• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Commission on Elections (Comelec) and the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) will sign a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on Thursday, May 1, aimed at establishing partnership for disaster risk reduction and management related to the May 12 national and local elections.
The signing, which will be held at the Provincial Capitol Social Hall in Bacolod City, will be attended by Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia and OCD Administrator Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno.
Provincial Election Supervisor Ian Lee Ananoria said on Wednesday that the MOA signing is also in connection with the establishment of alternative voting centers in local government units affected by the Kanlaon Volcano eruption.
The proposed cooperation between the Comelec and the OCD also includes planning emergency exits for polling precincts, potentially allowing Comelec to deputize OCD personnel to enhance safety during disasters, enabling early voting for disaster personnel, setting up incident command posts during elections, and exploring other areas of collaboration.
Ananoria said that Garcia will also check the evacuation centers in La Carlota City.
With less than two weeks to go before the May 12 elections, local election officials have been busy preparing alternative polling centers for the 12,479 voters affected by Kanlaon.
Earlier, the OCD said it would not allow evacuees to return to polling centers where they used to cast their votes before the volcano erupted.
If Kanlaon’s status is raised to Alert Level 4, the Comelec said more than 80,000 voters in Bago, La Carlota, La Castellana, Murcia, Pontevedra and San Carlos are expected to cast their votes in 22 proposed alternative polling centers. | GB
