POLL MACHINES FAIL INITIAL TESTS - COMELEC / MAYON:
SMALL EXPLOSIONS
MANILA,
JANUARY 7, 2010
(STAR) By Mayen Jaymalin - Some of the newly
delivered precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines to be used in the upcoming
elections have failed in initial test, the Commission on Elections (Comelec)
confirmed yesterday.
At a press conference, Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal revealed that some of the PCOS machines rejected and did not read most of the ballots inserted during a laboratory test.
“It happened on the first day of the lab test being conducted in the (Smartmatic) warehouse in Cabuyao, Laguna,” Larrazabal reported.
Of the 600 sample ballots inserted in one of the three PCOS machines being tested, only 30 were accepted and read.
But Larrazabal dismissed the machine failure as a minor error caused by the pre-set “high shading threshold” that was easily and immediately corrected by Smartmatic and Comelec.
According to Larrazabal, the machines were erroneously set at a high shading threshold, and were thus unable to read the sample ballots with partially shaded ovals.
“The shading threshold or the prescribed amount of ink supposed to be covering the ovals was very high so the ballots were rejected, but when it was lowered to 50 percent level, the machines were able to read the ballots already,” Larrazabal pointed out.
He stressed that laboratory tests are being conducted primarily to enable Smartmatic and Comelec to immediately resolve any problems that may occur.
“The machines are being tested in the warehouse and again in polling places nationwide before election day so we would know if they will work and if not, concerns can be addressed,” Larrazabal explained.
A few weeks ago, Smartmatic delivered 7,200 PCOS machines which are all undergoing laboratory tests in Cabuyao.
He expressed hope that Comelec and Smartmatic would be able to complete the tests by the weekend so they could focus on the 10,000 additional machines to be delivered on Jan. 12.
Larrazabal said there was a delay in the delivery of the 10,000 machines because they were not immediately loaded for shipment to the Philippines. – With Helen Flores and Jose Rodel Clapano
Small explosions still possible at Mayon By Helen Flores (The Philippine Star) Updated January 07, 2010 12:00 AM
[PHOTO AT LEFT - Mayon volcano is seen in the background as a farmer tends to a rice field in Barangay Busay, Daraga, Albay yesterday. Most evacuees have returned home as volcanic activities continue to decline. ERNIE PEÑAREDONDO]
MANILA, Philippines - Despite the reported decline in volcanic earthquakes at Mt. Mayon in the past several days, the country’s chief volcanologist yesterday said small explosions are still possible, as the sulfur dioxide emission remained high.
Asked if they are considering the possibility of further lowering the alert level at Mayon from 3 to 2, Renato Solidum, director of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs), said the low number of volcanic quakes would not be the only basis in doing so.
“You don’t just drop the alert level… volcanic earthquake is just one of the parameters, we have to look at all the parameters,” Solidum told The STAR.
In its latest advisory, Phivolcs said four volcanic quakes were recorded in the past 24 hours.
Solidum said the volume of sulfur dioxide emitted though remained high. “The volume of sulfur dioxide gas was over 1,000 tons based on our latest observation,” he said, adding that this means that magmatic degassing is going on inside the volcano.
Meanwhile, Albay Gov. Joey Salceda and officials of the province’s Public Safety and Emergency Management Office clarified yesterday that 313 of the 510 families who were not allowed to return home were not in evacuation camps anymore but in resettlement sites where they were brought after the Mayon eruption and the onslaught of typhoon “Reming” in 2006.
In fact, these families were already awarded their lots at the Anislag relocation site in Daraga town for the Bañadero evacuees, and at the Tula-Tula resettlement site in Legazpi City for the Anoling evacuees in Camalig town, Salceda said. – With Cet Dematera