PCOS battery stolen from Agusan del Norte school

MANILA, Philippines – Unidentified men forcibly entered a school in Agusan del Norte on Friday, May 10 and took the power cord and battery pack of a precinct count optical scan (PCOS) machine. 

SPO1 Gil Cabanas of the Agusan del Norte-Philippine Provincial Office told Rappler that the suspects stole the pack, which was supposed to serve as the machine’s back-up power source in case of an outage, from the Nasipit Central Elementary School in Jose Rizal, Barangay 4, Nasipit.

No one was hurt in the incident. 

Cabanas said the board of election inspectors discovered that the items were missing at 7:30 am. Only one set of battery pack and cord was taken, however; another set is still intact. Two PCOS machines were deployed at the school. 

Cabanas said the municipal election officer has requested for a replacement. 

The Commission on Elections has deployed 1,000 generators nationwide after Luzon was hit by a power outage on May 8. Parts of Metro Manila also experienced an outage on May 9.  

Agusan del Norte has frequently suffered from power interruptions, which last for as long as 12 hours. – Rappler.com