High voter turnout seen in barangay polls today

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is expecting an 80 percent turnout of the 54.05 million registered voters nationwide for today’s barangay elections.

Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes yesterday said a high number of voters is likely as the barangay elections are more “intimate” than other political exercises.

“The turnout of voters will be higher than the May 13 elections. We expect this election to have 79 to 80 percent voter turnout,” he said.

The last May 13 elections had about 76 percent voters’ turnout.

Voters will cast their votes for one barangay chairman and seven kagawads (councilors) in each of the 42,028 barangays nationwide.

The Comelec has set up 36,768 voting centers for the 170,603 clustered precincts throughout the country.

“As much as possible, please vote early since voting will only be from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. unlike last May. The reason is we are using the manual system so the counting process will be much longer than the automated system,” Brillantes said.

Brillantes also advised voters to bring any government-issued ID, preferably bearing their photo and signature.

He said vote buying and vote selling, as well as voting more than once are strictly prohibited.

The clustering of precincts, Brillantes said, is almost the same as during the May 13 elections.

“Don’t rely too much on the list of voters posted outside. If your name is not posted outside but you know you should vote in that room, it would be better if you verify your name inside with the Board of Election Tellers (BETs),” he said.

There may be instances in which candidates may try to confuse registered voters by altering the lists posted outside polling precincts to dissuade them from casting their votes.

Police, on the other hand, have been placed on full alert since Friday for today’s barangay elections.

Philippine National Police (PNP) Deputy Director General Felipe Rojas Jr. said tension is usually high during the barangay elections since the candidates are either relatives, neighbors or are known to each other.

“We wanted the canvassing of votes to be over early in the day so that the Comelec could immediately proclaim the winners. The idea here is to decrease tension to prevent the eruption of violent incidents,” Rojas said.

Rojas admitted the number of election related violent incidents increased on the eve of elections.

He did not cite figures but said the number of violent incidents recorded by the PNP yesterday surpassed the last barangay elections in 2010.

Rojas said at least 75,000 policemen would be deployed to secure the more than 1,000 polling precincts all over the country.

Rojas said a special deployment of troops was implemented starting yesterday afternoon in perennial trouble spots that included the provinces of Maguindanao, Lanao del Sur, Lanao del Norte, Abra, Masbate and Jolo, Sulu. In these areas, policemen will be deployed by the Comelec as Special Board of Election Tellers (SBET), tasked not only to oversee the elections but also to prevent massive cheating.

“We are appealing to the voters to go out early and cast their votes so that they can attend to their other responsibilities,” said Rojas.

Comelec said the winners in today’s elections are expected to be proclaimed within 24 hours after the close of voting.

“Our estimate is that most of the precincts will be finished with their canvassing and proclamation within 24 hours. Those that will be left are the bigger barangays,” Brillantes said.

President Aquino will cast his vote this morning in his hometown of Tarlac and will monitor developments in the country as Filipinos troop to polling precincts to cast their vote for the barangay elections.

“He will vote in his district in Tarlac, and he will join the others in voting early in their voting precincts,” Secretary Herminio Coloma of the Presidential Communications Operations Office said.

The President will cast his vote at Precinct 175-A of the Central Azucarera Elementary School in San Miguel, Tarlac.

Special polling centers

To allow more persons with disabilities (PWDs) and elderly to vote for today’s elections, the Comelec opened four special polling centers for them.

Voters with physical disabilities and the elderly in selected barangays in Manila like the polling precinct in Manuel Araullo High School could vote in SM City Manila.

Those registered in Batangas, particularly in the precinct of GB Lontok Elementary School, could vote in SM City Lipa.

In Cebu, selected PWDs and elderly voters can go to SM City Cebu and in SM City General Santos for those registered in Lagao Central School.

The Comelec also designated 190 barangays nationwide to hold voting for 24,520 detainees.

Deployment of election paraphernalia, including ballots, has already been completed as of yesterday, Brillantes said.

“By Sunday evening, election materials such as election returns will already be distributed to the Board of Election Tellers,” Brillantes said.

All preparations have been completed despite the lack of budget for the barangay elections, Brillantes said.

So far, the Comelec has collected about 50 percent of the required P10,000 from every barangay nationwide.

The Comelec resolution mandates the local government units to contribute not more than 10 percent of the general fund of a barangay.

