Comelec says 'in control'

MANILA (7th UPDATE) - Reports of faulty vote-counting machines (VCMs), power outages, and other issues marred the start of nationwide elections on Monday, the first since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Vice President Leni Robredo's spokesman Atty. Barry Gutierrez said he has been in line to vote at a precinct within the UP Diliman campus since 5:30 a.m. but was unable to vote due to faulty machines. Smartmatic personnel called to fix the machines have not yet arrived 3 hours after the reported glitch, he said.

• Robredo spokesman flags alleged VCM problem

Here are some areas nationwide with reported faulty VCMs and other issues:

BATANGAS

Polls were delayed for at least 2 hours in a precinct in Bauan Technical Highschool in Bauan, Batangas also due to a faulty VCM.

The machine stopped working after 10 people successfully fed their ballots to the machine, DepEd Election Supervisor Officer Donna De Villa told reporters. Election officers have sought the help of technical personnel.

The problem has been reported to the Comelec Election Monitoring and Action Center, according to Commissioner Marlon Casquejo.

MARAWI

Polls did not open on time in Sagonsongan, Marawi due to the lack of power in several polling places and late poll watchers. Sagonsongan is the designated voting place for those displaced by the 2017 Marawi siege.

The voting process, which should have started 6 a.m., was delayed by about an hour.

Although voting has started as of writing, a large number of voters have accumulated, causing difficulties.

Police and the military were tapped to organize the process and implement physical distancing in an attempt to tame an angered crowd.

Chaos in Sagonsongan with delays caused by lack of power in several precincts, tardy poll watchers and failure to implement physical distancing in queues #Halalan2022 pic.twitter.com/CELoBNNR2M

— Jeff Canoy (@jeffcanoy) May 9, 2022

PANGASINAN

Another vote-counting machine at the North Central Elementary School in Binalonan, Pangasinan malfunctioned right after voting started.

A paper jam was reported when feeding the 11th ballot for the said precinct, election officer Leni Masaoy told reporters.

"Nagkaroon ng paper jam kaya hindi na niya kinakain 'yung mga balota. Ilang beses namin trinobleshoot, nireport na rin sa aming technician pero wala na talaga..." Masaoy said.

(There was a paper jam that's why we can't feed ballots anymore. We tried to troubleshoot. We have reported it to our technician but it's not working)

Voting has since resumed after the VCM was replaced.

MALABON

Aside from technical difficulties, other issues hounded the polls.

Senior citizens at the Potrero Elementary School in Malabon lamented that their designated polling place was at the third floor.

“Nahihirapan ako, hingal na hingal ako. Dati sa baba kami," ulcer-stricken 68-year old Terencia Tua told ABS-CBN News.

(It was difficult for me. I was out of breath. We used to vote at the ground floor.)

Pedro Guiling, meanwhile, complained that he was not on the list of voters while his late brother remained listed.

“Ang problema pa ho diyan, yung kapatid ko namatay, nandiyan pa (sa listahan) nagtataka ako bakit ganun. Pero itong buhay wala," he said.

(The problem is there is that my brother have died but he's still on the list. I'm just confused, why is it like that?)

BULACAN

Voter Reynaldo Salamat said he was disappointed when a Comelec officer allegedly grabbed his yet unshaded ballot and inserted it into a vote-counting machine.

Salamat queued at his precinct at the City of Malolos Integrated School as early as 6 a.m. Monday. He said he was frustrated after his 3-hour wait was wasted.

But according to Comelec officer Bonna Robles, Salamat approached them first, which prompted them to think that he was done voting.

WHAT COMELEC SAYS

The Commission on Elections is in full control of the elections despite reports of glitches, commissioner George Garcia said.

Voters should be the ones to feed ballots if the machines are working properly. Batch feeding only applies to voters whose precincts have defective VCMs, Garcia said.

Comelec's Casquejo said if there was a problem with the VCM, voters would be allowed to continue accomplishing ballots. However, they would not be able to personally feed them into the VCM pending the arrival of its replacement, he said.

Voters could also sign a waiver and let the electoral board feed their ballots to the machine, former Comelec commissioner Luie Guia said.

