By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga

While Congress decides on the fate of the Barangay polls, slated for October 23, the provincial office of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) announced they are ready if the elections push through.
Comelec-Negros Occidental Supervisor Jessie Suarez said they are currently conducting an inventory of yellow ballot boxes.
“We will use the yellow ballot boxes since the barangay elections will only be manual,” he explained.
Suarez noted, the calendar of events for the election is ready and his office will be posting a list of registered voters at every polling precinct.
Earlier, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary for Public Safety Jesus Hinlo, Jr. said Congress has yet to make a final decision on the matter, adding one must not speculate what they will decide.
House Bill 5359, introduced by Surigao del Norte second district Rep. Robert Barbers, seeks to postpone barangay elections and give the power to appoint barangay officials to President Rodrigo Duterte.
However, last month, Abang Lingkod Party-list Rep. Stephen Paduano stated the entire Visayan bloc vowed to support the holdover of incumbent barangay officials in the event the upcoming village polls are postponed./WDJ