Since many local governments failed to satisfy the requirements of funding under Comelec resolution 9739, the poll body decided to shell out its own money to fund the honorarium of teachers serving as election inspectors.

“For those saying they don’t have the money, they have a legitimate reason. That’s okay. For those that simply say they don’t want to give, a simple warning from us: That is an election offense under the law,” Brillantes warned.

The Department of Education (DepEd) activated its Election Task Force operation center to provide assistance to the 510,000 teachers serving as members of the BET in today’s barangay elections.

Comelec said teachers who will serve as members of the BET will get P2,000 honorarium and P500 transportation allowance.

Comelec said the compensation should come from the local government units where the BETs will serve.

Public Attorneys Office (PAO) chief Persida Acosta said 1,500 state lawyers and 900 other personnel have been deployed to provide legal assistance to members of the BET.

Acosta cited PAO’s arrangement with DepEd where government lawyers will provide assistance to the teachers serving as election inspectors for today’s elections.

Special elections

Comelec has decided to postpone today’s barangay elections in Bohol and Zamboanga City due to the prevailing situation.

The 45-day election period in Zamboanga City and Bohol, however, started Saturday for the holding of the special barangay elections on Nov. 25.

Comelec was forced to postpone the village elections in Zamboanga City in the aftermath of the destruction caused by the three-week gun battle between government forces and the Misuari faction of the Moro National Liberation Front.

Most villages in Bohol, on the other hand, were in ruin following the Oct. 15 earthquake that left some 200 people dead and thousands homeless.

Instead of casting votes today, candidates for barangay elections in Bohol are now allowed to file their certificate of candidacy (COC).

Comelec said the filing of COCs for candidates in quake-ravaged Bohol has been extended today until tomorrow.

Although candidates nationwide were required to file their COCs from Oct 11 to Oct. 15, the Comelec said, many candidates in Bohol failed to comply because of the calamity.

Comelec said COCs filed during that period are considered valid.

But the Comelec still opted to set additional dates for filing of COCs in Bohol to compensate for the days where the operation of the local Comelec offices was disrupted by the earthquake.

As of Oct. 14, there were already 656 COCs filed by aspiring barangay chairmen aside from the 4,676 candidates hoping to become barangay kagawads in the 1,109 barangays of Bohol.

Meanwhile, the Comelec is also set to hold today the plebiscite for the creation of the new province of Davao Occidental.

Comelec said an estimated 523,862 registered voters from Davao del Sur are set to vote if they are in favor of the municipalities of Sta. Maria, Malita, Don Marcelino, Jose Abad Santos, and Sarangani forming the new province of Davao Occidental.

Voters in Davao del Sur will use a different ballot in today’s elections as it would also include voting in the plebiscite.

Bring umbrellas, no littering

Voters are advised to bring umbrellas for today’s barangay elections as rains are expected in many parts of the country due to the intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ), the state weather bureau said yesterday.

Robert Sawi, weather division chief of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), said southern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao will be cloudy with scattered rains and thunderstorms.

Sawi also warned residents of Mindanao against possible flashfloods and landslides as widespread rains may affect the region.

The rest of the country, including Metro Manila, will continue to experience good weather, apart from light rains over the eastern section.

Voters were also urged to observe a litter-free election day.

“We appeal to all voters to avoid littering as they cast their votes,” EcoWaste Coalition’s Zero Waste campaigner Tin Vergara said.

“Please be environmentally responsible, shun littering and commit to a truly clean democracy that our nation can be proud of.”

Vergara said sample ballots and other campaign propaganda commonly cause the tons of garbage during election day.

Vergara advised voters to come prepared with their list of candidates instead of relying on the campaign materials handed to them en route to precincts.

She said local officials and sidewalk vendors should use garbage bins for proper waste disposal near polling places.

Vergara also urged candidates and their supporters to immediately “remove and recycle their campaign materials after voting day.”

She said Comelec must oblige all barangay candidates to comply with their civic duty to conduct post-election cleanup.

The public must avoid burning campaign materials that may possibly contain toxic chemicals, the group said.

“Burning chlorinated campaign materials such as PVC tarpaulins is dangerous as this will cause the release of hazardous by-products, including dioxins, the most toxic of all man-made chemicals,” EcoWaste said. – With Delon Porcalla, Non Alquitran, Helen Flores