Elections postponed in 68 villages in Western Visayas
Sixty-eight barangays in three provinces in Western Visayas failed to hold the elections yesterday because of delays in the arrival of election paraphernalia, Commission on Elections 6 Director Dennis Ausan said.
The barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections in these areas will proceed tomorrow instead.
Two of these villages are in Libacao town, Aklan.
“These two barangays are very far from the town proper. It will take more than a day for the teachers to arrive at their assigned voting centers,” he said.
The election materials were delivered to the COMELEC 6 office only yesterday morning.
In Capiz province, 21 villages failed to conduct the polls yesterday, including 13 in Tapaz towns; six in Jamindan; and two in Sapi-an.
“In Tapaz, the ballots are already on hand but again, it would take more than a day for our teachers to reach their assigned voting centers,” Ausan said.
Teachers reportedly have to cross a river more than 30 times before reaching the town’s farthest villages.
The six villages affected Jamindan are also far-flung barangays while in Sapian, the two barangays lack election forms.
In Negros Occidental, elections were postponed in 15 barangays of Isabela town and in all 30 barangays of Pontevedra towns.
“The forms did not arrive immediately so, we also have to put off the holding of the polls (in these barangays) until Wednesday,” he said.
Ausan said the COMELEC 6 already anticipated the delays because it would really take time for the teachers, along with the election materials, to arrive in far-flung areas of the region.
“We are really dependent on the delivery (schedule) of the central office,” he said.
Misrouted Supplies
Another glitch was the misrouting of the delivery of election supplies in some areas in Iloilo province.
One case involved the election paraphernalia of Igbaras town, which were delivered to another area in the province.
The poll supplies of Banate town, meanwhile, were sent to San Rafael town.
But as of yesterday morning, the materials have been delivered to Banate, Ausan said.
“There was just a delay in the start of the voting (in Banate) but it proceeded eventually,” he said.
Ausan said that some local election offices in Western Visayas also received elections forms intended for the provinces of Samar, Leyte, Mindoro Oriental and Laguna.
“But they were already sent back, as soon as we discovered the error,” he said.
Dissatisfied
In Manila, COMELEC Chairman Jose Melo echoed the statement of President Aquino who expressed dissatisfaction over the delayed deliveries of election paraphernalia in some areas of the country.
Elections were postponed in more than 1,700 barangays in various parts of the country due to lack of election paraphernalia.
“He is not alone, I think. It was not 100 percent so we are not (satisfied). We want, of course, (voting to start on time) 100 percent,” Melo said.
Melo said the COMELEC has done everything as far as the preparation for the polls is concerned.
“Well, what kind of preparation do we need? We are not satisfied in the sense that there was a little delay in the bidding (of election supplies),” he added.
Melo admitted that the National Printing Office “did not perform up to par because the printing presses are not very modern.”
The poll body had earlier blamed the late creation of the COMELEC Bids and Awards Committee for the problems that caused the delays in the bidding process for the acquisition of election supplies and paraphernalia.
The original members of the BAC have been suspended by the Office of the Ombudsman over the controversial purchase of the ballot secrecy folders for the May 10 local and national polls.*with reports from PNA
