Election Update 2

UPDATE 2 AS OF 4:00PM, May 13, 2013

Field updates and incident reports received as of 2:00PM highlighted technical problems that delayed and reduced the efficiency of the election, incidences of manual voting without the PCOS machines, and updated incident reports from hinterland barangays in Cagayan de Oro, and from the province of Misamis Oriental.

                Summary of technical issues in Cagayan de Oro – the PCOS machines have generally been functional. Out of 360 PCOS machines, 26 were reported to have malfunctioned. Of these 26 cases, 18 have been resolved, with the PCOS machines being restored to normal function. Of the 8 remaining cases, 3 have been replaced with new PCOS machines; of these 3, one was also found to be defective. As of the writing of this report received, ten machines[T1]  were still not able to function. These ten machines were from the following precincts:

·         #38 in MOGCHS (1 PCOS)

·         #224 in Kauswagan Central School (1 PCOS)

·         #0413A/B, #414A/B in East 2 Central School (1 PCOS)

·         #0340A/B, #0341A/B and #0328A/B/C, #0337A/B/C in West City Central School (2 PCOS)

·         #0123 in Camaman-an Elementary School (1 PCOS)

·         #0262A, #02633A/B, #02662 in Bulua National Highschool (1 PCOS with a defective replacement)

·         #0239A/B, #0241A/B, #0240A/B in Suntingon Elementary School (1 PCOS)

·         City Central School (1 PCOS)

·         #135A/B, #136 A, #137A/B; Agusan Elementary School (1 PCOS produced 43 ballots with candidates mismatched with supposed number)

The following four PCOS with technical problems resumed normal function:

·         #0803A/B, #0804A in Puntod National High School (3 PCOS, all fixed)

·         COBSAT (1 PCOS, fixed)

Manual Voting – Due to technical problems, twelve (12) precincts from West City Central School and Bongbongon have been confirmed to be conducting manual voting without the casting of ballots into the PCOS for recording in certain precincts. These twelve precincts are:

• From West City Central School:
• #0340A/B
•  #0341A/B
• #0328A/B/C
• #0337A/B/C
• From Bongbongon Elementary School:
• #0541A/B/C
• #0543A/B
• #0540A/B

Incident reports from hinterland barangays in Cagayan de Oro

NAMFREL CDO Mis. Or. Chapter had successfully established direct partnership with community-based volunteers for hinterland barangays in the city that are considered as political hotspots during election. These NAMFREL volunteers were very active in forwarding reports about blatant violations of election rules in their respective precincts. Aside from the common technical problems, there were also critical incidents, such as the following:

                Two election anomalies were reported as follows:

                In Brgy. Lumbia, it was reported that a certain Raymond Cabanez allegedly shaded the ballot of a senior citizen voter he was assisting in favor of Emano, despite the fact that said voter did not want to vote for Emano at all. A similar incident took place, as complained by senior citizen Candelaria Ramos. Ramos complained that another Emano supporter, a certain Dante Ramos, shaded her ballot in favor of Emano without her consent. Mr. Ramos allegedly insisted that he should “assist” the complainant by shading her ballot for her. NAMFREL volunteers referred the complaint to COMELEC.

                Besigan Elementary School experienced crowding inside and outside of the polling classrooms, causing delays in the voting process. Voters refused to heed requests from the Principal to disperse. There was also no assistance provided to illiterate voters. The BEI was unresponsive, and Rosito Minister Jr., the DepEd manager in the area, could not be reached for comment. As of 10:50, these issues have not been resolved.

Other technical problems in hinterland CDO:

·         San Simon Elementary School: 2 PCOS machines malfunctioned

·         Lumbia elementary school: Paper jam and low (battery) power issues were experienced in five PCOS machines, but were eventually fixed. The back-up cards for the PCOS machines were absent; the main CF cards were used instead. Two election anomalies occurred.

Partial   Incident reports from Misamis Oriental barangays - Certain PCOS machines in the following areas were defective:

·         Naawan (4 machines)

·         Binuangan (1 machine)

·         Barangay Macupa, Tagoloan (1 machine) - a technician advised the replacement of the PCOS machine. The status of this replacement is pending.

·         Kamilon, Initaw (1 machine) - fixed on site and is currently functioning.

·         Mandahilag, Talisayan – (1 case paper jam)

---

 [T1]Which precincts?