"'Di po puwede silang pwersahin. Maybe it's a suggestion para 'di sila maghintay. Ang reality d'yan din baka ma-crowd ang place," he said.

(They cannot be forced. Maybe it's a suggestion so they won't wait for long. The reality is the place can become crowded.)

Comelec acting spokesperson Rex Laudiangco said the "ballot surrender" option should be trusted as this has been implemented previously.

Kapag may VCM malfunction at hindi magamit pansamantala, pwede kang maghintay na maayos ang problema, o Pwede mo iwan ang balota mo sa electoral board, para sila ang mag ba-batch feed ng mga balota pag gumagana na ang makina. #VoteSAFEPilipinas

— James Jimenez (@jabjimenez) May 9, 2022

Some 1,867 vote counting machines experienced technical problems in the early hours of voting, according to Garcia. This, despite majority of the machines hurdling the final testing and sealing.

Garcia listed the following common issues which he said were also resolved:

• Paper Jam - 940
• Rejected ballots - 606
• VCM scanner - 158
• VCM printer not printing - 87
• Not printing properly - 76

As of 4:30 p.m., Casquejo said a total of 168 VCMs and 176 SD cards have been replaced.

Some 84,227 or 79 percent of the vote counting machines have reported to the Comelec Election Monitoring and Action Center while the rest could not report due to lack of signal, he said.

168 VCMs, 176 SD Cards defective and replaced on election day according to Commissioner Marlon Casquejo pic.twitter.com/IEUo7Oxcey

— RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News (@RG_Cruz12479) May 9, 2022

The poll body urged those posting about complaints on social media to include their location and precinct number as well as the official hashtag #VoteSAFEPilipinas for immediate response.

WATCH: Comelec acting spox Rex Laudiangco explains protocol on “ballot surrender” option when VCM malfunctions: pic.twitter.com/AP3x8yhwGX

— J. Villaruel (@jauhnetienne) May 9, 2022

• EXPLAINER: Can you leave your ballot with an election officer?

Garcia, meantime, reported that all 499 clustered precincts in 11 municipalities and 2 cities in Basilan started voting at 6 a.m. with very minimal incident.

Garcia said there was a strafing incident in 2 barangays in Sumisip town and heavy firing in island Barangay Bulobulo, Tabuan Lasa town but all of these did not stop Comelec from delivering election paraphernalia to voting centers. He said there were no casualties or injuries reported as of this time.

A total of 73,982 out of over 84,000 local absentee votes have been received, Garcia added.

GUARD THE BALLOTS

In the first few hours of voting, the church-based poll watchdog Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting has received calls about faulty VCMs in a number of precincts.

PPCRV chairperson Myla Villanueva urged their volunteers, who are assigned in precincts where VCMS are not working, to make sure that the ballots are "well-guarded".

"To the PPCRV volunteers, if the precinct VCM has failed, please make sure that the ballots are well-guarded," she said.

“Hindi ko naman po sinasabi na may mangyayari but para na po maiwasan 'yung pangamba na iba ang humahawak ng balota."

(I am not saying that something will happen, but we should avoid creating concern that someone else will hold the ballot.)

Villanueva called on the electorate to hold on to their ballots until issues surrounding the VCMs are resolved.

“Do not give up your ballot to anybody kasi boto niyo 'yun e. Kung maiintay niyo po, sana maintay ninyo bago isubo or kung may mga PPCRV volunteers doon at nasa mga guro na ang balota, bantayan na walang nagagalaw na mga balotang hindi nasusubo sa VCM," she said.

(Do not give up your ballot to anybody because that's your vote. If y ou can, wait for it to be fed or if there are PPCRV volunteers there and the ballots are with the teachers, make sure that no one else will handle the ballots that are yet to be fed to the VCM.)

PPCRV is Comelec's citizen’s arm, which has deployed volunteers to monitor the election and man voters help desks on the ground. The parish-based lay movement will also carry out a parallel unofficial count of the votes.

Refresh this page for updates.

— With reports from Dennis Datu, Jeff Canoy, Jeff Caparas, Elaine Fulgencio, RG Cruz, Jacque Manabat, and Reiniel Pawid, ABS-CBN News

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