Davao-based social media has been abuzz with talk of a big cargo that they described as election paraphernalia that was stored on private premises in Buhangin, Davao City. Not knowing what it was and suspecting it might be used to rig the results of the elections in the Davao region, the barangay officials of Buhangin and later the Davao City Police Office cordoned off the warehouse.
It turned out the suspect items were Starlink transmission devices and accessories like solar panels and batteries. As I write this piece, over a hundred sets have been delivered to various provinces and cities in the region, Davao City included.
It’s really much ado about nothing. This is part of the normal election process. iOne Resources in a joint venture with Ardent Networks Inc., which the Commission on Elections contracted to supply and deploy Starlink devices, temporarily stored the cargo in the bodega of a private house in Buhangin to be later deployed to the listed destinations.
The Starlink kits, as explained by the Comelec, are a wireless internet system designed to deliver high-speed, low-latency internet to remote locations. The solar panel sets are backup power in areas without stable electricity, or none at all, which normally is the case in many isolated areas, especially in Mindanao.
The Starlink satellites — which resemble the residential type units — are sufficient to form a single precinct or clusters of small precincts. Contrary to unfounded assertions that they would be used to tamper with the election results, the kits do not do the counting and printing. They merely provide a wireless, high-speed internet transmission of data.
Political party watchers and the National Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), if it is still alive, must therefore ensure that the Starlink satellite kits are isolated or disconnected from the Vote Counting Machines (VCM) and printers. This means the counting and printing must be done first.
The party representatives and Namfrel must obtain the hard copy (printed copy) first so that they can reconcile the transmitted results later.
Results could only be transmitted when the VCM is connected to the internet via Starlink. In short, Starlink cannot be used to tamper with the vote count unless it is connected to the VCM during the counting.
In sheer ignorance of how and what Starlink does, some political propagandists attempted to link FPRRD’s grandson, Omar Duterte, a candidate for the 2nd District where Barangay Buhangin belongs, to the election equipment. That’s how desperate the camp of Karlo Nograles is as the 12 May election nears. It is absurd to even think that Omar, who is leading in surveys, has anything to do with any shenanigans considering that he is with the Hugpong sa Tawong Lungsod, the opposition party.
The symptoms of a defeat come with a desperate struggle.