Ngayong papalapit na ang Eleksyon 2022 na gaganapin sa Mayo 9, sinimulan na noong Setyembre 1 ng Commission on Elections (COMELEC) ang pagpaparehistro ng mga botante. Dulot ng kasalukuyang pandemya, iminungkahi ng mga nasa Kapulungan ng Kinatawan na gawing electronic ang sistemang ito upang matiyak ang kaligtasan ng mga mamamayan.

Ayon sa pahayag nina Senior Citizens partylist Rep. Francisco Datol Jr. at House Majority Leader Leyte Rep. Martin Romualdez sa COMELEC mula sa ulat ng Manila Bulletin noong Hulyo 27, ito ay hindi lamang para sa kaligtasan ng mga tao kundi para na rin sa mas madaling pagpaparehistro sa hinaharap.

“By adopting a system for online voter’s registration, we do not just make our electoral system more resilient to unexpected calamities such as the COVID-19 pandemic but also create a system that provides the Filipino electorate and our government an efficient, convenient, and cost-effective mechanism for voter’s registration in the long term.” 

Dahil dito, ninais ng mga mambabatas na maglahad ng pagsusog sa RA 8189 o ang “The Voters’ Registration Act of 1996.” Sa mungkahing House Bill 7063, gagawing electronic ang pagpaparehistro ng mga tao. Kukunin ang kanilang litrato at biometrics sa pamamagitan ng video conferencing gamit ang mga gadyet at ang makabagong teknolohiya na built-in device for fingerprint. Ang biometrics ay ang pisikal na datos ng tao tulad ng kanyang fingerprint, facial pattern, mata, boses, at iba pa.

May mga adbentahe ang sistemang ito sapagkat una, matitiyak ang kaligtasan ng mga mamamayan at makatutulong ito upang mapababa ang posibilidad ng pagkalat ng COVID-19. Pangalawa, mainam din itong paraan upang maiwasan ang epekto ng mga kalamidad na maaaring makaapekto sa pagdaos ng rehistrasyon tulad ng kasalukuyang quarantine. Magiging maginhawa ang prosesong ito dahil hindi na kinakailangan pang lumabas ng mga tao mula sa tahanan. 

Ngunit ang mungkahing ito ay hindi ipinatupad ng COMELEC at sa katunayan ay hindi ito ang ginagamit sa kasalukuyang pagpaparehistro. 

“Ramdam po namin ang panawagan ng publiko na ‘yan. Unfortunately, especially for first time voters, ay kailangan po kasi natin ang biometrics nila.” Iyan ang pahayag ng Tagapagsalita ng COMELEC na si James Jimenez sa CNN Philippines.

Nararapat lamang ang naging desisyon ng COMELEC sa paraan ng pagpaparehistro ngayong taon. Maraming haharaping mga suliranin ang sistemang electronic kung ito ay ipatutupad sa ating bansa. Kabilang na rito ang pagiging accessible ng internet at gadyet, ang kakailanganing badyet, mga kumplikasyong mararanasan sa paggamit ng panibagong teknolohiya, at ang seguridad ng mga datos.

Hindi masisigurado na ang lahat ng mga mamamayan ay makapagpaparehistro dahil sa kawalan ng akses nila sa internet o gadyet. Ayon sa ulat ng Inquirer, ang dami ng internet users sa Pilipinas noong Enero 2020 ay nasa 67% lamang ng populasyon. Kung ganitong porsyento ang may akses sa internet, hindi malabong ganito lamang din ang mga makapagpaparehistrong botante na kung susumahin ay sadyang kakaunti. Mahalaga na lahat ng mamamayan ay makapagparehistro dahil ito ay isang responsibilidad at partisipasyon para sa lipunan.

Kakailanganin din ng malaking badyet para maisagawa ang prosesong ito dahil sa pangangailangan ng mga mga equipment tulad ng built-in device for fingerprint, computers na gagamitan ng webcams, at iba pa.

Bilang ang sistemang ito ay bago sa karanasan, mataas ang posibilidad na magkaroon ito ng mga isyu. Mayroon nang mga pangyayari kung saan ang paggamit ng makabagong teknolohiya ay nagdulot ng aberya sa mga gawain. Katulad na lamang nang unang ipinatupad ang Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) para sa eleksyon. Sa paggamit ng PCOS, nagkaroon ng maraming kumplikasyon na nakaapekto sa proseso ng pagboto. Kabilang na rito ang paper jamming, hindi pagtanggap ng mga balota, hindi pagbilang ng mga boto, at marami pang iba. Ngunit sa kabila ng mga suliraning kinaharap nito ay wala pa rin itong ipinagbago. Sa katunayan, hindi pa rin ito naging maayos noong sinubukang gamitin para sa Eleksyon 2019. Maaaring magkaroon din ng mga isyu sa electronic na sistema ng pagpaparehistro. 

