黑料社

MANILA, Philippines 鈥� The new machines that will be used to print the ballots for the 2025 elections are 鈥渇ully automated,鈥澛燼n HP company official said on Tuesday.

鈥淲alang hahawak ng ballot. So from roll [of paper] to ballot, yun na yung output, diretso na yan sa verification. Sinasabi ni director, kaunting tao lang, kaunting preparasyon kasi fully automated na siya,鈥� HP Category Manager for Asia Pacific and Japan Tony Paguirigan told reporters during the inspection of the printing machines at the National Printing Office (NPO)

(No one will touch the ballot. So from roll of paper to ballot, that is already the output, and will proceed directly to verification. The director said it will require little manpower and minimal preparation because it is fully automated.)

NPO Director Rene Acosta said the new machines will fast-track the printing of the ballots.

READ: Comelec targets to start printing ballots by December

鈥淢ay timetable kami sa printing and with these new machines, ang sabi nga ni HP, mapapabilis, mapapaaga, and we鈥檙e very confident that we can hit the target. Not only meeting the target but even beyond that,鈥� he added.

(We have a timetable for the printing and with these new machines, as HP said, the printing will be done faster, and we鈥檙e very confident that we can hit the target.)

If the ballot-printing machines fail, the backups are already stored in the machines.

鈥淏ackup plan, mayroong redundancy in itself kasi 90 percent ng spare parts ay andito na sa makina na 鈥榯o鈥� ang point of failure nito, I would say very minimal kasi walang human intervention,鈥� Paguirigan said.

(Backup plan has redundancy in itself because 90 percent of the spare parts are already installed in the machine鈥� I would say the point of failure is minimal because there is no human intervention.)

Acosta said the NPO could still use their backup printing machines for every election 鈥渋n extreme鈥� cases.

鈥淢ayroon naman kaming contingencies such as yung ballot printing. Di naman namin puwedeng isugal na umasa lang kami dito, we have contingencies,鈥� the NPO chief aded.

(We have contingencies such as ballot printing. We can鈥檛 risk it and depend here, we have contingencies.)

Paguirigan also said the ballot-printing machines were made in the United States last March.

鈥淔irst in Asia, first two units in Asia. Instead na apat na makina, dalawa na lang kasi yung makina na 鈥榯o, kaya niyang mag-produce ng up to 62 million pages per month ng letter size na balota. But in this case, ang balota natin, 8 陆 by 27 [inches] so ang target namin to produce per day with these two machines is one million ballots per day,鈥� the HP official explained.

(Instead of four machines, there are only two, and one can produce up to 62 million pages per month of letter size ballot. But in this case, our ballot size is 8 陆 by 27 inches, so our target to produce per day with these two machines is one million ballots per day.)

鈥淵ung mga taong gumagawa nito ay highly specialized, highly trained from different countries. The best of the technical people around the world, dinala namin dito para mapabilis 鈥榶ong installation,鈥� he added.

(The people who made it are highly specialized and highly trained people from different countries. We brought the best of the technical people around the world to fast-track the installation.)

Meanwhile, Commission on Elections (Comelec) Chairman George Garcia said that even if the machines will require the least human intervention, it is still important for manpower to check the ballots.

鈥淜ahit pa sabihin na least intervention ang tao sa makina, hindi naman puwedeng matapos maimprenta ay walang intervention ang tao na makita yung mismong produkto ng makina. Yun po yung matagal kasi mayroon pong ballot verification tayong ginagawa. Yung nakikita ng naked eye, mayroon bang dent, mayroon bang maling kulay? Mali ba yung time marks? Titignan po yan manually ng mga tao natin,鈥� Garcia explained.

(Even if we say that the machines need the least human intervention, the printing process can鈥檛 be finished without the manpower looking into the actual product. That鈥檚 what makes the process long because we have ballot verifications. What the naked eye sees, is there any dent? Is there any wrong color? Are the time marks wrong? Our people check these manually.)

Garcia previously said that the Comelec is eyeing to start printing ballots by the second week of December as the certificates of candidacy are scheduled to be filed from October 1-8 for national and local polls and November 4-9 for the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao parliamentary elections.

READ: Comelec, Miru, NPO ink deal on ballots

Garcia said each printing machine costs P300 million. The first machine was delivered at the NPO on September 16 while the second one was delivered on Saturday.