00:00The Commission on Elections, or COMELEC, has started printing over 34,000 final testing and sealing, or FTS, ballots for the first-ever parliamentary elections in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, or BARM, set on October 13.
00:17The process will cover more than 3,400 clustered precincts across BARM's provinces, special geographic area, and key cities, with the FTS ensuring the readiness of automated counting machines.
00:30COMELEC Chair George Irwin Garcia expressed hope for a historic 75% voter turnout among BARM's 2.2 million registered voters, underscoring the importance of voter education through the Botong Bangsamoro campaign to ensure no resident is left uninformed about the polls.
00:49And to tell us more, we have with us Attorney John Rex Laudianco, COMELEC spokesperson, joining us via Zoom to discuss the ongoing preparations and significance of the final testing and sealing process in ensuring credible and transparent elections.
01:07Good evening, Sir William Theo here from PTV News tonight, and it's wonderful for you to be able to join us.
01:14Good evening, Sir William, and to all the viewers of PTV News tonight. Magandang gabi po.
01:18Yes, Attorney Laudianco, can you walk us through the final testing and sealing process and why it is an essential step before Election Day?
01:29So the final testing and sealing process is an integral part of the automated elections wherein the actual electoral boards and the actual members of the watchers of the politicians and the candidates will be voting through 10 duly designated final testing and sealing ballots,
01:45three, five, or even a day before the elections, the purpose of which is to check that the ACM or the automated counting machines contains no election results and that it reads specifically the ballots intended for it.
01:58And finally, that after voting and manually counting those in their ballots, it ties up and it matches accurately to the election returns generated.
02:06And then the electoral board will re-zero the automated counting machines, seal it, and then power it up to be opened again on Election Day.
02:16So this guarantees that the ACM is working properly and counts the votes accurately.
02:21Okay, sir. So how many ballots are being printed for the FTS in BARM and how will these be utilized during the simulation?
02:29The COMLEC will be employing 3,461 clustered precincts, each of which will have their own respective automated counting machines.
02:41Given that there are 10 final testing and sealing ballots per ACM, we have printed 34,610 final testing and sealing ballots.
02:51So they will be utilized again, as I've said, five or three days before the actual elections.
02:55Okay, sir. COMLEC Chair Garcia mentioned aiming for a 75% voter turnout.
03:02What specific measures are in place to encourage more Bangsamora voters to participate in the election, sir?
03:10That is correct, sir. Because we had attained around 78 to 80% voters turnout during the May election, specifically in the BARM region.
03:19So right now, we're gunning for at least 70 to 75%, given that this is practically a local election.
03:25But again, a continuation of the national election.
03:28So yesterday, we had launched Botong Bangsamoro.
03:31It's a holistic approach on the voter education and information efforts of the Commission on Elections.
03:37It involves the social media, actual going of our lecturers to the barangays, government centers and all.
03:44And it includes a demonstration of the automated counting machines.
03:47In the same period, we will be going for lectures on combating vote buying, vote selling, fake news.
03:54And it will be pointing the people to the proper sources of information so that they will not be victimized by fake news.
04:01Okay, sir. That's very interesting.
04:03Since this is the very first ever, can you tell us more about the Botong Bangsamoro voter education campaign?
04:10And how will it help reduce voter misinformation or lack of awareness?
04:15Because I think we want everybody to be on the same page, right?
04:19That is correct, sir.
04:20So Botong Bangsamoro is a concerted effort, not only coming from the Commission on Elections, but also from our stakeholders,
04:27civil service organizations and accredited citizens' arms.
04:30We have bound together to formulate voter education materials, which will be freely distributed to all parts of the barang.
04:38And these materials are readily understandable, made in the local dialect so that the people can connect with the importance of these elections.
04:46As I've stated, we will be doing lectures, series of talks, immersion using the automated counting machines,
04:53and we'll be orienting them specifically to proper sources of information.
04:57The websites of the Commission on Elections, the social media pages of the Commission on Elections, and the accredited citizens' arms.
05:04So that in case they encounter a very dubious source of information,
05:09they could readily fact-check and ask the Commission on Elections directly,
05:13is this information true, is this information accurate?
05:16And then, of course, an informed voter is a responsible voter.
05:19Yes, sir, and it's amazing how everything is definitely well-planned months before the election day.
05:27And so, because of this, though, what challenges do you foresee in conducting elections across Barham's provinces,
05:34special geographic areas, and cities, and how would the Comelect be addressing them, sir?
05:41First, of course, is the awareness of our voters from Barham.
05:44There are lots of geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas,
05:48so there really is a concerted effort to reach the voters in this area.
05:53Also, the weather is a concern.
05:55As we all know, national and local elections are usually held during summer, and that is May.
06:00But this time, the Bangsamoro Parliament elections will be held during the rainy season in October.
06:05So first, we foresee a challenge in the deployment.
06:09And even on the actual election day itself, there might be flooding, there might be storms.
06:13So we are seriously considering alternative places to vote and, of course, to conduct the canvassing and everything.
06:20And when it comes to rainy season, there's also a concern about the power outages.
06:24So everything is being planned.
06:26The ACM has batteries.
06:27The Starlink system had their own power stations.
06:30And generator sets will be made on standby.
06:33All of these are made, of course, with security also in mind.
06:36The main reason why the Bangsamoro election was reset from May to October.
06:41So everything is being planned as part of the contingency measures of the COMELEC.
06:46Yes, sir.
06:47I think, you know, that's actually something that's very positive.
06:51And I'm glad that we're doing all of these things to make sure that there would be really no, nothing can go wrong.
06:56So at this point, sir, any final messages to the public, especially since this will be the first of its kind?
07:06Just two messages to our voters in Bangsamoro.
07:08First, the message of the commission on elections is loud and clear.
07:13Your parliamentary elections, the first ever in the Philippines and in the Barm, will be held on October 13.
07:19There will be no delay.
07:21There will be no postponement.
07:22There will be no setting for it.
07:24Your elections surely will be held on October 13.
07:27Second, on the readiness of the commission on elections.
07:29We have just suspended the printing of the ballots, but we are ready to resume the printing on Monday once we have cleared up all the complexities of the bill, which we just came out from the Bangsamoro Transition Authority.
07:43The technology is in place and it's ready.
07:45Our deployment will be forthcoming.
07:48The training of the teachers and even the special election boards coming from the Philippine Coast Guards are on its way.
07:55And we have made contingency plans to ensure that we will be able to deliver the commitment of the commission on elections to hold your parliamentary elections on October 13.
08:04And we'll be seeing you for the whole month of September for our voter education and information campaign.
08:11Yes, thank you very much, Attorney John Rex Laudianco, Comalex Spokesperson.
08:17Thank you for joining us tonight.
08:20Thank you very much.