Dagdag pa rito ay ang seguridad ng personal na impormasyon ng mga indibidwal. Kung gagawing electronic o online ang pagkuha sa impormasyon, hindi matitiyak ang seguridad ng impormasyon lalo na at laganap sa ating panahon ang hackers. Noong Agosto 28, 2020 lamang, na-hack ng “Phantom Troupe” ang website ng gobyerno. Nagawa ng grupong i-hack ang security system ng website at nagdagdag ng content dito. Ninais nilang makakuha ng mga impormasyong makatutulong sa pagpapahina ng gobyerno. Nagkaroon na rin ng mga pagtatangkang i-hack ang ilan sa mga website ng iba’t ibang paaralan. Hindi malayong mangyari itong muli.

Mas mainam ang pagsasagawa ng pisikal na pagpaparehistro kaysa sa electronic upang maiwasan nito ang mga suliraning nabanggit. Dagdag na rin dito ang kasiguraduhan ng makukuhang datos lalo na ang biometrics ng indibidwal. Dulot ng mabilis na pag-unlad ng teknolohiya, madali na lamang ding gawing hindi totoo ang mga impormasyon tulad na lamang ng lagda. Natitiyak din sa prosesong ito na ang taong magpaparehistro ay totoo at ang kanyang kalagayan ay pasok sa mga kwalipikasyon na hinahanap ng batas. 

Mas accessible din ang pisikal na rehistrasyon sa lahat ng mga mamamayan lalo na sa mga walang akses sa internet o gadyet. Hindi na rin kakailanganing gumastos ang gobyerno para sa mga equipment. 

Tinitiyak naman ng COMELEC na ang gagawing pagpaparehistro ay magiging maayos at ligtas mula sa pagkalat ng COVID-19 sa pamamagitan ng Resolution No. 10674. Dito nakasaad ang mga panuto at health protocol sa panahon ng pagsasagawa ng pagpaparehistro. Makikita rin dito ang mga kakailanganing gawin ng mga tao bago pumunta sa registration area.

Mahalaga na sa simulang bahagi pa lamang ng pagboto ay maayos na ang proseso upang maiwasan ang anomang kumplikasyon sa pagpaparehistro at pagtatala ng datos. Sa pamamagitan din nito ay maiiwasan ang pandaraya sa identidad ng mga botante. Mabusisi man ang prosesong ito ngunit magagarantiya nito ang seguridad ng mga impormasyon at ang maayos na sistema ng pagpaparehistro para sa Eleksyon 2022. // ni Eloisa Dufourt

After weeks of deliberation, the University of the Philippines (UP) finally announced that the UP college admissions test (UPCAT) for AY 2021-2022 is cancelled. As of recent news the university is currently creating an algorithm to fit the applicants’ circumstances.

According to a statement released last October 27, 2020 by the Office of Admissions Director Francisco de los Reyes, UP experts came up with five possible actions for next school year’s college admissions after the coronavirus pandemic disrupted the yearly scheduled in-person entrance exam. The options posted are the following (as published on UP's official website):

1) A paper-and-pen administration of the UPCAT, subject to IATF and LGU COVID-19 protocols and coordination;

2) An online UPCAT;

3) A hybrid paper-and-pen and online mode for UPCAT;

4) A no-UPCAT scenario where UP may mine data from the applicant’s personal data sheet, high school records, the specific high school and performance of its graduates in UP, etc., to arrive at the University Predicted Grade (UPG);

5) A moratorium on freshman admission. 

Given these options, the Board of Regents weighed all the pros and cons to decide what would best benefit the incoming freshmen, the staff, and most importantly, the Philippines as a whole.

The first option, which is the paper-and-pen examination, has been proven effective over the past years. However, amidst a global pandemic, this would not have been the best decision to make. Yearly, there are around 100,000 applicants who take the UPCAT. This poses a potential health risk to the examinees and could easily contribute to the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). Furthermore, if this option had been chosen, the possibility of cheating among applicants would be greater since UP might have to extend the period of examination in order to strictly follow the health protocols. This would have led to examinees sharing information about the test questions and the students who will take the exam later will have an advantage because of this.

The second option, an online UPCAT, has the advantage of being safer and more accessible. However, this ease of access would only apply to those who have the privilege of a stable internet connection and a well-functioning device. Sadly, the Philippines ranks as one of the countries with the worst and most expensive internet connections in the world, according to VPN provider Surfshark’s 2020 Digital Quality of Life Index. Much like with the first option, cheating is also possible since there would be no observers to make sure that examinees do not use sources around them to look for the answers.

