vonjobi: wow, congratulations! kelan ang trip? i hope i'll be around when you come. had a good time with diosa last...
Keith Bacongco: Knowing Nograles and his Big Boss...garapalan na lang talaga.
Vinia Datinguinoo Mukherjee: Congratulations, PCIJ! Mabuhay kayo!
Lead Philippines: But without credible mass media there, what is left to protect the people..?
vonjobi: it's juned sOniDo.

Latest Message 5 months ago

hopeless_race : Lets not just focus sa mga malversation of funds, sa mga overpricing..ating pagtuunan ng atensyon ang diskarte ng mga politiko na umuutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno."Small time" ang ibang pamamaraan ng pangungurakot kumpara sa pag-utang sa gobyerno ng bilyon na tunay ngang masasabing "pinaka big-time" at wala pang sabit.
hopeless_race : Mukhang tikom ang bibig ng lahat pagdating sa diskarte ng mga politiko sa pagutang ng mga bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno na tinatakbuhan. Itong pamamaraan na ito ang tunay na kumakain ng malaking porsyento ng ating national budget batay na din sa sinasabi ng world bank.
hopeless_race : Pakisilip naman po ang mga utang ni Villar sa BSP, ang mga utang nila RAMON JACINTO, RONNIE ZAMORA, JOE DE VENECIA at madami pang ibang mga pulitiko. Iilan lamang yan sa mga nababanggit sa balita na may mga malalaking utang sa gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Nagmimistulang "small time" lamang ang malversation of funds kumpara sa laki ng kinakamal ng mga umuutang sa gobyerno. At ito ay malinaw na natatakbuhan dahil hindi nga naman pwede makulong ang may-ari ng kumpanya sa pagkaka-utang lamang. Tunay na mga tuso at magagaling sa batas itong mga politiko natin. Masasabi ko na malamang lahat ng mga politiko ganito ang diskarte...wala pang kulong.
hopeless_race : PCIJ pkitingnan naman po ang mga gaya ni Villar na my malaking utang sa Gobyerno pero tinatakbuhan. Magtatayo ng kumpanya at uutang ng bilyon bilyon sa gobyerno ng walang balak bayaran. Tunay ngang walang nakukulong sa utang...ito ang prinsipyo ginagamit ng mga politiko ntin kaya nakakapagtaka kung san napupunta ang daang bilyong pera ng gobyerno.
hopeless_race : Sana itreat naman po ng media ang hacienda luisita at mendiola massacre na parang MAGUINADANAO MASSACRE. Ipublicized ang mga katotohanan at ipakita sa tao ang karumaldumal na pinaggagawa sa mga farmers dun. Untouchable po ba sila cory at danding at hindi magawang batikusin ng media about these two massacres?
hopeless_race : Kapag napaguusapan ang mendiola at hacienda luisita massacre ay parang walang nangyari at parang hindi big deal. Anu po ba ang pinagkaiba ng dalawang nabanggit na massacre sa maguindanao massacre?
hopeless_race : Its sad that we pinoys are blind to the fact of what had happened in mendiola and hacienda luisita. Ang tanong..bakit ang media ay hindi manlang matackle ang ganitong usapin? Takot ba sila kay cory at danding?
hopeless_race : Wilkins" brand, for P1.4 billion.-1999 Sugarland Multi-Food Corp. for P2.9 billion 2001- Purefoods Corp P7 billion P60 billion Coca-Cola ... See More 2002- Cosmos Bottling Corp. from RFM Corp. for P14.1 billion October 2008- GSIS' shares in Meralco worth PHP30 Billion. December 2008- country's biggest oil refiner, Petron Corporation. international company shopping spree: Australian boutique brewer J. Boag and Son for A$96 million in 2000. $97 million for Thai Amarit Brewery Ltd $35.5 mi
hopeless_race : Gud am..glad to be back.
jr_lad : rip mr. alecks pabico. you'll be greatly missed!
sevens21 : Dati input mo lng name at SSS ID makukuha mo agad STATIC INFO...
sevens21 : tawag ka sa HOTLINE nila walang ANSWER grrr we need pa namn ng static info SSS Gising!!!
sevens21 : Gawa naman po kayo ng article about SSS. Pangit ng site nila dali ma blocked ng account
guest_899 : we must check the background of each potential candidates to avoid having another big mistake like GMA
guest_899 : congratulations to PCIJ, more power and God Bless !
jazzymuver : how did Arroyo swallow that kind of things!! how come that she just spend the money our countrymen for her own sake!!
guest_3664 : i would be glad if u can include the investigation of the manner public officials announce infra projects as per COA regulation. It is frustrating to see their faces on the tarpaulin instead of the prescribed information like name of project, date of implementation,amount of contract, source/s of fund, among other things. This is very rampant here in Marikina. Thanks and more power on your noble endeavors. We need people like you to have make our country great again.
jhanz_08 : im making research on R.A 9136...with rgards to the privatization of NPC..could someone out there can let me understand more bout this matter?why was monopoly dismantled?email me..jhanycem@yahoo.com...thanks much
erika marie : P.S.:) my paper is due next week and i do hope someone could provide me these reports coming from reliable resources thank you ulit.
erika marie : P.S.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study regarding political killings in the philippines. could someone out there please send me human rights reports under Aquino and Ramos administration. you could send it at my email: erikamariet@yahoo.com your response would surely be very much appreciated. thank you everyone. god bless.
guest_4275 : i am currently doing a study for my paper regarding political killings in the philippines. i noted that there are no human rights reports during the Aquino and Ramos administration. could someone out there please send me reports regarding these matter? i do hope these reports came from reliable resources you could send it in my email; erikamariet@yahoo.comyour response would surely be appreciated. thanks everyone. god bless.
jayson bourne : gusto ko po maging member ng PCIJ, panu po ba? may application po ba? sana mapadalhan nyo ako ng info sa email ko... www.jboxpenshoppe@yahoo.com
jayson bourne : cory is OK, but kris & Noynoy sensationalize masyado...
guest_9891 : LABAN pa rin!
meow : boycotts worked during marcos years. how about doing it now against the businesses of the con-ass congressmen?
meow : aside from 168, what other establishments can we boycott that belong to the arroyos and their cronies?
Jalenack : Your shoutbox is blank. Add a message!

