Text-a-poll-cheat drive launched

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced yesterday the launching of the ComelecTxt, a short messaging system-based program that aims to prevent irregularities and help solve the perennial problem of "lost" voters on election day.

Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said all voters have to do is type in their mobile phones Comelectxt <space> report <space> first name/middle name/last name/birthday followed by the complaint and send to 2898 for all networks, Jimenez said.

Smart and Globe subscribers would be charged P2.50 per text, while Sun Cellular has a fee of P2, he said.

Jimenez said that aside from reporting violations of election rules, the public could also use the program to locate polling precincts. For this function, the user would only have to replace the word "report" in the text message with "precinct. "

Jimenez said the complaints would be logged on to a main server at the Comelec, where the poll body could record the incident and act on it immediately.

The system, which was initially tested in 2004, would be maintained even after the elections, but the precinct finder tool would be shut down temporarily to refresh the system, he said.

"For this project, we have teamed up with Confiance, a company that has experience in these things. This company has also been recommended by major telecom service providers. We hope to solve the problem of our voters who can’t find their precincts," he said.

Jimenez said that they have decided to use SMS for this project instead of the Internet because it is wider in coverage and readily accessible.

Navy delivered ballot boxes?

In another development, the Philippine Navy said yesterday it was willing to use its ships and other transport facilities to deliver ballot boxes and other election paraphernalia in areas that could not be accessed by private and commercial vehicles that would be deputized by the Comelec.

Navy spokesman Commander Giovanni Carlo Bacordo said they would utilize their assets if the poll body would request them to transport election materials in situations where there is no other choice but to use military vehicles.

"There are areas in the country which commercial ships don’t reach, for instance, in the Kalayaan Group of Islands. In this situation, our assets could be tapped to perform that function," Bacordo said, referring to the Kalayaan islands located about 580 nautical miles west of Manila.

But Bacordo clarified that the Navy would only use their assets to transport election materials if the Comelec would request them to, because under the memorandum of agreement between the Department of National Defense and the poll body, military vehicles would only be allowed to provide land, air and naval vessel escorts to transportation facilities contracted by the Comelec, when the Philippine National Police (PNP) cannot address the threat.

Bacordo explained that the implementing rules and regulations of the MOA, which initially provided for a total ban on the use of military transport vehicles as the main carriers of election paraphernalia, had been "modified" in anticipation of extreme situations such as the lack of Comelec-accredited vehicles that would go to areas that are far-flung and those that are under serious armed threat.

He said that the present situation in Sulu, where hostilities between the military and a faction of the Moro National Liberation Front are escalating, could also warrant such a deployment of naval assets to transport election paraphernalia.

But he said that at present, the Navy has not received any request for them to transport election materials to these areas.

In a related development, the Comelec clarified that military units should coordinate with poll officials and the PNP if they would conduct election-related security operations.

Jimenez was reacting to a report that quoted AFP Northern Luzon Command chief Lt. Gen. Bonifacio Ramos as saying that units under his command can act separately from the police to maintain peace and order in areas to be identified in Nueva Ecija by the Comelec as the May 14 election nears.

"The Comelec cannot intervene in military operations that are not election-related, particularly in the conduct of internal security operations against communist rebels. But they have to coordinate with the highest ranking Comelec official as well as the police commander in the area if their mission would be election-related," he said.

Ramos was quoted as saying that he and Comelec officials have been meeting on the possibility of "situations in which there would be lack of material time" for the Comelec and the police to act, needing intervention by the military.