Namfrel QC to finish operations today

1PM - Namfrel Quezon City (QC) has again extended its operations from 12PM of today to midnight. It first extended the quick count from May 20 to 12PM of today.

Vice Chair for Tabulation Boyet Dy (AB DS '06) said that Namfrel QC will finish checking and encoding all its election returns (ERs) by today. The core group will also arrange all the rooms used for the quick count by today.

The Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership (MVP-CSL) is the headquarters of the Namfrel QC operation quick count.

Dy said that Namfrel QC's results are not just accurate but also representative. "Everything is really accurate kasi mabusisi talaga sa pag-check (because the checking is really done meticulously)."

There are two layers for checking. The first involves checking whether the data in the ERs are complete and readable. The second entails trying to decipher the data labeled as unreadable in the first checking.

"We really save [the ERs] that we can," said Dy.

Dy added that the percentage of ERs tabulated this year was higher than that for 2004. The Loyola Schools (LS) also headed the Namfrel QC quick count in 2004.

Responding to complaints that Namfrel QC has taken too long to tabulate its ERs, Dy said that QC has a big voting population. He also cited the errors encountered with Namfrel National's computer program as a reason for the delay.

Dy also said that they have enough volunteers to finish the tabulation since many parish youth groups have arrived to help in the quick count. Other volunteers also arrived.

As of press time, the volunteers have been divided into two groups, one for checking and one for encoding. Later, all volunteers will be asked to encode.

Ayee D. Macaraig

reporting from the Bantay Bilang Headquarters, Ateneo

Looking over. Namfrel QC Vice Chair for Tabulation Boyet Dy (AB DS '06) tries to clarify details in the ERs to parish youth volunteers who encoded at Faura Hall.

Photo by Henson Tyler T. Wongaiham

Namfrel QC finishes 61% of ERs, needs more volunteers

1204PM – As of press time, Namfrel Quezon City (QC) has finished tabulating 3,328 or 61% of its election returns (ERs), said Miriam delos Santos, Namfrel QC finance officer.

“We are really hoping that we could reach our target of tabulating 70% of the ERs by tomorrow noon,” said delos Santos who is also the outgoing Office of Student Activities (OSA) director.

Delos Santos said that there were no ERs to encode this morning so they had to ask the volunteers to check the ERs.

“We really need more volunteers,” she added. Namfrel QC has been circulating text messages to dormers, faculty members, administrators, and students to ask them to volunteer for the quick count.

"Walk-in volunteers are very much welcome to sign-up. There will be officers who will train them,” delos Santos said.

In the next four hours, Namfrel QC hopes to finish tabulating 65% of the ERs. Delos Santos said that they are planning to encode the ERs that were checked this morning.

Nikko Carlo A. Tolentino
reporting from the Bantay Bilang Headquarters, Ateneo

Namfrel QC to finish most ERs by Tuesday

5PM – Namfrel Quezon City (QC) aims to finish tabulating at least 90% of its election returns (ERs) by May 22 at 12PM.

Wen Batocabe (IV AB-MA PoS), a member of Namfrel QC's Media Relations team, said that Namfrel QC had to extend its operations because it started encoding on Wednesday instead of Tuesday due to system problems. Namfrel QC is now using a system developed by a team of Management Information Systems (MIS) teachers and students from the Loyola Schools (LS).

This new system automatically consolidates the results from QC’s four districts. Operations are smooth with the new system, said Batocabe.

Batocabe, however, said that they can only tabulate readable ERs. Data in some ERs are no longer visible because Namfrel gets the sixth copy of the ERs.

In the latest count, Namfrel QC has tabulated data from 594 ERs for the local candidates, 541 for the national, and 2,513 for both local and national.

Batocabe said that they will be needing many volunteers in the coming days as they no longer have pre-enlisted volunteers. Volunteers may drop by the Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership (MVP-CSL) at 3AM, 7AM, 11AM, 3PM, 7PM, or 11PM so that they can be trained and fed before their shifts.

Volunteers are most needed for the 12AM to 4AM shift.

There will be a mass today at 630PM at the MVP-CSL lobby for Namfrel QC officers and volunteers. Jesuit Provincial Fr. Daniel Patrick Huang, SJ, will be the celebrant.

