11 April 2016 – The Philippine Embassy in Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain conducted the Final Testing and Sealing (FTS) of its Vote Counting Machines (VCMs) for purposes of the Overseas Voting for the 2016 Philippine National Elections.  The FTS was conducted at the Embassy lobby and was attended by members of the Filipino community and the media, as well as by Embassy officers and staff comprising the Special Board of Canvassers (SBOC), Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEI) and Special Ballot Reception and Custody Group (SBRCG) for the elections.

As required by the Commission on Elections (COMELEC), the Special Board of Election Inspectors (SBEIs) of the Embassy conducted the required diagnostics of the VCMs to test whether the necessary functions of the machines are working properly.  Test ballots accomplished by members of the Filipino community were likewise cast in order to test the accuracy of the VCMs.  All the SD cards issued to both SBEIs were tested and re-zeroed and were subjected to manual audit.  After performing the manual audit of the test ballots, the VCMs proved accurate in counting the votes cast.

Prior to the FTS, Philippine Ambassador to Bahrain Alfonso A. Ver, who is also the Chairman of the SBOC, administered the oaths of the members of the Embassy’s SBOC, SBEIs and SBRCG, including its support staff and VCM technical support personnel.  The Embassy likewise distributed the media passes and IDs of the FilCom partners and mass media organizations accredited for the elections.  The Embassy’s FilCom partner organizations are Pinay Ikaw Na! and Pinoy Sa Bansang Bahrain, while the accredited mass media organizations are UNTV and ABS-CBN Middle East.

The presence of a good number of FilCom members during the FTS is indicative of the level of interest being shown by our kababayans for the upcoming elections.  The Embassy continues to encourage all registered overseas voters to exercise their right to vote during the thirty (30) day period of voting. END