Every single precinct and headquarters in the first Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao parliamentary elections used Starlink satellite internet for the transmission of results, with no traditional telecommunications provider involved, COMELEC Commissioner Rey Bulay said Monday.
Bulay explained the details in a live studio interview on DZRH News program The Situation Report on September 14, explaining the technology behind the BARMM election’s transmission system to viewers asking how results are sent in a region of mountains and islands.
The commissioner said traditional telcos were not used at all because the satellite connection removes the geographic barriers that have historically made transmission difficult in the Bangsamoro.
“Ang gamit po namin ‘yung ginamit po natin sa 2025, ‘yung Starlink. Walang PLDT, walang Globe. Wala ‘yun, sa taas, sa satellite ang connection ng Starlink. Kaya ho lahat ng may presinto, lahat po Starlink ito, pati po headquarters namin,” Bulay said.
Bulay said the transmission system is designed so that once a precinct closes and generates its election return, the result is sent simultaneously to multiple servers. No single party can intercept or change it once it is in the air, he said.
“Ang media po may sariling server, ang majority party, minority party may sariling server, tapos po ang citizen arm 1 and 2 may sariling server. Lahat po ‘yun sabay-sabay natatanggap nung kopya ng ER na nag-generate mula sa presinto,” the commissioner said.
He said the simultaneous multi-server transmission makes the results impossible to manipulate after they leave the precinct counting machine.
“Ang kalaban mo hindi na gobyerno dito eh, ang kalaban mo buong Pilipinas na,” Bulay said, explaining that once a result is transmitted and received by every authorized server simultaneously, there is no physical barricade or protest that can stop it.
Bulay said results are live-streamed on COMELEC’s official channel, meaning anyone in Metro Manila or anywhere in the Philippines can watch the BARMM results come in the same night.