Ayee D. Macaraig
reporting from the Bantay Bilang Headquarters, Ateneo

Namfrel QC extends operations until Tuesday

12PM – To reach its target of tabulating 70% of the election returns (ERs), Namfrel Quezon City (QC) will extend its operations until 12PM of May 22.

As of 8AM, only 48% of the ERs have been tabulated.

Namfrel QC Vice Chair for Tabulation Boyet Dy (AB DS '06) said that the volunteers for the 8AM to 12PM shift were asked to check the ERs. No new ERs have arrived.

Volunteers are to finish checking by 12PM or by the end of this day so that Namfrel QC can focus on encoding in the next days.

Karl Louie B. Fajardo
reporting from the Bantay Bilang Headquarters, Ateneo

Namfrel QC to resume encoding by 8AM

4AM - Namfrel Quezon City (QC) chapter or Bantay Bilang will come up with a more efficient system of encoding by 8AM.

The Management of Information Systems (MIS) team, composed of personnel and students from the Loyola Schools (LS), will help develop this system.

The current program is slow, a problem similar to those that Namfrel National encountered.

The volunteers for the 12AM to 4AM shift were asked to work also for the 4AM to 8AM shift. As of press time, almost all volunteers are checking the election returns (ERs) so that encoding can resume by 8AM.

Walk-in volunteers are highly encouraged to come after midnight as there are usually a few volunteers by this time.

Hannah S. Varilla

reporting from the Bantay Bilang Headquarters, Ateneo

More volunteers sign up for Namfrel QC quick count

405PM - Bantay Bilang, Namfrel Quezon City's operation quick count, is already picking up its pace.

As of press time, 35 new volunteers have signed up today. Bantay Bilang Head for Media Relations Gita Luz (AB IS '07) expects that they would be able to reach their target of tabulating 70% of the city's election returns (ERs) by Sunday.

Luz said that the number of volunteers increased due to the boost in their efforts to promote the project through text messaging. The message emphasized the urgency of having more volunteers to speed up the tabulation.

Luz hopes that they would be able to contribute to hastening Namfrel's region-wide quick count. “The transmission [now] from the NCR is actually slow. [If] Quezon City, being a big city [in itself] has its votes tabulated faster, I think we would be able to help a lot in speeding up the quick count.”

In the next eight hours, officers are anticipating more walk-in volunteers, as they consider the 4PM to 8PM and the 8PM to 12AM shifts as the peak of volunteer sign-ups.

Xianne S. Arcangel
reporting from the Bantay Bilang Headquarters, Ateneo

Namfrel QC expects surge of volunteers this weekend

1227PM – The Namfrel Quezon City (QC) operation quick count, Bantay Bilang, is expecting a surge of volunteers from May 18 to 20, said Gita Luz (AB IS ’07), Bantay Bilang Head for Media Relations.

Luz said that Bantay Bilang is already welcoming people in between shifts, and that there is no need to pre-enlist. Training for shifts is also done on the spot to accommodate the need for more volunteers. “The priority is to streamline the system. We’re still moving at a very slow rate.”

“Hopefully, Bantay Bilang can encode faster during the weekends, where we expect a surge of volunteers because it’s the students’ or workers’ free time,” she added.

As of last night, 12% of the election returns (ERs) were encoded. Namfrel QC’s target is to tabulate 70% of the ERs by Sunday.

For the next four hours, Namfrel QC will try to coordinate with Ateneo de Zamboanga University (ADZU) to help collate the tally of the ERs, Luz said.

Nikko Carlo A. Tolentino
reporting from the Bantay Bilang Headquarters, Ateneo

Namfrel QC aims to speed up operations

1213AM – The Namfrel QC quick count, Bantay Bilang, core group is trying to figure out ways of organizing operations to make tabulations faster and more efficient, said Gita Luz (AB IS ’07), Bantay Bilang Head for Media Relations.

Luz said that they are trying to change the protocols for checking so they can use manpower and time more efficiently. They are still trying to improve the program so that it runs better.

Luz said that as of press time, they are doing better than when they started. However, they need to speed up operations and recruit more volunteers so that Bantay Bilang can reach its target of 70% of the election returns (ERs) by this week.

