Diocesan Electoral Board prepares for 2016 polls

DUMAGUETE CITY, Philippines – It is now all-systems go for the Diocesan Electoral Board of the Diocese of Dumaguete for the May 9, 2016 elections.

The DEB’s executive committee, in its Tuesday meeting, outlined the various activities it would undertake, together with its members and partners, as the election period is set to begin this Sunday with certain prohibitions, such as the gun ban, taking effect.

Monsignor Julius Heruela, DEB convener, said the board’s activities will focus on three things: voters’ education, election monitoring, and the One Good Vote campaign of the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting.

The voters’ education will reel off in Manila this February with trainings and orientation seminars on election-related concerns and other matters in preparation for the May polls, Heruela said.

For this, the DEB will send representatives to include priests and lay partners who will then echo the trainings and seminars inputs to the diocesan and parish levels, he said.

One of the coming trainings will be for information technology specialists particularly on the automated machines to be used in the elections.

This Friday, student leaders will be invited to an orientation of the presidential and national elections and how they can help educate fellow students on the matter, through campus activities. Media partners will also be tapped to assist the DEB on voters’ education, Heruela said.

The DEB will also finalize the identification of a pilot area for the implementation of the One Good Vote campaign, although Heruela admitted the need for volunteers who can dedicate their time and efforts in educating the residents and the voters.

Heruela further expected a large turnout of volunteers this year, but admitted the common trend in every elections where DEB-trained volunteers are pirated by candidates who offer payment for their services. (FREEMAN)