ILOILO City – To prevent major disruptions during the May 12 national and local elections, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) Region 6 will establish technical hubs in each of the five provinces of Western Visayas for immediate repair of any malfunctioning vote-counting machines, or Automated Counting Machines (ACMs).
Comelec regional director Atty. Dennis Ausan said the move is a significant upgrade from previous election cycles where problematic machines had to be flown to Cebu City for servicing — causing delays and extended voting hours in affected precincts.
“This time, we are bringing the technical hubs closer to the ground. Each province — Iloilo, Guimaras, Antique, Aklan, and Capiz — will have its own repair center ready to receive defective machines for immediate diagnostics and repair,” Ausan told Panay News.
Each hub will be manned by trained technicians from Comelec, Miro Systems (the official ACM provider), and partner agencies such as the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) and Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT). These hubs will become operational on election day, May 12.
In Iloilo province, the technical hub will be located at the Provincial Election Supervisor’s office on the 2nd Floor of Angeles Arcade Building, Mabini Street, Barangay Osmeña, Iloilo City.
Similar hubs will be set up in the corresponding provincial election offices of the other four provinces.
Ausan emphasized that watchers of candidates, political parties, party-list groups, and accredited media personnel will be allowed to witness the repair process to ensure transparency.
In cases where repairs are not possible, contingency machines stationed at city and municipal election offices will be deployed immediately to affected precincts.
Region 6 has been allotted a total of 4,971 ACMs, equivalent to a one-to-one ratio with its 4,971 clustered precincts. Of this number, 2,668 are assigned to Iloilo, 177 to Guimaras, 773 to Capiz, 730 to Antique, and 603 to Aklan. Additional contingency machines have also been dispatched to the region as a backup measure.
Comelec Region 6 has also received the complete delivery of 3,128,562 official ballots — enough for the total number of registered voters in the region — as well as all necessary election paraphernalia, both accountable and non-accountable, including ballot boxes, batteries, edible ink, and Consolidated Canvassing System (CCS) kits./PN
