The Philippine Online Chronicles

President Benigno Aquino III has declared Wednesday, October 27, a non-working holiday for municipalities where the barangay and Sanggunian Kabataan (SK) elections were delayed due to the late delivery of elections paraphernalia.

According to Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Armando Velasco, the local elections were postponed in 2,341 barangays throughout the country. Around 1.86 million voters were unable to take to the polls. In some places, the elections paraphernalia only arrived at noontime of the poll day.

“Upon the request of Comelec last night, we discussed with the President and we agreed to issue [the] proclamation,” said Executive Secretary Ochoa.

“So in effect we’re acceding to the request of Comelec that for those areas where elections were not held yesterday [on October 25] they can push through tomorrow [on October 27],” he added.

The Department of Education (DepEd) however, said that 90 percent of the more than two thousand barangays which were not able to hold the polls yesterday are already doing so today. Other barangays however, will only be able to push through with the elections tomorrow.

Ochoa added that a formal proclamation is set to be released later today listing the barangays covered in the Wednesday holiday.

Classes suspended on Tuesday

In addition to the Wednesday holiday, DepEd announced a suspension of classes in public schools in consideration of the teachers who went to man the polls yesterday.

“In consideration of the efforts of our teachers exerted during the conduct of the 2010 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan election particularly their having to wait for the election materials practically overnight, DepEd declares that classes in all public elementary and high schools nationwide are suspended [today] Tuesday, October 26, 2010,” said Education Secretary Br. Armin Luistro.

“This suspension is made to give our courageous, dedicated and persevering teachers time to rest after a long poll duty,” he added.

DepEd Communications director Cristina Ganzon also said that classes would remain suspended until Wednesday in those barangays where elections were suspended or extended until today.

Luistro also told reporters that the DepEd would continue pressing for Comelec to add another P1,000 to the P2,000 honorarium for the nearly 450,000 teachers tapped for the elections.