By John Rey Saavedra/Philippine News Agency
CEBU CITY — The Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday said the Philippine National Police (PNP) here has organized a security team for the distribution of the vote counting machines (VCMs) to different cities and municipalities in Cebu.
Lawyer Jerome Brillantes, election supervisor of Comelec-Cebu, said he met with the personnel of the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) to plot the distribution plan for the VCMs. “We are set for Thursday’s (May 2) distribution of VCMs,” Brillantes said.
He praised the commitment of the police officers in securing the 3,716 VCMs from a private courier’s hub in Mandaue City where they are currently stored up to the different local government units (LGUs) in the province.
Reportedly, the Special Weapons and Tactics of the CPPO stood guard at the hub to ensure that the VCMs are safe.
“They (police) group themselves into team. They will secure the vehicle where the VCMs will be loaded. One vehicle will serve as lead security, while the other as tail security,” Brillantes told the Philippine News Agency (PNA) in an interview.
The chiefs of police in different towns and cities were also alerted so that they can conduct security measures on roads where the VCM-loaded vehicles are expected to pass, he added.
Municipal and city election officers will receive the VCMs. They are the tasked to secure the machines until May 10, the day designated by the Comelec to conduct testing.
“We leave it to the municipal election officers to secure the VCMs. They should put them at a place that can easily be guarded by our uniformed men,” he said.
The Comelec is inviting different political camps concerned for the honest and clean midterm elections to help guard the machines, he said.
“They can witness as well provide persons to witness how secured the VCMs are in their area,” he said.
The provincial election supervisor said that political camps in Cebu are active in watching over the distribution of the ballot boxes last week.
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