Cebu now ready for polls

CEBU, Philippines — With just 12 days left before election day, regional agencies assured the public that Cebu --one of the country’s vote-rich provinces-- is fully ready to ensure a transparent, honest, and orderly electoral process.

Officials from the Commission on Elections (Comelec), the Department of Energy (DOE), the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) in Central Visayas, and the Visayas Electric Company Inc. (VECO) expressed their commitment during a town hall meeting hosted by The FREEMAN yesterday titled Energized and Connected: “Infrastructure Readiness for a Transparent Election” at Seda Hotel.

Comelec assistant regional director Veronico Petalcorin, one of the event's speakers, said that so far the poll body has met its timeline, particularly in conducting trainings, activities, and other preparations for the election season.

In Central Visayas, Cebu currently has at least 3.4 million registered voters across 4,120 clustered precincts. Meanwhile, Bohol has 981,564 registered voters and 1,542 clustered precincts.

Petalcorin said the delivery of ballot boxes to all Offices of the Election Officer across both islands in the region has already been completed.

As of the latest update on the arrival of Automated Counting Machines (ACMs) in Cebu, a total of 4,032 principal ACMs have arrived, along with 437 contingency ACMs, 45 Consolidated Canvassing System kits, and 4,065 external batteries.

He said that the arrival of ballots in Central Visayas is expected on the first week of May.

The Comelec will also conduct final testing and sealing of the ACMs from May 2 until May 7, 2025.

“Atong testingan kung wala bay deperensya ang mga makina… Testingan aron way daghang mga sugilanon, makita g’yud nila nga transparent atong ACM,” he added.

However, Petalcorin said the Comelec hasn’t prepared generator sets for election day in the event of a power interruption.

But he assured ACMs will still function even during a power outage, as each unit is equipped with a built-in battery that can last for more than 24 hours.

The concern, he noted, is if voting extends into the evening --darkness may make it difficult for voters to properly shade their ballots.

However, DOE division chief Jose Rey Maleza assured that Cebu will have a stable power supply on election day.

“The energy family, led by the Department of Energy, is more than ready to provide adequate and sufficient power during the May elections,” Maleza said.

He added that the DOE has reactivated the Energy Task Force Election earlier this year --a body originally created in 2018 for this purpose.

The task force includes all major players in the power sector, such as transmission companies like NGCP, generation companies, oil firms, and distribution utilities like VECO.

Maleza said DOE’s role, based on the tasks assigned by the Comelec, is to ensure the provision of adequate power before, during, and after the elections.

To ensure this, DOE has inspected of election facilities, voting precincts, canvassing centers, and transmission hubs and data centers in major areas in Cebu.

He added that their preparations include distributing utilities that can also provide support to communication facilities.

“Barring any untoward and unscheduled power interruptions, we can adequately supply power before, during, and after elections,” said Maleza.

He explained that in one of their meetings, there was a suggestion to procure generator sets for all polling precincts nationwide. However, since not all areas may experience power interruptions --and such events are unpredictable-- there’s a risk that the generators would go unused, resulting in wasted resources.

Because of this, Maleza said the DOE has instructed distribution utilities to fast-track repair efforts in the event of a power outage.

Meanwhile, in urban areas where alternate circuits are available, utilities are permitted to tap into these lines to ensure that the electoral process continues uninterrupted if such incidents occur.

Meanwhile, VECO senior assistant vice president for engineering operations Mark Anthony Kindica said the utility is likewise preparing for the pre-election, election day, and post-election phases.

“For us, we need to ensure our liability and availability during the elections prior, during, and after elections,” said Kindica.

He explained that during the pre-election phase, VECO will focus on securing grid stability, ensuring system readiness, preventing disruptions, and deploying standby crews for rapid response.

During the election phase, VECO will ensure real-time monitoring, quick issue resolution, and swift power restoration, all in coordination with election officials.

After the May 12 elections, the post-election phase will assess system performance, identify any issues, document improvements, and conclude with a review and recommendations for future reliability.

With the election season becoming more high-tech than before, DICT regional director Frederick Amores said their role has always been to help secure the digital aspects of the elections.

He explained that for their part, they have been conducting training on the use of digital certificates to ensure the security of election results.

Amores said the DICT utilizes the Philippine National Public Key Infrastructure to secure documents on election day. With this technology, the DICT can detect if any tampering or alterations have been made to the data.

He added that this technology has been proven and tested, as it has been used in previous elections in partnership with Comelec.

Additionally, in terms of connectivity, Central Visayas has established strong connectivity. However, the DICT has also deployed Starlink in areas that occasionally struggle with signal issues.

“We don’t foresee much of an issue… My team is always ready to help with anything related to the technology side of things… We are ready for it,” Amores concluded.

With both public and private agencies preparing for the upcoming elections, Comelec-7 urges the public to place their trust in the commission and its systems.

“We want to be trusted. We have to trust the system, we have to trust the poll workers, and we have to trust the democratic process,” said Petalcorin.

Amores also expressed support for Comelec, highlighting the importance of verification during this election season.

He emphasized the vital role of the media in spreading accurate information, saying that while misinformation and disinformation may circulate online, it is essential to raise public awareness and help people discern that not everything they see online is true.

“In the part of DICT, we are here to help ensure that the elections will reflect the true will of the people,” said Amores. — (FREEMAN)