartmatic will have “at least one technician” in each of the precincts, and that they will adopt a rotation method to maximize the use of satellite technology provided by international firm Imarsat.

“We’re not fooling anybody here,” he said.

“This is the reality on the ground. So far, we already have 5,000 units of satellite antennas.”

Cagayan de Oro Rep. Rufus Rodriguez asked Flores if such equipment is already factored in the P7.2-billion contract.

Flores assured the House committee on oversight chaired by Quezon Rep. Danilo Suarez that the transmission would be done, as provided for in the law and in the contract.

“Right now, we’re investigating if we can transmit because it will take time, and these precincts may have to wait,” he said.

“But we will be rotating the satellite antennas in schools so that we can transmit the results of the elections.”

Executives of telecommunications firms Smart, Globe and Sun Cellular have acknowledged their limitation.

However, they have assured the Comelec, lawmakers and Smartmatic that they will help in the transmission.

“We have already allocated a bigger bandwidth for data transfer,” said Roy Ibay of Smart.

“We admit that there are indeed certain areas that we don’t have any signal,” said Froilan Castelo of Globe.

“But generally, in the streets, we have signal, unlike in those schools which may have high ceilings and whose architectural design is quite different.”

Flores said jamming devices can delay the transmission of election results, but they could not alter the votes.

The entire system of tabulation and transmission can be verified, even by the political parties, he added.

Flores said it is impossible to cheat without leaving a trail, as the system is completely auditable.

The system has enough safeguards against attempts to manipulate results, he added.

Flores said the machines will accept only the digital signature of the authorized Board of Election Inspector member on the transmitted data.

“All data that is transmitted by the machines have an encryption so the server will check if it’s the same encryption that it’s supposed to accept; if not, then it rejects it,” he said.

“The servers will check if the data has these items, it cannot transmit a different package.”

Flores said political parties and accredited poll watchdog groups will be provided with printed copies of the election returns.

They can check if these are the same results being tabulated, he added.

PPCRV to educate voters

Poll watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) will deploy some half a million volunteers to educate voters on the automated elections.

In a telephone interview, PPCRV chair Henrietta de Villa said aside from educating voters on the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines, they will continue to inculcate in them the need to vote with “principled conscience.”

“It’s not only teaching them how to shade the ballots,” she said.

“What is important is for them to adhere to justice, charity and truth when choosing their candidates.”

De Villa said the PPCRV’s objective is to reach out to voters in far-flung areas.

“We know that they are the ones who need this voter’s education the most,” she said.

Yesterday, the PPCRV organized a special mock election exercise for the media at the Pope Puis XII Catholic Center in Paco, Manila.

Five members of the media, including STARWeek editor Doreen Yu, were randomly chosen to cast their ballots and to feed them into a PCOS machine.

De Villa said the voter’s education campaign would primarily be done in parishes and schools. –-Sheila Crisostomo (The Philippine Star) with Delon Porcalla