THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) will start the registration of regular voters for the barangay elections on August 1 to 10 and on August 6 to 15 for the Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) voters.
Comelec Provincial Supervisor Jessie Suarez said a seminar workshop for election assistants will be conducted on July 27 in preparation for the barangay and SK elections in October.
Personnel from the Comelec Manila will conduct the seminar workshop for the technical aspect and Suarez will handle the orientation on some rules for the barangay and SK elections.
About 31 CVL Cleansing computers have arrived early this week that will be distributed to the different towns and cities after the seminar, Suarez said.
Despite moves in Congress to postpone the elections in October, Suarez said the Comelec has ordered all provincial offices to proceed with the preparation for the barangay and youth council polls.
Suarez meanwhile said the Comelec was still uncertain if the barangay polls would be automated or manual.
President Benigno Aquino III is expected to include the schedule of the barangay and SK polls during his State of the Nation Address (Sona) on July 26 to end all speculations about the barangay election.
Meanwhile, Provincial Board Member George Gitano, president of Liga ng mga Barangay in Negros Occidental, the national league of barangays have passed a resolution seeking for the postponement of the polls in October.
He said among the reasons cited for the proposed postponement is that the scheduled election is too close to the recently concluded national elections and that most people in the barangays have not yet recovered from the effects of the adversarial electoral process and related election activities and expenditures.
The October 2010 barangay election is not the only election involving the barangays. Two other elections will follow the barangay elections. These are the election of the officers of the Liga ng mga Barangay on the municipal and city levels usually held in November and the election of the officers of the Liga ng mga Barangay provincial level usually held in December.
The barangay captains will have a national convention on July 29 to July 30 at the Philippine International Convention Center. The body is expected to come up with a collective stand on the issue. (Teresa Ellera-Dulla)