Poll body chief Sixto Brillantes downplayed reports of PCOS machine glitches, missing modems, memory cards and other election-related problems as he assured the public that everything is still under control.
In an AKSYON 5 interview at around 10:30 a.m., the Comelec chairman said his office continues to monitor the current situation in different polling precicnts all over the country. Brillantes explained that malfunctioning PCOS machines should not be a cause for delay. He added that voters should still be allowed to cast their votes to prevent long lines at the polling precincts. In the live interview, he said poll representatives have been instructed to gather the accomplished ballots and set them aside while the PCOS machines are being repaired or replaced. The ballots can then be fed to a PCOS machine later, witnessed by poll watchers and other election representatives.
Brillantes assured that this will not lead to cheating or ballot switching as there are only enough ballots printed for one precicnct. He added that security measures are also in place to make sure that the PCOS machines are only able to read legitimate ballots.
As early as 8 a.m. reports of non-working or malfunctioning PCOS machines have been coming in from Ramon Magsaysay High School in Manila. In the said school, 2 out of the 28 PCOS machines (precincts 321 and 351) were reported as not working.
Brillantes also assured that they have enough technicians and back up repair personnel for the PCOS machines. Ideally he said, there should be one technician in charge of all PCOS machines in one school.
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