The Commission on Elections Negros Island Region (Comelec-NIR) has secured the transmission devices to be used in the May 12 midterm elections following the moderately explosive eruption of Mt. Kanlaon April 8.
Comelec-NIR director Lionel Marco Castillano said that these transmission devices play a critical role in the conduct of the elections.
“These transmission devices will connect real-time the voting results from the automated counting machines to the servers, particularly in areas without signal,” Castillano said.
The first batch of transmission devices for the Negros provinces arrived April 7, and would soon be delivered to far-flung areas.
Castillano said the provider’s truck carrying the transmission devices for Negros Occidental was at the Canlaon City Police Station preparing for the delivery of the equipment.
He ordered the truck to transfer to the police station in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, until it is safe to deliver the devices to their intended destinations.
A second truck with the transmission devices for Negros Oriental, meanwhile, is parked at the Guihulngan City Police Station.
Military and police personnel are providing security to the two trucks, Castillano said.
The Comelec official said that based on reports from election officers in the vicinity of Mt. Kanlaon, no voting centers have been affected by the eruption.
Castillano assured that the Comelec is prepared for a worst-case scenario in case the current volcanic activity escalates into an Alert Level 4 status, the Philippine News Agency reported.
He also said he has submitted a Mt. Kanlaon contingency plan for the coming elections to the Office of the Executive Director. Once approved, the plan will be forwarded to the Comelec en banc in Manila.
The contingency plan was made in coordination with the local government units and the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Offices, under the supervision of the Office of Civil Defense.
The moderately explosive eruption occurred at the summit crater of Mt. Kanlaon at 5:51 a.m. April 8, and lasted for 56 minutes, the Phivolcs said, adding it generated a gray voluminous plume that slowly rose to 4,000 meters above the vent, before bending and drifting west and southwest.
Audible rumbling sounds of the eruption were reported in barangays Biak-na-Bato and Sag-ang in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, and in Brgy. Pula, Canlaon City in Negros Oriental. ||
