The Commission on Elections (COMELEC) on Saturday said polls in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) would be "fully automated" and said that everything is ready for the elections on Monday.
"All machines have been sealed. All the machines are in place," COMELEC Commissioner Rene Sarmiento told radio dzMM.
Sarmiento said the machines have been delivered to all the voting centers in selected part of the region.
COMELEC spokesman James Jimenez said even machines were delivered by boats and other means of transportation to the remotest places of the ARMM.
"All counter centers in ARMM will be fully automated. Every last corner of the ARMM will be experiencing automated polls," Jimenez said.
Meanwhile, 17 automated counting machines were brought by Commissioner Nicodemo Ferrer, head of the COMELEC's team in Basilan, to Lamitan and Isabela cities. The machines have also been sealed and readied for Monday's historic elections.
The COMELEC will be using 3,300 electronic voting machines in Maguindanao and 156 automated counting machines in Basilan, Sulu, Tawi-Tawi, Shariff Kabunsuan, and Lanao del Sur.
Machines that will be used for the casting of votes in Maguindanao are called Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) supplied by Smartmatic-Sahi while voting machines that will be used in the five other provinces of the ARMM are called optical mark readers to be provided by AVANTE International Technology, Inc.
Peaceful so far
Sarmiento said that based on police and military reports, the perceived violence in North Cotabato has not spilled over to nearby ARMM areas.
He said the leaderships of both Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police have made assurances that everything is in place to maintain peace and order in all ARMM provinces.
Jimenez said a total of 11,000 military personnel and 7,000 policemen have been placed in strategic areas around the region to maintain peace. He said the 18,000-strong security force would be enough to secure the polls.
The COMELEC spokesman also assured that the automated elections will not be disrupted by power outage. He said each machine have a reserve power good for 16 hours.
He said battery packs for the machines have also been prepared in case blackouts happen.
In case of a breakdown, he said the hi-tech voting machines will be replaced by the suppliers in a matter of two hours.
"All machines have batteries and inverters good for more than 16 hours. Not just power, if machines break down we have contingency measure. We will pull out the machine and replace it in a couple of hours," Jimenez said.
Poll "hotspots" identified
COMELEC meanwhile released its areas considered as election "hotspots".
668 barangays were considered as election areas of concern while 49 areas considered as areas of immediate concern.
Of those tagged as areas of immediate concern Lanao del Sur had the most number of barangays with 18 while 10 barangays each of Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan were also identified as such. Basilan province had seven barangays tagged as areas of immediate concern while Sulu had three and Tawi-Tawi had only one barangay tagged as such.
COMELEC denies 30% of request on gun ban exemption
Ferrer, who is also tasked to monitor the implementation of the prohibition on the unauthorized carrying of firearms during the regional elections, confirmed that he has denied at least 30% of the 406 applications for gun ban exemption in ARMM.
He said some applicants thought the gun ban exemption issued by the COMELEC could serve as a license to carry firearms.
Some applications were cancelled as some applicants failed to submit complete requirements for the gun ban exemption.
Ferrer said gun ban must be strictly implemented to prevent violence during ARMM polls on Monday. With a report from Leila Vicente, ABS-CBN Zamboanga