For the next four hours, Luz said that they will try to adjust operations so that change can be implemented by today's 8AM shift.

Henson Tyler T. Wongaiham

reporting from the Bantay Bilang Headquarters, Ateneo

Namfrel QC to update results by 4AM tomorrow

8PM - Namfrel Quezon City Chapter will not be releasing updated election results until about 4AM of May 17.

Namfrel QC's operation quick count is also called Bantay Bilang.

Kris Suarez (BS ES ’07), a point person for Bantay Bilang media relations, said that the results from today's 2PM to 12PM shifts and those from tomorrow's 12AM to 4AM shift will be consolidated to avoid further software problems.

According to Suarez, the Excel program that Namfrel uses for tabulations has been running smoothly so far. Volunteers did not encounter any software-related problems during the 4PM to 8PM shift. The flow of volunteers was also very smooth.

Suarez said that Bantay Bilang was more efficient this time since volunteers did not have to wait for a long time before their shift. There were also no extensions in the shifts. Excess volunteers, especially the walk-ins, were all given tasks.

Suarez added that Bantay Bilang also needs more volunteers for the morning shifts as these are the “dry shifts.” Students, who form bulk of the volunteers, have classes in the morning.

Katherine Marie M. Cadeliña
reporting from the Bantay Bilang Headquarters, Ateneo

Namfrel QC quick count calls for more volunteers

by Ayee D. Macaraig

737PM – Namfrel Quezon City (QC)chapter once again sent invitations via e-mail to invite people to volunteer for the project.

Namfrel QC's operation quick count is also called Bantay Bilang.

“A lot have already responded to the call of volunteerism but Bantay Bilang needs more people to help out,” said the invitation.

In earlier reports of The GUIDON, Bantay Bilang officers said that they still need more volunteers especially for May 17 onwards and for night shifts.

Walk-in volunteers are asked to be at the Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership (MVP-CSL) one hour before the four-hour shifts for training and instructions. This means that they must come at 3AM, 7AM, 11AM, 3PM, 7PM or 11PM.

Interested volunteers may text Sanggunian ng mga Mag-aaral (Sanggu) President Karl Satinitigan (IV BS LM) at 0915-7882132, call 4266001 local 5061-65, or drop by at the MVP-CSL.

Namfrel QC close to getting 90% target ERs

12PM – Namfrel Quezon City (QC) chapter has already collected 4,480 election returns (ERs), which is close to its 90% target or 4,534 ERs out of 5,037, said Gita Luz (AB IS ’07), Namfrel QCHead for Media Relations.

Namfrel QC's operation quick count is also called Bantay Bilang.

Recovering from software problems last night, Bantay Bilang’s encoding and collating process has resumed at 8AM. Operations are back to normal.

Officers, however, said that the collating process for local elections needs to quicken. To achieve this, Luz said that they have asked the help of Management Information Systems (MIS) personnel. Volunteer Training Head Aaron Palabyab (AB Comm ’07) added that MIS students and technicians have served as consultants since operations started.

Bantay Bilang officers also said that they expect volunteers to work faster as they get more used to their tasks.

There has been a steady number of volunteers throughout the day, with 4PM to 8PM being the peak time for walk-in volunteers. Five to 10 walk-in volunteers are estimated to come per shift.

Stephanie O. Chan
reporting from the Bantay Bilang Headquarters, Ateneo

Namfrel QC resumes encoding after system problems

8AM – Namfrel Quezon City (QC) Chapter has resumed its encoding process now at Faura Hall after halting encoding operations last night.

Namfrel QC's operation quick count is also called Bantay Bilang.

Namfrel QC and other Namfrel chapters experienced software problems yesterday, which caused delays in their expected quick count.

The Philippine Daily Inquirer quoted Namfrel Chairman Edward Go as having said that he remains optimistic despite the slow count that Namfrel is encountering. “I'm still hopeful that by the end of Friday, we shall have covered 60 percent.”

Namfrel QC said that its system problems have already been fixed. It has submitted results to La Salle Greenhills, Namfrel’s national headquarters. Results for the senatorial race, however, have not been submitted as these can be obtained online.

