DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 29 April) – The deployment of 37 Starlink WiFi devices, many in highly urbanized areas of this city, has been pre-identified by the Commission on Election’s (Comelec) automated counting machine (ACM) supplier, iOne Resources Joint Venture (iOne JV).
This was what Comelec chairperson George Erwin Garcia told the media here when asked why most of the Starlink devices were installed mostly in the first congressional district, where the city proper is located.
The Comelec chairperson said that 30 out of the 37 allocated Starlink devices for Davao City have been already installed.
Earlier, Gay Enumerables, Comelec-Region XI assistant regional director and spokesperson, said that the Starlink WiFi devices, which were found initially stored in a private property in Dumanlas, Buhangin District here last April 5, will be used in far-flung areas that have poor or no Internet or cellular connection.
“Base po iyan sa technical assessment ng telecommunication providers at saka ng aming service provider, ang iOne. Maaaring halimbawa si Smart, o Globe, sa isang lugar… kung sasabihin nilang mahina pa rin sila dito, o sa lugar na ito, erratic ang kanilang signal, sa kanila na galing iyon, hindi na galing sa’min,” Garcia said in an ambush interview at the sidelines of the Forum on Election Operation with ACM, Tuesday morning.
(The deployment of the Starlink Wifi devices were based on the technical assessment of the telecommunication provider and our service provider, iOne JV.
As an example, if Smart or Globe say their signal is poor or erratic in one location, that’s their assessment. We have no say on that.)
“Therefore, wala kaming choice pero maglagay pa rin ng (we have no choice but to still install a)Starlink,” he added.
Garcia said that in case “the Starlink devices would fail, the voting machines can still work because they have SIM cards from telcos such as Smart, Globe, and Dito.”
On the other hand, “if the telco signals will fail, it would still be okay because there are Starlink devices that can give internet signal,” he added.
Starlink devices are meant to ease the transmission of votes from polling precincts with poor internet access to the transparency servers so that they will be included in the counting.
Garcia said the Comelec has “excess standby Starlink devices in case there is a need for them.”
He assured that with the new automated counting machines, the votes “will be in by 8:30 p.m. and it is possible to already declare someone a winner.”
The midterm national and local elections will be held on May 12, 2025, two weeks from now.
Last April 23, the Archdiocesan Citizen Engagement Committee – Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting (ACE-PPCRV) here wrote a letter to the Comelec, calling for increased transparency in how these devices for the elections are allocated or 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.
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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. (Ian Carl Espinosa / MindaNews)
