Comelec’s ‘technical call center’ operational starting May 2
The Commission on Elections’ National Technical Support, located in Parañaque City, will serve as the technical “call center” for the 2025 elections. (Photo from Office of Comelec Chairman)
MANILA, Philippines — The National Technical Support Center (NTSC), dubbed as the “technical call center” of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), will begin its operations on May 2, 10 days before the midterm elections.
According to Comelec spokesperson John Rex Laudiangco, the NTSC will address and resolve “purely” technical concerns like final testing and sealing, transmission services, automated counting machines, online voting, and counting system.
“This is not a public call center. Not all problems on Election Day will be raised to the NTSC. Deso technical support, technicians on the ground, and election officers will be the ones discussing matters here,” Laudiangco said in Filipino at a press conference.
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He explained that technical calls would be filtered in three levels. Basic problems that can easily be solved will be handled by Level 1 agents, while unresolved Level 1 calls will be raised to the Information Technology Department. Problems that need to be resolved by election providers will be elevated to Level 3.
“All the Comelec’s efforts ensure that all issues will be resolved on the ground. If a concern needs to be escalated to the NSTC, they will do so,” Laudiangco said in Filipino.
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He also said that Comelec would deploy technicians to every polling precinct, aside from the 110 technical repair hubs covering all provinces. Problems resolved by technicians on the ground do not need to be raised to the NTSC, he added.
He also assured the public that the NTSC is an “access-regulated, access-restricted, and highly secure facility.”
Meanwhile, the Comelec Command Center will handle power outages, security issues, and difficulty locating names in polling precincts.
Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia said the NTSC has a protocol to answer calls within five seconds.
“Even if the calls arrive all at once, at all costs, they need to be answered in five seconds because we need to give the advice and remedy needed,” Garcia said in Filipino at another press conference.
The NTSC operations will run from May 2 until the end of the operations of the national board of canvassers and declaration of the conclusion of the elections.
