• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The training of Philippine National Police personnel as poll workers forms part of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) contingency plan for the May 12 elections in response to the ongoing unrest of the Kanlaon Volcano.
Provincial Elections Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said on Monday, Feb. 10, that police officers will be trained as electoral board members to take over the duties of teachers who might be affected by the volcanic eruption and fail to serve as poll workers.
The Police Regional Office-Central Visayas earlier dispatched 200 police personnel to Negros Oriental for election-related duties and disaster relief operations.
The Comelec is making adjustments to its contingency plan for the elections in six local government units (LGUs) of Negros Island should an Alert Level 4 be raised by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
Comelec- Negros Island Region Regional Director Lionel Marco Castillano earlier said voting centers will be established where the Kanlaon evacuees are staying.
Ananoria said that a contingency plan is now in place to push through with the elections in affected areas, be it under Alert Level 3 or 4.
There will be more adjustments in Alert Level 4 since voting centers are up for transfers to some LGUs, where the evacuees will be relocated and makeshift polling centers may also be set up, he added.
For Alert Level 3 declaration, 21,393 voters are expected to cast their votes in polling areas within the vicinity of evacuation centers in the cities of Bago, La Carlota and San Carlos as well as the municipalities of La Castellana, Murcia, Moises Padilla, and Pontevedra, all in Negros Occidental.
Under Alert Level 4, where the danger zone would extended from six to 10 kilometers, the number of displaced voters may increase to 81,385, according to the Comelec.
Ananoria said that the Comelec, in tandem with law enforcement and other government agencies as well as the LGUs, will provide transportation to voters, who will cast their votes to the designated polling centers. | GB
