A TOTAL of 277 police personnel in Eastern Visayas cast their votes early as part of the local absentee voting (LAV) for the 2025 national and local elections on Tuesday, April 29, 2025.
“Through LAV, our police officers are given the opportunity to vote and demonstrate their vital role in maintaining peace while fulfilling their duty as citizens,” said Brigadier General Jay Cumigad, police regional director.
“The Police Regional Office-8 (Eastern Visayas) will further intensify its security measures to ensure orderly, peaceful, and safe elections throughout Eastern Visayas,” he added.
Cumigad himself led the opening of the voting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday at the Camp Ruperto Kangleon in Palo, Leyte.
Representatives from the Commission on Elections (Comelec) were also present during the event, while an orientation was given beforehand to ensure that all participants understood the voting process.
During the absentee voting day, participants were provided with local absentee ballots, official envelopes, and paper seals.
They cast their votes privately at the voting center, placed their ballots in envelopes, and sealed them with an official paper seal from Comelec.
“After voting, the LAV Secretariat sends the sealed ballots to the Committee on Local Absentee Voting (Clav) for safekeeping until the official counting day,” the police regional command reported.
Interested personnel submitted their completed LAV application forms, which were processed and approved by the Comelec’s Clav prior to the deadline on March 17, 2025.
Applications that did not meet the required standards were not approved, it added.
The LAV allows government officials and personnel, including police and military, to vote early if they will not be able to vote on election day due to official duties.
Under this system, voters can only vote for national positions, namely, President, Vice President, Senators, and Party-list Representatives.
Voting for local positions is not allowed, as absentee voting is conducted outside the locality where the voter is registered. (Ronald O. Reyes/SunStar Philippines)