Cordillera teachers ready for May polls

THE Department of Education (DepEd)–Cordillera officials said everything is in place for the May 2013 elections, especially the teachers who will be helping in the polls.

Virginia Lupian, chief of Deped Special Service, said the entire department is now ready to manage the elections, adding that teachers are now equipped with the knowledge on how to run the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine.

Commission on Elections (Comelec) Regional Director Jose Nick Mendras said the office has been conducting trainings for teachers on the use of PCOS machine.

With the trainings, he believes teachers can now smoothly handle the election this May.

During the early years when the PCOS machine was first introduced, many teachers (especially older teachers) were afraid of the technology, which created confusion on the conduct of the past elections.

The DepEd officers recognized the problem and took steps to educate teachers in operating the PCOS machines.

Meanwhile, Mendras revealed there will be an express lane for the most vulnerable sectors of the society during Election Day. These sectors include persons with disability (PWDs), pregnant women and senior citizens.

He said absentee voting is allowed for those whose jobs hinder their practice of suffrage like the media. However, he said voters under the absentee voting will only vote for the national candidates.