Bacolod City – The training of police personnel as “poll workers” form part of the Commission on Elections contingency plans for the May 12 elections, in response to ongoing restiveness of Kanlaon Volcano, Provincial Election Supervisor Atty. Ian Lee Ananoria disclosed recently.
Ananoria disclosed that the PNP members will be trained as electoral board members, should teachers affected by a Kanlaon eruption fail to serve as poll workers.
The Police Regional Office 7 in Cebu dispatched 200 police personnel to Negros Oriental for election related duties and disaster relief operations.
The Comelec is making adjustments to its contingency plans for the elections in six local government units of Negros Island, due to the alert level declared by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology.
Atty. Lionel Marco Castillano, Comelec regional director for Negros Island Region, earlier disclosed that voting centers will be established where the Kanlaon evacuees are staying.
Ananoria said that a contingency plan is now in place to push through the election in Kanlaon eruption affected areas, be it under Alert Level 3 or 4.
But there will be more adjustments under Alert Level 4, since voting centers will be transferred to some local government units where the evacuees will be relocated, he added.
Makeshift polling centers may also be set up, Ananoria further said.
Under an Alert Level 3 declaration, 21,393 voters are expected to cast their votes in polling areas within the vicinity of evacuation centers in Bago, La Carlota, and San Carlos cities, 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 is extended from six to 10 kilometers, the number of displaced voters may increase to 81,385, according to Comelec.
Ananoria said that the Comelec, in tandem with other law enforcement and government agencies, as well as local government units, will provide transportation to voters who will cast their votes in the designated polling centers. (Gilbert Bayoran via tvds)