You must be a registered user to participate in this chat

Trial and error in the May polls

Posted by: PCIJ | May 12, 2010 at 5:57 pm
Filed under: 2010 Elections

by Alexandra Francisco, JC Cordon, and AR Sabangan

The automation of the May polls had better results than expected. Still, many election officials and voters could perhaps be likened to mangoes that were prematurely ripened with the use of kalburo (calcium carbide), or teenage parents who were left with no choice but to mature overnight.

It was, to use a popular phrase, a case of hinog sa pilit (being forcibly ripened).

Forced to adopt to a modern system of voting amid old and worn-out facilities, inadequate information, training, and technical know-how, election inspectors in the cities of Navotas and Malabon had to resort to trial and error to make the precinct count optical scan (PCOS) voting machines work.

“Kulang ang dalawang araw na training nung March. Kailangang mag-adjust kami. May mga election procedures na di kasama sa training tulad ng transmission of votes. Natakot kami na baka pumalpak,” said Eliseo Estrada, a chairman of the Board of Election Inspectors at Navotas City’s North Bay Boulevard South (NBBS) Elementary School, which had 13,000 registered voters.

Unfortunately, the lack of training for the BEIs was not the only problem. Even the information technology (IT) experts who were supposed to guide the BEIs along did not seem to know what they were doing.

On Sunday, May 9, the teachers could not make the PCOS machines work during their first and final testing on the eve of the elections. It turned out that the BEIs did not know what compact flash (CF) card to insert into the PCOS. Neither did the assigned IT expert.

There were further delays in the testing because the technician did not see the errors in the way the BEI connected the PCOS machines to the power supply. The machine should be connected to either an outlet or the battery provided by Smartmatic—not both.

At the Ninoy Aquino Elementary School (NAES) in Longos, Malabon, unfamiliarity with the automated device was also the problem encountered by both the teachers and the technician.

