SAN JOSE, Antique – The Commission on Elections (Comelec) will prioritize teachers inoculated with vaccines against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in their hiring of personnel to serve in the 2022 synchronized national and local elections.
Atty. Ian Lee Ananoria, Antique provincial election supervisor, said while vaccination is voluntary, hiring inoculated teachers not only ensure their health and safety but those of voters as well.
“We are urging the Department of Education (DepEd) teachers to have themselves vaccinated so that they would be ready to serve during election day,” he said.
In the past elections, Comelec hired the services of three teachers per polling precinct for one to two days.
“We are still waiting though for instruction from our Comelec central office as to how many teachers and how much could be given to them,” he said.
Antique has 359,362 registered voters as of March 31, 2021, Comelec said.
“We are now urging the voters to have themselves registered before the deadline on September 30,” he said.
The three top municipalities in terms of the number of voters registered are Sibalom with 36,105; San Jose de Buenavista with 33,698; and Hamtic with 28, 424.
Ananoria said the voters should not wait for the last minute to have themselves registered to avoid mass gatherings at the Comelec Municipal Offices.
“The Comelec has the online registration and also conducts satellite registrations in the barangays,” he said.
Satellite registrations are conducted in barangays with no Covid-19 cases upon clearance from local health officers. (PNA)
