ILOILO City – No journalist – print, radio and television – in this city and Iloilo province availed themselves of the local absentee voting scheme in the recent midterm elections.
According to Commission on Elections (Comelec) Region 6 director Jose Nick Mendros, no journalists filed applications.
Under Comelec Resolution No. 10443, the following media practitioners were qualified for absentee voting:
* print journalists
* television journalists
* photojournalists
* online journalists
* radio journalists
* documentary makers
* television / radio production people
The local absentee voting period was from April 29 to May 1. The positions available for voting were for senators and party-lists only.
Mendros theorized that journalists wanted to cast their votes for other local elective posts, too, (governor, vice governor, municipal / city mayor, vice mayor, provincial / municipal / city sanggunian members) so they opted not to avail themselves of the local absentee voting scheme.
Only teachers and policemen with election day duties filed applications for local absentee voting, said Mendros./PN
