The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has set up its Negros Island Region (NIR) regional office in Dumaguete City, just 10 months ahead of the midterm national and local elections in May 2025.

Lawyer Lionel Marco Castillano formally assumed his new post as the acting Regional Election Director of the NIR effective Monday, July 1.

Castillano said in an interview yesterday that Comelec Chairman George Erwin Garcia wanted the NIR office to be up and running before preparations become hectic for next year’s polls.

“Actually, there is an office order from our personnel department dated June 19, but given the necessary turnover and transition processes, we assumed our new posts on Monday,” he said.

The Comelec-NIR office will be temporarily co-located with the Comelec’s provincial office in the Capitol area during the transition period.

Joining Castillano in the transfer were Assistant Regional Director, lawyer Dindo Maglasang; regional attorney Claudine Joyce Ballestero; and some staff in the absence of plantilla positions that have to be created under the new region.

The regional office will be working on an internal budget until the General Appropriations Act of 2025 allocates funding for NIR, Castillano said.

“What is important is that we will have an early start operating under the NIR because preparations for the national and local elections usually take a year,” he said. (PNA)