450,000 teachers needed for polls

MANILA, Philippines - The Commission on Elections (Comelec) said yesterday that some 450,000 teachers would be needed to supervise the Oct. 25 barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls.

Comelec Commissioner Gregorio Larrazabal said the Department of Education (DepEd) would provide a list of teachers who would be part of the Board of Election Tellers (BET).

“DepEd is preparing the lists and I think we’ll get them soon enough,” Larrazabal said.

The Comelec is currently formulating the guidelines for BET members to observe during the election.

Under Comelec Resolution 9019 or the Calendar of Activities related to the synchronized polls, the last day to constitute the members of BET and the Board of Canvassers is on Sept. 25.

The poll body shall also have posted the computerized voter’s list by then.

Larrazabal said that there will be some 150,000 clustered precincts for the upcoming elections and each precinct will be manned by a BET chairman and two members.

“Regarding the benefits of the teachers, we’re still discussing it,” he said in a telephone interview.

To avoid long lines of voters like the one that marred the country’s first automated elections last May 10, the Comelec will limit to 400 the number of registered voters in a clustered precinct.

The actual voting, transmission and canvassing of ballots were significantly faster in the May 10 polls but this was overshadowed by the huge number of voters assigned to a clustered precinct then.

Each polling precinct then had 1,000 voters from five to seven precincts that had been clustered.

This time, however, the Comelec had decided to go back to manual voting.

Larrazabal explained that the voters in this coming elections would have to write down the names of their candidates in a blank ballot, unlike in the May 10 polls where the names of candidates were pre-printed.

A total of 675,402 and 1,005,790 voters have applied for registration for barangay and SK polls, respectively, and these are being processed by the Comelec.

Comelec taps PNP, AFP

Meanwhile, the Comelec has come up with Resolution 9027 placing the Philippine National Police (PNP) under its control during the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan polls.

It has also deputized the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), under Resolution 9025, to ensure a “free, orderly, honest, peaceful and credible conduct” of the synchronized elections.

The Comelec said it would take the operational supervision and control over the PNP from the local government units from Sept. 25 to Nov. 10, which means it will have the power to “direct, superintend, oversee and inspect the police units and forces.”

The poll body has also tapped the AFP to provide security in voting and canvassing centers, polling precincts and other places where election paraphernalia, equipment and other supplies are being kept.

The military had also been deputized to protect Comelec personnel, teachers and other individuals performing election-related functions, aside from helping in the delivery and retrieval of election paraphernalia and equipment.

The Comelec also directed the AFP to “look into the existence of any armed group organized to commit, or which is committing or attempting to commit, acts of terrorism, or threats to intimidate or coerce any person to vote for or against a candidate, and to suppress or prevent said acts of terrorism or threats.”

“(The AFP shall) assist the Commission in implementing more effectively election laws and/or rules and regulations, particularly the laws governing prohibition against military, policemen and provincial guards acting as bodyguards or security guards, the use of armored vehicles and air or water-craft and the prohibition on bearing, carrying or transporting firearms and other deadly weapons in public places,” the poll body said.