BARMM, Philippines — 9,132 teachers or Electoral Board Members (EBMs) in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao are currently undergoing the Department of Science and Technology’s Electoral Board Certification Program. It started from March 14 until April 12, 2022.

Together with 17 regional offices nationwide, DOST is solely mandated by law to implement the Certification Program for EBMs. It stated that AES (Automated Election System) should be adopted; at least one member of the Board of Election Inspectors shall be an information technology-capable person trained or certified by the DOST to use the AES.

In partnership with the Commission on Elections and the Ministry of Basic, Higher and Technical Education, MOST has conducted electoral board practical or hands-on examinations.

There are 27 MOST certifiers deployed in Maguindanao, Cotabato City, Lanao del Sur, Marawi City, Basilan, Sulu, and Tawi-Tawi to administer the certification process.

Each batch of teachers or EBMs in the provinces will undergo training conducted by COMELEC and followed by the DOST EB Certification Program.

There are three members per precinct, and DOST would at least certify one to two members. The Chairman and Poll Clerk have taken the examination process in the BARMM provinces.

The DOST EB Certification process has two parts: the Online Theoretical Examination, accessed through dost-ebcertify.ph, and the Practical Examination.

Certifiers evaluate EBMs’ capabilities or proficiency in using the Vote Counting Machine (VCM). They will be given 30 minutes to perform all required activities such as installation, operation, and uninstalling the vote-counting machine.

All teachers must pass the two examinations to be certified as Electoral Board Members and be deployed in precincts during the 2022 National and Local Elections on May 9.

Certifiers in BARMM also consolidated data from EBMs. Then MOST will send their information to DOST Central Office for the latter to send the link to EBs for the Online Theoretical Examination.

Furthermore, DOST will forward the exam results to the COMELEC, and the latter will announce the certified electoral board members who will serve in the upcoming election.

Also, health protocols against the COVID-19 pandemic are observed during the whole period of the certification program.

(AOM-ICS)