DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 28 April) – Commission on Elections (Comelec) chairperson George Erwin Garcia will attend on Tuesday, April 29, a forum on Election Operation with Automated Counting Machines (ACM) organized by the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (PPCRV) at the Davao Convention Center here.
Aileen Lizada, spokesperson of the Archdiocesan Citizen Engagement Committee – Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (ACE-PPCRV) here, confirmed Garcia’s attendance.
It has been three weeks since the Starlink satellite WiFi transmission devices and solar panels were found in a private property here on April 4.
The Comelec, through its spokesperson Atty. John Rex Laudiangco, confirmed that the equipment were deployed by Comelec’s official service provider iOne Resources Joint Venture (iOne JV) with Ardent Networks Inc.
According to the agency, iOne JV identified the private property in Dumanlas as one of their staging hubs, a temporary holding area where the equipment were stored before their final deployment to voting and canvassing centers across the Davao region.
It added that the supplier confirmed that this location was used “due to logistical constraints and the need to meet deployment timelines by April 15.”
Gay Enumerables, Comelec-Davao assistant regional director and spokesperson, said the equipment were delivered to the Davao del Norte Police Office headquarters in Tagum City, from where these would be distributed to their provincial and city offices in the Davao region.
She added that the devices that were temporarily stored in the Dumanlas private property are meant to be “spare equipment,” which will be used in far-flung areas that may experience power difficulties during election day.
By April 17, a total of 37 out of 340 boxes containing Starlink WiFi transmitters and solar panels were transported from the Davao del Norte Police Office by a third-party logistics trucking service and stored at the Davao City Police Office (DCPO).
But in a letter sent to Garcia dated Wednesday, April 23, the ACE-PPCRV called for increased transparency from Comelec in how these devices for the elections are being allocated and deployed.
The letter was signed by Leonardo Dublan Jr., ACE-PPCRV chair, and Jimmie-Loe Dela Vega, executive director of the Davao Association of Catholic Schools.
They warned that voters in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas (GIDAs) in Davao City and the wider Davao region would “remain vulnerable due to an unreliable or absent communication infrastructure.”
Several GIDA communities have yet to receive the needed Starlink units, the letter stated.
The ACE-PPCRV stressed that the failure to address connectivity gaps can severely impact the credibility of the May 12 elections.
The group urged the Comelec to publish a full list of covered and uncovered GIDA communities.
They also called for urgent action to deploy additional Starlink devices or find alternative solutions where necessary.
In response to their letter, the Comelec sent ACE-PPRCV a document, dated April 21, stating where the Starlink WiFi devices will be installed across the country– including the Davao region.
For Davao City, however, the document stated that 22 of the 25 identified locations by the Comelec where the WiFi devices will be deployed are in the 1st District, where the city proper is located.
“I was told that for District 2, there are only three; for District 3, either two or three; and the rest are in District 1. Alam naman natin na Districts 2 and 3 ang mas nangangailangan ng mga Starlink kasi nandito ang GIDA or dead spot areas (We know that Districts 2 and 3 must be prioritized because the GIDA or dead spot areas can be found here),” ACE-PPCRV spokesperson Lizada said. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)