Comelec to public: Report any election-related incidents

T HE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has urged the public to report any untoward incidents that may arise during the conduct of the nationwide village and youth elections on Monday, May 14.

Comelec Spokesperson James Jimenez on Sunday, May 13, said the Comelec will be ready to answer any questions related to the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls through the 8888 hotline.

A voter, looking for his/her voting center, can dial 8888 and the call center agent will be the one to coordinate his queries and concerns to the concerned election offices.

The command center of the Comelec, located at Intramuros, Manila, will serve as the poll body's incident monitoring center and call center to receive complaints, reports and questions.

The same is advised by the Jimenez for voters who would want to report a vote buying incident or a politically-motivated violent incident happening in their Barangay.

The Philippine National Police recently marked as election hotspots about 7,915 out of 42,000 barangays in the country; the Autonomous Region in Mindanao had the most number of hotspots.

Aside from election officers and call agents, representatives from the Department of Interior and Local Government, the police and the military will also be represented at the Comelec's command center for easy coordination. These agencies will monitor the election hotspots.

Representatives from the Department of Education, Department of Health, as well as the National Youth Commission will also be represented.

Aside from the 8888 hotline, Jimenez said voters can also seek the assistance of the Comelec's accredited citizen arm which they can find in voting centers.

The unit is tasked to assist the voters with their needs and concerns.

The Comelec earlier reminded the public that the voting will start at 7 a.m. and will end at 3 p.m. Voters already lined up beyond 3 p.m. can still vote. (SunStar Philippines)