“Hindi gamay ng BEI ‘yung paggamit ng machine kaya nahirapan sa testing,” said John Lester Santos, the IT expert assigned at the NAES.

But the NAES teachers swore it wasn’t only them who lacked knowledge on how to operate the machines.

“Eh di rin siya masyadong nakatulong. Kami-kami lang ang naka-troubleshoot ng problema. Nag-trial and error kami,” said a NAES teacher who claimed that the technician didn’t know what to do either. Often, they find him sending text messages to his supervisor about the complaints and questions of the BEIs.

The school’s shaky power supply was another concern for Estrada. Up until Saturday, May 8, the school was busy fixing the electrical wiring because most of the classrooms lacked circuit breakers for additional power outlets. Estrada feared that if all 13 PCOS machines assigned to the school were plugged into the same circuit, the school would catch fire from an electrical overload.

In fact, since Estrada started teaching at the NBBS in 1982, the school had already caught fire several times. Estrada said many outlets were busted or corroded due to flooding. One classroom simply had no electricity at all.

“Kung tutuusin matagal nang sinabi ni principal (sa munisipyo) na ipaayos yung wiring pero dumating lang ‘yung mga nagre-repair kahapon (Sabado). Kung hindi dumating ang eleksyon, siguro di pa maayos ang kuryente,” Estrada said.

Not all the problems had to do with the BEIs or the PCOS machines, though.

Curiously, despite the deluge of information and commercials on how to shade the ovals, some voters still couldn’t get it right.

Apparently, some voters listened too hard to the instruction of the Sexbomb Dancers: “Ang kailangan sa bilog ay simpleng-simple lang, itiman, i-shade ang loob ng bilog.”

One voter complained that no one told him not to press too hard with his pen.

“Wala naman kasing nagsabi sa ‘kin na huwag diinan. Ang sabi lang huwag lalagpas. Nakakapanghinayang… nabale-wala boto ko,” said 24-year-old Napeleon de Gracia, a first-time voter, whose ballot was rejected after he overmarked the ovals.

Still, many voters went beyond the eight-minute limit in shading their ballots, not because they deliberately wanted to delay the polls, but because, despite three months of incessant wooing by candidates, they were still undecided on election day.

“Sinubukan kong kumpletuhin yung dose, pero hindi pa rin nabuo. Hindi ko kasi kilala yung mga tumatakbong senador,” said a 25-year-old male voter at the NBBS who took 15 minutes and 25 seconds to finish shading the ballot.

“Nabubulok na ‘yung isa dun,” observed a poll watcher from Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, referring to a female voter at NBBS’s Cluster 128. The voter spent more than 20 minutes to finish shading her ballot.

“Wala kasi akong listahan, tsaka di ko kilala yung mga senador. Walo lang naiboto ko,” said another female voter, 23, who took more than 18 minutes to finish shading her ballot.

The Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism monitored the time it took people to vote at the NBBS. On the average, it took them 11 minutes to shade and another two minutes to fall in line and wait for their turn to feed the ballot.

The feeding took longer than expected because there were instances when the machines only accepted the ballots after four trials.

Minutes before the polls closed, BEIs in the NBBS tallied at least 66 rejected ballots. Most reasons for rejections ranged from the understandable to the bizarre.

Most BEI chairmen encountered ovals that were so heavily shaded with marking pens that the ink penetrated up to the back of the ballot. These were rejected by the PCOS machines.

Other voters were simply careless in the way they shaded their ovals, accidently making stray marks on their ballots.

One voter, accoding to a BEI chairman, shaded not the oval but the number beside it. And perhaps a tragic case was that of a woman in her 60s who wrote the name of her candidate at the back of the ballot. Maybe the last election was still vivid in her mind.

Meanwhile, 52-year-old Nelly Legaspi had to be assisted by a companion because she had poor eyesight. While voting, she complained that she couldn’t see the small print: “Masakit sa mata.”

“Wala akong salamin eh, wala kasi akong pambili. Wala akong trabaho. Yung asawa ko nagsa-sideline sa pedicab pero lasenggo. Yung apat kong anak wala ring trabaho,” said Legaspi. - PCIJ, 2010

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 12th, 2010 and is filed under 2010 Elections. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.