Eight faculty members of Carlos Hilado Memorial State University underwent the Commission on Elections (Comelec) training for trainers on operating the new automatic counting machines (ACMs) for the 2025 midterm elections.
“This is part of our commitment to a ‘clean’, fair, and transparent May 12, 2025 National and Local elections,” said Prof. Jose Rabbi Malaga of the College of Education.
Held from Nov. 22 to 24 in Boracay Island, Aklan, the training program Department of Education Elections Supervising Office – Technical Support Staff (DESO-TSS) Trainer for Visayas Group (Western Visayas) introduced the new ACM, its enhanced features, as well as the updated processes for the upcoming polls.
Joining Malaga were faculty members Engr. Joe Marie Dormido, Eleanor Lecaniel, Christine Redoblo, Jose Leo Redoblo, Engr. Josephine Salillas, Ronald John Sayson, and Engr. Manuel Uy.
The eight CHMSUans teaching personnel were among the 10 chosen by Comelec to become trainers for Negros Occidental, with the remaining two coming from Fellowship Baptist College in Kabankalan City.
Earlier this year, Comelec posted a call for applications to become DESO-TSS trainers from instructors from Higher Education Institutions (HEI), said Malaga.
In October, Comelec and the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) formally signed a Memorandum of Agreement for the conduct of educational training on information technology for the upskilling and reskilling of election personnel, especially the technical support personnel and consolidated canvassing system (CCS) technicians, to be facilitated by the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) under CHED.
“Since we served as trainers during the 2010 and 2016 elections, we thought that it is time to serve our country once again in 2025,” added Malaga.
The trainers are set to begin the training for Comelec-hired DESO-TSS as early as February 2025.*
