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A CHURCH-BASED watchdog group in Cebu is being tapped by the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to conduct voters education on election day.
Comelec provincial supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said he is thinking of placing C-Cimpel volunteers inside a holding area near the precincts where voters can be oriented on how to cast votes using the precinct optical scan (PCOS) units.
Castillano and Senior Supt. Erson Digal of the Cebu Provincial Police Office, gave their inputs in yesterday afternoon's weekly session at the Cebu Provincial Board.
Castillano said voters education remains a big challenge for the Comelec and other stakeholders.
?We are asking different sectors to help us inform voters on how to vote during the poll automation,? he said.
On Feb. 19 to 25, the Comelec will hold road show training seminars for poll clerks. On March 1 to 31, the Comelec will also hold trainings for the board of election inspectors.
Castillano assured that data in the automated machines cannot be hacked.
?The automated machines are stand alone units. The transmission will not take more than five minutes. The data transmitted will not change because of a 128 bit encryption which is used by banks,? he said.
After the election, Castillano said the Comelec will choose a precinct for every district and count the votes manually to verify and reconcile the transmitted election results.
He said everyone involved should work closely to ensure peaceful and honest elections.
For his part, Digal said they will assign four police personnel to every precinct during the elections.
Though they lack personnel, he said they will coordinate with the military's 78th Infantry Battalion and the Regional Mobile Group to secure the precincts.
For now, he said they are monitoring the presence of criminals with standing arrest warrants in Argao, Ronda, and Dumnajug in Cebu's second district.
?We just could not locate them,? Digal said.
