ILOILO City – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) in this city is ramping up preventive measures to safeguard election equipment after rainwater damaged three vote-counting machines (VCMs) less than 48 hours before today’s May 12 midterm elections.
The incident, which occurred at A. Montes II Elementary School in Barangay Sto. Rosario Duran, raised concerns over equipment security and preparedness amid increasingly erratic weather patterns.
Heavy rains on the night of May 10 caused water to seep into the VCM storage room, partially exposing the machines intended for three clustered precincts.
“The machines were affected, but we acted quickly and decisively,” said Jonathan Sayno, Election Assistant Officer II of the City Comelec.
“While the VCMs are water-resistant, protocol demands we conduct another round of final testing and sealing (FTS) to confirm full functionality,” he said.
Comelec convened an emergency inspection with political party representatives present on Sunday afternoon to assess the damage and perform the required FTS.
Sayno assured that if any machine is found defective, it will be replaced immediately with one of the 58 contingency units currently on standby at the City Comelec warehouse. These backups will also undergo FTS before deployment.
The local election office has since launched a citywide inspection of all VCM storage sites to ensure similar incidents are avoided.
“We are not taking any chances,” Sayno added yesterday. “Our focus is maintaining the integrity and efficiency of the election process.”
Comelec also issued reminders to all electoral boards and poll coordinators to regularly check storage conditions and implement sufficient waterproofing and protective measures for election paraphernalia.
Despite the unexpected weather-induced mishap, Comelec Iloilo City reiterated that contingency plans are in place and that the security and credibility of Monday’s elections remain fully intact./PN
