The Commission on Elections-Negros Island Region (Comelec-NIR) is shifting its preparations for the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections (BSKE) in areas previously tagged as “high risk” due to the restive Mt. Kanlaon.

Comelec-NIR Election Director Lionel Marco Castillano told the Philippine News Agency that the shift comes after thousands of internally displaced persons (IDPs) were allowed to return home starting last week.

The IDPs were cleared to leave the evacuation camps, except for those inside the four-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ), after the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology lowered the volcano’s alert level from 3 to 2.

“We will downgrade our BSKE contingency plan except for a few areas inside the four-kilometer permanent danger zone of Kanlaon volcano, but the changes are minimal,” Castillano said.

In Canlaon City, only one school used as a voting center inside the PDZ remains at risk, while a few others are in La Castellana, Negros Occidental.

During the May 12 midterm polls, several schools that were used as voting centers in the towns and cities within the immediate vicinity of the volcano were not utilized due to a heightened risk of a major eruption.

The registered voters, who were evacuated to temporary camps, had to vote elsewhere.

Castillano said this time, registered voters inside the PDZ may have to vote at the nearest voting center during the BSKE.

In the event of another eruption, the Comelec will revert to the contingency plan that was utilized during the May polls.

Meanwhile, another round of voters’ registration is in the offing this year, once President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. signs into law the measure postponing the BSKE from December 1 to November 2026.

After this, the Comelec will resume voters’ registration from October 2025 to July 2026 for the BSKE, following the October 13 parliamentary elections of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao. (PNA)