by Venus R. Parmisana
If for anything, the Information Technology expertise of the MSU-IIT was put to good use in the recent elections.
MSU-IIT contributed its reputed info-tech proficiency to the historic May 10 elections when the country held its first automated polls. With the technology support of the IT community, the polls conducted through the PCOS machines notched significant credibility points from the electorate, long wary of manual elections whose results have been traditionally marred with incredibility.
As it was, teachers — with their reputations for by-the-book implementation of proceedings — were again tapped by the COMELEC to act as members of the Board of Election Inspectors (BEI’s).
For its part, the MSU-IIT provided the IT-capable manpower to serve in the elections after having been trained and appointed by the COMELEC to serve as operators of the Consolidation Canvassing System (CCS).
The following IT experts served in the polls: Prof. Ernesto Empig (Tagoloan), Mr. Allan Bicada (Baloi), Prof. Danny Adlaon (Matungao), Ms. Nerissa Adlaon (Tangkal), Prof. Ofelia Mendoza (Iligan City Hall), Mr. Ernesto Soriano (Pantar), Ms. Aida Cortes (Kauswagan), and Engr. Artemio Cortes (Poona Piagapo).
Challenges haunted these experts. Results had to be electronically transmitted from the municipal level to the provincial level before these were received in the national level. Empig disclosed that in some areas where there was no electricity, the operators had to operate the PCOS machines using batteries besides addressing other glitches like the jamming of machines. Overall, however, these technology specialists overcame these obstacles.
Serving the polls entailed sacrifices. For instance, Ms. Nerissa Adlaon had to stay in Tangkal for 2 nights to finalize the transmission delayed by an allegedly lost PCOS machine. As of this time, Engr. Artemio Cortes is still in Poona Piagapo to finalize transmission before the proclamation of winning candidates.
Topics : ict