Ballot boxes, other preparations all set for Sept. 14 BARMM polls
MANILA, Philippines — With only a week away before the historic Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) parliamentary polls, the Commission on Elections (Comelec) on Tuesday said that it delivered all election paraphernalia to over 100 municipalities in the region.
Comelec chair George Erwin Garcia said that the ballot boxes were handed over to the municipal treasurers of 105 municipalities in BARMM.
Meanwhile, the automated vote counting machines, batteries, and other items were delivered to the local Comelec hub, he added.
READ: Comelec’s precinct finder for BARMM polls now accessible
The first-ever BARMM elections will commence on Sept. 14, where around 2.3 million voters are expected to vote for the members of its parliamentary seat.
“Kinakailangan naka-standby na kasi sa mga munisipyo as of today, kasi by Sept. 11 dapat na-distribute naman sa mga guro ’yung mga makina, yung mga sampung original na balota, kahit yung mga baterya sapagkat ito pong lahat na ‘to ay sinusubukan at ite-test dun sa final testing and sealing natin,” Garcia explained during an ambush interview at the Parish Pastoral Council for Responsible Voting command center opening ceremony.
(“These items need to be on standby at the municipalities as of today because, by September 11, the machines, the ten original ballots, and even the batteries must be distributed to the teachers. All of these will be tried out and tested during our final testing and sealing.”
He said that the commission will conduct the final testing and sealing on Sept. 12.
The commissioner, moreover, advised the observers, such as the political parties, candidates, and watchers, to critically examine the procedures of the voting machines on the said date.
Garcia then directed the Department of Energy and local electric cooperatives to temporarily suspend all electrical maintenance during the elections and to ensure there are backup batteries in the precincts.
“Ngayon isa lang po kasi ang nagi-instruction natin sa lahat ng election officials natin sa field, that failure of election is never an option. There should be not a single or there should be no precinct in the entire 5,212 precincts ang magkakaroon ng failure of election,” he said.
(“Right now, we have only one instruction for all our election officials in the field: a failure of election is never an option. There should not be a single precinct—out of the total 5,212—that experiences a failure of election.”)
READ: Comelec: Reported barbed wires, barriers in Lanao del Sur not authorized
In terms of heightened security measures, Garcia also said there were around 9,000 Philippine National Police personnel deployed.
Likewise, nearly 30,000 Armed Forces of the Philippines personnel are also on standby across BARMM.
READ: BARMM chief survives ambush in Maguindanao
He also emphasized that as of Sept. 8, there is only one election-related incident, citing the ambush attempt against BARMM interim chief minister Abdulraof Macacua.
“Napakalaking bagay na hindi natin mini-militarize ang buong Bangsamoro,” Garcia expressed.
(“It is a very significant thing that we are not militarizing the entire Bangsamoro.”)
“Meaning, may mga dagdag tayong pwersa mula sa Armed Forces at sa PNP, pero hindi po natin sila kinakalat na pinapakita sa mga kababayan natin nang ganoon kadami, kasi ayaw nating mag-create ng tension o baka akalain ng mga kababayan natin na masyadong mataas ang posibilidad na magkaroon ng kaguluhan sa kanilang mga lugar,” he added.
(“This means we have additional forces from the Armed Forces and the PNP, but we are not deploying them in a way that makes their large numbers visible to the public; we do not want to create tension or lead our fellow citizens to think there is a high likelihood of unrest in their areas.”) /cb
