Automated counting machines (ACMs) were declared safe after the fire that hit the Siaton National High School in Siaton, Negros Oriental on Tuesday night, May 6.

The fire incident took place around 8:00 p.m., hours after the final testing and sealing of the ACMs that will be used in the elections on Monday, May 12.

The cost of damage to structures and other items has reached around P800,000, according to Major Marve Bolay-og, Siaton police chief, yesterday.

He said an initial investigation showed faulty electrical wiring as the possible cause of the fire that destroyed two buildings, five classrooms, three comfort rooms, and the Senior High School principal’s office.

Modules and equipment were also damaged, the Department of Education (DepEd) said in a statement.

No one was reported hurt in the incident.

Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano, the regional executive director of the Commission on Elections-Negros Island Region (Comelec-NIR), said the Siaton National High School is not a voting center in that southern town, and only served as the venue for the ACMs’ final testing and sealing.

Fortunately, the ACMs were already sealed and brought back before the fire hit to the Comelec office in Siaton, where they are being kept until their delivery to the voting centers on Sunday and Monday, he said.

Meanwhile, the DepEd assured that the school has a contingency plan for the opening of classes on June 16. (PNA)