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Comelec execs eye 'retirement' of old VCMs, to cost P6.7 billion

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Jauhn Etienne Villaruel, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Poll workers prepare election equipment at the Kiamba Central Elementary School in Sarangani province on May 9, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/news/05/09/20220509-election-day-sarangani-gc-3.jpg"/><figcaption>Poll workers prepare election equipment at the Kiamba Central Elementary School in Sarangani province on May 9, 2022. George Calvelo, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA (UPDATED) — The leadership of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) admitted Tuesday that most of the Vote Counting Machines (VCM) are no longer &quot;feasible&quot; to be used in the next polls in 2025.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/09/22/comelec-flagged-for-vcm-glitches-ballot-surrender-option">&#x27;You had one job&#x27;: Comelec flagged for ballot surrender option during VCM breakdown</a></li></ul><p>In a hearing by the Senate electoral reforms panel on the &quot;general assessment&quot; of the May 9 polls, Comelec commissioner George Garcia said a factor why many VCMs broke down on election day is their old age. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/13/22/comelec-to-probe-vcm-glitches-after-duterte-remark">Comelec to probe VCM glitches following Duterte&#x27;s remark</a></li></ul><p>&quot;Ako personally, I will recommend, in case I&#x27;m still here, to retire the 97,000 VCMs,&quot; Garcia told Sen. Imee Marcos, the panel&#x27;s chairperson.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/15/22/comelec-official-suggests-retiring-vcms-used-in-halalan-2022">Good to retire VCMs used in Halalan 2022, says Comelec commissioner</a></li></ul><p>Garcia reported that a total of 1,310 VCMs—15 from overseas posts—had to be replaced on election day.</p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/09/22/over-500-vcms-reported-defective-says-comelec">Over 500 VCMs reported defective, says Comelec</a></li></ul><p>Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco said 97,000 VCMs are already seven years old at least, having been delivered in 2015. Aside from the recently held elections, those were used in the 2016 and 2019 elections.</p><p>Garcia previously said that according to experts, each VCM can only take up to 10,000 ballots. He noted that aside from being used in the actual elections, the machines were also deployed in road shows and during the final testing and sealing process.</p><p>Comelec chairman Siadamen Pangarungan said at the Senate panel hearing that it would cost the government about P6.7 billion to change its fleet of election machines. </p><p>&quot;Kaya po napilitan ang Comelec to refurbish the VCMs [because we did not have budget to buy new ones]... Kailangan talagang gumamit tayo ng bago na mga VCMs for the 2025 elections,&quot; Pangarungan said. </p><p>But Marcos said the government could not afford the cost of acquiring new election machines in one go. </p><p>&quot;I don’t think we have that amount burning a hole in our pockets right now. But I think we could start, kahit phase by phase lang muna,&quot; she said. </p><ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/05/09/22/reports-of-vcm-glitches-power-outage-mar-start-of-halalan2022">Reports of VCM glitches, power outage mar start of Halalan2022</a></li></ul><p>In an interview later, Garcia said that Pangarungan&#x27;s costing was a &quot;conservative estimate.&quot; </p><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2058985" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div><p>&quot;Sa aking palagay maliit pa &#x27;yung estimate, masyadong conservative. Isipin niyo lease na nga noong 2010 is P7.2 billion. Ngayon kung magli-lease tayo dati 50,000 [VCMs] ngayon 97,000 na,&quot; Garcia told TeleRadyo. </p><p>Smartmatic is the Comelec&#x27;s contractor for the VCMs and its refurbishment for the May 9 polls. </p><div><strong>— With reports from Robert Mano, ABS-CBN News</strong><br/> </div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/T0U5IjEwZ9M?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The Comelec leadership admitted Tuesday that most of the Vote Counting Machines are no longer 'feasible' to be used in the next polls in 2025.

Comelec execs eye 'retirement' of old VCMs, to cost P6.7 billion

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Comelec execs eye 'retirement' of old VCMs, to cost P6.7 billion

Jauhn Etienne Villaruel,

ABS-CBN News

Published May 31, 2022 05:39 PM PHT

|

Updated May 31, 2022 08:13 PM PHT

Read More:

Comelec

Commission on Elections

halalan 2022

halalan2022

halalan2022

VCM

Imee Marcos

vote counting machine

Smartmatic

Saidamen Pangandaman

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