‘CHOOSE WISELY’

BY IME SORNITO and GLENDA SOLOGASTOA

ILOILO – Voters must reject candidates involved in illegal activities, according to the Commission on Elections (Comelec).

The casting of votes in today’s synchronized barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections starts at 7 a.m. and ends at 3 p.m.

“Voters should choose wisely, not those involved in illegal activities such as illegal gambling,” said Atty. Elizabeth Doronila, Comelec-Iloilo supervisor.

A total of 32,567 candidates are running for barangay council posts while 16,383 are seeking SK positions, Comelec-Iloilo records showed.

Iloilo province has a total of 1,901 barangays spread in 42 municipalities and one component city.

According to Doronila, there are 1,413,246 registered voters for the barangay election and 486,261 for the SK election.

President Rodrigo Duterte wanted the barangay election postponed. He feared drug money would influence the polls’ outcome. But Congress did not anymore have time to discuss the postponement.

‘DON’T BUY VOTES’

Gov. Arthur Defensor Sr., for his part, urged candidates not to buy votes.

“If you buy votes, you would be tempted to commit graft and corruption to recoup your election expenses,” said Defensor.

The president of the Liga ng mga Barangay in this province, Pablito Gemarino, agreed with Defensor and added that the candidates’ track record should be the voters’ sole basis in choosing their barangay and SK officials.

Registered voters from 15 to 17 years old would be accomplishing the official ballot for the SK only.

Voters 18 to 30 years old would be receiving from the board of election inspectors two sets of official ballots – for the SK and barangay polls.

On the other hand, registered voters 31 years old and older would be accomplishing the official ballot for the barangay election only.

According to Gemarino, voters are actually discerning and put premium on the candidates’ credentials and capability to serve the barangay.

‘PREPARE YOUR LIST’

In Iloilo City, meanwhile, Comelec said each registered voter should prepare at home a list of candidates he would be voting before going to the voting precinct.

This will save the voter precious time at the precinct, according to Iloilo City election officer Atty. Reiner Layson.

“If a voter has a prepared list, all he has to do is accomplish the official ballot and return the same to the board of election inspectors kag ihulog sa ballot box,” said Layson.

An unprepared voter, on the other hand, would still be spending time browsing through the certified list of candidates before accomplishing his official ballot, said Layson.

Today’s election is manual. Voters have to write the names of their chosen candidates on the official ballot.

“We can make the voting process more efficient and fast if voters are prepared,” according to Layson./PN