The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has assured Negrense voters displaced by the restive Kanlaon Volcano that they will be able to vote in the upcoming midterm elections on Monday, May 12.
Comelec chairman George Erwin Garcia said that the commission is committed to ensuring that all Filipinos, including those affected by calamities and emergencies, would be able to exercise their fundamental right to suffrage.
“Gusto naming [iparating] sa bawat isa sa inyo na kayo po ay botante [at] makakaboto kayo sa darating na halalan. Huwag po ninyong isipin na porket kayo ay wala sa inyong mga barangay ay hindi na kayo makakaboto,” he stressed during his visit at the La Carlota South Elementary School II earlier this month.
Garcia also expressed the Comelec’s sympathies with the internally displaced persons (IDPs), who have been affected by the continued unrest of Kanlaon Volcano and have been staying in the evacuation camps since its December 9 eruption.
“Gusto po naming ipahayag na ang inyong Comelec ay nakikisimpatya sa inyo at kung ano ang mararanasang pagboto ng mga kababayan natin sa iba’t ibang parte ng bansa, ‘yan din po ang ipaparanas namin sa pagboto ninyo bagama’t kayo ay nandito sa paaralang ito,” he stressed.
To give IDPs a first look at the voting procedure ahead of the May 12 polls, Comelec spokesperson, lawyer John Rex Laudiangco, demonstrated the voting process and operation of the automated counting machines (ACMs).
Sixty-two-year-old Merlyn Lumogdang of Barangay Ara-al, who has been staying at the evacuation camp with her family for five months now, said that whether they vote at the evacuation camp or at their barangay does not matter for as long as they are able to exercise their right to suffrage.
“Dako gid ya ang pagpasalamat ko sa [Comelec] nga sila mismo nagkadto diri kag nagtudlo sa amon kung paano magboto sang insakto [gamit ang ACM] … Kung ila ya patakaran nga diri kami [maboto], okay lang man. Kung sa barangay namon, okay man basta makaboto kami,” she said.
For her part, La Carlota City election officer Johnnie Lou Dariagan-De la Cerna said that IDPs from sitios at the foot of the volcano, who are now staying at the evacuation centers, will vote at their barangay’s designated polling places outside the six-kilometer extended danger zone.
Service vehicles will be provided for the transport of these IDPs back to their barangays, where they will join the rest of their community members in voting.
Should Kanlaon’s volcanic activity affect these polling places, Dariagan-De la Cerna noted that alternative voting centers have been established and made known among the concerned IDPs.
Meanwhile, in the event of escalation to Alert Level 4, makeshift polling centers will be made ready in covered gymnasiums in the city proper to ensure the safety of voters and the continuity of the elections. (PIA-Negros Occidental)