MANILA – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) reported on Tuesday that the commencement of the Final Testing and Sealing (FTS) of vote-counting machines (VCMs) went off without any issues.
Comelec Chair Saidamen Pangarungan, who attended a FTS program at San Juan Elementary School in San Juan City, stated that the successful activity will inspire electors to vote on May 9.
“I will consider it flawless, perfect. I’m very thankful that it turned out this way,” he said in an interview. “I’m sure this will have a positive impact in voting because the people can see that the electoral process is okay as seen during the FTS.”
Commissioner George Garcia asked the public to participate in FTS activities.
“You can observe in your respective precincts or even participate in testing our voting machines,” he said in a television interview.
The Poll Automation Law mandates the conduct of final examination and testing of the VCMs to be used in each polling precinct.
Following the process, the electoral board will close and seal the VCMs, which will be reopened on election day.
On May 7, the FTS shall end and also the last day of the campaign period.
The Comelec said 226 cities and municipalities will hold their FTS on Wednesday, 402 on Thursday, 451 on Friday, and 259 on Saturday.
Garcia also reported that the dispatch and delivery of the 106,174 vote VCMs for Monday’s polls is nearly complete.
“More or less, we are almost 100 percent in the whole Philippines. We need to complete them in time for the FTS,” he said.
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