Our First Trip to COMELEC Office of Cebu City

From left to right: Carmi Masangkay, Lee Emphasis, Election Officer Atty. Marchel Sarno(seated), Ron Poblete, Ces Denolan, and Miguel Esparagera

Last Monday, September 4, 2011, group two of the class of IT and the law under prof. Atty. Gloria Ramos went to pay a visit to the COMELEC office here in Cebu City. The group met with Atty. Marchel Sarno who is the election officer of COMELEC for Cebu City.

The group discussed on what ways the group can provide a lending hand to COMELEC. One of the things that was of importance was what the aspect of the electoral process the group should tackle. This should also be determined in consideration of the fact that not all data that the COMELEC has can be obtained without any authorization.

Among some of the things that were discussed in the meeting or “interview” was what data the group can collect from the COMELEC without infringing any laws. Also, there was also talk about what the general consensus was among COMELEC staff regarding the May 2010 Automated Elections.

On that issue, Election Officer Atty. Marchel Sarno pointed out that although the staff at COMELEC concluded a lesser percentage of success it was still an overall success. To be specific, some of the things that did not help was the lack of transportation and the lack of qualified personnel who were assigned in some areas. This is also further exacerbated by the lack of awareness among the voters themselves. However, he said that these things were minor and he is hopeful they can be fixed in the next automated elections this coming 2013.

Overall, the said meeting was a success. From this point onwards, the group plans another visit in order to focus on what is needed for the successful implementation of the site.