Comelec, other agencies all set for village, youth polls

LAW ENFORCEMENT agencies together with the Commission on Elections and other agencies are on alert with the holding today, May 14, of the village (barangay) and youth council (Sangguniang Kabataan or SK) elections.

The Comelec reminds voters that voting will be manual, with voters 15- 17 years old to be handed SK ballots, while voters 18 to 30 will be given both SK and barangay ballots, and voters 30 and above, barangay ballots. The poll body will also be active on its social media platforms for inquiries.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) earlier tagged 7,915 election hot spots nationwide, with 619 areas under the red category. A total of 1,415 of election hot spots are found in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), 1,304 in Bicol, and 661 in SOCCSKSARGEN.

But PNP Chief Director-General Oscar D. Albayalde in a mobile phone message over the weekend also said, “(We) do not foresee any violent disturbance during this BSKE. However, our troops are ready for any eventuality and all polling centers will be guarded by uniformed policemen and some with AFP personnel.”

In his text message, PNP Spokesperson PCSupt. John C. Bulalacao said, “While we are (optimistic) that the barangay and SK elections on Monday will be peaceful and orderly, we still continue to monitor the barangays with history of violence and those with current intense political rivalries to preclude the occurrence of violence among supporters.”