THE official ballots for Cebu City will arrive at the Cebu City Hall today or four days after the Commission on Elections (Comelec) started the ballot distribution in Cebu.
City Treasurer Ofelia Oliva said the ballots will be picked up by a 10-footer vehicle of Air 21 at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport and will delivered to City Hall by 1 p.m.
Oliva said she has already coordinated with the Cebu City Police Office and requested police officers to escort the van from the airport to City Hall.
However, two barangays in Tuburan did not get their official ballots while the rest of the town did.
Tuburan mayoralty bet Democrito Diamante wrote the election officer of Tuburan regarding the lack of official ballots in Barangays Antipolo and Kabangkalan.
The 66 packages containing the official ballots of Tuburan arrived in Cebu last April 28 and were distributed the next day.
“On behalf of United Tuburan/Liberal Party, we would like to inform you that as far as the arrival or delivery of official ballots to the treasurer’s office of Tuburan, the party representatives or watchers deployed to observe the delivery found out that there was no indication of official ballots for Antipolo and Kabangkalan,” the letter addressed to election officer Gilberto Pepito read.
Diamante based his information on the airway bill of Airfreight 21, the official distributor commissioned by the Comelec.
Diamante sought clarification from Pepito.
Sun.Star Cebu tried to get the side of Pepito but the Comelec provincial office does not have his number.
Comelec stenographic reporter Teresita Mercado explained, though, that this is not a cause for alarm.
“Maybe it’s coming... Maybe Comelec-Manila did not notice the missing official ballots. They will come,” said Mercado.
She said this is not unusual during elections but all missing items always get replaced.
The procedure is for the Municipal Treasurer’s Office to inform Comelec–Manila about the missing ballots, which will be sent through special delivery.
This is the first complaint that Comelec-Province received as far as election materials are concerned, said Mercado.
As for Cebu City, Oliva invited officials from the church, citizen’s watchdog and others to witness the delivery of ballots to the City Hall.
Oliva said the Air 21 vehicle will also be escorted by two speed cops and patrol vans in front and a Special Weapon and Tactics (Swat) team behind it.
Election supplies, such as bond paper, ink, and liquid erasers, had already arrived at City Hall yesterday morning.
The ballot secrecy folders, Oliva said, may arrive tomorrow.
Meanwhile, City Hall officials called a meeting with Comelec and Visayan Electric Co. (Veco) representatives to discuss contingency measures in case of a power supply shortage on election day.
City Councilor Gerardo Carillo, action officer of the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council, also said during the meeting that the City allocated P25 million in preparation for the elections. Of the amount, P3 million will be for the purchase of emergency lights.
Carillo said representatives of Veco, which is a power distribution and supply company, informed him that if the Cebu-Negros-Panay grid will not have enough power supply on election day, independent power producers Cebu Private Power Corp. (CPPC) and East Asia Utilities Corp. will deliver 73 megawatts (mw).
However, 73 mw will only be good for about 19 polling places in urban barangays.
“So that will leave 61 polling areas without lights,” said Carillo.
With this, Carillo said emergency lights will be distributed to the polling places that will have no power in the event the CNP grid will have a low supply.
“This is to ensure that there will be no distraction to the electoral process,” he said.
After the elections, Carillo said the emergency lights will be donated to schools for use in emergency situations.
With nine days to go before the elections, over 2,000 teachers who will serve as Board of Election Inspectors and support staff were reoriented on the poll automation by Comelec officials.
Comelec Election Officer Marchel Sarno reminded the teachers on the process of shading the ballots, how the Precinct Count Optical Scan machine works and the security measures that are in place on Election Day.
“And it was also a venue for the teachers to clarify if they still had questions in relation to their work,” said Sarno. (PDF/JGA)