Orderly barrangay, SK polls eyed amid Pokemon Go craze

MANILA, Philippines – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will study how the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls set on Oct. 31 can be kept orderly amid the Pokemon Go craze.

There is no decision yet whether to ban the playing of Pokemon Go in voting centers, Comelec spokesman James Jimenez said.

“There is no policy on that yet on the national level,” Jimenez said.

The Comelec office in Kalibo banned the playing of Pokemon Go in voting centers during the SK and barangay polls.

Jimenez said the poll body prohibited the use of mobile phones in polling precincts “because we do not want the ballots to be photographed.” 

Preparations on track

The Comelec will continue preparations for the barangay and SK polls, Comelec Chairman Andres Bautista said.

Bautista said the preparations for the synchronized elections are on track. 

“Unless Congress amends the law, we have no choice but to implement the SK and barangay elections,” he said.

Bautista told the Senate hearing on the proposed postponement of the elections that the poll body remained “neutral” on the issue.

The Comelec had started printing the official ballots for around 55 million voters in the barangay elections.

However, senators are inclined to postpone the barangay and SK elections.

Sen. Juan Edgardo Angara, chairman of the Senate committee on local government, said Congress must make a final decision on pending bills seeking to postpone the polls by Sept. 1 as requested by the Comelec.

“I think very likely that it will be postponed given that there’s overwhelming support for it,” Angara said.

Among those who expressed support for the postponement was Interior Secretary Ismael Sueño, who said the elections would mean a temporary ban on ongoing urgent projects.

Comelec officials told the committee while they have already started printing ballots, the same could still be used even if the barangay and SK elections would be postponed.

 Angara said the elections could be postponed to either May or October next year.

Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri also expressed support for the postponement as it could derail the Duterte administration’s anti-drug campaign.

Meanwhile, a former member of the Comelec Advisory Council (CAC) urged the poll body to consider using Filipino-made voting system for the 2019 elections.

The Philippines had employed the services of foreign technology provider Smartmatic in the last three elections, Institute for Political and Electoral Reform executive director Ramon Casiple said in a recent forum.

“Our recommendation is for the Comelec to go for local technology provider to avoid questions of transparency and accountability. With local providers, we will have more control of the elections,” Casiple said.

Formed under the poll automation law, CAC is tasked to make recommendations to the Comelec on which automated election system is best to use.

Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting director for Information Technology William Yu backed Casiple’s proposal. – With Paolo Romero