Comelec readying for barangay, SK polls

PREPARATIONS for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections in October this year continue amid moves to postpone them, the regional Commission on Elections (Comelec-7) said yesterday.

“We are right on track with out preparation. The registration is done. We know the number of registered voters and how many precincts will be needed. And we are preparing the schools and public buildings to be used as election polling centers,” Regional Comelec Director Rafael Olaño told reporters yesterday.

Last August 21, Olaño said the Comelec central office in Manila started printing the official ballots to be used during the elections.

Although there are proposals for the postponement of the election, Olaño said only an enacted law can stop the Comelec from its preparations.

He said they will soon start training public school teachers who will serve as members of the Board of Election Tellers (BETs) in the coming elections which will be manual.

Olaño said the budget for the elections is already included in the General Appropriations Act (GAA) which means they have to implement it.

Likewise, if the postponement is finalized, Olaño said this would mean that the intended budget for the elections will become savings for Comelec.

In Cebu City, Councilor and Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) president Phillip Zafra expressed support for the postponement of the barangay elections.

“We (Team Rama) would be hypocrites if we don’t say that it will be advantageous on our part if the elections were postponed. It is really advantageous if we look at the incumbent officials’ perspective,” he said.