DUMAGUETE CITY – Around 35 selected poll officers from the four provinces of Central Visayas (Region 7) converged here for the Commission on Elections’ (Comelec) five-day trainors’ training on the operation of the Vote Counting Machine (VCM) and other related concerns, in preparation for the May 13 midterm elections.
The training wheeled off Monday and will continue through Friday, according to Provincial Election Supervisor lawyer Eliseo Labaria.
Labaria explained on Tuesday that this signals the start of continuous trainings for other poll stakeholders, to include the technical support staff, the teachers who will be serving as members of the Board of Election Inspectors, and Department of Science and Technology (DOST) personnel, who will be involved in the troubleshooting of the machines on Election Day.
The election officers from other provinces, who are attending the training, will, in turn, teach their fellow officers in their respective areas, he further explained.
“The training includes general instructions, operations of the VCM, for canvassing and operations of the canvassing system, transmission process, troubleshooting in case there will be problems with the machines,” Labaria said in the Cebuano dialect.
The selected election officers come from the towns and cities of the provinces of Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor and Negros Oriental.
According to Labaria, some election officers had previously attended similar trainings, which the poll body had conducted in Metro Manila.
There are 12 VCM units currently being used in the training that uses mock ballots printed with bogus names closely resembling the official ones that will be used in the May polls, he said.
The VCMs now have a few new updated features compared to the ones used in the 2016 presidential elections, he noted.
On Wednesday, DOST representatives will be joining the election officers during the training.
Next week, the technical support staff will undergo the same training while the teachers are scheduled on March 4 onwards.