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Polling precincts in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao opened without a hitch Monday morning for the region's first ever computerized election that will determine the ARMM's governor, vice governor and assemblymen.

Ambassador Henrietta de Villa, chairwoman of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting, said that unlike inprevious elections held in ARMM, poll watchers have yet to receive reports of any disturbances that would disrupt the opening of polling precincts.

The distribution of ballot boxes, election paraphernalia and automated voting machines was carried out without any problems unlike the previous election. There are signs instructing voters on how to used the voting machines. Morale is high, de Villa said in a TV interview.

Armed Forces Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Cardozo Luna said at least 12,000 soldiers were deployed in ARMM to ensure peace and order during the elections. He said military troops will focus on 887 areas of concern including 18 villages in Lanao del Sur, 20 in Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan and 11 in Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

We are focusing on areas in Maguindanao and Shariff Kabunsuan especially after a breakout of hostilities between government troops and Moro rebels in North Cotabato, he said.

He said a Philippine Marines unit stopped suspected Moro Islamic Liberation Front guerillas from blocking the distribution of ballot boxes in Basilan.

The military said the MILF also tried to take over the highway that connects Lamitan City, where majority are Christians, and the town of Tipo-Tipo, a known MILF stronghold. Initial reports said suspected rebels carried a streamer that said MILF Warning: No Election.

Military officials said the rebels may have been positioning themselves to snatch election paraphernalia to disrupt the holding of Mondays polls.

The Comission on Elections said no new areas of concern have been identified since the release of the list. But we are all maintaining a state of watchfulness, said COMELEC Spokesman James Jimenez.

COMELEC said distribution of election paraphernalia has been completed in Talayan, Maguindanao despite alleged kidnapping threats.

Poll automation undergoes acid test

COMELEC Chairman Jose Melo said the poll is important not only for the ARMM but also for the whole country as two voting technologies would be tried, one of which would be used for the 2010 presidential polls.

The two machines to be tested in the ARMM are the Direct Recording Electronic machine, to be used in Maguindanao only; and the Optical Mark Reader , to be used in the rest of the autonomous region, comprising six provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Sharif Kabungsuan, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, and the cities of Marawi and Lamitan .

The DRE automates the voting, with its touch pad showing the names and photographs of the candidates; and a touch screen, to allow selection without using paper or pencil. The computer machine would always prompt the voter for confirmation in every selection he or she makes.

The OMR, on the other hand, used for automated counting and canvassing, still requires voters to fill up ballots manually, but only to darken circles or boxes corresponding to the names of candidates, which are preprinted in the papers. The machine would then read the inputs in the special computer papers and Jimenez said that ordinarily it would take 15-45 seconds for a voter to finish the vote, but since this is a new system, we give three minutes time limit before the machine would lock out, making the vote akin to a spoiled ballot.

The DRE will handle the 245,415 voters spread in 1,695 precincts in Maguindanao. The OMR will take care of the rest of the ARMMs 1,516,775 registered voters in 9,765.

With the machines however, Comelec has designated 1,915 vote centers only to correspond to the total number of available machines.

Jimenez said the results of the ARMM polls could be released in 36 hours.

Sundays inspection: A-okay

On the eve of the elections, Commissioner Leonardo Leonida visited the Cotobato City Polytechnic College, the designated counting center for the province Shariff Kabunsuan, Sunday, to oversee last-minute preparations.

Leonida, commissioner-in-charge for the province of Sharrif Kabunsuan, said, We expect Shariff Kabunsuan to be the first to transmit its results.

Meanwhile, the Smartmatic-Sahi Technology Inc., one of two technology providers of Comelec, has set up a National Support Center in Manila to serve as technical support hub for the field support technicians deployed in voting centers in Maguindanao and canvassing centers in the rest of the provinces.

The NSC is similar to a Call Center that handles inbound and outbound calls but it also serves as a knowledge base center where operators upload all acquired information into the Election Day Management Platform which can help in developing quick response actions, Jimenez said.

NSC Head Angelo Adlawan said the NSC enables officials to track the processes in each precinct, voting or canvassing center. We have installed dedicated phone lines to allow the field support technicians to provide quick updates in their designated area, he added.

For the ARMM polls, Comelec tapped Smartmatic-Sahi Technology Inc. for the DRE voting system in Maguindanao; and the Avante International Technolgy Inc. for the OMR-based technology for Shariff Kabunsuan, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Rawi-Tawi.

Smartmatic-Sahi deployed 2,300 DRE machines and another 1,000 machines for back-ups to use touch pads and touch screens for Maguindanao.

Avante Technologies deployed 156 optical mark reader machines, which will use paper ballots, which are filled out by voters and then fed into a machine similar to a scanner for other five provinces of ARMM.

Smartmatic-Sahi spokesman Vince Dizon said his group is confident of smooth operations in their precints in Maguindanao and consolidation and canvassing centers in Shariff Kabunsuan, Lanao del Sur, Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.

Tension in N. Cotabato

Press Secretary Jesus Dureza expressed hopes that the continuing tension in some areas in North Cotabato would not adversely affect the conduct of the ARMM elections.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Lorelei Fajardo said the Comelec has prepared well for the polls and has tested the system and are ready to go.

Deputy presidential spokesman Anthony Golez said the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces have stepped up measures to protect the people and ballots to ensure that fundamental rights of our people to choose their leaders are respected.

Dureza said the government is not tolerating the acts of MILF commander Umbra Kato and his renegades who have been occupying several towns and villages in North Cotabato, burning houses and driving off thousands of residents.

He said Kato defied the MILF leadership and refused to abide by the withdrawal arrangement brokered by ceasefire committees of both government and the MILF with the assistance of the local government units, the International Monitoring Team and the local stakeholders.

Kato had been a recalcitrant MILF commander and had defied orders from the MILF leadership in the past, he said.

The government has from the start made known its policy of enforcing the law while exhausting efforts to abide by the existing ceasefire mechanisms with the MILF.

The actions of Umbra Kato and his defiance of government and MILF orders will have to be dealt with accordingly, Dureza said.