Senator Richard Gordon Tuesday asked the Commission on Elections (Comelec) to immediately start training the teachers who will serve as Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) in the May 2010 national elections, and make serious its voters education campaign.

Gordon made the call following the arrival of the first batch of 7,000 Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machines the other day.

“With some of the counting machines now in the country, there is no reason for Comelec to further delay the required education campaign and training of teachers,” Gordon said, adding that every day of delay stokes the anxieties in the public on the viability of the new voting system.

Gordon said that Comelec Chairman Jose Melo himself admitted that there is a delay in the delivery of the machines, and that this might affect the training of the teachers.

Gordon also urged the Comelec to conduct the training after the PCOS machines are calibrated, since the teachers up to now are still clueless on how to operate the machines.

Gordon said he will support any legal moves the Comelec will take against Smartmatic/TIM, the supplier of the machines, for its failure to deliver the machines on time.

Earlier, Comelec Legal Division Chief Ferdinand Rafanan said Comelec is inclined to take legal action against Smarmatic for the delay in the delivery of counting machines.

The Comelec said that based on the original timetable, around 42,000 PCOS machine should be delivered on Dec. 31, 2009.

Rafanan said that if the timetable were followed, 12,000 PCOS machines should have been delivered starting Nov. 30, 2009.