THE Bureau of Customs (BOC) assured on Thursday it will immediately release counting machines and other election paraphernalia that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) will be using for the May 9 elections.
BOC Deputy Commissioner Arturo Lachica made the assurance after the Comelec said some 24, 000 vote- counting machines (VCMs) have yet to be released by the agency.
The Comelec said it is important the BOC releases the VCMs so these can be tested and function smoothly come election time.
“Almost all that were brought to our attention are already released at the port,” Lachica told reporters in an interview.
“We will not delay that has something to do with the Comelec. We will move it with dispatch, with speed,” he said.
Lachica added that all cargos consigned with the Comelec are exempt from duties and taxes.
Meanwhile, members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) are set to receive an additional P2,000 in honorarium from the Comelec for their services in the coming elections.
At a news briefing following the signing of memorandum of agreement between the Comelec, Department of Education, and the Department of Science and Technology (Dost), Chairman Andres D. Bautista disclosed that the commission en banc has approved an additional honorarium for BEI members.
“While they are undergoing training, we have approved a small amount to give them so they do not have to spend out of their own pockets,” Bautista said.
He added that the amount will immediately be given to the BEI members as soon as they attend the training, which is set to start on March 1 and will last for a month.
The additional P2,000 brings to P6,500 the total honorarium to be received by the BEI members.
Based on Comelec Resolution 10031, the chairman and members of the BEI shall receive a per diem at the rate of P1,000 a day for three days plus additional P500 each for the verification and sealing of the Book of Voters, for the final testing and sealing of the VCMS, and for transportation allowance for a total per diem of P4,500.
Bautista said the Comelec will need an estimated 300,000 public-school teachers to man the around 95,000 clustered polling precincts nationwide.
Under the Omnibus Election Code, the BEI should be constituted by a chairman and two members, who must be public-school teachers.
On Tuesday Congress passed the measure making election service non-compulsory to public teachers and is just waiting for the signature of President Aquino. But Bautista said this will not pose any problem for the Comelec.
The Dost is tasked to certify about 100,000 would-be BEI members as being information-technology capable.
DOST Secretary Mario Montejo said the agency is confident that many of the public-school teachers will be issued with certification.
Under Republic Act 9369 (poll automation law), “at least one member of the BEI shall be an information technology-capable person, who is trained or certified by the Dost to use the automated election system.”