Namfrel QC will release updated results at noon today. It first released results at 7PM yesterday.

Sara Mae D. Mawis
reporting from the Bantay Bilang Headquarters, Ateneo

Still no election results from Namfrel QC

Bantay Bilang needs more volunteers

449PM (2nd Update) - Bantay Bilang has not yet posted partial and unofficial results at its headquarters at the Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership (MVP-CSL).

Bantay Bilang is the quick count operations of the National Citizens' Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) Quezon City (QC) chapter.

According to a report broadcasted in ABS-CBN News Channel (ANC), the Palace asked Namfrel to speed up its quick count and said that this is more credible than the quick counts conducted by TV networks.

As of press time, only a few Namfrel chapters in NCR have released partial and unofficial results from the quick count.

Joy Triño (IV AB Eco), a member of the media relations team of Namfrel QC, said that Namfrel QC has not yet finished encoding the results written in the election returns (ERs).

System delays prevented the posting of the results. Constant checking and rechecking of the ERs, which are parts of the quick count process, also slowed down their progress.

Namfrel QC officers are posting partial and unofficial results in MVP-CSL, however, from what they monitor in news stations such as ABS-CBN.

Namfrel QC Head for Media Relations Gita Luz (AB IS '07) said that results will probably be posted by midnight.

Triño, meanwhile, said that Namfrel QC needs more volunteers for May 17 onwards. "Many people volunteer for the first two days of counting, but we begin to lack people after those two days."

Bantay Bilang also needs more volunteers for night shifts. Interested volunteers may text 0927-2295792, call 4266001 loc 5061-65, or drop by at the MVP-CSL.

Ma. Anna Margarita V. Bueno and Ayee D. Macaraig

reporting from the Bantay Bilang Headquarters, Ateneo

Blank. As of 420PM, the white boards at the Bantay Bilang headquarters at the Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership (MVP-CSL) contained no partial and unofficial results.

Photo by Patricia S. de la Paz

Namfrel volunteers start encoding QC results

8AM - Namfrel Quezon City (QC) chapter received election returns (ERs) from 10PM to 12AM yesterday, said Wen Batocabe (IV AB-MA PoS), a point person for Namfrel QC media relations.

Namfrel QC's operation quick count is also called Bantay Bilang.

The ERs came from different voting precincts in QC and were delivered to the Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership (MVP-CSL) for Bantay Bilang or the quick count operations.

According to Batocabe, the Bantay Bilang volunteers have checked the ERs and have started to encode them.

System delays prevented the ERs from being checked and encoded faster, Batocabe said. Because of these delays, they started encoding at 8AM instead of 12AM.

By noon, Namfrel QC will be releasing updates. As of press time, they have not yet given partial and unofficial election results because these are still being encoded.

Ma. Anna Margarita V. Bueno
reporting from the Bantay Bilang Headquarters, Ateneo

First batch of ERs arrive in Ateneo

1204AM - Bantay Bilang is yet to release its partial and unofficial results, said Gita Luz (AB IS '07), media head for the National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) Quezon City (QC) chapter.

Bantay Bilang is Namfrel QC's operation quick count.

It was only at 1130PM of May 14 that election returns began to trickle down from different precincts — usually the smaller ones since they finished faster. At the same time, the election returns (ERs) were stuck in a bottleneck in the reception area, because they had to be checked for possible tampering.

In the next four hours, the plan is to start the tabulations once the ERs have been verified.

Luz said that the quick count has enough volunteers for the day shifts of the first two days. More volunteers are needed, however, for the night shifts.

She said that walk-in volunteers will be needed in the next few days.

They are advised to walk in an hour before their desired shift, so that they can be trained. Those who have undergone training, on the other hand, may walk in 30 minutes before their desired shift.

Interested volunteers may text 0927-2295792, call 4266001 loc 5061-65, or drop by the Bantay Bilang Headquarters at the Manuel V. Pangilinan Center for Student Leadership (MVP-CSL).

Henson Tyler T. Wongaiham

reporting from the Bantay Bilang Headquarters, Ateneo

Heavy trickles. Election returns started trickling down from different precincts at almost midnight.

Photo by Henson Tyler T. Wongaiham