MANILA, Philippines — Sixteen defective Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines caused delays in the elections in Caloocan City.
Of the 16 machines, seven were at the Maypajo Elementary School, said Maj. Bernabe Embile, head of the Caloocan City Police Community Relations Department. Three of the seven, however, were instantly restarted, while the other four precincts in the same school allowed voters to keep on shading their ballots for counting later upon the arrival of back-up PCOS machines.
Precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine. FILE PHOTO
Although it had caused delay for at least two hours, Embile assured the public that the elections would be completed until the end of the voting at 7 p.m.
The defective machines had caused long queues of impatient voters, Embile said.
Embile, stationed at the Comelec “Tawag Center” in Caloocan City, stressed that the automated elections would be completed in the affected precincts.
Embile said the memory card of the defective machine would be transferred to a PCOS that has already catered to all the voters it was assigned to.
Other schools with precincts allowing their voters to shade their ballots for counting later with the use of spare PCOS machines were the Grace Park Elementary School, Northern Rizal Yorklin Elementary School, A. Bonifacio Elementary School, and C. Arellano Elementary School.
One of the 16 machines was replaced due to total malfunction. The machine was assigned at the Camarin D Elementary School.
Other defective machines in Camarin D Elementary School, Llano Elementary School, Cielito Zamora High School, and Caloocan High School were all reactivated this afternoon.With reports from Janelle C. Ladonga and Reden D. Madrid, Inquirer trainees