Comelec conducts the final testing and sealing of vote counting machines at the Pasong Tamo Elementary School in Quezon City on October 25, 2023. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News/File

MANILA — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday assured greater transparency in delivering the results of the 2025 midterm elections, as the poll body gets ready to award the transmission contract to the joint venture of Filipino companies iOne Resources, Inc. and Ardent Networks, Inc.

The joint venture passed all the needed requirements and got selected to supply the Secure Electronic Transmission Services (SETs) with its bid amounting to P1.4 billion, lower than the Comelec-approved budget of P1.64 billion. 

READ: Comelec to award 2025 midterm elections transmission contract to Ione Resources

“Inalam mabuti ng TWG (technical working group) natin ‘yung mga documents na sinubmit nila at nagpunta pa nga yung TWG natin sa DICT (Department of Information and Communications Technology) upang alamin kung talagang ito ba sa mga proyekto nila ay nagco-comply at hindi naman nagkakaroon ng delay,” Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia said in an interview. 

(The TWG scrutinized the documents they submitted and even went to the DICT to know if the joint venture complied with their projects and if there was no delay.) 

“May findings na may .24 percent na may delay sila sa isang proyekto nila sa DICT, but of course, negligible kasi yung .24 percent. Hindi ganun naman kalaki,” he added. 

(There were findings of a .24% delay in one project with DICT but of course, .24% is negligible. It is not that big.) 

Garcia is set to sign the Notice of Award on Thursday, after which a contract negotiation will be done. If all goes smoothly, the contract signing will follow.

NO MORE TRANSPARENCY SERVER 

One change that can be expected during the May 2025 midterm elections is the removal of the transparency server.

READ: Comelec to get rid of transparency server in Halalan 2025 

Before, results from the vote counting machines were sent to the telco (telecommunications) exchange run by providers such as Smart and Globe, to the transparency server, and then to the board of canvassers. 

For next year, Garcia says the flow of results would be from the automated counting machines, to the telco exchange, and to the data centers of the municipal and city board of canvassers, majority and minority parties, citizens’ arms such as the National Citizens' Movement For Free Elections (NAMFREL), and the media. 

Aside from this being a faster process, it would also provide for more venues of transparency since more parties will have access to real time results, according to the poll chief. 

“Kung mabubulunan ang transparency server, practically lahat ng nakadepende doon na umaasa sa results ay mabubulunan din at hindi rin makakakuha ng kopya and therefore magkakaroon pa ng isyu sa credibility ng results. Sa kasalukuyan po, ang ating transparency server ay wala na,” Garcia explained. 

(If there will be a problem with the transparency server, all of those who depend on it for results will also have a problem and will not get a copy and therefore credibility issues will arise. For now, there will be no more transparency server.) 

“Ang telco exchange lang ang magbabato. Para rin sa atin. Kapag nagtext ka using Smart, dadaan lahat ‘yan using a telco exchange upang maibato sa Globe. ‘Yung Globe naman dadaan din sa telco exchange para maibato sa Smart. ‘Yun ay paraan lang para hindi nagiging magulo ‘yung mismong transmission pero walang processing doon, wala doon sa telco exchange na tinatawag na server, and therefore wala tayong dapat ikatakot doon.”

 (The telco exchange will only send results. It’s the same as when we text. When you use Smart, it will go through a telco exchange in order for the text to be sent to Globe. Globe will also go through a telco exchange for the message to be sent to Smart. That is only a means to make transmission orderly, there is no processing there, no server, and therefore, there is nothing to be afraid of.)

 DICT would also be able to monitor the results being sent from the precincts, according to Garcia. 

Stakeholders will have access to election receipts as well. 

“‘Yung resibo may QR code. Bibigyan natin ng passcode ang mismong NAMFREL at PPCRV (Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting), papayagan lahat ng watchers na kunan ng picture ang QR code upang mapadala nila sa kanilang HQ para makapag-quick count,” Garcia stated. 

(The receipt will have a QR code. We will give NAMFREL and PPCRV a passcode, we will allow all watchers to take a picture of the QR code in order to send that to their headquarters for a quick count.) 

Comelec, meanwhile, will release minute per minute results on its website. 

“Ngayon ay marami na tayong sources ng data, maraming basis for comparison,” Garcia noted. 

(Now, we have many sources of data, more basis for comparison.) 

He said they are at ease with the advanced technology presented by the joint venture which supposedly resembles that used by the US military and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). 

The system will also go through a thorough source code review and international certification. 

Compatibility with the automated counting machines of the joint venture of South Korean firm Miru Systems Company, Limited will also be ascertained. 

READ: Comelec chief allays fears over Miru Systems

These machines should be able to not just receive results, but send notifications that results were, in fact, transmitted at a specific time. 

 FASTER RESULTS 

With faster transmission and faster counting of votes, Comelec hopes to have a quicker announcement of results. 

“Siguro in a matter of less than one hour we can know our Mayor and our councilors. And siguro po ‘yung governor sa probinsya mga three hours to three and a half hours alam na natin kung sino ang panalo,” Garcia estimated. 

(Probably in a matter of less than one hour we can know our Mayor and our councilors. And maybe for governors it will take three hours to three and a half hours to know the winner.) 

“Kinabukasan sa palagay ko ‘yung sa national naman. Pero siguro madaling araw ng the day after the election more or less alam na natin kasi by that time nakaka-90 to 95% transmission na tayo.”

 (We might be able to know the results for the national elections the next day. Maybe early morning of the next day we would know more or less since transmission would be 90 to 95% then.)

 Garcia expects all transmission to be done before lunch time the day after the elections, which will be faster by a few hours as compared to previous polls. 

RELATED VIDEO