A LEADING daily reported last week that Comelec has leased another 3,540 vote-counting machines (VCM) for P133,466,600 for the May 2016 local and national polls. (No, the VCM is not a new machine; it’s the same despicable PCOS that, because of its bad reputation, has been re-named VCM. Somebody should tell them that … “Garbage, by any other name, will smell …” My apologies to Shakespeare.)

The report further said that, according to Commissioner Christian Robert Lim, chairman of the Comelec’s steering committee for the 2016 elections, “they decided to place a ‘repeat order’ … because of the expected increase in voters next year.” Comelec also said, according to the report, that “54.5 million individuals registered for the coming elections.” After disqualifications, screening for double and multiple registration, the number is still expected to exceed 52 million.