Rodriguez Quezon City barangay officials said the appointment as Executive Secretary of Atty. Vic Rodriguez, who is a native of Quezon City and previously served there, inspires them to dream that they could also become national leaders someday.

Rodriguez: ‘Wag payagang boto nakawin’

May 9, 2022 Lee Ann P. Ducusin 310 views

Incorrect vote results, defective VCMs, brownouts greet voters

WHILE the early hours of the May 9 elections were generally peaceful, the Commission on Elections was inundated with various complaints of irregularities mostly centered on defective and non-working vote counting machines.

Comelec Commissioner George Garcia reported that they received reports of incorrect vote results and malfunctioning vote counting machines.

Garcia said that as of 11 am there were already 1,867 VCMs that have encountered various problems in different areas of the country, such as paper jam, 940, rejected ballots, 606, failed VCM scanner, 158, VCM failed printers, 87 and not printing properly, 76.

“Dadalahin sa repair hubs. In the meantime, send in replacements,” he said when asked what actions will be done with regards to the defective vote counting machines.

Power outages were also reported in Valenzuela, Dela Costa Village in Quezon City, Rizal, and others since the opening of voting.

There were also reports of VCMs bogging hours after voting started.

There were numerous complaints of VCMs coming out with voter-verifiable paper audit trail that did not reflect the names of candidates marked in their ballots.

“Dun sa Sagada at Sadanga, nagrereklamo ang mga botante kasi si BBM daw ang shinade-an nila sa balota nung ipinasok sa VCM at naglabas ng resibo, pangalan ni Leni nakalagay,” a voter said.

Similar complaints were reported in the towns of Narvacan, Sta. Cruz and Burgos in Ilocos Sur as well as in Tabuk City, Kalinga.

They all claimed that they voted for Marcos but when they checked the results, their votes were credited instead to Leni Robredo.

One of them, Raymar Racacho, 50, of Brgy. Quinarayan, Narvacan, Ilocos Sur claimed that he voted for Marcos as president on his official ballot.

Some voters have expressed fear that massive cheating is once again being orchestrated, similar to what has occurred in 2016.

Meanwhile, the camp of Partido Federal ng Pilipinas standard-bearer Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. has called for sobriety from the UniTeam’s supporters and expressed confidence that the Comelec is ready for any eventualities, especially against attempts by some groups to subvert the genuine outcome of the eletions.

“Manatili po tayong mahinahon pero matatag laban sa pandarayang ipinapain sa atin ng mga kalaban na nagpupumilit bumuo ng huwad na panalo,” Atty. Vic Rodriguez, chief of staff and spokesman of Marcos said.

“We are taking note of these complaints but we are confident that the Comelec is ready for any eventualities especially against attempts by some groups to subvert the genuine outcome of this all-important and history-making political exercise,”

Rodriguez also reiterated Marcos’ call for vigilance.

“Nananawagan po ako sa BBM supporters na maging MAPAGBANTAY po tayo sa ating mga boto hanggang sa dulo ng bilangan. ‘Wag po tayong pumayag na muling nakawin ang ating mga boto,” Marcos’ spokesman said.

“Kung mayroon po kayong makikita o maulinigan na pandaraya o ilegal na pangyayari hinggil sa halalang nagaganap sa inyong mga lugar ay agad itong ipaalam sa Comelec o awtoridad o sa sinomang personalidad ng UniTeam na alam ninyo,” he added. By LEE ANN P. DUCUSIN

AUTHOR PROFILE