Noy to cast vote in Tarlac today

President Aquino will cast his vote this morning in his hometown Tarlac and monitor the developments of today’s senatorial and local elections.

“Certainly, the President will cast his vote. We just don’t know what time will he be voting in Tarlac, but the last time, or in May 2010, he voted in the morning,” deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said yesterday.

Valte said Aquino would be monitoring the news as soon as the polling precincts open in the morning, and will be coordinating with various heads of agencies concerned with the conduct of elections.

“There will be monitoring updates and the President will be apprised through the various heads of the agencies that are participating, that are assisting the Comelec (Commission on Elections) in the conduct of the elections,” Valte said.

Valte, however, could not yet say if Aquino will return to Malacañang to monitor the news.

“I’m not quite sure on where is the President going. But you will receive the final advice later once we are able to confirm it. Normally, we receive the schedule around late afternoon or early evening for the next day, so we’ll all know by later,” she said.

As far as the executive department is concerned, it has promised to give its full assistance to the Comelec for the conduct of today’s elections, like deputizing the police and military personnel for poll duties and the assurance of no blackouts as well.

“We have given them (Comelec) the necessary assistance they need, we have given them the necessary budgetary support. The AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines) and the PNP ( Philippine National Police) have been deputized and the President has given his concurrence to that,” Valte added.

Government hospitals are ready for any eventuality and that contingency plans are in place in case of power outages, according to Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla.

Petilla, for his part, urged mall owners to reduce their power consumption to lessen chances of blackouts.