Early voting hours earn praise from seniors, PWDs in Lucena City
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INQUIRER FILES
LUCENA CITY – With the implementation of early voting hours, senior citizens, persons with disabilities (PWDs), and pregnant women promptly went early to their polling precincts to cast their votes.
In Lucena City, Alicia Arenas, 82, a retired public school teacher, was the third voter in Precinct No. 162A at Lucena South 1 Elementary School in Barangay Cotta. She was accompanied by her eldest daughter.
READ: Early voting for seniors, PWDs, pregnant moms begins
“I woke up early. I want to fulfill my obligation as a responsible citizen to choose honest and competent candidates for government positions,” she told the Inquirer after she stepped out of the polling room around 5:15 a.m.
The school bell rang at exactly 5 a.m. to signal the start of the voting hours exclusively for the elderly, PWDs and pregnant women.
Several members of the sectors interviewed by the Inquirer commended the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for implementing the voting hours from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. exclusively for them.
“A family member also assisted me in finding my precinct through the Comelec online precinct finder,” an elderly man said.
According to some of them, in previous elections, they were unable to vote despite their willingness to participate due to crowding and heat at the polling precincts while waiting for their turn.
Many brought lists containing the numbers and names of the candidates they planned to vote for, so they wouldn’t have difficulty finding them on the ballot.
READ: Elderly, PWD Pangasinenses laud Comelec’s early voting hours
Lawyer Ana Mei Barbacena, Comelec–Quezon chief, in an interview past noontime Monday, said there were no reported untoward incidents during voting.
“If ever there were problems, those were immediately fixed according to the contingency plan,” she said.
Lawyer Allan Enriquez, Comelec-Calabarzon chief described the election in the Calabarzon region as of 2:30 p.m. as “relatively peaceful.”
“Hopefully, it will remain at that till the voting ends,” Enriquez said in a phone interview.
He admitted that there few incidents where the Automated Counting Machines (ACM) encountered problems like delays.
“Those minor problems were immediately addressed by our men on the ground,” he explained.
Lieutenant Colonel Chitadel Gaoiran, public information officer of Police Regional Office-4A in the Calabarzon, described the election as of noontime Monday as “generally peaceful.”
“So far, there were no reports of any disruptions,” she said in a text message.
She reported that 21 liquor ban violators were arrested in Batangas, Rizal and Laguna provinces on Sunday and Monday morning.
At least 12,130 policemen have been dispatched in different parts of the region to maintain a safe and orderly election.
An additional 365 personnel from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Coast Guard are on standby and ready to provide support to police officers.
Force multipliers and volunteer groups are also present at polling centers to help maintain peace and order. /cfc