The third option, a combination of paper-and-pen and online UPCAT was also considered. It might seem like a great compromise, but the problem was that it most likely had the same set of disadvantages as the first two. With no further information released by the university, not much is known as to how UP would administer this kind of testing. 

The fourth option on the list is using the applicant's personal record as the basis of admission. This scenario is most likely to be administered now that there is no UPCAT. This is also the current admission process in other universities such as the Ateneo De Manila University and the University of Sto. Tomas. Among the five options, it is the most ideal because not only does it ensure the safety of the examinees, it also lessens the possibility of cheating. In addition, it is the most plausible since UP has a standardized system of evaluating an applicant's grade. This system is called the University Predicted Grade (UPG), which is designed to evaluate an examinee's academic performance using their test scores in the UPCAT and high school records. 

The final option on the list is having a moratorium on freshman admission. This is considered a last resort and would have been the worst arrangement because of the expected damages that it will bring to the country. First, those who cannot afford quality education ("underprivileged" ) whom the university mostly caters to, would be left with even lesser options. These people would have to find other alternatives such as loans or might need to temporarily halt their education altogether. Moreover, some teachers and university staff may have lost their sources of income for an entire academic year. The country’s economic status would also be expected to plummet, as a result of unemployment and a lack of fresh graduates.

The history of UPG started in the 1970s when a resolution was passed to combine the three-year high school average and the College Admissions Test scores. The UPCAT back then was 80% based on the subtest portion while the remaining 20% was based on high school grades. After a series of studies, they found out that high school grades should be given more weight in grading the applicant. It was not until 1976 that Prof. Romeo Manlapaz improved it by changing into the 60-40 grading system that we know today. This was when UPG, the system that we currently use, was officially born. 

The purpose of this system is to promote equity and ensure that each applicant is properly screened. So in 1998, UP improved the UPG system by introducing the Excellence-Equity Admissions System (EEAS). This system makes sure that the applicants are fairly treated because the EEAS adjusts the UPG of applicants using a palugit and pabigat. The palugit gives a bonus of 0.5 on their UPG if an applicant comes from a public barangay, public vocational, or public general high schools, excluding those administered by state universities and colleges and science high schools or if they belong to a minority group. The pabigat on the other hand gives a penalty to the applicant’s scores which is the opposite of palugit. This happens when a student applies for a campus that is not near his or her locality. Thanks to the EEAS, people from all sectors have a fair chance of getting admitted into UP.

As previously stated, an in-person conduct of the test is not recommended due to the country’s current circumstances. The next best option is to utilize the existing UPG system by taking an applicant’s personal data sheet, high school records, and performance into consideration, thereby leveling the playing field for the examinees. In addition, a written output in the form of an essay might also serve as a great substitute for the written component in the computation for UPG.

In the end, the Board of Regents is heading the right direction by choosing to forgo the UPCAT. It is unfortunate but as of now this is the most reasonable option that the BOR can take in these times of difficulty. //by Christine Caparas and Simon Delfinado

Sources: 

As of October 5, 2020, various devices and gadgets were donated to University of the Philippines Integrated School (UPIS) students to aid in classes conducted through remote learning.

There were a total of 110 tablets, 58 laptops, 23 WiFi packages, six desktop computers, and two netbooks donated. Donations came in from alumni of UPIS Batches 1986, 1970, 1995, 1975, 1993, and 1994, the Philippine Cabin Crew Charities Inc. (PCCCI), the Philippine Statistical Research and Training Institute (PSRTI), the UPIS Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), students, and other anonymous donors.

The donations were distributed to the students with the help of representatives from the PTA, Batch 1995 alumni, and other batches. 

When asked why they chose to donate to UPIS, the PSRTI responded, “UPIS is known for its high-quality education given to young students. It is also a public school in need of additional equipment considering the COVID-19 pandemic and the need to go online teaching.(sic)”

Mrs. Aida Padua, a founding member of the PCCCI, said they were approached by the Committee on Scholarships for donations. PCCCI and the committee regularly communicate regarding their scholars. No fundraising event was held for the donations, their only request was that scholars who lack gadgets for online learning must be prioritized during distribution.

When asked to give a message for students, Mrs. Padua advised them to take care of their gadgets, study very well, and make their benefactors proud. She even adds, “If you have an opportunity to help anyone, whoever they are, extend that help… You will never know if you are the angel that God sent to help that person. And your kindness will be returned a thousandfold.” //by Franz Joves