By Noriel Padiernos, ABS-CBN News North Central Luzon
PALAYAN CITY, Nueva Ecija - Several reconfigured compact flash cards allegedly failed to work after they were installed in Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines in Nueva Ecija.
A reconfigured compact flash card for the polling centers in Nueva Ecija’s Fourth District failed to work when it was installed in a Precinct Count Optical Scan machine on Saturday.
“Sir, kung ang PCOS ang problema … sinubukan naming yung card na yan sa iba pang machine, hindi rin gumana. Ibig sabihin, yung card ang may problema,” a PCOS technician told ABS-CBN News.
In the town of Jaen, 2 memory cards didn’t work after they were tried in several PCOS machines.
Because of what happened, some BEI members fear that the other reconfigured flash cards might fail to work on Election Day. More than 40,000 votes could be affected if this happens on Monday.
Val Uluquisin, the Smartmatic supervisor for Jaen, could not explain why the compact flash cards did not work. He said he has been calling his superiors for advice on what to do to no avail.
“Pag po tinatanong naming sila, sabi wait at ipapasa sa iba tapos paghihintayin kami ng 5 minutes. For short po, pinagpapasapasa po kami,” he said.
Jaen’s election officer, Atty. Amir Zerrudo, could not hide his dismay while watching Uluquisin fail to contact his superiors.
"Today is May 8. Hindi nila kami mabigyan ng specific date or contingency plan tungkol sa bagay na ‘to,” Zerrudo said.
He fears that if they fail to solve the problem on Sunday, they might end up testing the machines on Election Day itself.