by magnolia_eic | Feb 12, 2010 | Election 2010, Features, Opinion, Tech Talk
The May 2010 elections is the first time that counting of ballots will be automated by the COMELEC. The system is now practical with the availability of cellular service throughout most of the country. It has many advantages over the manual process but many are concerned if it will really eliminate cheating.
The Automated Elections main advantage is that it eliminates many steps taken in the past where where manipulation can happen resulting to “dagdag-bawas”.
By automating the counting, the system eliminates the tedious and very error-prone manual counting process. The public school teachers should really be happy that they don’t have to deal with it after everyone has voted because at the end of the voting period, the counting is also done because the votes are recorded as soon as the machine accepts the ballot from the voter. All voters should feed their ballots to the machine directly and not through someone else, to ensure that your ballot will not be replaced.
By automating the submission of the results to a central location, the system eliminates another error-prone and easy to manipulate procedure. In the past, the ballot count is submitted by the precincts to the municipal or city hall and then aggregated. Then the provincial results are aggregated up to the national level. It takes quite some time before the ballot count is eventually consolidated on the national level, and this gives the manipulators a lot of time to do their magic tricks. Now, the individual counting machines can submit their results to the national level on a near real-time basis thus preventing any count manipulation or errors in between the precinct and the aggregation center.
The automated system also includes audit trails which allow the authorized persons to trace any suspicious changes on the system and identify the culprit. In the manual procedure, there is limited audit trail capability, if any.
Electronic jamming systems would be impractical to setup on a scale that can significantly affect the results and may be futile because the system uses cellular service which has its own interference mitigation capability. To be effective at jamming the transmission, you would need to have a jamming system per precinct that is always on all the time. Anytime you turn it off and the automated counting machine can have a chance to send its data and it only takes a few seconds to send all the data in the machine’s memory. The best it could do is probably delay the transmission but not totally prevent it.
The technology that will be used in the May 2010 elections would certainly make it very difficult to manipulate results unless you are able to access the system directly with the proper user privileges. But even that would not be straightforward because the data storage technology used in systems like this store data in multiple copies and have multiple backups taken at regular periods stored in multiple locations. And COMELEC for sure would be wise enough to have a few of these locations undisclosed just in case the known locations are compromised.
Cheating would be very difficult to orchestrate with the automated counting system implemented. But there are still many ways to manipulate votes like vote-buying and coercion. So each Filipino should value his vote and consider it a sacred right guaranteed by the constitution of the Philippines in order to prevent or minimize this kind of manipulation. — J. Auza
by anyajulia | Dec 16, 2009 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
CRUCIAL legislative support is the common element present in the 10 outstanding municipal nutrition council winners to bag for them this year’s nutrition honors handed by the Provincial Nutrition Council.
Catigbian Mayor Roberto Salinas said his town has drastically raised their budget for health and nutrition to P7M as local officials agree that the problem of nutrition needs tow pronged solution.
Aside from regular supplemented feedings for preschoolers and elementary kids, Salinas said they have put up budgets to show their sincerity in solving the problem as well as craft ordinances on backyard gardening, mandatory tree planting.
The same is true with Inabanga, which has cascaded their legislation to the barangays, said Virgincita Aunio of barangay Cagawasan and the provincial winner in the barangay nutrition scholar category for this year’s nutrition search.
The legislated program for zero malnutrition in the barangays, says Aunio is also complemented with Barangay Nutrition Council (BNC) Sari-sari Store, Malungayan sa Purok and the equally innovative BNC Garden.
Garcia Hernandez vice mayor Miguelito Galendez added that their rationalized Development of Agriculture and Environmental Program (DAEP) has streamlined all their operational nutri-program.
Mabini Vice Mayor Ester Tabigie also agreed that legislative support for nutri-programs get children a better chance to get out of malnutrition. She added that her town has legislated for malunggay tree planting and cultivation, increased budget for nutrition and regular BNC meetings.
Tubigon Mayor Luna Piezas, who also innovates with his waste recycling facility now being used to generate funds for nutrition programs said he has allowed local governments to plan and map out solutions just as the town council assures whatever support they can give.
Also using innovative fund raising activities, several towns have upped their nutrition status by creatively engaging people to help.
For her town, Antequera Mayor Cecilia Rebosura puts up Little King and Queens and donation boxes during meetings to raise their pot money for their supplemental feeding programs.
