Ang hits voter registration amid Covid surge

BACOLOD. City Administrator and EOC Executive Director Em Ang. (File photo)
BACOLOD. City Administrator and EOC Executive Director Em Ang. (File photo)

BACOLOD City Administrator Em Ang, who is the Executive Director of the Emergency Operations Center-Task Force, has slammed the ongoing voter registration in the city conducted by the Commission on Elections (Comelec), calling it a “super spreader activity.”

Ang said Wednesday, September 29, 2021, that the activity being held at the University of St. La Salle (USLS)-Bacolod caters to hundreds, if not thousands, of would-be voters from out-of-town.

She said many of these voter applicants are reportedly arriving at the satellite registration sites like USLS-Bacolod and Ayala Malls Capitol Central onboard trucks, buses and ambulances.

There are some who were on vehicles owned by the Disaster Risk Reduction Management Offices of different local government units, Ang said.

The EOC, at the same time, took into account the report of law enforcement agencies that the voter applicants were violating the curfew as they gathered at the registration sites as early as midnight to 1 a.m., Ang also said.

She said based on their analysis, the spike in coronavirus (Covid-19) infections began with the onset of voter registration.

"Was it just a coincidence?" Ang asked, adding that she has reasons to believe the ongoing voter registration has something to do with the surge of cases.

The EOC official noted that two months ago, Covid-19 cases slowed down with infections averaging only at 20 to 30 cases daily.

EOC records showed that the city now has an average of at least 100 cases per day with total recorded deaths of 122 as of Tuesday, September 28.

"We now have an extraordinary spike (of infections) and (in the) number of deaths. It is also sad because in the list of fatalities were people I know personally but this is the reality," Ang said.

“It is with a heavy heart that I learned of friends who died from Covid-19, yet, at the same time, there are still many people who continue to have doubts about the vaccine because they believe in fake news being propagated by anti-vaxxers on social media,” she added.

Ang recalled that two months ago, Bacolod City became a model in Western Visayas because of its low Covid cases. Some were adopting our strategies in the prevention and vaccination drive, she said.

She stressed that things changed when people from different towns and cities started to flock to Bacolod to transfer their voters’ registration.

Ang wondered who is responsible for bringing these transferee-registrants.

“I am stressed every day looking at the alarming data and I'm afraid for all of us (although) I am not trying to scare the Bacolodnons,” she said.

Ang claimed that medical experts also believe that the sudden increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in Bacolod could be triggered by the fact that many of those coming from other areas, who freely sneak in and out of Bacolod are unvaccinated.

She also expressed alarm that with the reported extension of voter registration until October 31, Covid cases in Bacolod may turn to worse.

Ang also said that many of those who lined up at the Comelec registration sites were shown in the photos and video footage forwarded by concerned netizens, do not wear their face mask properly and fail to observe proper physical distancing.

“I even doubt if Comelec even has thermal scanners to check on body temperatures,” she said.

City Comelec Officer lawyer Kathrina Trinio-Caña could not be reached for comment as of Wednesday.

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