AS THE whole nation anticipates the new government that promises change, unforseen events surrounded the May 10 national elections.

MAY 4

PCOS failure

After some precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machines produced inconsistent results during the testing, Comelec replaced 76,300 compact flash cards. The massive glitch caused a stir for polls postponement.

MAY 8

Delay after delay

With only two days before the elections, only 14% of the reprogrammed flash cards, 64% of ballots, and 52% of PCOS machines were sent to polling precincts.

MAY 10

Speediest election

Amid cases of vote buying and PCOS machine glitches, and long lines on precincts, the first automated Philippine elections pushed through.

MAY 14

Controversial PCOS Machines

Allegations of cheating arose as 65 PCOS machines were found in a house of a Smartmatic technician in Antipolo City. On May 19, the Senate accepted custody of these machines.

MAY 18

Koala bear let loose

A koala-masked whistleblower’s two-hour interview revealed allegations of 15 million votes sold to presidential, vice-presidential and senatorial candidates.

MAY21

Solon gives fraud evidence

Losing mayoralty candidate Annie Susano presented two compact flash cards to the Lower House. She claimed that the cards were used to rig election results.

MAY23

Solon gives fraud evidence

Comelec official Nicodemo Ferrer denied participating in any phone conversation discussing cheating operations with Interior secretary Ronaldo Puno. Their alleged conversation was distributed online.

MAY 23

“Hello Nico” issue arises

Comelec official Nicodemo Ferrer denied participating in any phone conversation discussing cheating operations with Interior secretary Ronaldo Puno. Their alleged conversation was distributed online.

MAY 26

Comelec and Smartmatic grilled

Smartmatic-TIM Asia Pacific President Cesar Flores admitted program errors on PCOS machines like the bloated number of registered voters and early time stamps of election results.

MAY 27

Canvassing begins

After a two-day delay because of the debates between Congress, Comelec and Smartmatic, the canvassing of votes finally began. It ended on June 8.

JUNE 30

RP’s new beginning

President Gloria Arroyo will step down from her presidency and will be replaced by president-elect Noynoy Aquino. All elected government officials will also be sworn to office.