Talibon councilor Tomas Garcia said his town innovates by using Sensilyo Mo, Kalusugan Ko to raise funds for supplemental feeding. (PIA)
by anyajulia | Nov 20, 2009 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
THREE Bohol towns would be piloted for a focused approach on mal-nutrition mitigation, the Provincial Nutrition Council (PNC) said recently.
The underweight children of Cortes, Dagohoy and Anda towns now get to benefit from government assisted activities targeted to drastically address the problem.
The PNC selected the towns; one per congressional district based on the number of underweight children from preschool to elementary ages, explained Dr. Reymoses Cabagnot.
Data from the council showed that the same towns own the most number of underweight children in their respective districts.
PNC vice chairman Dr. Cabagnot stressed that if the problem is not addressed as soon, the problem of children suffering from malnutrition may regress to poor scholastic performance, low body resistance leading to decreased productivity.
Cortes has 262, Dagohoy; 478 and Anda has 268 children needing immediate nutrition supplementation efforts.
With the issue, PNC Chairman Governor Erico Aumentado vowed he would put in more funds in 2010, this coming from the Provincial Development Funds upon seeing the dire need to augment logistical support for the agenda.
For the three towns, the council has identified a program of enhanced rehabilitation of indentified underweight children through organized community efforts.
The program also engages communities, government agencies concerned and sectors to zoom in on nutrition education programs through a unique system anchored at the schools through the Department of Education called pabasa sa Nutrisyon.
The Department of Agriculture would also be engaging communities through food production program via its popular “Food Always In The Home” coupled with enhanced food supplementation through Feeding activities in children, says Dr. Cabagnot.
Moreover, the PNC envisioned program also involves micro-nutrition supplementation through Garantisadong Pambata as well as programmed livelihood assistance to concerned families of the focused children. (PIA)
by anyajulia | Nov 18, 2009 | Foreign Exchange, Headlines, National News
The United Nations (UN) World Food Summit on Food Security started on November 16 in Rome,
The various world leaders unanimously adopting a declaration pledging renewed commitment to eradicate hunger from the face of the earth sustainably, at the earliest date. They also committed to reverse the decline in domestic and international funding for agriculture and promote new investment in the sector, to improve governance of global food issues in partnership with relevant stakeholders from the public and private sector, and to proactively face the challenges of climate change to food security.
FAO says the share of international aid that is allocated to agriculture has steadily declined over the last three decades. While the summit agreed on the need to increase agriculture’s share of international aid, it did not allocate the $44 billion annually — 17 percent of overall foreign aid — the FAO says is necessary to feed a population that is expected to grow to 9 billion by 2050. (PIA)
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by anyajulia | Nov 16, 2009 | Headlines, Local News / Bohol Balita
PENDING the crafting of the implementing rules and regulations on the tarsier ordinance, top environment and natural resource officer here hints that wildlife establishment caretakers should strictly police themselves to conserve the tarsiers.
Environment and Natural Resources Officer Nestor Canda admitted that the Bohol tarsier ordinance could not be fully implemented yet, sans the IRR.
While awaiting the IRR from the Capitol, Canda called for a technical conference with tarsier tourism establishment operators in Loboc to generate commitments or lose their business.
At the conference attended by the media, PENRO Canda said the operators have committed to the strictly follow the terms and conditions stipulated in their wildlife permits to keep the tarsier viewing business up and about.
He explained during the recent Kapihan sa PIA, that the ordinance has not clearly stated the nitty-gritty of its implementation and so it confuses local governments, thus the impediment.
A few weeks back, a complaint about the way the tarsiers are treated in the so-called tarsier-in captivity tourism establishments in Bohol.
Tasiers, nocturnal insectivores are Bohol’s trademark wildlife showcase and are scientifically called tarsius syricha owing to their erect spines and well-developed tarsals.
Almost a cross between a rodent and a monkey but not quite, tarsiers are extremely delicate and its population is threatened to extinction by human activity.
“Exposing them to tourists who may not be able to stop themselves from touching, petting and feeding the tarsiers at daytime would surely alter their habits,” claims a tour guide who constant reminds guests of the proper decorum while at the stop in Loboc.
It may be recalled that the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, through the Board Member Alfonso Damalerio, SP Committee on Environment and Natural Resources Chair pushed for the transfer of all the tarsier viewing areas in Loboc to the tarsier sanctuary in Corella.
On the move, not a few tour drivers believe that a Corella stop would delay the time-pressed Bohol countryside tour and may run the risk of tourists missing their boats back our of Bohol. (PIA)
