BY RHENJIE MARIE CALANTAS
ILOILO – The Iloilo Police Provincial Office’s (IPPO) security preparations are all set for the Oct. 30 Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan Elections (BSKE).
Police personnel are ready for deployment starting Aug. 28, the first day of the filing of certificates of candidacy (COC), according to IPPO spokesperson Major Rolando Araño.
“Tanan naton nga mga units sa province already have security plans. Ang coordination naman sa aton mga partners is ongoing. From time to time naga-conduct na kami coordination meeting kag sa aton gid nga Comelec (Commission on Elections),” Araño told Panay News yesterday.
The last day of filing of COC is Sept. 2.
Candidates will not be allowed to hold campaign activities on the day after the last day of the filing of the COC or on Sept. 3 until Oct. 18.
The 10-day campaign period will be from Oct. 19 to 28.
Araño said the IPPO is closely monitoring areas with history of intense political rivalries.
Currently, Araño said, the situation is normal but they expect changes once the filing of COC starts.
“Na-identify naman naton kung ano ang mga area or barangay nga mahambal naton nga may political rivalry. Under monitoring pa ina pero so far normal pa man. Dira kita ma-hugot gid kung naka-file (COC) na,” he added.
As of this writing, Araño said they have not yet received information on areas that should be given more attention.
The IPPO also finalized its security plan for the transport of ballots.
“Sa mga kinahanglanon naton sa transportation sang mga balota sa mga island barangays asta sa mga iban nga remote areas naplastar naman ini,” Araño said.
Earlier, Comelec-6 said it is on track with its preparations for the upcoming BSKE.
All six provinces and two highly urbanized cities in Western Visayas are ready to hold the polls on Oct. 30, according to Atty. Dennis Ausan, Comelec-6 director.
Comelec-6 has several activities lined up leading to the start of the election period and the gun ban on Aug. 28.
This includes close coordination of Comelec-6 with provincial election supervisors, city and municipal election officers, the Philippine National Police (PNP), and Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
A total of 6,944,161 registered voters are expected to cast their ballots for the BSKE.
But this number could change once the Comelec releases the results of the final cleansing of voters’ list they recently conducted.
As of June 2023, 5,179,738 were registered to vote in the barangay election and 1,764,423 in the SK election, based on the results of the hearing conducted by the Election Registration Boards (ERBs). Of the total number, 333,534 registered voters, including the 90,000 SK voters, are in Iloilo City.
Here is the breakdown of the 5,179,738 registered voters for the barangay level per province in the region:
* Aklan – 418,170
* Antique – 402,053
* Capiz – 548,276
* Guimaras – 127,194
* Iloilo – 1,669,320
* Negros Occidental – 2,014,725
The breakdown of 1,764,423 registered voters for SK level per province:
* Aklan – 149,274
* Antique – 146,636
* Capiz – 146,636
* Guimaras – 199,254
* Iloilo – 564,556
* Negros Occidental – 660,709/PN
