Aquino: Tomorrow, go out and vote

Sunday, 24 October 2010 16:30 Angeli Sabillo

“This is an important chance for us to strengthen our barangay, the branch of government that first provides service to our people,” said President Benigno Aquino III in a statement on the eve of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections.

The President also assured the public of a peaceful and orderly elections and hoped the people would vote for officials who will lead the country in “the right path.”

Numbers

On Monday, Filipinos will be voting for 42,025 village chairmen and 294,175 councilors. At 3 a.m. tomorrow, 490,470 teachers will be deployed to open precincts.

More than 100 million citizens will also be voting in 163,484 clustered precincts nationwide – 50,259,571 for the barangay elections and 52,720,603 for the SK elections, according to Commission on Elections spokesperson James Jimenez. However, officials are expecting a lower turnout pegged at 60 to 70 percent, as opposed to the May national polls.

Jimenez noted that the barangay elections traditionally have a lower voter turnout but, “This time, we are hopeful that it might turn out differently because we seem to still have some hangover from the [May presidential] elections but still, history is a very strong factor here.”

He said this was because of the lack of appreciation of the institution and the benefits they bring in for the community (see previous article on the importance of barangay elections). He also said this was reflected in the divide between affluent communities that normally reach a low turnout and poorer neighborhoods that have high turnouts.

Some rain and perhaps some action

Comelec has declared all systems go for tomorrow’s elections, as preparations are nearly completed. However, the agency is watching out for the weather. While a storm is not expected to make landfall, it is predicted to bring rains, especially in the north.

For Isabela and Cagayan, the polling centers will open and close an hour earlier because of the power outages caused by Super-typhoon Juan.

The earlier schedule will ensure that it will still be daylight during the counting and canvassing of votes.

Some polling centers in Pangasinan will be transferred because of the flooding. Some were put up in private schools or shopping mall compounds.

The local army officials in Maguindanao noted that it is a “free-for-all” contest in the areas previously dominated by the Ampatuan clan. The playing field is said to have been relatively level with different players. However, such a situation also pushed the military to be very guarded in case any fights or commotion.

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