Elections in a pandemic: Registered voters only need to wear face mask
INQUIRER FILE PHOTO (2018)
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The 2022 National and Local Elections in the Philippines will be historic as these will be the first to be held during a pandemic.
Amid existing health protocols and limitations due to ongoing threats of COVID-19, the Commission on Elections in Cebu province (Comelec-Cebu) clarified that voters would only need to wear face masks and to make sure they were registered voters in order to cast their ballots.
“We have requirements needed… but one thing ra gyud among gi require sa mga botante (are these) – kuan lang, face mask. Second, registered lang gyud siya in the precinct where he or she wanted to vote,” said Lawyer Jerome Brillantes, acting provincial elections supervisor of Comelec-Cebu.
(We have requirements needed…but one thing we really require of the voters (are these) — face mask. Second, the voter should be registered in the precinct where he wanted to vote.)
“Aside from those, katong mga nadunggan ninyo or nakit-an ninyo sa social media or atong nadunggan sa atong mga silingan, those are fake news,” he added.
(Aside from those, what you heard or saw in social media or those you heard from your neighbors, those are fake news.)
The entire island of Cebu has been placed under a lenient community quarantine status until May 15.
The Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), in the meantime, urged voters to comply with existing health protocols such as proper wearing of face masks. They also told voters to bring their own water bottles as a precaution against the heat while waiting for their turn to vote.
While the province is under Alert Level 2, its four largest cities – Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, Mandaue, and Talisay – have been downgraded to Alert Level 1.
Cebu is the country’s most vote-rich province, with over 3.2 million voters expected to cast their ballots this Monday, May 9.
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