By FRANKLIN Q. DE GUZMAN
Archdiocesan Social Action Apostolate Lingayen-Dagupan

DAGUPAN CITY.—All in good condition.

This was the conclusion of a contingent from the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) of the Archdiocese of Lingayen-Dagupan (ALD) that inspected the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines that will be used in some parts of Pangasinan on voting day.

In a warehouse somewhere in the city,  Archdiocesan Social Action Apostolate of Lingayen-Dagupan executive chairperson Fr. Oliver Mendoza,  PPCRV-LD chairperson Fr. Allen Romero and three Church volunteers checked the security of more than 1,000 PCOS machines to be used in Pangasinan’s Districts 2, 3, 4 and 5.

The inspection was necessary to make sure the PCOS machines are “safe, secured and sealed,” Mendoza said. “It (PCOS) is the most important equipment that we will be using for this first fully automated election.”

The PCOS machines were safely stored in a warehouse and are still packed in plastic containers, according to PPCRV.

The PPCRV group was accompanied by the Smartmatic team led by Col. Magtanggol Halili, the Pangasinan provincial security coordinator. The inspecting group, however, noted that only the exact number of PCOS machines had been delivered so far. Smartmatic was supposed to supply additional PCOS machines in case some of those delivered break down.

According to the Pangasinan Commission on Elections, the PCOS machines are expected to be delivered to each municipal Comelec Offices on May 6. The machines would be brought to the polling precincts the following day.

PPCRV-LD promised to send its volunteers to watch the security of the machines from their delivery to the municipal Comelec Offices until the end of elections.

The PCOS machines to be used in Pangasinan were delivered on April 26 by Smartmatic teams in three hubs in Pangasinan. Aside from the warehouse in Dagupan which is the largest, the other hubs are in Urdaneta and Alaminos cities.

More than a thousand ballot boxes to be used during the elections were also stored in the warehouse along with a generator for every town and a battery for each PCOS machine in case of power interruption.