Tacloban: At least 11,334 public school teachers in Eastern Visayas serving as electoral board (EB) members have been certified by the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) as capable of operating the automated counting machines (ACMs) in the May 12 midterm elections.

According to Philippines News Agency, the EB members attended trainings conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), DOST, and the Department of Information and Communications Technology. They also passed examinations. "The EB certification program consists of two key components: an online theoretical examination and a practical examination using the ACM. To be certified, EB members must pass both tests," said Marilyn Radam, DOST assistant regional director for technical operations, in an interview Wednesday.

Of the 11,334 members tasked to manage the voting precincts, 4,514 are from the province of Leyte, 392 from Biliran, 1,200 from Southern Leyte, 2,348 from Samar, 1,386 from Eastern Samar, and 1,494 from Northern Samar.

The position of EB members was initially granted to public school teachers, in accordance with the Election Service Reform Act, while still allowing other "qualified individuals" only when there are insufficient public teachers. In the case of Eastern Visayas, voting centers in some remote areas with peace and order problems will be manned by police officers.

The DOST-accreditation complies with Republic Act 9369, stating that each voting precinct must have a DOST-certified person capable of handling the automated election system. Radam said the certification program started in early March and will run until the end of the month, with other preparatory activities scheduled for April.

Meanwhile, the DOST will operate a technical hub in each province on election day to assist in the generation and transmission of election results.