Polls 'hottest' in RP history

MANILA, Philippines - Yesterday’s elections were the “hottest” so far – literally.

Close to 800 people nationwide suffered heat stroke, high blood pressure and other ailments while voting yesterday, the Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) reported.

PNRC secretary-general Gwendolyn Pang said Red Cross volunteers treated voters suffering from dizziness, headache, high blood pressure and minor wounds due to overcrowding, long queues and the hot, humid weather.

During the national and local political campaign period from February to May, temperatures shot to unprecedented heights, taking their toll on politicians and their followers.

Five people died from heat stroke this summer, according to Chief Inspector Erwin Margarejo, head of the Manila Police Department Crime Against Persons, based on their records.

In Natividad, Pangasinan, one of the vice mayoral candidates suffered cardiac arrest because of the intense heat.

The most prominent victim of heat stroke was former Batangas governor Armando Sanchez who was running against re-electionist movie-actress-turned politician Vilma Santos-Recto.

The blood vessel rupture in Sanchez’s brain had been attributed to “over-fatigue and the hot weather with hypoglycaemia aggravated by severe hypertension.”

As early as last February, Deputy Administrator Nathaniel Cruz of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said the warm temperatures experienced in most part of the country “could be a sign of an early onset of the summer season.”

By the first week of March, Pagasa recorded Metro Manila’s hottest day at 35.8 degrees Celsius.

Last April 4’s temperature was worse at 36.1 degree Celsius. During the same day, normally cool Baguio City sizzled at 28.4 degrees Celsius.

Tuguegarao City, one of the hottest spots in the country, suffered a near-unbearable temperature of 38 degrees Celsius.

Metro Manila’s temperature further went up to 36.3 degrees Celsius last April 11, then sizzled at 36.8 degrees Celsius nine days later or on April 20.

The high temperatures were blamed on the El Niño phenomenon, which refers to the “unusual warming of sea surface temperatures along the Equatorial Pacific that is usually characterized by below-average rainfall, which leads to a dry spell.”

Meanwhile, Pang said Red Cross volunteers and staff served a total of 737 voters in various polling precincts nationwide yesterday.

“PRC volunteers and emergency response teams were deployed to different voting precincts to give medical assistance to people who might suffer from heat stroke, wounds, and other illnesses due to extreme heat and unexpected volume of crowd in precincts nationwide,” Pang noted.

Pang said they expect the number of patients treated by their staff to increase by the end of election day. With Mayen Jaymalin